35 years in a flash ??

One of the first jobs I learned, as an assistant to a commercial and advertising photographer, was how to load film into a dark slide.?

This is a slide that holds two pieces of 5” x 4” transparency film, one each side, then slides into the back of a 5 X 4 camera.

Not sure what one of them is?

Just imagine the old fashion cameras where a black cloth is draped over the photographer's head to see the (upside down) image. That’s what I learned to shoot with when I started my photography career.

To put it into some sort of perspective, a 5 x 4 camera was like the Rolls Royce of cameras.?

You could tie that camera up in knots with the amount of movements it could do, the only draw back was that it took just one photo at a time, you then had to turn the slide over for another shot.?

It was totally manual but boy, did it take incredible photos.?

The next in my evolution of cameras was the 35mm Nikon FE, the camera of choice when I became a cruise ship photographer. I must have shot 50,000 photos on that camera and it never missed a beat. Rather than the 2 shot slide, it had 37 exposures on a roll of film.

The design of 35mm cameras meant they sat snugly in your hands, so your fingers rested on the focusing ring and the controls were in easy reach.

I could shoot quickly, capturing the action that was not possible with the 5 x 4 camera. Yes, there wasn’t the quality but the trade off for speed and ease was worth it.

I would call this camera a Ford Capri; reliable, quick and had some style.

in 1999 I bought my first digital camera, the Nikon Coolpix 950. It was a funny little twisting camera but it was the hot new thing..

At the time I was a studio photographer and using my 5 x 4 camera, and thought why am I shooting with a Fiat Punto instead of my Rolls Royce? ?

The camera's sensor was 2 megapixels. For context, the iPhone 14 has a 48MP sensor. It didn’t shoot in manual, the quality wasn’t great and the image size was limited but… you could shoot and see the image instantly.

Previously it was

• load film,
• take photo,
• process film,
• scan transparency

To get a file that could be imported onto a computer. If it all went smoothly it could take 3 days.

With the arrival of digital it was click and go. The drop in quality didn’t seem to matter. It was the speed that made art directors ask for it to be shot digitally.?

I have constantly upgraded my digital set up. I flirted with the Fuji system for a while but then tried Nikon and never looked back.

Every couple of years I update my camera bodies as they are continually improving the resolution and image quality.?I’m now on the Nikon D850, next upgrade will be mirrorless.

When I first started photography I had to cart around cameras, lights, filters, film, polaroids and more.?

In a days shoot I would be happy with 10 good shots. Now the kit needed has been cut by 50% and the number of shots that can be achieved in a day has gone up by 500%?

Digital has certainly benefited photographers but?my 40 year old 5 x 4 camera can still produce stunning images that stand the test of time.

Steve Wright: Est.1988 and still clicking

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