Gear acquisition: Olympus mju-ii zoom 115
When I came home from work last Friday, this camera was lying on the ground next to the elevator. There is only one other room on my floor, and I know it's used as a short-term hotel type of deal so I assumed someone staying in that room, maybe the kids I saw fucking around in the hallway on Wednesday, had left it behind by accident. I left the apartment to run some errands and when I returned, I took a photo of the discarded camera so I could google it and ascertain its value. Once I realized it was a very celebrated point and shoot analog camera, I took it and made it mine.
Right away I wanted to power it on and see what it was capable of, and also view previous photos to get an idea of who its former owners were. But there was no battery or film roll inside, and it's not possible to view past photos on an analog camera anyway. I was tempted to read more about the camera and watch videos so I would be better equipped to use it once I got batteries, but I held off because I didn't want to get my hopes up. There was a chance the camera was broken - perhaps it had been abandoned for that reason, or perhaps it broke when it tumbled from its former owner as they were rushing to exit.
Today I went to B&H in midtown and pushed a somewhat reluctant employee to demonstrate that my "thrift store find" actually worked. To be clear I still have no evidence the camera exposes onto film correctly. I persuaded the employee to insert a battery and roll of film inside the camera, and I pressed the shutter, but I pointed out I had no way of knowing whether the camera's output was acceptable. The employee, who had already declared the camera to be working the moment it powered on, stated with no real justification that it was likely working properly. I thought about asking him to let me inspect the film up close to see whether I could make out the picture of the floor I took but didn't do it. Instead I went downstairs to buy a roll of film and two batteries.
After leaving B&H, I went Goodwill-hopping for the rest of the day. After dinner at By Chloe and returning home, I did laundry and read more about film photography. Thankfully the Olympus mji-ii is wonderfully simple so I was able to read and understand the user manual. I loaded up my camera and headed to Times Square for some night photography. When I returned home I immediately placed an order for more batteries and film, which will be arriving tomorrow thanks to Adorama and Google Express. I shot about 25 photos at Times Square and I'm planning to use the rest of the roll tomorrow for photos of the commute to my internship and maybe in the office as well. After work tomorrow I'll go to Accurate Photo Shop in Brooklyn to get my film developed and scanned. They have great reviews so I'm really looking forward to it, and they're somewhat close to Dumbo which means I can shoot there while I wait for the film to be processed.
I'm looking forward to taking the last step needed to confirm whether my new camera actually works!
Right away I wanted to power it on and see what it was capable of, and also view previous photos to get an idea of who its former owners were. But there was no battery or film roll inside, and it's not possible to view past photos on an analog camera anyway. I was tempted to read more about the camera and watch videos so I would be better equipped to use it once I got batteries, but I held off because I didn't want to get my hopes up. There was a chance the camera was broken - perhaps it had been abandoned for that reason, or perhaps it broke when it tumbled from its former owner as they were rushing to exit.
Today I went to B&H in midtown and pushed a somewhat reluctant employee to demonstrate that my "thrift store find" actually worked. To be clear I still have no evidence the camera exposes onto film correctly. I persuaded the employee to insert a battery and roll of film inside the camera, and I pressed the shutter, but I pointed out I had no way of knowing whether the camera's output was acceptable. The employee, who had already declared the camera to be working the moment it powered on, stated with no real justification that it was likely working properly. I thought about asking him to let me inspect the film up close to see whether I could make out the picture of the floor I took but didn't do it. Instead I went downstairs to buy a roll of film and two batteries.
After leaving B&H, I went Goodwill-hopping for the rest of the day. After dinner at By Chloe and returning home, I did laundry and read more about film photography. Thankfully the Olympus mji-ii is wonderfully simple so I was able to read and understand the user manual. I loaded up my camera and headed to Times Square for some night photography. When I returned home I immediately placed an order for more batteries and film, which will be arriving tomorrow thanks to Adorama and Google Express. I shot about 25 photos at Times Square and I'm planning to use the rest of the roll tomorrow for photos of the commute to my internship and maybe in the office as well. After work tomorrow I'll go to Accurate Photo Shop in Brooklyn to get my film developed and scanned. They have great reviews so I'm really looking forward to it, and they're somewhat close to Dumbo which means I can shoot there while I wait for the film to be processed.
I'm looking forward to taking the last step needed to confirm whether my new camera actually works!
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