In case you haven't gathered, I do like cameras, especially ones that take film. I even like the film, and have gathered some vintage unexposed film to try someday. Well, I guess today was the day. I was spurred on to do this by the possibility of a very small camera pictured above. It is Minox B, or more popularly known as a spy camera--my friend Sean used one of these when he was playing my character in one of those James (Jason) Bond films. It was between beach volleyball gigs...
Whatever. Believe me or not. The camera is pretty cool. It is 4 inches long by 3/4 of an inch across by 1/2 inch deep--it is small. It focuses, it has all the shutter speeds, and it is a great example of Latvian ingenuity. Really--it was designed and first built in Latvia. Who know about those clever Latvians? And it came with some film, though it's use by date was 1966, or 47 years ago. But upon looking around, I found 35mm film from 1954, and 120 film from 1942, and thought, why not? So I shot three rolls, one roll that produces negatives the size of your little finger fingernail and the larger film that made a negative 100 times bigger. I carefully shot these three rolls all over town. Once done, I "souped" them. Of course I did this in my kitchen--I will have to make sure I wash those graduates before I fill my coffee pot, won't I? Makes you wonder why am I single and why no one wants to eat here, doesn't it?
As fun as that was, the results were very disappointed. Let it be a warning to anyone who tries to eat things after their "use by" date--things don't last, though that box of cereal that went out of date 6 days ago is probably still good. For film though, it just doesn't work after 50 or more years. Though these were remarkably packaged, the neat aluminum canisters didn't stop all the radiation (background, I hope) from fogging the film. Geez, I hope this all wasn't some cruel metaphor for my life... There were no images that were even remotely salvageable or useable. And yes, it does make me realize that I have been exposed to even more background radiation, and that I didn't live in a cool aluminum canister--my brain must be toast.
No matter, as it was still a fun day. I felt like a spy and an explorer/scientist which is never a bad combination I will just have to try it all again with at least slightly newer film.
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