Ancient Technology?

Following our recent move during the ‘unpacking of boxes and finding stuff we didn’t realise we still had’ phase (which can last years, under the right conditions), I happened upon a box labelled OLD PENTAX NON_DIGITAL CAMERA.

Inside was a Pentax P30 SLR camera with two Astron lenses – a 35-70mm zoom and a 70-210mm zoom. I purchased the camera from one of my aunties when I was in my early 20’s (I am 45 now), and used it a lot until about 2001 when it’s position of favour was usurped by one of those new fangled digital cameras – a Kodak 1.3 mega-pixel camera that cost me around $400 at the time. The Kodak has since been replaced with a Fujifilm Finepix S (10 mega pixel, 15x optical zoom, and pretty decent digital zoom).

Upon closer inspection of the camera I noticed that it was ‘on’. Although the batteries have long since run out of juice. I also noticed that the film in the camera had 10 shots already taken, and so had 14 shots left. In the box there was also another unused film. I had thought that film developing was one of those things that had gone the way of the dodo, and the LP Record (remember those?), and leaded petrol. But upon some investigation I found that there is a shop in the regional city nearest us (about 45 minutes away). Hmmm. I’m getting a hankerin’ for some good old fashioned film photography…