(gentle serene music)
(camera shutter clicking)
- So check it out.
Here I'm in Tokyo, Japan.
It's actually been 19 years since I came here last.
I am Japanese, I grew up coming here a lot.
I remember it being fun coming here as a kid.
I came here with Dylan and my friend Michael.
But now coming here as an adult,
I just appreciate so much more.
Now, in the spirit of feeling all this nostalgia,
one of the things I've been seeing a lot here
are film camera stores, like vintage cameras.
And I've actually never shot film.
I was around it quite a bit as a kid,
'cause my dad's a photographer,
and he always had them laying around.
And I might've like snapped a shot or two with it.
But I've never really gone through the whole process
of having a film camera, feeding the film in,
and then like developing it and all that stuff.
So I kinda wanna try that while I'm here.
I have this buddy Toshi, who used to live here,
and he used to shoot film.
So I hit him up to see what he recommends for a camera,
and it turns out he's in Tokyo also.
Toshi Pi.
- Hey.
- Why do you shoot film when there's digital sensors?
- The shooting film is completely different
because you just don't like really burst shooting,
and then just get like whatever you can capture.
But you actually focus and capture the moment.
- Will you help me pick out my first film camera?
- Let's do it. - Okay.
There's a store called 2nd Base,
and they've got film cameras here.
- They have like amazing selections.
- I think it's something just basic, just to get going.
How old are these cameras?
- [Store Sales Person] 1964, the year of Tokyo Olympics.
- Oh really, I don't really know what I'm looking at,
but it, yeah, it looks cool, feels good.
Yeah, it sounds nice, I mean I like it.
Let's just start with this.
(speaking in foreign language)
I just need some film, right?
That's cool having all these samples in here.
Huge shout out to the staff by the way.
Definitely makes the whole process a lot easier
when you're with people that know
what they're talking about.
The process is pretty straightforward from loading the film
to getting everything set up and ready to go.
But you definitely don't want to make any mistakes.
Yeah, simple enough.
- Capsule toy. - Oh, it's like
a surprise roll, that's kinda fun.
Fun, I wanna do it.
(vending machine turning and grinding)
Black and white.
I love how there's vending machines for everything out here.
- So if you don't wanna talk to people,
and wanna purchase some weird stuff,
then you can basically get it.
(both laughing)
- So you really have to commit to a lot with film.
You can't just like take one shot,
and then change the ISO, and then take another shot,
and then change the white balance.
- Oh check this out. (laughing)
- Tokyo's such a fun spot.
It's like when you have film ,
it's like you don't wanna waste it, you know?
It's like every shot is precious.
- Yeah, you kind of have to waste some of the rolls
and figure it out.
What type of setting you like.
- Three, two, one.
(camera clicking)
I took a photo with film.
I'm like trying to review the shot right now.
It's like, oh wait, I gotta wait.
- You're looking forward to seeing the photos that you took?
Sometimes you get disappointed, I'm not gonna lie.
(both laughing)
But just one photo comes out perfectly, that you imagine,
that makes your day.
What would you recommend to people who came to Japan
for the first time.
- Drink on street.
- Drinking on the street,
all right, I guess we're doing that.
(upbeat music)
Hey Toshi, can you tell us what Tokyo meltdown is.
- In Japan, some people drink whole night, get fucked up,
(both laughing)
they're gonna sleep on the street. (laughing heartily)
- So you go around taking pictures
of people that have gotten-
- Not go around, we just see.
We can see everywhere in Tokyo, and really here.
So Japan's crazy in a way that they work really hard,
but they also party really, really hard as well.
- Hello YouTube. (laughing)
- [Gene] Do you shoot film?
- No, no, past time.
- Don't blink.
- Three.
What is it to be like to be a videographer in Tokyo?
What's the difficulty?
- Carrying cameras by train? (laughing)
Yeah, two (mumbles).
- It's unusual to have a car in Tokyo,
so you have to take a train.
- [Gene] How do you say Gimbal in Japanese?
- (speaking in foreign language)
- [Gene] What about Sachtler?
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Gene] What do you do?
- I'm doing video editing for TV program, NHK.
- Companies have like a sleeping room where you can sleep,
wake up, and you know, work again.
- [Gene] Wait, you have a sleeping room at your job?
- It's like hostel.
(all laughing)
- [Toshi] Three, two, one.
(upbeat music)
(camera clicking)
I can't roll the film anymore,
so I guess I'm finished shooting my very first roll of film.
Honestly, I had a ton of fun doing it.
I don't even wanna tell you how many of these shots
I know I completely overexposed.
It's like a little needle on the side goes up and down
based on your exposure,
but you actually have to like activate it.
So there's a couple times where I'm like,
eh, it's close enough.
And I just took it and I realized the meter wasn't on.
I'm also not a hundred percent confident
in my manual focusing skills.
I'll say it's so satisfying every time I take a picture,
like yeah, it's listen.
(camera clicking)
Like from a logical perspective
it just makes so much more sense to just shoot
on a digital camera.
But from an emotional standpoint
it's like I'm way more excited
to see how these photos are gonna turn out.
So today's gonna be rainy and gloomy,
so I'm not getting any like rich colors out of today anyway,
so I kind of wanna just go ahead
and just run it black and white today.
And I love the idea
that this is just kind of like a randomized roll of film.
Lemme go ahead and start off this roll with a photo of you.
(camera clicks)
Means I'm gonna go out for a little Tokyo outing,
and I think it's kind of fun
that you could actually take this microphone
and just slide it into the cold shoe, just like that.
So I think I'm just gonna go with just this.
It's kind of like a photo journal vlog maybe.
I don't know, let's see.
All right, it is 5:23 AM on a Sunday morning,
just right outside my hotel in Shibuya.
It is very lively out here.
Why am I up at this hour?
Well, I'm jet lagged out of my mind.
I believe we get pretty good dynamic rain.
So I think I'm gonna go slightly overexposed
just because of how much energy there is.
You know, I'm enjoying this.
Oh man, we have like rainbow stairs,
now realizing I'm shooting in black and white.
What do you think of this format?
Is it pretty boring?
Because the visuals aren't changing fast enough,
or is it interesting?
'Cause sometimes I feel like slower is better.
- [Camera Owner] So how many megapixels? (laughing)
A million megapixels.
Oh this feels good though.
Here's a timer right here.
- [Gene] Self timer in a film camera.
Yeah, I had no idea that film cameras have film timers.
- [Camera Owner] That's like a ten second timer,
it seems probably.
This is exactly like my grandfather's camera.
It feels the same.
- [Gene] I'm gonna be using the Kodak UltraMax 400.
- 400.
- [Gene] I've come to Osaka
to join our friends, Frank and Ralph.
There's a guy beatboxing over there.
- Let me take a shot, you stand over there.
Don't look at the camera brother.
Don't look at the camera. - Don't look at the camera.
- [Camera Owner] Remember, you're minding your own business.
- [Gene] Okay fine.
Oh damn, I already went through half the roll. (chuckling)
- [Camera Owner] So each roll is like a SD card.
- It actually kind of is, it's one time use.
I can really see the appeal of street photography.
You know, it's kind of like it's an excuse to walk,
which is fun, and then just observe the world around you.
So this is Fukusima-ku,
which is actually where my mom's side of the family is from.
Huge thank you to DGI for sponsoring this episode
and green lighting this trip out here,
so I can come here and get in touch with my ancestry.
All right, my first time flying a drone in Japan.
(flowing trombone music)
Pretty trippy, just being out here,
like this is all so foreign to me.
But I feel like everyone's like a distant cousin here.
(chuckling) For traveling, my Mini 4 Pro
kind of seems to be my go-to.
Since I'm coming from the U.S.
going through Canada and Mexico,
it's just way easier if the drone is under 250 grams.
Japan in particular,
it doesn't really have that 250 gram limit,
as long as you register in advance.
But I'm trying to travel like a minimalist on this trip
so I literally just have a backpack
and a carry-on suitcase, and that's it.
But if I were to do a check-in item
and had more space though,
I probably would've come with something a little bit bigger.
The benefits of the Air 3
is of course I have the wide angle lens like I have now,
but I would also have a 3X lens,
so that would make it so I could get some nice closeups.
But from there we get more serious with the Mavic 3 Pro,
which has three lenses, and also an aperture
that you can adjust on that wide angle lens,
while the Air 3 and Mini 4 have a lock Iris.
Flagship of these are the Mavic 3 Pro Cine,
which there is a price jump,
but it also records in ProRes Codex.
So I've been able to use it on more professional shoots
like that Lexus shoot we did.
Of course we were mostly using
the Inspire 3 4 Dual operation in full frame.
But when we were short on time,
it's awesome to be able to just throw that Mavic 3 Pro up
and still get ProRes and D-Log.
I like how this episode's about me
trying out some old vintage cameras,
and then all of a sudden
I just cut to some of the most advanced technology
where the camera flies.
Thanks again to DGI for sponsoring this episode.
Links in the description for my favorite drones,
as well as this Pocket 3 and Mic 2,
which is kind of my ultra portable travel setup.
All right, now we're on ISO 200,
and we're about to hop onto a (speaking in foreign language)
or I guess what you would call a bullet train.
It feels good to take a picture.
It's like one picture at a time,
and you have to take your time, I like it.
I loaded up ISO 200 film today and now it is dark.
So now I'm stuck on this ISO 200.
I think I got like six more shots left.
- [Toshi] So cool.
- [Gene] Might as well just take him slow shutter
and just see what we get.
I have a feeling that an 8 shutter
is just gonna come out way too blurry.
I don't have very steady hands.
Alright, so I've gone ahead and loaded up the 1600 ISO now,
it makes you appreciate digital,
how easy it's to switch everything.
I think one of the reasons
why I really enjoyed shooting with this camera
is because it's kind of that less is more mentality.
You know, I actually haven't seen
any of the film developed yet,
so what if I go back and develop it all
and it's all just totally messed up?
Which is definitely a possibility,
and that would definitely make me hate
shooting on film forever.
Never touch this (beep) again. (laughing)
I don't know, I think it's part of what makes it exciting,
because I never get this excited
or emotionally attached to photos before.
Again, I'm not much of a photographer,
I'm much more of a video guy.
So the fact that I'm actually really excited
about taking photos, is new to me, honestly.
My friend said don't put this
through the x-ray at the airport security.
So I'll hand this to them separately,
and get back home and process 'em.
All right, so now I finally made it back home
with my beautiful fiance.
I miss you very much.
This is where you say you missed me too.
- No.
- Also got the film developed.
It's cool that you get the film negative back
knowing that like this was there at that moment.
So here it is, the very first photo.
- [Carrie] That's the first photo
that you've ever taken on a film camera?
- Very underexposed.
Oh, see this actually looks like in focus almost.
Look at those manual focusing skills.
I feel like- - Hey look, it's you.
You're in that photo. (laughing)
- That's me on the bottom left right there?
- Yeah. (laughing)
What I like about these is,
I feel like it really like encapsulates the vibe.
- This feels very nostalgic,
like photos I used to take when I was younger.
And I don't know if it's the tangible aspect of it,
that you can like hold it, or if it's just what film does.
- [Gene] And even just like when they are out of focus,
it's still funny.
I don't know, it just kind of gives it character.
- I love all the lights and bouquet,
and stuff that's in the background.
- Yeah, it's fun.
There's such a richness out of these colors.
That was the Tokyo Meltdown guy we saw.
I'm actually really impressed
with how much detail we're able to see in those light bulbs
behind her head right there.
And I remember thinking like,
this is just gonna be blown out the left side of the frame,
but I wanted to see what it looks like.
- [Carrie] Mr. Frank.
- Frank lugged that big ass suitcase all over Japan,
and on the last day he's like,
"This suitcase is too big, I'm ditching it."
And he left it in his hotel room.
I'm actually curious about these shots,
'cause this is the higher ISO, the 1600 Midnight film,
but basically I didn't use it all at night.
So now I just have it during the day.
So I'm probably gonna see a lot of grain characteristics
but he just has so much character.
It feels like there's a story behind this.
You're a film guy.
- I am a film guy.
I just love the way it looks, and the process is great.
The part of the art form that is being lost.
- [Gene] How long have you been shooting film?
- Like seven years.
- Do you develop your own film ever?
- [Film Guy] I started out developing my own film.
- [Gene] Is it worth it, or is it a pain?
- It depends, 'cause if you're in it for the art form,
do it, it's so fulfilling.
- But there's a lot to it, like you can go all in,
like it's a deep rabbit hole.
- And I did.
- It feels like FPV where it's a slippery slope.
- I know. - Like you take a few shots
on film and you fall in love with it,
and then you just go all the way down.
What camera would you recommend as my next film camera?
'Cause I like this, I just,
I find it really hard to focus with this thing.
- It's super hard.
I think in some of the more like Pro level cameras,
they have interchangeable focusing screens.
You pop the viewfinder off, you take the screen out.
Nikon Fs, F2s, F3s,
I know you could do that with.
- That's sturdy.
- Yeah, it feels good, huh?
So this is a 1964 camera.
- It's like reloading like a bolt action rifle.
- I know, right?
It feels like very mechanical.
(camera clicks)
Oh nice. - Oh yeah.
- Feels very analog.
- All right, check it out.
I think this is a super efficient setup here.
Got multi-cam and three mics.
Probably got the black and white photos developed.
I guess they need like a different chemical,
so I have to get it done at a different spot.
You ever shoot like 35 mm film?
- No, I don't think so.
- It's pretty fun.
Carrie's actually kind of getting into it a little bit too.
Your first photo on film.
- I don't think I was sitting still enough though.
- [Gene] It's okay, how did it feel?
- It was kind of a rush. (laughing)
- [Gene] Right, yeah.
- Usually we talk about like dogs or antiquing,
and then this thing, she's like, I wanna to get an Nikon.
- The FM2 N, Year of the Dog edition,
they only made 300 of these cameras.
- But it's like a special edition,
and it's like $5,000 or something.
When it comes to film, I feel like cameras are cheap.
Like this one was like 200 bucks or something.
But then the film adds up pretty fast.
- Still cheaper than FPV.
- A roll is what, 10 to 15 bucks,
and then processing it is another 10 to 15 bucks,
and then scanning is like a few more bucks on top of that.
So I feel like you're roughly about a dollar per photo.
- Where'd you get it developed?
Did you take it somewhere online or like in person?
- No, there's actually a decent amount
of like places that develop it.
And actually while we were getting these shots processed,
there was this lady there that had all these negatives
that were like decades old,
and she hasn't seen these photos before.
So she was there getting it developed.
It reminds you how old this technology is,
like something that's just been around
for so long, you know?
I've always wanted to shoot film,
but it's just always been kind of expensive.
I feel like a lot of people
that went to film school got to shoot film.
- Not me. (laughing)
- You didn't ever shoot film in your school?
- My degree was specifically in television production,
so that was all digital.
- I really got into it in the era of Mini DV.
And during that time it's like, yeah,
shooting on Mini DV was like way more economical.
- Dude, I bet your dad has like a lot of these.
- I'm actually gonna go see him in a week or so,
and I wanted to just ask him about all these old cameras,
that he has laying around.
So I wanna do a follow up episode to this now.
- Maybe we should all get like a camera
from a different era.
I'll get something from like, I don't know, the '20s,
where you have to hold the little flash like this,
and go like (mouth tishing)
- [Gene] Oh, that would be funny, yeah.
So there's this Bolex that's at the house
that Carrie got me.
- [Carrie] Your 30th birthday.
It was the first year we were dating.
- [Gene] And I'm like, I don't know how to use it,
but it's cool decoration.
- I thought it was a prop this whole time.
I didn't know it was real.
- Oh thank you, but I don't know how to use it.
So maybe that could be another episode
is us getting it to work.
I feel like there's a certain romance with film,
that I don't quite get with digital.
- I think it's the time and effort that it takes.
- But on top of that,
I do think that there is a certain look that it has,
because while I was shooting on film,
Toshi had this Fuji film,
which has the film emulations, right?
So it's kind of like a digital emulation of film.
We took a lot of photos at the same spot.
To me, like the Fuji Films film emulation,
it looked like digital
that was trying to look like film still.
Like I feel like there's like a certain softness to film.
And maybe that's just the camera lens or whatever,
but there's like a certain characteristic
that I really like.
But that might just be me trying to justify the fact
that I'm spending a dollar per photo.
- That's probably it too.
- I don't know, there's something to it,
that is like more than just like artsy fartsy.
Look at me, I'm shooting film.
But yeah, I think that pretty much wraps it up
for this episode.
But let us know in the comments
what you want us to explore next.
- Add film, hang on.
- Who uses film?
We've had digital cameras for a thousand years.
- Digital, (spitting) no digital camera
can capture the warmth and grain of good old film.
- How can you even tell?
Your eyes are digital cameras.