I used to shoot a lot of film. When I finally discovered the joy of Fujifilm cameras, with their incredible JPEG output, I practically stopped using analog cameras—not entirely, mind you, but almost. It was 25 years ago this upcoming fall (I cannot believe I’m that old…) that I began shooting film, yet I never once figured out a good storage system for my film canisters.

At the pinnacle of my analog adventures, you’d find a half-dozen or so unused film canisters in the refrigerator, another handful in the fridge exposed and waiting development, and another handful stuffed into various pockets of my camera bag, waiting for their chance in the camera. I wasn’t nearly prolific enough to have hundreds of rolls of film in the refrigerator or freezer, but I was a regular at my local lab, buying more film once every week or two. Despite all of the film coming and going for years, not once did I ever have a good system for it. My wife once complained about all of the film in the fridge because it was in the way of the food.

The good folks at Evergreen Cases, who happen to be big fans of Fujifilm cameras and Film Simulation Recipes, sent me a Seahorse X Waterproof 35mm Film Canister Case (with the Fuji X Weekly logo printed on it!). Where was this 25 years ago? If I had had two of these cases, my film could have been a lot more organized. I would have had one case for the refrigerator, where film-in-waiting (either to be exposed or developed) would be stored, and a case in my bag, for the film waiting for its turn in the camera. Now that I shoot a lot less film, one case is enough for me. Film is extremely expensive nowadays, so I’m glad that I use Fujifilm cameras for the vast majority of my photography.

This article doesn’t have much to do with the usual topics of this website, so—to bring it back home real quick—let me tell you a little about the two photographs above, which (admittedly) are nothing special. I used my Fujifilm X-T5 with the Kodak Portra 400 v2 Film Simulation Recipe to capture them. With Fujifilm cameras and recipes, I’m able to quickly and easily snap pictures that are ready to share—whether on social media or this website or with friends and family—the moment that they’re captured. No waiting for the lab. No sitting in front of a computer fiddling with files. Eliminating that second step is revolutionary—at least that’s what Ansel Adams said.