A few days ago, Lee Morris wrote up a story about fellow Fstoppers Writer Andrew Richardson's unfortunate circumstance after he came back to the first home he purchased just three weeks before Hurricane Harvey hit only to see it completely flooded. A contractor told him it would cost at least $50,000 to repair the home that Andrew had already started remodeling with his wife, Desiree, to make it their own. We're a photography website, so it seems only fitting for me to try and help by letting you rent film cameras through Film Objektiv while helping Andrew at the same time.
Andrew and Desiree had just bought their home and didn't think they needed flood insurance, as the area hadn't flooded in 40 years. What they didn't know was that the storm that would break the record for rainfall in the continental United States was just three weeks away.
While you can donate directly through GoFundMe, I would also like to extend a way for people to enjoy the pleasure of film photography and the pleasure of helping a fellow photographer, a husband, a wife, and a team get back into the home they worked so hard to get in the first place.
Film Objektiv is still small and is even still in beta, but it's growing quickly. Through this business, I rent 35mm, medium-format, large-format, and panoramic film cameras at amazing prices for one and two-month periods so people can enjoy shooting an entire project with them.
Right now, until September 15, a portion of the proceeds for any rental order made through the site for any time period will go directly to help Andrew and Desiree rebuild their home — no middleman, nothing in between... just one check sent directly to them.
In order to help move the process along, we'd also like to announce and offer some new equipment that will be on the site shortly, but isn't yet. First, we will be offering a Nikonos V 35mm underwater camera kit. In addition, there will be a single-lens Pentax 67 kit added to our current four-lens kit for a more affordable medium-format SLR that's perfect if you're just starting out in the format.
Finally, we are happy to announce that we will soon be offering 35mm positive/negative color and black-and-white film scans. Rolls will begin at $15 for approximately 6,000 x 4,000-pixel scans and $9 for approximately 3,000 x 2,000-pixel scans with options for quantity discounts and JPEG or TIFF output. Scanning should be up and running before the end of this month.
We will make future scanning credits and the new cameras available as soon as possible on the website, but until then, if there's something listed here but not yet online, please don't hesitate to email us for custom ordering until the website is ready with that product.
We were not going to announce these new cameras or film scanning until the end of this month, but we're pulling out all the stops to help Andrew get back to stability as soon as possible. So if you've been thinking of trying out film or of trying out that awesome Hasselblad XPAN, now's the time. To clarify, this is good for any order made in the next two weeks. That means you can reserve your camera months ahead of time while still helping Andrew right now.
We have over two-dozen models available to try out. Prices start at $40 for one month with one-way shipping included, and there are no deposits required for any camera under $50 per month. For more expensive equipment, we can accept a certificate of insurance from your photography insurance company in lieu of a deposit.
Head over to Film Objektiv and check out. Whether it's through a film camera rental, a future scanning credit, or the GoFundMe page, we hope you'll do what you can to help support Andrew.
One more surprise: we're currently including one roll Kodak T-Max 100 or 400 with every 35mm camera order until supplies last. Read about it on our site or ask us about it anytime.
A fantastic idea! Hmmm - I'm about to rent several lens... (HINT to the lens rental companies...)
Nice sentiment. However, if Hurricane Katrina is an indicator, Uncle Sam is about to make this guy (and almost every other primary residence homeowner) whole.
I know there were quite a few payouts to help, but I am sure most of the Katrina victims would beg to differ that they were "made whole." And you never know when FEMA will ask for the little money they did give out to be returned down the road.... Add to this that their effectiveness and response has often been lacking and slow, and all of a sudden counting on the government is something I wouldn't trust is worthwhile or effective.
Aside from likely rare circumstances, FEMA's payouts do not make people whole. Average payouts are in the mid-thousdands-of-dollars, and some are structured as loans that need repayment with interest... Given the cash FEMA has, there's no way they could make everyone whole again even if they wanted to — not even close.
Would you mind defining "a portion of the proceeds" more precisely. [Note to the wise: "100%" is the only legitimate answer if you don't want to be perceived as using the misery of others as a marketing opportunity.]
BTW, I live in coastal Mississippi, work in New Orleans, and OWNED a rental property in coastal Southeast Louisiana.
It's a hefty portion. Our margins are already rather slim, as we're just trying to get more people shooting film. But there are different expenses for different items that also depend on shipping, location of the item and the recipient, repairs, etc. So rather than get into the complexities of the varying margins and other complexities, I thought I'd leave it a bit more open-ended, but still honest. I, nor Film Objektiv as a company, won't be making anything on the sales that benefit Andrew. I hope that helps clarify the situation. Andrew is a friend and a fellow writer, here, that I just want to help as much as possible. I also ran this by him. This isn't easy for anyone, but hopefully this serves as just another way to encourage people to give, too.
A good pitch man can sell ice cream to an eskimo. And make them feel warm and fuzzy eating it. We need to drive our business so instead of a discount we will call it a donation. This way we can profit from the Texas disaster and make us look great at the same time. Of course people could donate directly and more of the money goes to those that need it. But every body needs to make something from the disaster