5 Frames with a Nikon FM3a, Expired Kodak C200 Developed with AGO Film Processor

This roll of film has been chilling in my freezer for at least five years. It was given to me by my brother-in-law’s ex wife around that time. She handed me a bag of unused film that was sitting in her barn for who knows how long.  I loaded the film into my beautiful Nikon FM3a equipped with a 50mm f/1.2 lens.  The lens has sat unused for a long time.  Focusing was very loose and unreliable. I took the lens into MidState Camera in Providence for a refresh and with new grease, this workhorse is working like new.

I shot the film at ISO 80. The images were taken at Round Again Records in Warren, Rhode Island a beautifully eclectic record store. Quite a few people were noodling around on this cold winter night.

I spent a lot of time in record shops as a kid and throughout my college years.  My first album was a Led Zeppelin disc with a spinning mural on the record cover. I purchased many records from a place called “Richie’s Rip-Off” in Wakefield, Rhode Island during my time at the University of Rhode Island. All of the record covers had a small cut-out in the corner. After carting the collection around for many years from apartment to apartment then from home to home and never using them, I finally relented to my wife’s call to discard them.  I regret the decision, but it aligns with an overall intent to simplify things and thin down my possessions. My record collection is a casualty to the age of digital music.

These thoughts are why I got such a kick out of the image with the poster saying something along the lines of home taping is killing music.

Remember when digital copies of music began, and we illicitly downloaded them onto our iPods? Little did we know that process would become mainstream and transform the music industry. I still feel at home in record stores. Music remains a mainstay of my life in its digital form.

The film was home developed with Cinestill C-41 chemicals and the AGO film processor. The film stock is very very thin. The AGO is a good tool for home development and especially useful for developing color film. There is an internal thermometer that measures the temperature of the chemicals and automatically adjusts the development time according to their fluctuating temperature. One of the reasons I decided to purchase this unit was from the problem of leaking chemicals, an especially bad issue using Blix. In the past, on a roller processor I drilled a small hole in the cover of the Patterson tank to offset the effects of gassing. Nonetheless, a red mess of nasty Blix found its way out. The AGO promised a good seal from a gasket. I still got leakage, maybe from user error. Overall, the results were quite good. The unit is recommended for home development.  It is easy to use, with multiple programs for different developers, all of which are customizable.

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