>>3976488This in a nutshell.
I have been collecting film cameras since 2004 when I was dirt poor in college. Got some of my coolest cameras for basically pennies then. After a decade+ long hiatus of using only DSLRs, I am recently back to shooting and developing film. The photographic process is therapeutic. It is not some perfect, sterile procedure. A lot of happy accidents happen and the is pressure is off. The smell of fixer and listening to some music while rinsing my film chills me the fuck out. Photography is recreational once again. If you bulk load and develop your own film, you can do it really cheaply. Find the right scanner at a thrift store and you will enjoy it even more.
I have much more money in 2021 but yeah, the market is upside down. I remember being around to see the rise of the Lomography movement. It was kind of cringe back then but now it has sort of morphed into a cultural movement of sorts. I never thought film would make such a comeback.
I am going to upstate NY near the Kodak facilities in Rochester over the holiday. Going to shoot some 35mm and 120 in a neat TLR I just picked up. There are a lot of antique malls and shops up there, loaded with all sorts of cameras. Most things are absolutely ridiculous price wise. That said, I plan to come prepared to buy. If you see something you want and you can put your hands on it and see that it is not a POS, it is damn hard to leave it there. The dealers are buying out collections of stuff and taking advantage of the market. My only regret is that I did not buy more back when I got into it.
