Hi I’m Gavin, a creative director based in London. I have been shooting film …since 1984 …that dates me HA!

My first ever film camera was a Pentax LX , a gift from my grandfather when I joined the Navy.  Sadly that camera went over the side of a ship in rough weather when I was trying to photograph giant waves  in the Atlantic, so it’s about a mile down some where on the sea bed, possibly a job for James Cameron to recover. It will have half a roll of Tri-X in it if he does find it.

I have had many film cameras over the years but due to work demands I ended up selling them all and switching to digital in the early 2000s. I hugely regret this and have been buying back most of my old cameras over time. The turning point for this return journey came when Fuji released the original x100 camera in 2010.  I managed to get one of the very first ones which I still have today, I think the feeling of shooting that and the very filmic images it creates made me want to go back to film.

So I did, and the first camera I picked up was a Yashica T4 P&S.  It was great and it sort of escalated from there. Work wise now I shoot with a Pentax K1. It’s a beast of camera but brilliant plus all the Pentax glass inter changes easily. I bring a Pentax MZS to most shoots so I can shoot a bit of film as well if the chance arises.

This is a very honest camera bag and it’s pretty much what I carry every day.

The crumpled mess of canvas is an army medic’s bag, I picked it up for 5 quid in an army surplus store. It is really useful as a day bag if you travel like I do. You may take 4 of 5 cameras with you and a pile of lenses in a larger bag . This thing folds up and you can take it out as your day bag when you get to your destination. I hate carting around big bags and it does not attract any attention if I end up anywhere a bit sketchy.

It is a classic, the Olympus M1.  There are quite a lot of internet stories out there on how this camera became the OM-1 and how many of these camera were made but I will leave you to Google that. The reason I love it much like my Om-1 and Yashica FX 3 super 2000 is that they are mechanical. So you can shoot it with out batteries, as you wander around you have no fear of electronic death ruining you day. Plus most Om lenses are tiny and super portable.

Next, the Olympus Pen EE2.  It is a half frame camera that has an amazing history. It was chosen by the US special forces unit know as MAC V SOG during the Vietnam war as their battle damage and reconnaissance camera. You can tell why solar powered, nearly silent, robust, great lens, shoots 72, no focus and fits in your pocket. In any combination of camera I always carry this as a back up. I have seen Kodak bring new half frame camera to the market, I don’t what the point is there a still thousands of these brilliant Pen cameras on the market.

The M-1 has the 24mm F2.8. I love wide angles, the Pen EE2 has a 28mm F3.5, but its a half frame like a crop sensor so gives you about a 45mm field of view and the long lens is the mighty OM 135mm  F3.5 which is tiny for its focal length. With that combo most things are covered.

Spare battery and a 5p coin just in case. Film wise in the Kodak case,  I have been shooting a lot of old Fuji Motion picture F64D /REALA 500D and Eterna. It is cheaper to buy and develop ECN2 than just to buy a single roll of something like Cinestill or Porta 400. And if you know how to post process it…it looks amazing!

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 (Instagram, Twitter, Flickr, Grainery et al). Send the bag shots here. Not all make the cut, so make sure yours is funny/interesting/quirky. And please make sure the shot is of good quality, you are a photographer after all. 

Cheers
-JF