It’s September 28th, 2020. I returned to work at the start of the month after England’s first (of three) Covid 19 lockdowns. I had earlier in the year started working fall time as a bartender in a whisky bar (From here on, I will refer to whisk(e)y In the general sense as Whisky and not get bogged down with E no E), and after getting my first paycheck in five months, and after watching hundreds for videos on YouTube about film photography, I had it in my head to buy a 35mm film camera. My heart was set on a Canon F1. I walked into the used camera shop In Camden and asked; the guy said, “Yeah, we have a few; I’ll be with you in a minute.” He finished his call and served the older lady who had arrived before me. I waited patiently, looking around this North London Mecca of photography. All kinds of cameras, SLRs, TLRs, Range finders, point and shoots, 8mm, super 8, 16mm, super 16, medium format, large format… I was just standing there wondering how the fuck I had, 1, ended up in a place like this. And 2, HOW THE FUCK DID I NOT KNOW THIS PLACE EXISTED. I had gone past this shop every day for years on a bus, and when I wanted a camera, it never registered that it existed until I googled it. This would also happen to my whisky journey. But that’s another blog.

Finally, it’s my turn, and the guy pulls out 3 Canon F1s. I grab the first one, heavier than I imagined, “Feels like a tank.” I say, and he agrees, “Yeah, they’ll last forever.” (Famous last words).

After reading that, you probably think I could have told you the whole conversation until we got to the point where all 3 F1s didn’t work for various reasons. The thing being modular is excellent; the guy pulled all three of them apart and used the bits to build one that might “work”, but none did. Read the title of this post.

I asked what Canon camera would be next in line, and he pulled out a Canon EF (The Black Beauty).

According to a number inside the camera (P320), this camera was made, and by made, I mean that number was stamped in the camera in 1975 (P), in March (3)… No idea what the ‘20’ means. I was born in July 77. This camera is more than two years older than I am. It’s got a few dings, but I’ve loved it since day one. The camera body and the lens cost me the magnificent sum of £230.

Now I think about it, I should have posted about my Fujifilm X-T3 first, as that was the first camera I bought (Last year).

I’m posting this one first because I use it the most.

I paid the guy and left, found a Snappy Snaps and bought a few rolls for film, one being Fujifilm C200. I loaded that bastard in at a bus stop, cracked it until it said I was on frame One, turned the focus to Infinity, raised the camera, turned it towards my bus and made (snapped) my first photo. See below.

The woman looking at me with the blue bag over her shoulder was unhappy. She told me that what I had done wasn’t legal and that I was not allowed to take photos of people without their permission. I shrugged and climbed onboard.