Oh, this one will be a love-hate doozy. I love shooting Kodak Gold, but I hate shooting it in a point-and-shoot camera or – what is more colloquially called – an idiot. Which can, coincidentally, be said about me as well because what else would you call a person that deliberately chooses to pick the one camera they hate shooting with?
This month’s combo – Nikon AF240SV /Fun•Touch 6 with Kodak Gold 200.
A bit about the camera
In photography, like in life, there are idiots and idiots, point-and-shoots and point-and-shoots. This one is the latter. A point-and-shoot. An idiot. In the full sense of the word(s). You put the film in, close it, and it works. The lens is 28mm, it’s designed to use 100 or 400 ISO only (ISO 200 will be coded as a 100), it has a flash, an auto-timer, and a focus lock (>1m). That’s about it. If you pay attention, you can get decent images. But only just. It’s also very light, and for someone who – as a general rule – mostly uses old, metal cameras which are quite heavy, shooting with this thing is a little bizarre. In my opinion, b/w film works much better under these conditions – not a lot of maneuvering space, that is – than color. B/w is forgiving, color finds every flaw and enhances it. That, on top of the bizarro world of having a feather-light camera in hand, is the main reason why I very much don’t like to shoot color in point-and-shoots. As always, a me problem.
All in all, Nikon AF240SV is…a camera. There’s not much more to say.
A bit about the film
As stated on Kodak’s official page, Kodak Gold 200 “is a versatile, medium-speed, daylight-balanced color negative film designed for everyday photography. It delivers fine grain, vibrant color saturation and sharp detail, with reliable and consistent color reproduction across a range of lighting conditions“. And yes, they’re right. Gold is the film. Similar to how gray tabbies are commonly called ‘standard issue cats’, Gold is a ‘standard issue film’. Nice colors, nice grain, easy to scan, versatile, both warm and cold, depending on your preference. Truly, the film. My second favorite Kodak one – with wonderful Ektar 100 being the first.
Take care, and I’ll see you soon.
