I realize after deciding to contribute to EM and Hamish’s #5Frames… series that I made things especially difficult for myself by immediately gravitating towards medium format cameras and 120 film – thereby limiting myself to a maximum of 16 exposures and as few as eight.
But gravitate I did, and to make it worthwhile I chose both a rare roll of film (expired Fujifilm Superia 100 in 120 format) and an oddball rare camera (Great Wall DF-5).
The film was a gift from friends, which I like to think was repaid with the inclusion of the portrait of the man painting in the hardhat in an exhibition I held in 2014. There is a warmth and vibrance to the film that attracts me, and I wish it were still available in medium format.
The camera is a fairly rare SLR made in limited quantities in Beijing during the early to mid-1980s. It features a waist level finder and 90mm f/3.5 lens that can render swirly bokeh when shot wide open; and gets pretty sharp when stopped down. Everything about it – from film advance to shutter “tab” – is unusual, and I’ll never part with mine.
With that said, here are my five!
~ David
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