grain is a collective of like minded individuals who are interested in exploring the world of analog photography. 35mm, 120mm, Polaroid, and any other chemically delicious medium we can get our hands on. Whether you’ve been shooting for years or would love to learn grain is for you. Grain will meet-up regularly to eat, talk about film and shoot it. Check the facebook page for details on the next meet-up. Our mission is to explore and develop the world on film.
For the past year or two I have been frequenting the local thrift shops in search of discarded cameras. It’s amazing to me what people will just get rid of. Most of my trips are un-fruitful but there are a few rare occasions that keep me coming back for more. A couple months ago I found a 70′s Pentax SLR with a 50mm 1.8f lens attached for $5. I had been spending the last few months looking for a good prime lens to go with my digital Nikon D90 but I wasn’t too impressed with the prices. I dropped a fiver and bought the camera not knowing if it would even work. After ordering a battery on Amazon and slapping some cheap Kodak 100 B&W film in I decided to see what this little thing could do. The in camera light meter looked like it was working so I snapped away. I shot a 36 roll in about a week and dropped it off at Inkley’s (big mistake…) Inkley’s no longer does B&W so they farmed it out to Cali and I had to wait two weeks. When the negs finally arrived I was shocked at what I found. This cheap camera took great pictures and the darker the room the better. The contrast is amazing at it’s so easy to shoot as long as I remember to turn the meter on…
The results of my experiment have me almost completely ignoring my wonderful D90. Since then I have found a Yashica 124 Mat G and though it is a little more difficult to use I’m hoping to have similar results.
