EP260: I Tried to Quit. It Didn't Work. — Olympus Mju I 35mm f3.5 with Kodak Portra 400

Roll #260

Film: Kodak Portra 400
Developed & scanned: DEP Lab, 2025/6/6
Camera: Olympus Mju I 35mm f3.5

Sponsored by Mr. Chiang in Chiang Mai (Thai Wonder Travel).

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Ever since I started seriously thinking about putting this blog on hiatus, I told myself I'd use all that freed-up time to write a book. But once I actually had one foot out the door, I realized quitting is a lot harder than it sounds.

To be clear, I'm not stopping because I've fallen out of love with photography. It's more that I can't stand the never-ending backlog. Shooting a roll takes me two or three days. Writing a post takes at least a week. So the pile just keeps growing, and that weight hanging over me is something I genuinely can't stand. That's what planted the seed of stopping in the first place.

If I was going to quit, I figured I'd switch to digital — because shooting digital doesn't come with that same obligation to write. At first it seemed like a clean solution, and I even found the right camera for it: the OM System TG-7. With a few tweaks to the default settings, it can produce images that actually feel like film. For me, that means grain — real texture in the image — not the smeared, painterly look you get from most digital cameras.

When I turn off both the Noise Filter and Noise Reduction on the TG-7 and shoot at ISO 1600, I get a natural grain that feels nothing like artificially added noise in post. It's the grain the sensor itself produces, and it looks right. The catch is that the TG-7 tops out at 1/2000s, so running ISO 1600 full-time means blowing out anything shot in direct sunlight. My workaround is two custom modes: ISO 1600 for indoors, ISO 800 for outdoors.

For the film look, the TG-7 has an Instax-style filter built in — but the default auto white balance is all over the place and rarely looks anything like actual film. You have to dial in a custom color temperature, usually on the cooler side, to get somewhere close. So my final setup pairs those two ISO presets with custom white balance: ISO 1600 at 3500K indoors, ISO 800 at 5000K outdoors. The annoying part is that you still have to check and adjust the white balance every time you turn the camera on — there's no single setting that works everywhere.

It worked. The TG-7 became my digital film companion, and with a black diffusion filter added on, the night shots looked stunning — honestly better than shooting actual film in some situations. But even with all those film-like qualities, I never felt the urge to treasure those photos. Film is film. Digital is digital. That line is real to me.

I've come to realize that the act of shooting film means more to me than the photos themselves.

Can I actually quit? I'm still not sure. Let me sit with it a little longer.

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This roll was shot during the period when I had a torn ligament in my right shoulder. As I'm writing this, it still hasn't fully healed — I'm still wearing a sling during the day to keep my arm immobilized. Back then I couldn't carry a bag either, so the camera lived in my left pants pocket. The Olympus Mju I's design made it easy to shoot one-handed with my left hand, so every single photo in this roll was taken that way. A strange constraint, but an interesting one. Finding the fun in a rough situation.

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#1
The first time I truly understood why priority seating matters for people with limited mobility — especially on buses, which are so much bumpier than you'd think.

 

#2
I've started using AI in my blog workflow — though only for organizing photo numbering in posts. Before, I had to paste each image one by one, number it, add spacing, repeat. Now I just hand it off and it's done. A small thing, but it saves a surprising amount of time.

 

#3
With my right hand out of commission, typing one-handed with my left was painfully slow, so I started using voice input. This microphone is a Yeti X I bought years ago for podcasting — it had been collecting dust ever since, but the injury brought it back into service.

 

#4
Bus fares seem to have barely moved, while bubble tea and chicken cutlets have basically doubled. Interesting priorities.

 

#5
Riding the bus to the household registration office to take care of some paperwork for the family — swaying the whole way there with one arm in a sling.

 

#6
After leaving the registration office, I hopped another bus to get a haircut. This is the after.

 

#7
A six-year-old deep in concentration, building Lego.

 

#8
Today's build: Lego Ninjago 71837.

 

#9
Feel free to try shooting left-handed sometime — just don't drop your camera.

 

#10
Just wrapped up a client visit. Documenting the fact that even with an injured hand, I still showed up — no sick days taken.

 

#11
This Asahi can is genuinely great — the top opens completely, so you can actually drink it like a proper glass. Whoever designed that deserves a raise.

 

#12
One thing I forgot to mention: shooting left-handed is actually great for selfies. Your left index finger falls right on the shutter button without any awkward repositioning.

 

#13
Me on the right, my son on the left.

 

#14
A day trip back to Taichung.

 

#15
The Olympus Mju I struggles to focus in low light at night.

 

#16
Driving back up north — I was in the passenger seat, obviously.

 

#17
Heading to Taipei Main Station by train for a book club meetup.

 

#18
I keep meaning to look up what that concrete block hanging device is on the right side of the frame, but I never know where to even start searching.

 

#19
Sometimes I try to recreate a framing I've shot before and loved — it almost never works out. My favorite version of this angle was shot on the Konica Big Mini F 35mm f2.8.

 

#20
Book club — the faces change a little every month.

 

#21
Shooting straight into the sunset.

 

#22
High contrast is film's weak spot. This one probably would've worked better as a vertical.

 

#23
Some wildflowers spotted on a hike. I've noticed the Olympus Mju I's bokeh isn't as smooth as the Konica Big Mini BM-301 — there's a slightly jittery, almost trembling quality to it.

 

#24
We actually went hiking at Fuyuan Trail that day — injured shoulder and all — hoping to spot some rhinoceros beetles. Not a single one. Too early in the season. This dragonfly passed through and I tried to get a close shot, but the focus missed.

 

That's the full roll — Olympus Mju I 35mm f3.5 paired with Kodak Portra 400. Thanks for reading!

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A big thank you to our sponsor, Mr. Chiang in Chiang Mai (Thai Wonder Travel)!