Are you still shooting film in Kenya?

I still shoot using manual cameras, though getting film is becoming a challenge with each passing day. Film used to be available about 6 years ago. That’s the time when I bought most of the cameras and lenses in the video below. You see, nobody wanted these.

konica autoreflex TC

I remember buying an Olympus Mju II for 500 on Olx, haha! Young people were all into digital and old people had forgotten about their cameras. You could still find some expired fujicolor C200 if you looked well enough. Heck, there were even a few processing shops around.

Then the film and processing shops disappeared altogether. That was sad. Currently, no one sells or processes film in all of Kenya. I went online last year and bought a processing tank, a changing bag with tongs, film processing chemicals, a scanner and some black & white film. The only option I had if I wanted to continue shooting film was to process it myself. I’ve had fun so far.

Last month I tried selling a good camera for cheap and I was surprised no one wanted it. I guess people are not yet into it in Kenya. Better wait. I changed my mind and I still own it. Glad I did not get a customer. Surprisingly, you can still get a good camera if you look hard enough.

Don’t look online (jiji), they are expensive here. Go to old photography shops in your town. You will be lucky if you befriend the old-timer photographer. He’ll sell you a good camera if he still has his somewhere.

Oh, one thing. I think am lucky because by chance I found an old camera repairman around 3 years ago. He repairs digital cameras now of course. But because he started with manual cameras, he knows how to service them. I’ve had no problem keeping my cameras in top condition. I think he is the only fundi who can repair these in Kenya.

Before I forget. If you can import B&W film and processing accessories to kenya. I think you can be in business. It’s a small niche for sure and I think there are more people like me who are into shooting film but we are having it hard getting supplies.

Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80

Saw this camera on olx and just couldn’t pass the chance to own it, I grabbed it! I’d read a few reviews which convinced me of it’s quality and just knew I had to have it. So the next time I was in Nairobi, I called the owner and arranged a meet. A few hours later and minus some thousands in my MPESA, I had this cute little camera in my hand.

Olympus stylus epic zoom 80 with a roll of fujicolor c200 35mm film

I couldn’t test it as its bat was drained so I was a little nervous, but Ken (the owner) gave me good assurances and I was happy to trust him. Naturally, my next step was to look for the battery, a CR123A which took me a couple more days to find. Film is also getting pricier and more scarcer by the day. The only type I can get around here are the fujicolor c200.

I own a few completely manual 35mm  SLR’s and I assure you this one (olympus stylus epic) is quite something. Wow! What a nice little point and shoot. I love it. It’s easy to use, easy to load film and being very small in size- it’s very easy to carry around (a very big advantage). I also like the option of having a time stamp on the bottom right corner of prints, It makes organization easy.

I’ve just processed a roll of film and the quality of prints blew me away! Out of the 36 frames of the fujicolor c200, only one didn’t turn out so good. The picture had blurry edges which I think was my fault because I did a shot with a camera shake indoors where lighting was poor. 35 good prints out of 36? Whoa! That’s almost perfect! Unbelievable! I see lots of shooting ahead.

Cyclist along Kilindini bar

fort jesus

The streets of mombasa on a tuk tuk

Jahazi coffee house, a nice little place at the heart of Old town, Mombasa

a street tailor, ganjoni

Among The Ruins of Gede

…So It happened that we were in Watamu with my wife Dorah. Being suckers for history, It did not take us long to find ourselves in Gede on the second day of our honeymoon. Luckily, I had with me my ever trusty friend, the Canon FT QL and a few rolls of film.

Though in ruins now, we clearly saw Gede’s past in full glory which shone through its spectacular remains. Historians date its origin back to the 12th century.

 

Tomb of the fluted pillar

 

We were lucky we had a very knowledgeable young guide who impressively explained the history of the former swahili town well and in great detail.

 

 

We easily spent an hour walking among the ruins and shooting film. The only downside is that I didn’t carry enough film, but how can I complain? It was a beautiful day.

 

 

Back at our hotel, we had a lovely evening and I captured more shots of agile dancers doing their thing. Didn’t use flash, light from a lamp post that was nearby did the magic.

 

 

My favourite shot of the day was of my lovely wife. We were walking back to our room and saw a bright lamp post over her and just had to take the shot. No flash used.

 

 

Kilindini Bar

I love this place, it’s like an old temple but one where cold beer is served. Not many people will readily admit to knowing it, even those in Mombasa! It is located in a part of town that is not too visible, which doesn’t help. All this ends up giving the place a sense of mystery!

Established in 1908, A. C. De Souza & Co., Kilindini Bar has a rich history. I always have this nice sense that this place has welcomed many famous greats over the decades; even the legendary Ernest Hemingway was here. History shows all over the place, from the building itself, the aged furniture, up to the walls inside with old beer adverts.

 

A shot of The Majestic Kilindini Bar through an equally old Canon FT QL film camera, 28mm FD wide lens/ expired Fujicolor c200 film

 

A visit to the “temple” always settles my mind, maybe the cold tusker contributes to this happy feeling 😀 but seriously, it always feels like time stops every time I am in the place.

If you want some quite time (there is no music or TV) on a hot Saturday evening in Mombasa, this is the place. Everyone is friendly and a tusker is Ksh 150! Plus you get to enjoy a plate of crisps 🙂 just perfect.

• Directions to Kilindini bar

Canon FT QL

I surprisingly got this beast of camera really on the cheap, and for kshs 2500/=, it felt like a coup, considering that It came with a 28mm wide lens and a 50mm canon lens FD.  It’s a fully manual camera that is much heavier and bigger than its fellow SLR’s that came much later. The FT QL was introduced in March 1966.

canon ft ql

It was really in good condition, considering its age. Every function is in perfect working health which is mainly helped by the fact that its previous owner was using it frequently. I’ve just loaded a new film and will update how the pictures turn out.

I really think this is the right time to buy SLR cameras, mainly because folks are ditching their old equipment for new digital cameras. With a little interest and a keen eye, you will be surprised how many they are out there.

Reference

• Canon FT QL

Jumba la Mtwana Through The Lens of an Old Film Camera

Mtwapa is famous for its wild nightlife, but on this day I was more interested on the lesser known Jumba la Mtwana. It’s a spectacular village, now ruins of course that was built in the 14th century but abandoned early in the fifteenth century. Getting to mtwana ruins from Mombasa was pretty easy. I boarded a “matatu” to Mtwapa and at the last stage I alighted and took a bodaboda taxi (5 min) to mtwana ruins. Compared to the Fort Jesus, tickets here are quite cheap, 100/= 🙂 I was really lucky to find a guide because it was a Sunday afternoon. He was a nice, helpful lad. I really learn t a lot, more so because I hadn’t planned coming to Mtwana ruins. Just grabbed the camera, some films and 40 minutes later I was here. The weather was fantastic too.

a splendid view of the beach next to the Mtwana ruins

Sand crabs on the Jumba ruins beach.

one of the mosques at the ruins

among the ruins

You see, to a photographer, Mombasa is a treasure trove. It is a photographer’s heaven. The weather is always perfect, always sunny. You will find plenty of historical places (my favorite), wildlife, amazing scenery and so many goodies.

Reference

• National Museums of Kenya, Jumba la mtwana.

Picha Analog

I found this beauty languishing in an old film processing shop. The poor thing was in bad condition. Worse, the lens appeared smoggy, probably form decades of neglect, collecting dust on a shelf. I rescued it though and, to my delight, the body cleaned up nicely. The smoggy lens that concerned me so turned out to be nothing more than a dusty substance that cleaned-up easily.

The Konica Autoreflex TC is a single lens reflex camera that shoots 35mm film. It was manufactured between 1976 and 1982. It was designed as a compact SLR. I immediately went out looking for someone to service it, it was a bit hard but I found an old camera repair shop opposite Mombasa library. That’s where I also found a few good old accessories, like the electronic flash and the lens cover captioned on the pic above.

The beauty

The first thing that got my attention, once I got it cleaned up, that is, was the sound and feel of the shutter. It has a very satisfactory and meaningful clunk that seems to transmit a sense of quality to the ear and also through the hand. The viewfinder is also very nice, with it’s split image and micro-prism focusing, is big and bright. The TC is a mechanical camera. Film winding and rewinding is manual, and the shutter release is locked until the film winder lever is set to the “ready” position (i.e., pulled slightly away from the body).

I love digital photography, and I’m not about to give it up. Digital has many huge advantages, but some of those advantages have made some of us into sloppy photographers. With owning a manual camera, I’ve found that I’ve learned more about the technical aspects of photography(like the “sunny 16 rule“) which I wouldn’t have known using a digital camera. For example, I find that I am more aware of lighting. I also found myself learning about “shooting” film (about ISO, shutter speed, aperture) which i didn’t bother with when using a digital camera. I am still learning daily 🙂

I could write about why film is not dead, and about some of the advantages of film, but I’m not interested in getting into a film vs digital debate. In my own experience I’ve enjoyed the slower pace of shooting film, being more deliberate about the shots I take. Knowing I’m only getting 36 shots on a roll of 35mm film makes me stop and think about each shot, slow down, compose the image more carefully. There are a lot of limitations when you’re shooting film, especially on an old camera, but those limitations can help you focus on the basics of composing a good image. And there’s an excitement that I get when I first see the images after waiting for the film to be developed, an excitement that I don’t get when downloading images from a flash card, or immediately looking at an image on the LCD of the camera.

I really enjoy using this old camera, learning about the history of the camera, tinkering with it, fixing it, cleaning it up, understanding how it works. There’s something really fun about using a 40-year-old camera and getting great images out of it. There does seem to be a different quality to an image shot on film.  Not that it’s necessarily better than digital, just different.  Some say film has more depth, while digital photos look flat. Just like some people say that music sounds better on vinyl as when compared to mp3.

But I have to say, getting film has been difficult. I’ve been hunting for them all over town. The ones I got are a kodacolor ISO 200 process c-41 which expired over a year ago, but they work well. The processing shop where i do my developing has promised to re-stock though, because interest is on the rise and no one is selling them.

What do you do when you have a beauty on your hands? You go shooting of course, and that’s what i did. On a fine Saturday weekend, with camera on hand and a bottle of water on the other, I happily strolled to old town. What better place to take “pichas” than this iconic site!

Fort Jesus has had a long history of hostilities of the interested parties that lived in Mombasa. From the Portuguese to Omani Arabs and the British.

The historic Ndia Kuu street, also visible is the 13th century Basheikh Mosque.

An old door, Old town.

The iconic street formally known as the Vasco da Gama street, Mombasa. At the background is the famous 16th century Mandhry mosque.

Mandhry mosque, built 1507

The beautiful Mandhry well opp. the Mosque.

So there you go, take those old cameras off the shelf, dust them off and give them a try again. You might have as much fun as I have.

Reference:

• konica autoreflex tc