There were a lot of good things about film, before digital cameras robbed us of its many joys.
There were those small, round, waterproof containers films came in, which had so many other uses.
There was also the pleasant tactile sensation associated with fitting the perforations on to the camera's spool, opening up the little winding handle and rolling it on.
Oh, the joy.
Sadly, as National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry says: "All good things must come to an end".
National Geographic channel's Nat Geo's Most Amazing Photos, despite the silly name, is a useful diversion for those interested in photography. This Friday's episode (7.30pm) follows McCurry as he embarks on the sort of journey most budding snappers would give their eye teeth for.
He takes what the show claims is the last roll of Kodachrome film off the Kodak production line and ventures across New York before shooting away to India to take National Geographic-style pictures of people and places.
He also takes a quick jaunt to Rajasthan to capture portraits of remote farming villages.
It's all very National Geographic.
Steve is very good, if you like that sort of thing, and finds colourful Indian types wearing colourful Indian garments to take pictures of.
In New York, he goes to Times Square, the Manhattan Bridge and Grand Central Station, then takes pictures of Robert De Niro. Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese were out of town.
It's a little like the New York version of nipping down to the Dunedin Railway Station, then taking a picture of the Town Hall.
We don't have a Robert De Niro.
Back to the subject at hand, Kodak apparently stopped making the film in 2009, which escaped my notice, probably due to the fact nobody actually uses film any more.
McCurry, whose bio modestly notes his photography "captures the essence of human struggle and joy", has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1986.
Despite the episode being something of an ode to film, he takes a digital camera along to make sure the 36 shots available on the precious last film come off. And the 36 he took are clearly not his first, - he estimates he has 800,000 slides tucked away in his office.
Just to add to the sense of lost history, the developing machine jams and has to be restarted with a swift thump as the film winds through.
I've tried that many times with computers, but it doesn't work.
Further highlights for the photographically minded on Most Amazing Photos include Stephen Alvarez, renowned for his cave pictures, taking pictures beneath the streets of Paris. Later in June, Nick Nichols photographs elephants.
Snap.
