In your bag No: 1683 – George Choy

George “invests in fun” and handsomely displays his ROI for us.

Hello readers of JCH, I’m George from Vancouver, British Columbia and this is what can be found in my bag.

I started film photography last summer after seeing the images on Reddit’s subreddit analog. I’ve been doing photography for a few years mostly photographing birds and aviation but something about photos shot on film intrigued me. You see, I took a photography course in high school but I just didn’t see the point in film as it was inconvenient in the 21st century and I always thought the image quality of film just can’t keep up with modern day technology.

Let’s say film didn’t make much sense to me born in the digital age.

It costs money to take photos, the chemicals are harmful to the environment, and of course you can’t see the photos until you finish the roll and develop it. My initial thoughts were “why do people still shoot film?!?”

But now I realize why people shoot film, personally I shoot film for the fun of it. Listening to the shutter go off, re-cocking the shutter, using different film stocks, waiting for the film to be developed, scanning to finally be able to see how much you messed up or how well the photo turned out.

Sure it all comes for a price but you’re investing in fun and I think that it’s absolutely worth the money you put into it. I think about it this way, a digital camera is going to be obsolete in 5 years, of course it’s going to be still usable but looking at “improved af”, “better iso performance”, “higher megapixel” will get you inclined to buy a newer camera no matter how resistant you are as it is the company’s job to do that. But a film camera is already obsolete and even better, we already know where this film camera technology ended so you can choose what feature you want and don’t need. After all, it’s really the film that determines your results and it has to be changed and re-bought anyways. I see it as an investment in myself and also financially as film cameras really cannot depreciate more than the current market. Get tired of the camera you’re using? Go sell it for equal or more money (if you previously brought it at a good price that is) and buy something different and use it until your get tired of it. The process can go on forever with very minimal financial loss and until you find your “endgame”.

Now here’s a list and quick description of the contents of my bag.

Bag:

Billingham Hadley Small

I love this bag for the quality build and perfect size for me. It’s big enough to fit my the Hasselblad and F3 both with lenses  and still have room to spare in the front pockets. I can see myself using this bag for many years to come.

Cameras:

Nikon F3

My first film camera which I found at a local camera store. It was quite dirty and I gave it a good clean and it’s now my most shot on camera. It’s moderately beaten up by its previous owner so I’m not afraid to take it out and use it a lot. It’s usually paired with a 50 1.4 AI-S which is pictured to the left.

Hasselblad 500 C/M

The newest addition to my arsenal. The sound of the barn doors and mirror is eargasm worthy. I’ve shot a few rolls on it but have yet to develop any due to the closure of labs recently.

Films:

Kodak Colorplus 200:

Difficult to find in my area but it’s my favourite 35mm film so far. It’s cheaper than Portra and I like the warmth it give to the photos.

Kodak Portra 400:

My go to 120 format film.

Kodak Portra 800:

Kind of a splurge film that I haven shot much of yet but so far liking the results.

Kodak Ektar 100:

Lower saturation is my thing but thought I’d give this a try. Just shot my first roll of it on the Hassy and awaiting results.

Yes I like Kodak.

Accessories:

Sunglasses: I don’t like burning my eyes

Watch: Some Citizen watch

Wallet: Just a generic one

Epi-pen: Anaphylaxis sucks

Hand sanitizer: Kind of a germaphobe

If you’d like to, check out my photos on Instagram at georges.film.adventures

Thank you for reading, stay safe, shoot film, and buy more cameras.

Also, thank you Bellamy Hunt aka Japancamerahunter for the many articles of expertise and products which help the film community thrive.

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Thanks for sending us your bag shot George. Very eloquently expressed thoughts as well, cheers!

Keep them coming folks, we need more submissions, so get your bag on Japancamerahunter.com

Send me a high resolution image of the bag. Optimum size is 1500px across. Please ensure there is a bag in the shot, unless you don’t use one. The more you can write about yourself the better, make it appealing and tell us a story. Snapshots of your gear with a camera phone and no words will not be featured.
Oh and don’t forget your contact details (twitter, flickr, tumbler et al). Send the bag shots here. Please understand that there is a long wait now as there is a backlog of submissions. Not all make the cut, so make sure yours is funny/interesting/quirky. And please make sure the shot is of good quality, as the ones that are not do not go up.

Cheers
Japancamerahunter