One of the things I enjoy about shooting film, especially in busy places, is that cameras like a Hasselblad or pretty much any TLR are always conversation starters — ice breakers that result in anything from strange looks to engaging chats with total strangers. They also invite a lot of smiles, pointing, fascination, questions, and comments like, “Cool camera!” And when you’re shooting film in a city like New York, all of that can be as much fun as the actual picture taking.
So it was in early December 2019 when I and a fellow picture taker Rob went to New York City for a few days with a dual mission: Enjoy the uniqueness that is Manhattan during the holidays, and to shoot as much film as time, interest and subject matter would allow. While we didn’t get as much photography done as I would have liked — a combination of both cold temperatures on the first day, followed by rain and mild temperatures the other two — it was still an interesting trip.
I took my Rolleiflex and my Hasselblad, while Rob came equipped with a Mamiya C330 and a Mamiya 645 Super. I ended-up shooting mostly the Hassy, while he ended-up primarily shooting the 645.
Alas, December is an interesting time in New York City, weather-wise, and we discovered that rather the hard way.
Cold Temperature Shooting
On one of the days we were there, it was bitterly cold, and it’s not a lot of fun doing anything in cold temperatures that requires fine motor skills; there’s just no reasonable way to manipulate a camera with thick gloves of the sort you really need when it’s bitter outside. I wish I had any suggestions or some magic secret to making it work; in the end, you just sort of have to deal with it, bundle-up, and try and keep the camera protected as well. For me, that meant using the Rolleiflex, since it could easily tuck under my coat when hanging from its strap around my neck.
My biggest concern about the cold was condensation; coming inside from the cold and having the camera lens or other internals get foggy. Alas, that didn’t seem to end-up being a major consideration, but it’s something to be mindful of. Of course, it’ll self-correct; you just need to wait it out while the gear warms-up and sheds the accumulated condensation.
While I’m used to colder weather, that doesn’t mean I like spending tons of time out in it, especially in big crowds. But we did suffer through taking the subway from our Hudson Yards area hotel to near Rockefeller Center to see and photograph the legendary Christmas tree there. Needless to say, it was us — and a few thousand other people as well. Navigating the crushing mass of people was one challenge, but a nice distraction from the cold, I suppose.
Rainy Weather Shooting
Where I come from, we don’t get tons of rain, and regardless, I don’t have a lot of experience shooting in it, but our last day in the city was a rainy one. Most of the day it was on and off.
Certainly, there’s stuff to help, but browsing the aisles at B&H Photo and Video — just blocks from the hotel — seemed to suggest that all of it is geared to traditional SLR/DSLR camera form factors, and nothing seemed to be on-offer that would help with a Hasselblad or any type of TLR.
We managed most of the day, but as our final evening wore-on, it started to really pour. In the end, it became a matter of trying to protect the cameras with semi-weather-resistant Peak Design bags, holding them and everything else close to the body, and trying to make the best of our (nearly useless) umbrellas. By that point, it was just a matter of hoofing it back to the hotel as quickly as possible, and calling the shooting a wrap.
The Looks and Comments
New York City is a place crawling with tourists, and most of them these days are toting smartphones, not cameras, to record their vacation memories. Yes, you do see a few people with SLRs, but of course, they’re digital SLRs.
What people are not accustomed to seeing is anything else that doesn’t fit that mold, and a Hasselblad V-System camera like my 503CW or a TLR like Rob’s C330 or my Rolleiflex just aren’t common at all anymore.
Let’s be honest: A Mamiya C330 is a bulky, odd-looking thing, and my Hasselblad is a big and serious-looking piece of kit. Walking around with them out and visible is always an exercise in getting strange looks, as well as people pointing at them and muttering things to the people they’re with. I actually enjoy that aspect of using older film cameras; I like the uniqueness of showing them off.
But as I implied in the opener, what I didn’t really expect when I got back into film photography is just how many total strangers would actually ask about the cameras, or comment on them.
While in New York during a break in the rain, and while shooting in Times Square, a guy with a nice digital SLR was incredibly curious about the camera, and what I was doing looking down at when I used it. The guy had never seen a waist level viewfinder, and the concept was completely foreign to him. We had a brief chat about how it worked, the camera itself, film in general, the fact I develop my film at home. I answered a lot of questions. And afterward, he walked away smiling and suitably impressed. I still wonder if he didn’t do a little Googling later that night as fascinated as he seemed.
Waiting at a crosswalk during the trip, we had our cameras out, and someone asked us both, “Are you guys shooting film?” We replied with an “oh yes” only to receive in reply, “Wow! That’s so cool!”
It was actually on an earlier trip to the New York area with my Rolleiflex when I was across the river in Hoboken and a professional photographer called out my camera. He was with a couple of models, shooting in a park, and they were all waiting for me and a couple of colleagues to walk by (and out of the shot). When he saw the Rollei hanging from my neck, the photographer smiled wide, and asked, “Rolleiflex?” I answered in the affirmative; he responded with an enthusiastic, “Nice!!”
Of course, sometimes these conversations wander into unexpected places, including some people not even realizing that film is still being made, or that people “still shoot that stuff.”
Regardless, I’ve never once had a negative reaction; everyone who’s approached me to ask about the cameras or gab about them or film photography has been genuinely interested, and has found it cool that I’m taking pictures with something other than a smartphone. Maybe, just maybe, I’ve inspired a few people to dig their old film cameras out and give them another chance.
Either way, film photography can be an interesting way to break the ice.
