Experts: Explain WHY you shoot film to NEWBIES

[JeffS7444]

No particular reason: sometimes I think it might be fun to shoot with a particular film camera.

 

[Rayt]

Good question. I have no satisfactory answer except I feel like it. Whenever I look at some old scans I feel the grain add to the image. It doesn’t make the image better but I just like the way it looks.

 

[Tim Murphy]

Dear Board,

I was trying to finish a roll of film today when someone stopped by and struck up a conversation with me. He saw my camera, and I said I was just finishing up a roll of film while documenting a dam reconstruction project and trying to get a record of the terrain and features of the now drained lake for future fishing trips.

He said, "Film?" and I said "Yes." I proceeded to tell him that I shot B&W film 50 years ago and developed it myself. I find it fun to try to recreate my youth in manners with which I can still do it. I never was very good at it and my skills haven't improved much either, but I enjoy it.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA 🙂

 

[Jbennett68]

I shoot mostly film because I like mechanical things and the history and design of the devices themselves. I’m staring at an array to rangefinders , slr’s, tlr’s, and scale focus cameras loaded with film I need to finish up now. Love how different they all are. No doubt digital captures stunning images too. But none of them will be around and operating in 100 years like a film camera might be.

 

[Mcary]

Like other have stated I shoot film because I like the process and the result it gives. Also notice how positive people are that I run into while out shooting get lots of questions and positive comment from people.

 

[CMur12]

My interest also lies in the use of older, mostly mechanical, all-manual medium format TLRs and 35mm SLRs. I do also like an electronic Minolta X-570 + autowinder. All of my film cameras are pre-auto-focus.

I do think an all-manual film camera is an excellent tool for learning the basics of photography, even if it is never actually loaded with film.

- Murray

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

I enjoy using simple, mechanical cameras. I particularly enjoy using 50 year old mechanical cameras that are still working as well as the day they left the factory and will continue to do so indefinitely (with reasonable service). This is a stark contrast with the more-or-less disposable plastic junk the camera makers are foisting on us today, which will mostly be e-waste in 20 years. Yes, I'm exaggerating a bit. The only digital camera I own is 15 years old and still going strong—but if something goes wrong with it, I likely wouldn't pay to have it serviced, whereas I would with an equal quality film camera.

I simply like the way the photos I take on black and white film look better than any other medium.

 

[Richard G]

Right now I have film in the Konica Hexar AF which I should really finish. I think it's black and white. I was using that daily about 15 years ago. There's also film in my M2, which I've had for 48 years. Going out with a different camera, with film, gives you a new perspective and a new concentration. I took the Hasselblad down the hill last weekend, for one shot, preplanned, with a 50 wide angle. I used the tripod. All this is now the opposite of setting off with my very very familiar M9-P and a much used lens, a pattern which also has its strengths. I will put a film in the Spotmatic and its 55mm lens. That 5mm is so different to a 50, as is an SLR compared to RF. All these things make you appreciate the tool, new again to your hands, and that gives something to the result. That absent minded winding on of the machine is not so absent minded. A new sensor in the film gate. The transparency you project is the same piece of film as you loaded in the camera. Talk about magic lantern. I saw Spielberg online the other day: film is not quite predictable. You just don't know for sure what magic might turn up.

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

The difference between technology and magic is that technology works regardless of whether you believe in it. Film is, therefore, magical.

 

[ellisson]

Shooting film is an experience to recommend to someone interested in photography beyond using their mobile phones, but for many of us on this forum, there were no mobile phones or digital cameras when we were younger: Film was the medium. You didn't need to be into darkroom stuff, but you at least had to bring your exposed film to the local kiosk and wait for the results. Fast forward to the present, and the instant gratification of digital shooting plus the expense of film and cost of developing/printing may hold some back from film photography. Personally, I enjoy the experience of using my medium format and 35mm film cameras for the variety and different approach to my shooting behavior: slower and with a more critical eye. I can't "grab" shots like I can with digital. I also like the non-linear tonal curves of various films, something that can be altered in-camera (jpegs) or in post-processing when shooing with a digital sensor. That's a different way to use time, not necessary better of worse for some, but different.
The design and ingenuity of analog cameras also continue to impress me - they are just fun to shoot with and a nice change from the computerized digital cameras. Chemistry versus Chips.

 

[Richard G]

Dear Board,

I was trying to finish a roll of film today when someone stopped by and struck up a conversation with me. He saw my camera, and I said I was just finishing up a roll of film while documenting a dam reconstruction project and trying to get a record of the terrain and features of the now drained lake for future fishing trips.

He said, "Film?" and I said "Yes." I proceeded to tell him that I shot B&W film 50 years ago and developed it myself. I find it fun to try to recreate my youth in manners with which I can still do it. I never was very good at it and my skills haven't improved much either, but I enjoy it.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA 🙂

“Film?” …. …. “Can you still get it developed?” “Son, (I didn’t say Son) it’s only two years since you could have it developed here in High Street.” Deep incredulity. Then you tell them second hand cameras have gone through the roof and young women are buying film. You’ve lost them. So that’s all part of the fun. You can add, “And here’s a shot I took with this camera two weeks ago, showing him on the iPhone.” Deeper incredulity.

 

[Mos6502]

After a long hiatus I had a chance to sit down and draw. Using a dip pen and ink pot. With each stroke of the pen, the image in my mind becomes an image on paper that I can show others. I thought, how wonderful is this, to bring an idea into reality through your own deliberate action. When you pull your negatives out of the developing tank after fixing, and see them for the first time, it's about the same. In a world increasingly flooded with AI slop, of never-ending "content" produced without thought or skill, one has to appreciate what it means to be truly creative, or risk losing that appreciation forever. I expect in the near future, if it hasn't already happened, rather than take photos of their vacation, people will use AI to generate some after the fact to show to friends. Show friends the photos they never took.

Don't take it as "good old days" nostalgia. This is just the fact: you need to create things, physical things. You need to actually think, handle, develop finesse and experience. If you don't, your mind shrivels, and you end up at the slop buffet. And I suppose once you lose that appreciation of what it takes to actually make something, it's probably near impossible to get it back.