[smart_track_player url="http://media.blubrry.com/thisweekinphoto/p/content.blubrry.com/thisweekinphoto/AAtG-038-Film.mp3" color="750102" title="Doug Shoots Film!" artist="All About the Gear" ] What's gotten into Doug? He hadn't shot a roll of film for more than 15 years, but after collecting used M-mount lenses (Leica and Voigtlander) to use with his Sony a7-family cameras, he suddenly realized, "Hey, I could buy an old Leica and try shooting film!" So he did.

Armed with a Leica M6 made in 1985, Doug has set out to see what it's like to shoot film again. Hard or easy? Is it true what they say that shooting film will improve your photographic skills by making you a more discerning and deliberate photographer? And what about all that manual stuff: f-stop, shutter speed and focusing?

Doug spent the last month shooting a half-dozen color and b&w film stocks and testing three different labs for processing and scanning. He's also acquired a used scanner and discovered a treasure trove of old negatives, some from the 1970s, stashed away in a closet. For Doug, film is both a throwback to the past and a newly discovered tool for the future.