Do you Ever Shoot with Film?
I had one of those ‘I feel old’ moments last week when I was going through one of my old camera bags and out dropped an old film canister with an unused film in it.
My son (who is almost 6) was with me and asked me what it was. He was not satisfied with a ‘it’s film’ answer and I spent the next 15 minutes (and have spent quite a bit of time since) trying to explain what this ‘film’ thing is and why it would have anything to do with taking photos.
A new generation of photographers is emerging who have never shot with film.
Yet at the same time I’ve noticed something of a resurgence in the interest in old film cameras and shooting with it. A whole range of blogs have sprung up on the topic (one of my personal favorites is Japan Camera Hunter) and I keep coming across more and more photographers who are investing in classic film cameras and who are moving back to it as their primary medium.
So – lets do the poll. Do you ever Shoot with Film?
Please expand a little upon your answer in comments below.
If you answer ‘No’ – how long has it been since you shot with film (if at all).
If you answer ‘Yes’ – how long have you been shooting with film? Is it something you’ve come back to or did you never stop?
155 Responses to “Do you Ever Shoot with Film?” - Add Yours
May 15th, 2012 at 12:29 am
While I shot on film in the “early days” I’ve not shot exclusively with film since 1998 or so. Before, I shot with film for hobby, and self. I’ve shot professionally on digital since around 2003/2004. I used a Canon 10D at first, and have moved up since then.
Between 1999 and 2003, I shot digital, but it was more family snap shots with an early digital camera (One of the first Kodak 1.2MP cameras). There was still some film during that time, but it was being used less and less.
May 15th, 2012 at 12:35 am
It’s probably been about 10 years since I had a film camera. I still have a crate of old photos, I’ll have to scan them in eventually, some day. But, no, I don’t plan on taking any more film photos.
Then again, digital can be dangerous. I’ve lost photos in the past, which is why I now have my photos backed up on 3 different hard drives.
May 15th, 2012 at 12:37 am
I answered NO, and I must have some 10 years since the last time I shot with film… And I’m being conservative…
May 15th, 2012 at 12:41 am
My film use stopped in or around 1998. I shot 120 in the eighties, and 35mm in the nineties.
May 15th, 2012 at 12:41 am
The only time I’ve shot with film was before our family ever got a digital camera. I was about 4 or 5 and my grandma got me a disposable camera for a vacation. I can’t really see why anyone would want to go back now that digital is around…
May 15th, 2012 at 12:42 am
I kind of shoot only with film but not on a regular basis. I have a digital camera for stuff that does not require much thought like parties etc.
May 15th, 2012 at 12:45 am
Film is a great way to teach inexperienced digital photographers to slow down, think about your background, your frame/framing and DoF. Film whether done by yourself start to finish or C-41/E-6 will help you avoid the pitfalls of spray and pray and will teach you about being patient for a shot and how to use existing light.
Film and digital compliment each other and no matter how good you are at Post, you can never replicate B&W values digitally which are available from high quality pan films such as Tri-X and the like.
Try this: Shoot film, try a C-41 process film such as Kodak BWCN400 and take it to Costco, they’ll make your negatives in 20 minutes for $1.35. Scan them into your PP software with a negative scanner and work with them there. Mingle the two worlds, it opens a fun 3rd dimension to photography.
May 15th, 2012 at 12:45 am
In the past 4 months, I’ve drifted to about 50%. After accidentally buying some manual focus lenses on ebay, I said “what the heck,” and bought an old manual focus body to go with them. Since then, I’ve upgraded twice, and took a class on darkroom techniques. I’m now on the hunt for an enlarger, so I can get fully into it. I still enjoy digital, and there are more circumstances in which I would only shoot digital than ones in which I would take out the 35mm camera, but the “working with your hands” feeling of being in a darkroom is too enjoyable to go back to working exclusively with a mouse and keyboard, once the camera is put away.
May 15th, 2012 at 12:46 am
Christmas 2008/2009…I found my Dad’s old (dates from the 60s) Halina 35X Super in a drawer…opened it and found it was loaded with film…so I took some snaps with it over the Christmas period…
Exposure? Mostly fine – used the sunny 16 rule.
Focus? Ummm – yeah. The camera’s got a fixed lens and the only indication of focussed distance is a scale on the lens, calibration unknown…
But the pictures were mostly in-focus…
May 15th, 2012 at 12:55 am
I only use film in my 4×5 cameras. Both negatives and positives. I find that with modern cameras, film can no longer compare to the tonal depth and richness in colors that digital cameras can now bring. But in truth a digital camera is really a B&W senor with color lens and the ou[put is converted to color. Strange how color is better now with a luminosity sensor.
Niels
May 15th, 2012 at 1:02 am
I would say never stopped. Growing up we never had a digital camera, and I was 16 before I took my first digital photo with a webcam. I now alternate between digital and film, with film being my walkabout medium.
Film:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45517597@N07/6337468142/
Digital:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45517597@N07/7157262828/
May 15th, 2012 at 1:12 am
My Diana follows me on occassions.
It’s a fun toy, love the pictures.
To bad most of my friends does not know that the pictures on my wall are shot with a Diana, they think I’ve printed my Instagram photos!
May 15th, 2012 at 1:15 am
Some nostalgic comments here.
When i was a kid, i took a picture of airplane with a film camera.
http://raghavendra-mobilephotography.blogspot.in/2012/05/wonders-missed-in-home.html
May 15th, 2012 at 1:19 am
I just recently started shooting 120 and am obsessed with my newly acquired TLRs. I have a DSLR but there will always be a special place in my heart for my Nikon FM2.
May 15th, 2012 at 1:20 am
It is sad to me thinking about the younger generations (of which I am a part of) not knowing how to shoot with film. I grew up around film (my dad does not, and will not, own a digital camera) and have within the last year or so started shooting almost exclusively with film (though there are times when I still use my dslr). I have also started developing my work in the darkroom, which has been a really fun adventure. I would love to pass this down to my children just as my dad passed it down to me! I have gravitated to 120, I have a beautiful Mamiya 645, and have just dipped my foot into large format. It is so much fun and I think that photographers who only shoot with digital are missing out!
May 15th, 2012 at 1:30 am
Shooting film and digital – for me it is like waves. At the moment I almost exclusively shoot film. At the moment I use a AE-1 which is just amazing and I will add a Leica M6 soon.
May 15th, 2012 at 1:34 am
I learned photography in high school by shooting on film (we developed it ourselves and had a darkroom). So I shot primarily film in high school. I also focus on film in college, since we have darkrooms…
I like film more, but I tend to shoot digital when I’m not in school, since it’s cheaper.
May 15th, 2012 at 1:35 am
Darren – Glad to see you talking about film. I just picked up an M3 as you know and have really been enjoying film.
http://shoottokyo.com/2012/03/25/always-listen-to-my-wife/
I also did a similar poll and was really surprised how many people answered they are shooting film.
May 15th, 2012 at 1:40 am
Dave: love your blog, glad you’re working with film as well!
To everyone else: Follow his blog, you won’t regret it!
May 15th, 2012 at 1:40 am
I have a number of well out of date rolls of Kodak neg film and a roll of Ektachrome, along with a working (without light meter) Nikkormat and Canon EOS 300. Keep thinking about it, but that’s as far as I get.
It might be interesting to see how that out of date film behaves!
May 15th, 2012 at 1:43 am
I’ve picked up a few cheapish 70s rangefinders and I still have my old Canon T70 SLR from high school. I like shooting (usually) black-and white and developing it at home, if you shoot a roll or two a month, the equipment pays for itself and it’s super-rewarding. All you need is about $120 worth of stuff and a sink. (that’s just to develop B/W film. PRINTING, or developing color film, is a load of work and requires lots of expensive equipment and a darkroom, so I just develop b/w film myself and scan it, it’s pretty easy.)
I find I make more careful decisions with the film camera and often get a much higher ratio of good photos. I’m always surprised that without autofocus, white balance controls, a zoom lens, 1/3 stops, six metering modes, variable ISO, and all the other modern conveniences, it’s still easy to take good photos. I think any photographer should shoot film once in a while just to prove that it’s not your equipment that matters, it’s your skill as a photographer.
May 15th, 2012 at 1:43 am
I shot with and developed film in high school as part of a class, and it was lots of fun. I never could afford my own camera back then though, and now that I have a camera I bought digital for the convenience, and since I don’t have access to a dark room. If I did then I would love to experiment with film, but for now digital makes more sense for me.
May 15th, 2012 at 1:46 am
This past year I’ve attended a folk high school doing a photography course focusing on shooting with film(B&W, developing ourselves). To me, as a completely new photographer, it simplified everything yet complicated everything. I didn’t have as many things to check and twist and turn on my Olympus OM-1, but it really put my mind into making every shot count, and not just twist, click, check if my settings were okay and try again if it wasn’t. It was an invaluable learning experience, and although I shoot mostly digital now as my Olympus’ light sensor broke, I’ve got four films for the summer and I’m going to buy a new one. I’m going back to the school as an “assistant” of sorts for my teacher next year, and I can’t wait to learn the new students about film photography!
May 15th, 2012 at 1:55 am
Recently bought a Canon EOS 3 35mm film camera on Ebay so that I can use my Canon DSLR lenses with it. I also have a few old film cameras that belonged to my Grandfather and a Holga. I really want to get into film but find that I hesitate because of the cost of film, processing, etc., and wanting to make every image on the roll good. So instead of getting out there and practising and getting better, I find I am hardly taking any photos with my film cameras!?!?
May 15th, 2012 at 1:57 am
I have a Leica III f — red dial from 1953; there’s really nothing quite like it, and yes I still use it.
May 15th, 2012 at 1:59 am
I recently got back in to film, after an 8 year absence. I picked up an old Olympus Trip 35, and a few rolls of Kodak gold film. I haven’t filled a roll yet, but I’m working on it.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:01 am
I still love shooting with fuji velvia… I have never found anything including digital that gives me as beautiful colors….Plus I believe that sometimes still shooting with film makes me a better and more attentive photographer… With film you can’t just shoot 100 shots and look for the best.. you try to make every shot the best.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:04 am
Hi!
I’ve been shooting with film on a regular basis since 2007, combining regular 35mm film with slide film and medium format. Oh, and Polaroid. And digital photography. I love the differences of each format and how each camera operates.
For me, it’s for keeps
I use a Pentax P30 and a Pentax P30t for 35mm and a Diana F+ for the 120mm. My DSLR is a Canon 400D, equipped with 3 lenses (17-70mm, my weapon of choice; 50 mm f1.8 and 75-300 f3.5).
May 15th, 2012 at 2:10 am
I shoot digital as well as film, on a weekly, if not daily basis. I have a digital SLR (Canon T1i), a digital point-and-shoot (Nikon Coolpix) and digital `toy’ cameras (e.g., Zumi Super 8). On film, I shoot with everything from toy cameras (e.g., vintage Dianas, Holgas, action samplers, Lomo LC-A+), to Polaroids (7 of them and counting, using Impossible Project film), to vintage film cameras using 127, 120 and 35 mm film. My current film favourite is a Canonet QL17 GIII 35mm rangefinder, but I want to play more with my Yashica MAT 124 this summer. Lots of fun.
Why do I like film? Well, I caught the photography bug at about the age of 8, when my parents bought me my first camera, a Kodak Brownie Fiesta. I enjoy the fact that film forces me to slow down a bit, think more carefully about each shot, and so on. After all, compared to digital, shooting with film is costly. When I shoot with instant film, I enjoy the instant gratification as well as the knowledge that each image is a one-of-a-kind. It makes someone feel special when you want to take their birthday picture with an old Polaroid camera and pricey but oh-so-deliciously vintagey Impossible Project film.
I also enjoy the anticipation, while I wait for my developed film to come back. (Where I live, 120 and 127 film must be sent away, so it’s a two-week wait.) Yesterday, I picked up a newly developed roll of 35 mm film, and could hardly wait until I got back to the car so I could open that envelope and look at my prints. And yes, I’ve gone back to getting prints, when I get film developed. The best prints are framed and displayed around my home and office.
Lest you think it’s just a 50+ woman who can’t let go of film, I add that my 20-something niece and nephew asked for and received Fuji Instax cameras for Christmas. My nephew also recently bought a 35 mm Holga, and my niece is taking a film photography course this summer at our local university. Several of their friends also shoot film. I sincerely hope that film never goes away completely. I know that digital is cheaper and the instant feedback on that LCD is great. I like it too! But to me, it does not have quite the same appeal as film.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:18 am
I like film, I learn how to take pictures with an Konica Minolta and I have to say, I really like shooting film.
Unfortunately it’s becoming more and more expensive so I try and use it in specific projects.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:19 am
I still shoot the odd roll but for fun. I have some great modern 35mm SLR’s but I find I don’t use them very much and they are basically sitting in a display case now…. However, I love using my fathers Yashica rangfinder (early 60′s vintage)…. It’s mostly nostalgia (and my brain knows this) because I remember having picture taken as a kid and the odd time as a teen been able to use that camera. The rest is this – I just don’t know the words – feel of twisting that film advance with your thumb and the drag of pulling film across – something just great about been connected to the process over the digi SLR mirror slap and ready for the next a fraction of a second later on. I recently got a yashica TLR and plan to run some film thru that… but hesitating because the last thing I need is scanning med format film :-/
As for using it seriously – it’s for the birds IMO and that’s as someone who started in the 80 and has slides & negs up to wazzoo (a lot scanned already but more to go). I just FAR prefer the workflow and immediacy of digital. I am a better photg because of digitals reduced cycle between take & see image.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:20 am
Last shot film back in 2002, sadly all digital since then. I do own an old 166 Lomo and some old BW film rolls, must dig it out and have a play one day!
Had something like that last week, spotted an old record player and some records in a junk shop window and I ask my 9 year old what she thought it was. “One of those things that spins around and plays music, I think?”.
Only 40 and I was made to feel as old as my Dad!
May 15th, 2012 at 2:38 am
I’ve always shot with film. Been processing my own for about 8 years now. I shoot digitally as well.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:42 am
After “burning out” my first Hassey, my second one lasted approx. 12 yrs before I made the mistake of going digital. It’s been sitting in the bag for three years. I hear it calling out to me all of the time. I wonder if it knows that I miss it as well. In the mean time, the lab that I dealt with is gone, my darkroom equipment is sold and I’ve lost most of the urge to shoot anything other than snapshots of my dog.
May 15th, 2012 at 3:02 am
My first camera was a compact by Pentax (Espio 90M, if I my memory isn’t failing), and I’ve learned to love photography with that camera. After that, I came into the digital world with the Sony’s CyberShot cameras. Last year I’m finally brought my first DSLR, a Nikon D3100 and in one year shooting only with this camera, I felt very nostalgic about film again and brought a very very used Nikon 4004 SLR, and now I’m really happy shooting both digital and film again, depending on the occasion.
May 15th, 2012 at 3:17 am
I started shooting almost a year ago, bought an entry level canon 1100D. Some time after, to pump up my skill in geometric progression, i picked up canon eos 50 and loaded a black and white Ilford Delta 400 film. Since then I have been shooting film with one can per 2 months, roughly. This makes me an all-roung photographer – instagram ( user serzhanja ) with galaxy tab, dslr photography with 1100d and film photography with agfa apx100 and eos 50
May 15th, 2012 at 3:31 am
I’ve been using film since I own my holga back in 2008 since then I shoots regulary with films after my uncle inherit me the cheapo Vivitar SLR and some point and shoot from Olympus, but actually I really want to shoots with digital but I don’t have one maybe someday I will. But for now I just shoot digital only from my mobilephone
May 15th, 2012 at 3:37 am
Still shooting film w/ a regular SLR for 35mm and toy cameras for 120
May 15th, 2012 at 4:03 am
I am actually thinking my pantry which is under use into a darkroom I miss those day of surprise. My daughter wants to learn how to use my old nikon
May 15th, 2012 at 4:41 am
I quit shooting film when I got my DSLR for Christmas last year. I do still have some rolls of film, so this summer I may do some more film shooting since I will be on break.
May 15th, 2012 at 5:22 am
Wow I haven’t shot with real film in a canister since 1999 or 2000. I think that the last time I used film in the broader sense of the word, was a disposable camera in ’04. But that was it.
For some reason, when I took this shot, it reminded me of film though. I’m not sure why. http://www.disney-photography-blog.com/2012/04/stop-hollywood.html?m=0
May 15th, 2012 at 5:39 am
Depends on what the definition of “is” is.
http://flic.kr/p/bsPKRY
I’ve got several rolls of film that I’ve shot in the last decade that I haven’t yet processed. Mostly toy camera stuff, but some of it is from a TLR.
May 15th, 2012 at 5:58 am
I use to shoot with film, but not having the space for a darkroom was limiting for me I understand the limitations of digital, but it has freed me up creatively
May 15th, 2012 at 6:25 am
Never really stopped although digital is now my preferred medium. In the past I have owned in order: Zenit E, Olympus OM1n, Bronica ETRS. In the house we have 3 togs and between us we now have: Olympus OM-10, OM-40, Polaroid 600, Rollieflex TLR. a couple of Lomo jobs and 2 handmade pinholes (1 kit and 1 totally handmade from a pringle tube and a box.
My daughter (the 3rd tog) is 20 and studying a photography degree at college, she owns a 7d and still uses film more than digital, sadly most of her course don’t get film.
May 15th, 2012 at 6:28 am
I have not shot with film since I got my first digital point and shoot – maybe ten years ago. This is a timely reminder to try some again…..will have to find the camera first!
May 15th, 2012 at 6:30 am
I have a film camera, but I’ve never shot with film. Next year I’m taking a class that works exclusively with black and white film, though, and I’m super excited!
May 15th, 2012 at 7:05 am
I’ve not shot film for about 18 months. On my two most recent photo-holidays (a week in Septembers 2012 and 2011) I took all my gear, including MF and LF film, and shot entirely digital – the very few occasions where I picked up a film camera, I felt lethargic about using it and none of the results made it to being published – nothing to offer over and above digital.
The Hasselblad met eBay last week.
May 15th, 2012 at 7:09 am
In 2005 I took a film SLR, 3 lenses and many rolls of b/w and color film on a 5 day backpack into the spectacular Grand Gulch near Bluff, Utah. Granted, I didn’t know how to use the camera or obtain a proper exposure except by blind luck. But, after spending $130 on developing that resulted in exactly 3 decent photos, I went straight to digital and never picked up the Nikon N80 again. I’ve still got it though. : )
May 15th, 2012 at 8:15 am
6 years since I last shot film.
May 15th, 2012 at 8:22 am
I get an itch to develop some b&w now and again and often think about giving it a shot. I still think that nothing is quite the same as seeing slides on a light table but the project of viewing them on a screen gets to be too much.
May 15th, 2012 at 8:38 am
I still teach film! HS kids live it …. And most of them despise Instagram – darkroom is strong lived
May 15th, 2012 at 8:54 am
It’s funny that you bring this up now. A couple of weeks ago I picked up an old Nikkormat ftn for $75.
For some reason I just decided I needed a good old classic film camera and the old Nikkormats are just so pretty to look at and have such a sense of quality about them that you just don’t find in modern cameras.
I’m hoping to get it serviced and be back shooting film as soon as possible.
I used to love the smell of my old SLR’s as you brought them up to your eye. The smell came from the film and that’s just one more sensory input you don’t get with digital.
May 15th, 2012 at 9:31 am
My film camera had the latch that holds the back closed break, with film in the camera. This happened about 5 weeks ago. With this I’ve moved from film to digital only.
I loved that film camera. Canon EOS Elan II e. Actually had 3 eye control points of focus in the view finder and would follow my eye while shooting. Worked really well.
The Elan now joins the shelf of cameras from my past, including a real honest to god Kodak Brownie, my first camera, and an Argus a-four. Lost in time is my Yashica Electro G35.
May 15th, 2012 at 10:18 am
I think people learning how to shoot film is wonderful. I began in the 90s with my uncle’s old Pentax H1a (no built-in meter!) then quickly moved to a K1000. I look at how I learned versus how a couple of my friend’s kids are now learning (only digital) and am grateful for having had to learn how to take my time, compose, expose, etc… not to mention darkroom techniques! The economy of digital has built the “spray and pray” mentality, which, IMO, is hard to learn from – take 500 shots and hope for a good one, versus “old school” – doing everything “right” and knowing that you’ll be rewarded with one or two great shots out of 24 (or 36) exposures.
Not coincidentally, I still shoot with my Super Taks and a couple Zeiss Planars (thanks, uncle!). I’ve been almost exclusively shooting digital for nearly 10 years, but I haven’t used an AF lens in about 5 – to me, that’s the best of both worlds – vintage glass on a modern body. Once in a blue moon I bust out the H1a and shoot a roll of Velvia or T-Max, just for grins, but I can’t imagine ever going back to that lifestyle.
May 15th, 2012 at 11:00 am
Have always been shooting both digital + film for past 7 years or so. Have switched to film almost entirely beginning this year. I had the same story: http://mountain-light.tumblr.com/post/21908344351/excited-about-film
May 15th, 2012 at 11:11 am
Only shoot film at this time Eos 7n, but have decided to buy a digital. Have the local camera store develop the film and scan the negatives as Tiff files. Upgrading my lenses has become my main priority with the addition of a digital Canon 7d most likely.
May 15th, 2012 at 11:21 am
I started getting back into film in the past year. Just shot a roll last week. I do find that I take more time to think about composition, exposure, etc. when I shoot film. IMO, it’s made me a better photographer.
May 15th, 2012 at 11:29 am
I started when film was the only option with a beautiful Olympus OM2 – which I still have. I used to develop my own when I had access to a darkroom. When I lost access to that and had to take it to the chemist to get developed I lost interest in photography as the pictures rarely related to the image I had thought I had taken! While I have returned to photography through loving the digital experience (no messy chemicals!!) I still like to drag out the OM2 to rediscipline myself – still hate someone else developing them though!
May 15th, 2012 at 11:43 am
Yes. I just picked up some 120 (2 1/4 x 2 1/4″) Velvia to shoot in my old Mamiya C330 Professional twin lens reflex.
May 15th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Film? Not for a decade or more… wouldn’t have a clue where to even buy film these days, never mind a camera to use it.
May 15th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Gave film up over 6 years ago and never looked back, Thank Goodness for digital.
May 15th, 2012 at 1:17 pm
Probably about 6 years since using film. Gave my film camera to my granddaughter who loves using it and developing the film!
May 15th, 2012 at 1:31 pm
I would shoot film more often if I could find more BW film AND BW film developers locally. I hate sending out film
BTW I shoot with a Nikon F-801 with the 50mm ƒ/1.8
May 15th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
I think learning o a manual film camera is a great experience for a new photographer (I did, and it taught me a lot), but any serious photographer, professional or not, still shooting on film is kidding himself. There are literally NO advantages to film anymore.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:52 pm
I load film occasionaly, with no good reason, but always with a big smile.
I keep a selection in the freezer: velvia, provia, portra, 400cn. I love shooting film. I do not love scanning though. Longing for doing my own b/w development again, but will never have that spare space with water for a proper dark room and enlarger.
Anyway, just purchased a FM3a for those occasions, next to the M6. Last week, I mentally rebadged the M6 as “Leica M Monochrome”. I am thriled to own a full frame b/w M before anyone else! The Nikon will do colour!
I keep dreaming of dumping the digital capture gear, and isolate myself from the geeky IT “innovation” race, to concentrate on fewer better pictures. Fundamentally, I think I am hungry for a faster scanner with wider dynamic range and reliable batch processing. Which is not that different from aspiring to the most recent higher resolution sensor. So the geek race resurfaces.
Contradictions….
May 15th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
I started shooting film about a year ago. Until then I was shooting with dslr’s but through a mate got my eyes opened for the appeal of film.
First I like the fact that taking pictures are no-do overs. You gotta be focused and think things through to get the one shot – no trial-and-error.
Second, the way film looks is very pleasing in my eyes.
Third I discovered that people, even strangers on the streeet, are much more willing to have their picture taken with an old film camera than with my big dslr with flash mounted on top.
Fourth I love the excitement of getting to see the results when I get the pictures back from the lab.
Only thing is my 3 year old niece can’t really understand why she can’t see the pictures I take of her instantly. The concept of film is a bit too abstract
May 15th, 2012 at 4:45 pm
Still using film in my Argus collection. I feel using filmonce in a while sharpens my skills by forcing me to really think about each shot and make the most out of the 12,24 or 36 exposures available.
May 15th, 2012 at 4:46 pm
Not since the end of 2001, when I bought my first digital camera.
May 15th, 2012 at 4:53 pm
No – I do Own a Film Camera But Don’t Use it.
Well back in the 90′s, my father’s camera canon T90, gave me a lot of problems..lol.. coz im just very curious about it, and i want to explore the world of photography. luckily i had a limited budget. i learned the basic on my own, rule of third framing, ISO and shutter speed. i just read the manual and experiment. but for now, the camera is left alone in my fathers cabinet.. hoping i will get back soon and try to reminiscing the old days. I bought my first dSLR 2 years ago canon EOS 7D, and i’m very happy of it.. keep shooting guys…
May 15th, 2012 at 6:39 pm
I love film. To be honest most of the reason I shoot digital is to get quick results and save a bit of money.
May 15th, 2012 at 8:58 pm
Shooting film drives me crazy so much that I recently switched over from 7D to EOS3. Sure onetime I’ll get back to the “ones-n-zeroes” friend. Although there’s still my wife’s 450D around for her experiments and reportages.
So it took me sometime to go thru most of the film available at local stores to find the ones I prefer. And Velvia with Ektachrome colors left me no reason to stay digital.
Film is about patience and understanding the shot while digital is more of technical approach with lots of parameters under control.
I really love the moment of magic when opening an envelope with processed film and that eagerness to see the results.
I found it even more exciting after this book – http://amzn.com/0863433685
Although it’s really hard one, this is must read for every photographer!
May 15th, 2012 at 9:23 pm
I shot with 35mm point & shoot cameras for a couple of decades before digital cameras became good enough for quality printing. I still have the last film p&s I bought (circa 2001) and a roll or two of film tucked away in a drawer. I keep forgetting about it. My oldest daughter was born in 2001 and I got my first digital p&s in the second half of 2002, so of course many of her earliest photos are 35mm prints. But my second daughter born in 2003 has maybe 20 35mm prints and my son (born in 2006) has maybe five! LOL I think the last time I used the 35mm film p&s was a year or two ago.
May 15th, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Shot with a Nikon FE back in the old days in the 80s, and only gave it up about 10 years ago. Now it seems like a lifetime ago. But I still miss the sweet smell of stop bath and working under the soothing glow of the darkroom lamps…ahhh those were the days!
May 15th, 2012 at 9:30 pm
Gosh, I guess it’s been 10 years or so since I’ve shot with film. Two main reasons I love digital more – I can see results immediately and not have the cost of film and processing.
May 15th, 2012 at 9:35 pm
I shot film from the time I purchased a Petri SLR in 1973 and added a Canon A1 in 1983. After both cameras were stolen in 1987, I didn’t do any photography for years. I purchased a Nikon D70 on sale (it was being discontinued) in 2004, but didn’t use it until 2008. Since then, I have acquired a D5000 and D7000, and am saving up for a D800. Digital has allowed me to learn from my mistakes faster than I could with film; I recently dreamed about shooting with film and getting frustrated because I didn’t get instant feedback!
I have my grandfather’s Leica III f, as well as a Canon EOS Rebel 2000,a Minolta XD7, and a Pentax OEd; the last three I picked up in an antiques store. I paid about $135 for these cameras, as well as 7 lenses, lights, and bags.
May 15th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
I was mostly digital until I acquired a Polaroid Land Camera 100, and found I could get film and batteries for it. Then from same source acquired a Kodak Pony 135, but it does not handle 400 very well. So I found a Fotodiox DIY Twin-reflex to use that film. Just got a Holga 120N, and hopefully compatible film for the Pony.
May 15th, 2012 at 10:20 pm
Film? Fujichrome rules. I have 3 medium format cameras loaded with velvia. Curse digi for killing that market. Yes still shoot bw too. N8008 is my favorite but have zorki and fm. Also a twin lens 126 Kodak. Oly xa worlds smallest rangefinder. 4 med format folders-carry in pocket. Traded leica for bronica my serious camera.Ok so I do own a lumix to machine gun parties and moving landscapes. Use cellphone for daughter on the road. Even Ken Rockwell goes 4×5 when he wants a serious photo but he carries latest Nikon pro digital as a machine gun. The price of film is an incentive to learn the skills behind what you are doing with a camera in the first place. Who is the Steiglitz or adams or Galen Rowell of digital ?
May 15th, 2012 at 10:29 pm
I used to shoot with film cameras till I bought a digital camera. That would be about 7-8 years back. Its an Olympus half frame camera that my dad had bought long back.
May 15th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
SInce I bought my digital SLR Nikon D200 in March 2007 I don’t shoot film.
I still have two manual focus SLRs (Nikon F301/N2000 and Nikon FM2) perfectly functional, some manual focus prime/zoom lenses and several B&W (even a 125m reel) and color films.
May 16th, 2012 at 12:04 am
Actually I would shoot on film from time to time. I still prefer how film works in low light, at least for the digital cameras I can afford. Unfortunatly someone broke into my house and stole all my film cameras (and a 10 year old Mac notebook computer) which all had an estimated value of absolutely nothing to anyone but me. None of it was particularly high quality equipment, and you can’t really sell it, and you really can’t even give it away easily.
May 16th, 2012 at 12:26 am
The last time I shot film was back in 2002. I still have a Nikon 2020. A pulled it out the other day and admired how light it was, compared to my D 70 and d7000. Can’t say that I’m ever interested in going back into film. Film required a deeper understanding, which I did not possess. I just love the kind of images I can get from digital–it allows my photography to approach my vision.
May 16th, 2012 at 4:22 am
I can’t bear to get rid of my old Olympus OM10, but I haven’t used it since 2003 when I bought my first digital. I used to shoot with it all the time and in the noughties, I’d have Jessops develop the films and digitise them at the same time.
It is time I dug the ‘old girl’ out and put a film through her again.
May 16th, 2012 at 4:27 am
Last time I shot film was in my college days aeons ago. I was taking a class in how to teach science in elementary school by experiential learning. We made oatmeal box pinhole cameras. Now that’s the way teaching should be – creating an experience never to be forgotten. I still have those eerie pinhole photos.
May 16th, 2012 at 4:35 am
Its kind of amazing how many are responding saying they have never shot with film…. Its a wonderful way to photograph and some I think have no idea what they are missing..
I tend to think of it like driving… For the total experience, one should know how to drive an automatic and a manual shift…. Auto is great for some driving, but manual is more exciting as is film.
May 16th, 2012 at 5:48 am
I shoot digital for shots that don’t matter as much but most of my work for school is done in film. If it weren’t for having access to a darkroom and chemicals through my college though I don’t know if I would be as in to film.
My current film shooting is split between shooting 35mm and various medium format cameras but in the fall I will be moving up to 4×5 large format and a view camera.
As convenient as digital is, there is just something more satisfying about the work and effort that goes into a good film print.
May 16th, 2012 at 7:21 am
I sarted photography in the ’50s and went to digital after my Minolta 600si was stolen and replaced by insurance with aSony a350 I have a collection of vintage film cameras most of which are operable, I tend to use a Minolta 404si because I have A mount lenses althoug I am using a refurbished Kodak Retina IIc which is a lot of fun, takes me back to the ‘early days’ when you had to do it all by yourself! At least the Retina has a very good rangefinder
May 16th, 2012 at 7:30 am
I have an old film SLR, a Pentax SF1, that I’ve been learning how to use. I plan on buying a digital SLR, but I think I’ll still use the film camera as well as digital, just not as often.
May 16th, 2012 at 7:47 am
Why? last film was back in the 80′s …. I just cannot convince myself there would be a need to shoot with film
it would be like using one of those tan colour brick shaped cell phones …. other than the retro cool factor …but that’s just me
May 16th, 2012 at 8:10 am
I recently bought a reconditioned Olympus Trip 35 film camera which I think is a 1974 model and have been taking a few shots a week with it for the past 3 months. I had my first roll of film developed last week and while still getting used to how the camera handles the light I have been quite surprised with the quality of the photos. There are some photos taken in harsh light with dark and light areas that are properly exposed that my DSLR would not have been able to capture.
May 16th, 2012 at 9:23 am
I was born into a time when film was still a dominant medium in photography (’94 to be exact). I shoot in digital, no question about it (my 5D Mk II is my favorite, go-to digital workhorse), but I enjoy shooting frequently with one of my three 35mm cameras, including a Canon FTb, Ae-1 Program, and an EOS Rebel G. Maybe its because I’m a ’90s kid, or maybe I’m predisposed to like the smell of chemicals, but nothing will ever truly replace the joy and pleasure I get from shooting film, and working in the darkroom.
May 16th, 2012 at 11:16 am
Well now Ray, film was going strong into the 21st century and there is still a lot of it around. Certainly Kodak have stopped production , that was because of the way they tried to take their business before it went belly up. Fuji is still strong with Velviam Superia, Provia fil.
For years I shot mostly slides which you had to get right in the camera, no ‘post production. there – and you had very little latitude in the exposure, you HAD to get it right first time!
That attitude stays with me. A lot of what is done in the computer these days is straight out cheating IMHO! If there is something in the image that I don’t want, I move my position or frame the shot so that it is removed, Why leave it to be cloned out in Photoshop? All I have done myself is crop a little to improve the image and if necessary, straightened the horizon. In my opinion, almost anything else is cheating!
Which is not to say that you can’t do work in Photooshop, of course you can and get some lovely images but they aew not waht came out of the camera. I have seen beautiful images which are completely unrecognisable from the original, that is digital art which is a completely different subject and in my opinion should be judges sepearately from ‘normal’ photographs
May 16th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
I am in a class at a local junior college and about a third of the class chooses to shoot with film (all of them 18 or 19 years old).
May 16th, 2012 at 7:31 pm
I used to bring a new disposable film camera with me every week, during Danish army exercises in 2002. They were small and easy to carry. After that, digital won my heart, and I haven’t fiddled with film since, although I still remember the feeling of shooting film.
May 16th, 2012 at 8:41 pm
I had the most basic P&S film camera right up until 1999, but I didn’t use it much as the results were less than stellar (read:barely acceptable as snapshots). I never had the money to get an SLR or even a better compact. I received my first digital compact at the end of 1999 (an Olympus, 2 Mp, 3x zoom), and have never shot with film since. I don’t even own a film camera, and am highly unlikely to ever buy one now.
May 16th, 2012 at 11:54 pm
Up to the early 1990′s I regularly used both colour negative and transparency film in 35mm and 70mm. I processed both types of film and printed both using standard colour printing methods (Devere Subtractive enlarger and Kryonite continuous processor) and Cibachrome dye distruction positive printing using “basket” processing in deep tanks. I retired from professional photography at the end of the 90′s and didn’t return to picture taking until the advent of serious digital photography in 2004
May 17th, 2012 at 1:32 am
I haven’t shot film since about 2004 when I bought the Canon 10D my first real digital camera other than a little point and shoot. Before that I shot 35mm, 6×6 Hasselblad and sometimes 4×5 film – color, b/w and transparency film. When I switched I did so completely because I watched as others did a half and half thing and their work flow was a nightmare, especially for weddings. So I jumped in with both feet and haven’t shot a single roll since then.
Now I’m trying to buy up some inexpensive film cameras (35mm) and put on a “shoot film” workshop to give people an experience of using it. It’ll be in b/w and we’ll probably go to our local historic park to shoot for the day.
May 17th, 2012 at 1:50 am
I don’t own a DSLR, yet. We have two digital point-and-shoots (Kodak and Olympus), but my primary photography is with my Canon A-1, which I’ve had for over 30 years. The A-1 had been on an extended hiatus until last year when my interest in photography was renewed after photographing the final Space Shuttle launch and landing.
For 2012, I am using black & while film exclusively. I also have two photography projects for the year: 1) photographing the sunrise on the equinoxes and solstices, 2) photographing the full moons. A few weekends ago, I went to an air show at an Air Force Base. I had ordered 6 rolls of B&W film and ended up using nearly all 6 rolls. I reloaded prior to the start of the Air Force Thunderbirds performance and during their performance, I had to reload.
I like the convenience of the C-41 B&W films, Kodak BW400CN and Ilford XP-2 Super, since I can get it developed locally and the developing with scans to CD are cheap; but they don’t have the look of traditional B&W films. I have to send my traditional B&W films out of state for developing.
Keith,
I agree with you. To me, Photoshop looks too much like sorcery. True, Ansel Adams used dodging and burning in the creation of his prints, but a lot of what I see Photoshopped looks unnatural.
May 17th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
I shoot film a couple of times every year or so. I have a Canon Elan that I use now. I just finished a book and I was using an old print that I took while I was in the Army sometime between 96 and 99. When I was in high school I did photography for the year book including making prints in the darkroom. I still remember watching the images appear on the paper in the developer. Bringing back some memories.
May 17th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
RE: No – I do Own a Film Camera But Don’t Use it
I have not used a film camera since I bought my first digital camera (Canon EOS 20D) in June, 2005. I have enjoyed being able to upload the photos and use the digital darkroom, rather than taking film to be developed.
May 17th, 2012 at 7:35 pm
I only started taking photography seriously in December 2011 by buying a Canon 550D, after falling in love with that, I eventually took an interest in shooting film and now have 3 film cameras (Ricoh KR-10x, Nikon EM and Pentax P30T) and various lenses!
I am looking to be buying a Ricoh GR1v soon and will eventually use that as my main street camera.
I would still class my Canon 550D as my main camera, but film is rapidly growing no me and I could probably see myself making a full transition soon, certainly for the street photography that I shoot.
May 17th, 2012 at 7:48 pm
I have a small digital P&S Canon that I love, but when I really want to make something to last I shoot with my Contax Aria and 28mm, 50mm lenses. I know all the folks talking about how digital quality has surpassed film, but I’m still dubious. And there’s something about having a roll of film sitting in the camera for a month or so, getting it developed and realizing the great stuff you caught or the time you forgot to set things correctly.
Plus, with the way digital changes I prefer knowing that I could sell the film camera I have right now for nearly the same price I bought it for. There’s no way any digital camera can hold its value over time. Though for workflow issues they are way better than film and any photography I do for work is with our digital camera.
May 17th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
I’ve been shooting film since I was a boy up until my first digital camera at the age of 14. However during the past year I have been getting back into shooting film for my street photography. I now have a modest, but exciting collection of film cameras which get more usage than my digital cameras.
I have also recently started developing my own film which I find gives the whole film experience more relevance.
I personally feel that there isn’t much advantage of shooting film unless you process it yourself. The cost of developing and scanning film in a photolab here in the UK is ridiculously expensive (£8-£20 for a single roll) which makes it almost pointless unless you’re a lottery winner. It is also unreliable, as I have experienced, with bad development and poor quality scanning the main problem.
However by processing the film yourself, you not only experience the essence of film, you also have more creative control, being able to do things like push/pull processing and setting your own scanning parameters.
May 18th, 2012 at 12:47 am
Been shooting film exclusively for close to 3 years now, which is most of the period since I got into photography
May 18th, 2012 at 1:15 am
I shot exclusively with film up (my Pentax Asahi Spotmatic even made it to Burning Man in 2007!) until 5 years ago when my boyfriend bought me my first DSLR – no wonder I married him! Since then, I shoot with film intermittently when I feel like playing around with double-exposures and light leaks. Last year, I purchased an additional film camera: a Uniflex II but have yet to develop any of the film I’ve taken with it (but will in the next few weeks).
May 18th, 2012 at 1:35 am
I shot film as a young kid with my parents’ K1000, but hadn’t used it in years, after getting a digital camera for christmas in the mid-to-late 90s.
Just recently, however, I’ve gotten into the old fixed lens rangefinders, and to that end, I’ve started shooting regularly on both a Canon Canonet QL17 G-III as well as a Yashica Electro 35G, just like the one David (3rd comment) used to own.
I agree with the sentiment that film offers a more intimate, visceral experience that digital can’t quite match.
May 18th, 2012 at 1:49 am
I’ve been shooting film since 1972 (Minolta SRT 101. I now use a Nikon F100 which to this day is the best camera I’ve ever owned.
May 18th, 2012 at 2:01 am
Had a similar experience recently with my ten year old. We’ve now set up a small darkroom in the bathroom and both he and his younger brother seem really intrigued by being able to make an image appear “magically” before their eyes. The eldest has started off using a box brownie but has now progressed to 35mm. I think kids get a great sense of achievement from creating an image using film rather than the instant gratification of point and squirt digital photography.
I do think that it is still a really useful grounding to use film before moving to digital. IMHO the results are often better if the photographer has a good understanding of the roots of the medium.
May 18th, 2012 at 2:04 am
I still have quite a few film cameras- Nikon N90, NikonosV, Rolleicord- that are currently conversation pieces on a shelf. I dearly miss the quality dearly miss the colors that shooting slide films produced compared to digital. Practical considerations of time and material costs keep me from using these cameras anymore. The environmental considerations with the chemicals used to develop film and prints give me pause as well.
May 18th, 2012 at 2:08 am
The great majority of my photography is done with one of my Canon digitals but I still shoot film. I put three or four rolls a year through my Pentax ME and probably the same number of rolls – but double the shots – through a beautiful Olympus Pen 1/2 frame.
May 18th, 2012 at 2:10 am
I started about 4 months ago with an all manual minolta with a 50mm f2 lens. I had a great time but moved to digital because of budget. It made more sense to shoot 1000 pics in the dslr than to shoot 24 and hope they came out fine. Now I use mostly digital and take out my old minolta only for special pics where I really want to get the film look.
May 18th, 2012 at 2:11 am
I shot with film starting in 1974 and up until 2006, when I went pro. Digital was a hard change over, but has expanded my conception of photography.
May 18th, 2012 at 2:17 am
I still shoot 35mm film for my fine art work. With the expectation of perfection that you get with digital, and the ability to manipulate an image into something that might be quite a bit different than what you actually captured (often to a fault, and appearing very phony and overdone) – there is something wholly gratifying about shooting with film and seeing exactly what you get, under particular circumstances, on a particular day.
For me, I love shooting double and triple exposures, and seeing what emerges into the frame solely based on the original dark and light spots on the first negative. It reminds you how magical the medium truly can be! See what you think of film: http://www.rosiemccobb.com/#a=0&at=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=4
May 18th, 2012 at 2:24 am
I love film! It makes you think instead of shooting a zillion pictures with your digital cam…
May 18th, 2012 at 3:14 am
I am 72. I “cut my teeth” photographically about 60 year ago, shooting, developing, and enlarging images shot on film. I switched to digital in 2005, reluctantly, and have had relative success with digital, even though I still do not believe digital quality has yet caught up with film. I really dislike sitting for endless hours in front of a computer screen working on images. I have used every version of Photoshop Elements since Elements2. One of our sons, who is approaching 50 years of age, shoots hundreds of rolls of film a year, absolutely no digital, and his images (all taken with his Canon gear always set on Full Auto) put mine to shame — all processed at a local warehouse store running Fuji Frontier wetlab equipment. I would absolutely love to see a serious resurgence of film and film cameras, perhaps a film SLR with an optical viewfinder but also a chip and LCD that will show the image prior to exposure, to help warn the user of serious exposure problems. I sold almost all of my film gear (still have one excellent Rebel body), but our film-shooting son has stockpiled a number of brand new film bodies. I am going on a cruise in July, and plan to shoot my film Rebel along with my Canon 7D.
May 18th, 2012 at 3:22 am
My mom gave me her Canon AE-1 Program as a high school graduation present, and I’ll admit I didn’t even try using it until about 6 months ago. My first roll turned out green (I didn’t understand that the room had to be outer-space black before opening the back), the second didn’t even produce pictures, and the third finally pulled out some decent shots.
I mostly do senior portraits and random photo shoots with my friends, all of whom love Instagram. Since my (potential) clients love the classic look so much, I’ve decided learning to use film would be very wise, since giving digital photos a film look is nearly impossible for me. Sure you can edit the colors to make the colors look like expired film, but shooting with it in an actual film camera seems to produce way better results.
May 18th, 2012 at 3:39 am
I shot film as a kid, and moved to digital when my parents stopped paying film processing. These days my commercial work is shot digitally, and about half of my personal work is shot on film. From an efficiency and convenience standpoint, digital is the rapid response I need for the commercial work. My personal work can be slower and I can indulge in the film experience. Most of my personal work involves alternative processes. Film, to me, feels like it’s moving into the realm of alt processes.
May 18th, 2012 at 4:14 am
I still have my Nikon 35mm FM2/FE2 mechanical film camera, a COMBO 4X5 and a Mamiya medium format. Also a couple of AF electronic SLR film cames. I plan to keep on shooting film if only occasionaly. I work in front of a comuter all day long on my day job, so I try to stay away from the bube-tube as much as possible. Digital interrupted some of the things I wanted to learn such as LF, Cibachrome, alternative processes and slides. Now that I have some time and plenty of experience with digital, I would like to get back to that before it is too late. I still have my darkroom and everything.
May 18th, 2012 at 4:36 am
I do my best to shoot regularly with film, especially Slides. My belief is that if you can shoot a good slide, you can shoot anything. I am an active member of three local Camera Clubs ant the PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY of AMERICA (PSA). I exhibit regularly in the PSA sanctioned International Salons and have been listed in PSA’s Who’s Who every year since I joined PSA in 2006. I am a participant in four PSA Slide Study Groups.
I have been shooting film since the 50′s and slides since the 60′s. Most of my film equipment is thirty years old. I did not break down and get a Digital point-and-shoot in December of 2007, primarily for making prints. When my Public Housing Agency received a Hope VI Grant, I received a relocation grant; allowing me to purchase a Rebel Xsi two-lens Kit and a Laptop for digital Darkroom. I have been instructing other low-income residents in Photography for the last three years.
May 18th, 2012 at 4:45 am
I bought (well, I didn’t buy it, my three adult children and my wife bought it) my Nikon D70 almost 8 years ago for my 70th birthday. I haven’t used any of my four film cameras since.
May 18th, 2012 at 5:38 am
I mostly shoot with a digital, but a few months ago a friends mom gave me her old film camera and I have been shooting 2-3 rolls a week.
May 18th, 2012 at 5:44 am
I still shoot slide film and have it drum scanned. Digital has not surpassed film as of yet. At least on any camera under multiple of thousands of dollars.
May 18th, 2012 at 5:58 am
I last shot with film in 2004, when I got my first digital camera. I liked two things very much – the instant feedback I could get with a digital camera, and the convenience of popping the photos into the computer so I could play with them in Photoshop. I had just started with photography in a more serious way a couple of years prior to that, and don’t live where I can conveniently drop off my film anywhere. I’d done some darkroom work but that wasn’t really an option at home. My interest is in playing with photos digitally, enhancing them in various ways, so the lack of film isn’t something I miss.
May 18th, 2012 at 6:19 am
I’ve used film since I started photography in the early ’60s. About 5 years ago I took up digital, but never stopped using film.
Lately, I’ve been weaning myself off 35mm and solely concentrating on MF black and white.
May 18th, 2012 at 6:23 am
It’s been at least 10 years since I shot with film. I just can’t bring myself to get rid of my old film cameras though.
May 18th, 2012 at 7:31 am
I started out with film many years ago but switched to digital about five or six years ago when I started working for a national school photography and publishing company. I still have three fully functional film cameras but have not used them recently.
May 18th, 2012 at 7:33 am
Yes I shot slides always …. getting the best exposure is alway what it was and is about ..that will never change …the better your exposure the more latitude after …for digital and film (longer in the bath..higher/lower temp) photography is always about … how do you say?.. cheating …the one important thing remains though … are you happy with the final product … the camera always lies due to our eyes just plain see better than digital or film.
May 18th, 2012 at 7:33 am
I shot a lot of film in the old days – 35 mm and 120. The last time I used film was during my thesis research in England in 2000/2001. Since then, I bought a Vivitar point-and-shoot, had a Oly E-20 (still works!), an Olly E-510, and I shoot now with a Canon 60D. Both film and digital are awsome, each in their own right. But film became too demanding to hold on, and a digital computer `laboratory`is fascinating. I still keep my old cameras, but have been using the lenses with adaptor rings on digital cameras.
May 18th, 2012 at 9:19 am
I began using 35mm color film back in 2003 for college classes. Up to then, it was point and shoot. Then in 2011, I began taking darkroom (wet) photography using black & white 35mm for college classes. I must say that from then on I was HOOKED!. Photography is my major so I occasionally have to go digital, but I exclusively use b&w film. Luv it!!!
May 18th, 2012 at 10:04 am
I not only shot film but did darkroom work (mostly B&W). I shot mostly 35mm but some larger format. I didn’t care much for the early digital cameras and mostly just played around with them.
What converted me to digital wasn’t cameras it was Photoshop. I suddenly had access to all the coolest darkroom tools and could use them in a brightly lit room. I love manipulating images. I’ve taken several workshops and worked with the program a lot but I’m sure I haven’t tapped even closes to all it’s potential.
May 18th, 2012 at 10:53 am
i use both
i teach with digital but do most of my personal work with film, basically black and white, yes i still have a darkroom!
May 18th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
I only shoot with film. I have used film since 1976. I own a nice digital Fujifilm, but don’t want to sit at a computer in a store or spend time enhancing it at home. Shoot with both Nikon and Fujica slr’s. Only problem is fewer choices for local developing. Walgreen does it, Walmart and Meijer have quit, York by mail, HP Snapfish has quit. Somebody will start up the old film kiosk again and clean up for a few years yet.
May 18th, 2012 at 3:00 pm
I do own a film camera but do not use it now as I am not sure if processing is still being done particularly, diapositives. Besides even if its done its probably too expensive. Though nothing to beat the quality of film, particularly its integrity since you cannot alter a diapositive, unlike the digital where you can alter almost everything and so its hardly a capture of everything of the picture taking moment!
May 18th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
I started with film in 1957 and shot my last roll in 2009. I still have the camera, but gave away my enlarger and kit to raise money for Scouts. I use my wife’s Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 for most purposes and a small Fuji Finepix Z20 when out tramping.
May 18th, 2012 at 10:44 pm
I recently got hold of my fathers Nikon Fe which I believe is one of their earlier models! I was super excited to shoot with it and as a beginner photographer it has taught me a lot of the basics of shooting which is awesome. Its hard to break the habit of taking a shot and then looking expectantly at the back of the camera where an LCD would usually be! =P The camera gets a lot of attention and I’m always happy to show them my Dad’s piece. Its a classic! =)
May 19th, 2012 at 12:13 am
Learned shooting with film. Started using digital seriously last year, May 2010. Still and always will continue to use film, focusing on black and white, but also some colour.
May 19th, 2012 at 2:46 am
I first learned to shoot with a film camera, since that was the norm in the 90s. I finally bought a digital SLR in 2008 and I do enjoy it a lot. It’s great to be able to instantly view the photo you just shot and make any needed adjustments to improve it on the spot. But there is something about film that is just a little more fun to me, possibly the surprise of never knowing exactly how your photo is going to look when it is time to develop. I have two lovely old film cameras that I tend to use about as much as I use the DSLR. The only problem is that it is harder to find a lab to develop film now than it used to be only a few years ago. Still, I think it’s great that film is not dead!
May 19th, 2012 at 4:28 am
i have an olympus camera with a few lenses, i think it is really fun to take pictures with
May 19th, 2012 at 6:13 am
I bought my 1st 35MM in the late 70′s, Pentax MV, then a ME Super. I still drag them out occasionally, to me the suspense of waiting to get the pics back is all part of it.
I now use mostly a Pentax K-7 & a Pentax pocket camera. I have stayed with Pentax because of my extensive lens collection, from fisheye to Takumar 1000MM.
Love taking pics.
May 19th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
I shot with film for 20 years and was VERY resistant to going digital, however due to a ‘ great upheaval ‘ I bought my first digital camera last year and I love it. I still have all my film gear but I have no wish to use it in the short term future, maybe one day!. Jaime
May 19th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
I started with film. I learned about exposure and development. That taught me about shutter speeds, apertures, DOF, focus, etc.
My first digital images were scans from 35mm negatives and slides. I switched to mostly digital and I like the idea of shooting a lot of images at relatively little or no incremental cost.
But I keep going back to film – especially shooting with 120 TLRs and 645 cameras – because it forces you to THINK and to COMPOSE each shot. Once you learn THAT, then take those skills to a digital camera. I’ve seen too many digital photographers who just ‘machine-gun’ pictures in ‘Auto’ mode and hope they got something good.
May 19th, 2012 at 9:09 pm
I still have my old Pentax gear, but I live on Crete, where film processing costs 16 euros a time, so not a viable option really. Seven years ago I switched to a Canon 30D and it’s great. Meanwhile the Pentax camera & lenses still sit in a cupboard and three or four now outdated films still occupy space in the fridge. I should get rid of the film gear, but it is almost valueless, so no great incentive to stick it on eBay!
May 20th, 2012 at 12:51 am
I have loved taking photos since I was very young. When I did finally “convert” to digital, I felt like a total traitor to my film camera. I would love to still shoot film but it is very difficult to purchase and develope film in central South Dakota.
May 20th, 2012 at 7:41 am
I bought a Nikon FE with an amazing Nikkor 50mm 1.2 not a long time ago, and since I got the first results from the Ilford HP5 (black and white for those unfamiliar with it) I was so impressed with the results and the way the sun was hitting the snow on top of a mountain that since then I’m more and more leaving my bulky Canon 7D at home and just walking around with the film camera.
My next project is to actually learn how to develop and print my own films…
Anyone in London willing to help me?
Cheers!
May 20th, 2012 at 10:01 am
I have one more roll of film left. Shot one last summer and the developing was terrible, either I didn’t remember how to set the camera, or the filom was too old….will shoot the last roll sometime and will read the book beforehand…….
May 20th, 2012 at 11:45 am
No – Own all the stuff but now live in the country and don’t want to damage the environment with any more chemicals than I already have – this stuff kills a septic system – so digital is my life!
May 20th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
I shot a few rolls with a Minolta XGA my dad had sitting around his shop that was used long ago for product photography. It was a fun experiement, but I prefer digital and the cost would prohibit me from doing any regular film shooting if I wanted to get into it.
May 21st, 2012 at 4:05 am
I started my hobby with film in the 70s using a 35mm screw mount camera. I eventually bought a Rolleiflex twin lens and did personnel shooting as well as wedding shooting with it. Although people were saying that 35 digital has reached medium format quality I haven’t seen it yet- even with a full frame 35mm camera digital. Now, it could be me but I don’t think so. I’m seriously thinking of dusting off the Rollei and see if its me or if the tech really has not caught up. Digital medium format is still insanely expensive (and bulky) so I won’t be going that route unless I start to make some very serious money from photography.
Digital Mamiya 7 anyone?
May 21st, 2012 at 5:24 am
I’m 56. I grew up in the darkroom. I shot and processed my own film from 1965 to 2000. I do not miss it at all! The only time I work with film now, is to scan old negatives for family and friends. I shot my last roll of film about seven years ago.
Digital imaging is way more capable than film ever was. You just have to learn the discipline and the technology, which is, admittedly, a steep learning curve. Digital offers repeatable precision. That is the good news and the bad news. You have to be precise…
The key benefits of digital include immediacy, control, consistency, better image quality, efficiency of time and NO FILM OR FILM PROCESSING COST, and environmental preservation (not fixing film means zero silver from film processing goes down the drain!).
The price you pay for all that is learning what you need to know to do it well.
I have been a part of the school portrait industry for 33 years. I helped transition a lab in NC from film to digital processes. Most of us converted our labs to digital between about 1995 and 2005. We converted our camera fleets to digital over the last decade. I think there was near universal rejoicing when we dismantled the last film processors and ripped out the chemistry mixing tanks for the film process. Color film processing was bio-hazardous duty.
Even though I still own all my film gear and darkroom equipment from the 1970s – 1990s, my personal “darkroom” is now a Mac, various software packages, and an Epson scanner and printer. My distribution medium is often the Internet. My storage media are outboard hard drives and optical discs. I only print what I display on the walls, or give to relatives.
Why would I shoot film when my iPhone takes better pictures than every point-and-shoot film camera I ever had?
May 23rd, 2012 at 6:10 pm
For those of us in America, and with a Costco warehouse within a reasonable distance, using Costco for film processing is highly economical. Their film work quality is excellent. The problem is this: Costco is phasing out film processing as the ratio of film:digital revenue decreases. Perhaps one way to help stave this off, in addition to increasing their film processing volume, is by writing to Costco and asking them to keep film processing alive in at least some warehouses, and having those warehouses accept and return film processing work by mail. Might be worth a try. Otherwise, shooting film is going to continue to get more and more expensive.
May 26th, 2012 at 1:11 am
It seems that I was always around photography. When I was a wee lad in the seventies, my mom always had a camera in her hand and she got me a Kodak instamatic. That lasted me until I got to college where I kind of drifted away from the medium.
Then for the last decade or so, after a trip to Disneyland, I shot digital starting out with a crappy point and shoot Kodak EasyShare DX4530 Zoom. While it and it’s 5 megapixels was solid enough and served me well, I was quickly suckered by the sexy bells and whistles of the Canon PowerShot S3 IS. And then when I realized that I was kind of taking this photography thing seriously as a hobby (you know, buying strap on lenses and whatnot) I decided to make the jump to the Canon Rebel XSi. And then, after dropping all kinds of money on flashes and filters and lenses, I wind up picking up a old Canon Rebel K2 film camera, shooting 35mm film.
And the circle of life is complete. . . .
May 26th, 2012 at 1:28 am
I have a small collection of about 20 film cameras, ranging from SLRs to rangefinders and even a couple of folding pocket cameras that shoot on 4×6 film.
I have shot at least one roll of film on each camera – I love it.
I also Shoot on DSLR,which I use for weddings and other commercial work.
The film cameras are my way of challenging myself, working within limits and boundaries to expand my creativity…it certainly makes you think when you only have 3 shotter speeds to choose from!
May 26th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
I sometimes shoot with a 1970′s camera along with a Agfa Billy from around the 1930′s. I wrote an article on how shooting in film can make you a better photographer if anyone is interested: http://garrettchinn.com/2012/05/20/5-ways-shooting-film-photographer/
May 30th, 2012 at 1:08 am
I started shooting film in the early 1980s a d have up around 1998 then I was re introduced to photography by my husband in 2003-4 now in own over 200 odd film cameras dating from 1896. I do shoot digital when travelling but it’s quite rare
December 25th, 2012 at 10:03 am
i shoot 35 film and digital as well as digital hassleblad and 6×7 mamiya rb and if you get the 35mm film scanned on the hassleblad flex tight x1 you cant compare 35 digital.
May 6th, 2013 at 3:43 am
We shoot film 35mm, 120 & super 8. We also shoot digital along with the film. Digital is more expensive as you shoot more and your not going to delete your kids or pets, film is more wait for the moment. The photos from film are in the shoe box with the negative and can be reprinted to sofa size if it’s that good of a shot. Digital falls apart on blow up. Auto focus is not exact on a blow up. Hold a Nikon zoom lens and hold a Nikon digital zoom. Feel the difference? One is plastic, one is glass. of course things change when you move into the
$ 5,000 digital camera. Do you imagine how many film based photos I can shoot for $5000.? The camera is almost free. The processing is less than $10. The film less than $5. Some big box retailers give a cd back instead of negatives….no thanks. I want the negatives. CDs may be like the 5 1/4 floppies I have in a few years. I have negatives from the 50′s. Still reprintable. My two cents. I own 4 nikons with 6 lenses, two Kiev 120′s with 6 lenses, and a super 8 Chinon. My refrigerator has 10 rolls of 35mm, 7 rolls of 120 and 7 rolls of super 8mm.
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