During the COVID travel restrictions, I have had a bit more time on my hands to work on some personal projects. I decided to go back to my photography roots and shoot photos with film. I have used 35mm film cameras in the past but wanted a bit of adventure so I picked up a used medium format Fuji GW690II from eBay and got to work.

The Fuji GW690II is a rather basic, but large rangefinder camera. It is a fully manual camera with no electronics whatsoever. The camera is paired with the EBC Fujinon, 90mm f/3.5 lens, which is extremely sharp and capable of delivering some stunning photographs.

The downside of using the GW690II is that it gets expensive quite quickly. Each roll of 120 film produces only eight photos per roll so I’m rediscovering the art of slowing down and seeing the composition before pushing the shutter button.

For this outing, I decided to load the GW690II with some Kodak Ektar 100 film. It’s the first time I’ve shot Ektar 100 film and therefore had no idea what to expect. Kodak Ektar is known for its minimal grain and color saturation. Despite it being a bit of a cloudy morning here in Portland, Oregon my expectations were high.

On my way home I dropped off my film at Blue Moon Camera in North Portland to have it developed. A week later I picked up my negatives and headed home with uncertainty wondering how the roll turned out, if I over or underexposed the images, or my biggest fear, if I shot a completely blank roll. To my surprise, all eight images looked pretty good with some better than others. Here are the images from my first experience with Kodak Ektar 100.

Camera gear used

Cameras: Fujifilm GW690II
Lenses: Fujinon 90mm
Film: Kodak Ektar 100