I love shooting film but hate waiting to finish the film/getting the film back from the lab.
The instant gratification I get from digital, spending time out pointing a camera at things and being able to see those results instantaneously is almost like a drug. I don’t want to wait, we live in a world of instant gratification for almost everything and photography is no different.
So, how can I get the best of both worlds, whilst I work on this addiction? A Ricoh GR3, that’s how.
If I am out casually shooting, I don’t want to carry another camera with the same weight and size as the Leica M6 I love to use.
I don’t want to use my phone as with the best will in the world the results aren’t as good as a dedicated camera.
I don’t want to carry a camera bag and I don’t need the hassle of trying to change lenses from film to digital and back again.
The Ricoh GR3 is a small, compact, pocketable camera… Hell, I can even get it in my jeans pocket! Perfect for those casual trips out as a digital back up, when all I really want to use is my film camera and a roll of film.
I did look glancingly at other digital compacts but the GR3 is about as compact as it gets. It also has lots of useful features, so it is capable of recording a high quality file and features a fixed 28mm lens which is different enough for me from the lenses I use on my film camera.
So from now on, I am going to try and shoot a lot more film, wherever I go but have the ‘protective cloak’ of a small, discreet pocket sized camera for that hit of instant gratification when needed.
Wish me luck!
Analog Dave 