My first roll of film

Recently I've had the urge to shoot 35mm film again after an absence of nearly 20 years. Not that I was a huge film shooter, or even photographer, back when I last tried it. I occasionally took the odd shot on my dad's old Olympus Trip 35 point and shoot camera. Most of the time I just used to wonder around our back garden, pretending to take photos of the sunlight poking through the trees above. There usually wasn't any film in the camera.
I do recall shooting a roll of black and white film for a school art project while on holiday in the Caribbean. I would have been 16-years-old give or take. I recall getting the film back from the lab and being quite taken with one particular shot of a boat on a beach. It looked cool to me despite (or maybe because of) the wonky horizon.
I digress...
I recently picked up a refurbished Olympus Trip 35 from a camera fixer in Dubbo, New South Wales. Sadly my dad threw his old camera away years ago, so I forked out nearly $150 AUD for this refurbed one with blue leatherette. It works perfectly though.
Film wise, I went for Kodak Colorplus 200 - one of (if not the) cheapest films available in Australia today. The choices are pretty limited in 2018, but what do you expect.

[@kat6536]

Funny how shooting film makes you really think more fondly about the little moments in life. Great video, great narration and great shots. I enjoyed this a lot.

[@tomedwards81]

Thanks very much for your comment. If you're into the Trip 35 do check out the street photography and b&w photography videos on my channel.

[@pdtech4524]

Great results! I just picked up my first Olympus Trip 35 after a lengthy quest to find a good, working ine locally, for a reasonable price. Very inspirational.

[@richfrattarelli4294]

Old vid but looking to grab one of these cameras. Your commentary actually makes all the pictures better, especially the "fails". Thanks.

[@iandonald8843]

I've really enjoyed watching this. I love your honesty in showing what worked and what didn't and explaining why. This is all part of the learning process. This is, in my opinion, all part of the beauty of film photography. Even the photos that 'fail' (in your words) trigger a memory and are all the more precious for that. In the age of digital photography I would bet that a lot of the 'fails' would be deleted by most people and the memories soon lost. Thank you.

[@tomedwards81]

Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I have a couple of other film photography videos on my channel if you care to check them out. Talking about the age of digital photography, I have recently been going through my archive of many, many thousands of photos on my external hard drives and have been gutted to discover that many precious images (and quite a few non-precious!) are corrupted and therefore lost for good. If only I had made prints back when I had the chance I wouldn’t have this problem.

[@ryans_life]

Just found your channel while looking for Olympus Trip. Great stuff

[@tomedwards81]

Thanks you very much. Make sure you check out my Trip 35 street photography and black and white photography videos. Olympus make/made some cool stuff.

[@raenaraena]

Lovely! I hope my first Trip 35 roll is as fun and lovely. And is that Paul Kelly I hear as the background music? 😍

[@andycoomber6159]

Nice to see the saint is still on the hill, I think it's been there since the seventies . Cool as......

[@tomedwards81]

It’s certainly lasted the test of time. Those students must have used some very robust paint. I think it’s become part of the rock itself now.

[@igloo2722]

I recently bought a second-hand olympus camera and it was my first time using a film camera. Loved it. Great shots you have there :)

[@tomedwards81]

Thanks very much. The Olympus film cameras are a masterpiece of design. Which one do you have? If I were to get one it would be the original OM-1 in black.

[@karinalima9653]

Lindas

[@tomedwards81]

Yep

[@uvuvwevwevweonyetenyevweug185]

Awesome pics, gotta love Townsville.

[@tomedwards81]

Yes it’s very photogenic.

[@lizda7]

Really inspiring. Got that camera recently. Now i want to try it.. wish i can understand how to control the focus Great photos and colors!

[@tomedwards81]

The distance scale on the side of the lens if your friend. I stick mostly with the red symbol. Good luck and have fun!

[@mystfire]

i love these kinds of film photography videos! i hope to make one myself soon

[@tomedwards81]

I’m glad you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for more in the future.

[@HoLeeChit11]

mystfire excellent, can’t wait. 👍

[@HMSvfx]

some really nice shots! i recently got my first film camera and expecting to take shots on my first roll of film in the next couple days, very excited :))

[@tomedwards81]

Have fun! It’s very different from digital.

[@searching91]

Great pictures, they seem to be showing more natural lighting.

[@tomedwards81]

Thanks bro. I liked some of them but it was a bit hit and miss for the most part. Just started editing a street photography video I shot with Adam recently which was really fun. I see you’ve uploaded a farm video - I’ll have to check it out 👊🏼

[@TheWorldnUs]

Some interesting pics Tom 👍

[@tomedwards81]

Thanks 🙏🏼

[@sherenchinthialaurentchia]

How do you change the settings accordingly to your subjects so that the result is sharp? Like for example you got some landscapes, portraits, group photos.. Do you change the focus setting according to how many people are in the shot?

[@tomedwards81]

Use the focus setting on the lens. The red one is the best general purpose one. I try to guess the distance between me and my subject(s). It’s trial and error basically. And in my case a lot of error!

[@sherenchinthialaurentchia]

Tom Edwards Would you recommend Olympus Trip 35 for a beginner like me now that you have used the camera several times? I’m thinking of buying one but there are mixed reviews and I’m in huge dilemma now!

[@tomedwards81]

Sheren Chinthia Laurentchia yes I would recommend it. There are mixed reviews of every camera.

[@sardinhabh]

Cool. I have this camera. it gave me back the pleasure of the photograph. The digital world made it all banal.

[@tomedwards81]

It does feel like that sometimes doesn't it.

[@mohsendawoodi9008]

Like your accent;) and your photo style! Faces are really warm and natural ,what is ASA you use??(THIS VIDEO AND THE SECOND VID OF THIS CAMERA)

[@tomedwards81]

Thank you! in both videos the ASA was 200.

[@Ib3119cz]

nice yesterday i finished the first film ilford hp5-400 asa on my trip 35, and waiting the laboratory to see what happend

[@tomedwards81]

That’s exciting. I haven’t shot any black and white yet, but I have some rolls of Ilford XP2 to try.

[@autochton2]

When you said the camera had no batteries, I imagined young lads trying to put AAA batteries in it. HAHA! But honestly I almost forgot that there was a time when power supply was not required to take pictures. I think I'll look for my old Smena 8m or Zenit. I just need to ask my brother where to find it :) I was making publication about Spanish architecture. Tons of proffesional digital photos and some scans of pictures from predigital era. I was worried that the scans would not be good, but it turned out that these were one of the best pictures in the book.

[@tomedwards81]

I hope you’re old film has survived! I think because shooting film forces us to slow down and think more we often produce our best photos this way. And because every shot costs money, I usually just take one photo and move on. When I see the results I just accept the way it is and am happy with what I captured.

[@autochton2]

Smena and Zenit are cameras made in U.S.S.R. But honestly, I have a Zorkij 4 camera with a film inside. It's waiting on the shelf, somewhere in my parents house, for 20 years :) I doubt it has survived to this day.

[@tomedwards81]

I think Zenit just released a new rangefinder camera at Photokina. It’s a partnership with Leica $$$$$$$

[@autochton2]

Yes, they are still alive :)

[@rosszy]

Great pics, when you’re taking these are you using AUTO or manually changing the f stops?

[@tomedwards81]

Auto, as the camera was intended to be used 😎

[@goranpavletic2145]

It's a little gem! I've got a blue one too. Nice photos, did you edited them after scaned?

[@tomedwards81]

Thanks! No I didn’t edit these photos.

[@MyMuschilover]

This needs a basic range finder like Ricoh 500g family cameras.

[@tomedwards81]

That's the Olympus 35RC.