Noticed everyone at the swap meet last month calling 35mm film 'slides' when they meant negatives

I mean, I get it's an easy mistake if you're new to film cameras, but there's actually a big difference in how you store and project them. I spent 10 minutes explaining to a guy why his old Kodachrome slides wouldn't fit in his negative scanner. He kept saying 'but they look the same to me' and I didn't know where to start. Has anyone else run into people mixing up film formats at these events?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathan_hill601mo ago

Ran into a guy at the camera club swap who swore his 110 cartridges would fit a standard 35mm projector. Took me a solid five minutes just to find the right words to explain why he was about to break something expensive. It's rough out there for folks just getting into film, but man, you gotta learn the basics before you start buying gear.

emery8791mo ago

Totally hear you @nathan_hill60 and yeah that’s a rough one, but idk, I kind of see it a little different. Half the fun of this hobby is making dumb mistakes and learning from them, you know? That guy’s probably gonna remember not to mix up 110 and 35mm a lot better than if someone just told him. I mean, yeah it sucks when you almost break something, but half the people getting into film right now are doing it because they saw some cool Instagram pics, not because they studied the manual first. As long as he didn't actually wreck the projector, it’s just a story he’ll laugh about later.