I took my little Olympus (nothing fancy, but it had nice, sharp colors and I liked it) to be repaired at the Wolf Camera at Diversey and Broadway. I’d got to the end of the roll (I know, film, how stone age) and it didn’t rewind. I had some pictures I quite valued on the roll.
Got a call from the manager today. They lost my camera. Film, gone.
Fuck you, Wolf Camera, I don’t care about the free film you’re promising to comp me, like I’d ever trust you with my property again.
I would go nuts. Totally nuts. That the film is gone and all you get back is a new roll sucks, but that’s what they tell you going in most of the time. They won’t take responsibility for the rolls. I’d be really upset, but I’d have known it was a possiblity.
But to lose the camera itself? That’s where I’d flip. Did they tell you what happened?
The woman I spoke with told me she’s a new manager and they’d had bad bookkeeping under the previous manager. Super excuse.
To be honest, I was so surprised that I didn’t think to go nuts. She told me they were looking for an identical camera, but since that model isn’t made anymore, it’d be used, in the same condition or better. (So, working, presumably.)
I did immediately call Kyla’s Dad, Esq. for advice, and he told me to insist they give me a new new camera. He’s gunning for me to get a digital, but I’m not sure that’s the best idea going, cause I’m going into the Peace Corps soon and think film might be best. I’m not totally decided on what to do, but fits could be pitched yet.
Well, I’m glad you have Kyla’s Dad, Esq. to ask for advice.
“Bad bookkeeping”? Hell no. That’s the sort of problem that would fail me in one of my current courses.
As for film vs digital, I’ve no answers. I loved my film camera in Kenya, but I suspect a very nice digital wouldn’t have made me sad. You’ll probably have better luck finding places to develop film than to buy memory cards or whatnot, depending on where you go.
Bad bookkeeping. Probably true, but still not acceptable. Gah!
Why does going into the Peace Corps mean film is best? Do you mean you want to avoid having to lug a laptop around?
I don’t know where I’m going yet (I was supposed to go to Central Asia, but gah, long story, it’s all up in the air again), and it’s entirely possible I’ll be in some little village in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I’m totally wrong (my dad thinks I am), but I have this idea that film would be easier to deal with film in this situation, since I probably wouldn’t be able to upload pictures from a digital camera for a couple years.
Let Wolf Camera know in plain language that they WILL replace your camera,and “book keeping” is no excuse. The “old” mechanical cameras are getting popular again. They are prized for simplicity of operation and durability. They tend to tolerate extremes of temperature and humidity. If the battery dies, they can still be used, with the old “sunny 16” rule or “f8 and be there”. Don’t let Wolf off the hook one iota.
I can’t imagine how you could get film developed but not somehow be able to download pictures somewhere. I wouldn’t be suprised if the price of flash memory is down to the point where its cheaper per picture than film.
She might be assuming that she can afford to buy a lot of rolls of film for the cost of buying one memory card, and just leave either type for processing until she gets back to the states?
Clarifying - meaning that she may think she can get a lot more pictures stored on rolls of film than she could on however many memory cards she can afford to buy. I’m not so sure that’s the case, however, plus you can review your photos using the screen on the back of the digital camera and delete the crappy ones. Battery consumption may be more of an issue for the digital camera.
May I make a suggestion? Instead of bringing just one camera (film or digital I leave that decision to you), consider taking a polaroid and a stock of instant film, as well. It’s nice to be able to offer locals a polaroid or two in return for them being photographed. It’s a barter system that’s worked well for me in the past.
Yeah, that is the case. My dad was telling me I’m wrong. He’s probably right, since he has a digital camera and I don’t.
Hodge, that’s a good idea! Thanks.
My worry would be keeping the film “viable” until it could be developed. It would be horrible to have waited for years for your pictures, only to have the film ruined in the airport x-ray machines on the way home. (Which is possible.) Why don’t you look into a digital camera that has cheap memory, or one that you can plug into your cell phone to upload the photos to the net for someone like your dad to pick up and archive for you? 
(You’re going to have a cell phone with you, aren’t you?) The polaroid camera also sounds like a good idea too though.
Depends on where I am. They don’t have cell phone service everywhere in the world. Yet.
You’d be surprised, these days!
You’d be surprised at where you can get Internet access. My mom spent three months in a village in Guatemala where the nearest tiny town was a twenty minute boat ride, and she had no problem with using a digital camera. You may also consider getting on of those stand-alone digital camera harddrives.
But definitely get one that runs on AA batteries, not one that needs seperate charging.
Oh jeez. I saw the title and wanted to chime in that I’d gotten snarky service there a while back, but this… Wow. :rolleyes:
Exactly.
Not only that, but make very clear that it’s not your problem that the model you had isn’t made anymore. Tell them you want a new camera of similar specifications, or a used camera that is at least as good as your old one.
Yeah this is definately not true. For example here is a 1GB flash card that will easily hold 500 high quality pictures for 50 dollars after rebate. 50 Dollars is what? 12-15 rolls of film at 24 pictures, that is much less than 500. Plus if you scale down the quality of the digital pics a bit you can easily get 1000+ on that card.
Will you have reliable mail service where you’re at?
What if you bought 2 or 3 flash cards and sent them one at a time to your folks for processing/downloading, and they can send them back clean when they write you back?
Wolf owes you something major for this. Hooray for Kayla’s Dad Esq!