Film Photography Makes A "Stunning" Comeback

Hi,

It seems to be thriving here...

Agfa%20Vista%20Plus-L.jpg


Not much of a photo but I couldn't use flash and just grabbed it yesterday.

Regards, David

Thriving here in Blackpool too thanks to its popularity with elderly holiday makers . Shelves full of Vista in the various Poundland stores.
 
I think a lot of pros still use film in the fashion industry.

Wedding industry still has a huge amount of people shooting film in the high end. The "Fine Art Weddings" movement of the last decade has had a big number of photographers fully or partially rejecting digital for Contax 645s and Fuji 400H. There is nothing like 400H in the right light for skin tones, and film does wonders for the skin surface of real humans (as opposed to models).
 
Wedding industry still has a huge amount of people shooting film in the high end. The "Fine Art Weddings" movement of the last decade has had a big number of photographers fully or partially rejecting digital for Contax 645s and Fuji 400H. There is nothing like 400H in the right light for skin tones, and film does wonders for the skin surface of real humans (as opposed to models).

Yes! I'm not big into wedding photography, but everything I see coming from photographers who use film at weddings is awesome, especially with a camera like the Contax 645 or Mamiya 645 AF. Those are perfect for weddings.

Matt Day is a professional wedding photographer and recently shot a wedding on a Rolleiflex and even though that requires a more paced workflow, the shots look great so far.

Something about weddings on film make it seem much more special and involved.
 
Yes! I'm not big into wedding photography, but everything I see coming from photographers who use film at weddings is awesome, especially with a camera like the Contax 645 or Mamiya 645 AF. Those are perfect for weddings.

Matt Day is a professional wedding photographer and recently shot a wedding on a Rolleiflex and even though that requires a more paced workflow, the shots look great so far.

Something about weddings on film make it seem much more special and involved.

I used to integrate more of it but I'm located in NYC and frankly this place is the land of darkness. Were I outside of the city with great light I would do a lot more with it. I too use a Rolleiflex and a Pentax 67, plus 35mm in one form or another. My clients that I meet with are always most attracted to my film weddings w/o knowing that they're film based. Film and film cameras just have a look that modern equipment isn't completely suited to achieving. Nikon did all of us a favor with the 58/1.4G, which comes pretty close to the look of a 645 image shot with an 80mm, and new presets make it easier to match film, but they never quite come all the way there. But there are downsides. In addition to cost you really need someone else there to help you manage the film and keep your cameras loaded. Then once you get your scans back putting everything in chronological order is a real PITA, especially if you're integrating with digital images in a timeline. For now I shoot my engagement shoots on film, weddings on digital, and of course pretty much all personal projects on film.
 
Still, everyone is talking about niche photography... nothing stunning here.

Context. Not sure I'd use 'stunning' either but....compared to the dire predictions of a few years ago that film would die out completely the current interest and increase in film sales is certainly interesting. It is much more than 'niche', more of a sustained interest, enough to keep it alive and thriving for the enthusiast.
 
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see it surviving and thriving. Anything that allows for different ways of photographing is a good thing.
 
Film delights all the senses, including smell. Crack open a fresh memory card from its vacuum sealed package. What do you smell? Nothing apart from a faint whiff of sadness.

Pop open a fresh canister of film, and ahh the heavenly aroma of a witch's brew of chemicals!
That aroma of artistry melded with the promises of possibilities and the melodrama of the moment!
Nothing smells like film being loaded into a camera.

Shoot film. It does a body good.

c Huss 2016
 
From one of the numbers of young photographers who swear by film let me tell you by the time I discovered film; photography had become a process of shoot it and enjoy the moment and then I would go through the tedious process of editing it. Meanwhile with film I was enjoying shooting the image in the moment and then enjoying the whole process and it just worked for me. Now I have been shooting film for 2 years and have started going semi pro locally and ill be dammed if most of my images from an event aren`t shot on film.
Long rant sorry if it doesn't make much sense.
 
From one of the numbers of young photographers who swear by film let me tell you by the time I discovered film; photography had become a process of shoot it and enjoy the moment and then I would go through the tedious process of editing it. Meanwhile with film I was enjoying shooting the image in the moment and then enjoying the whole process and it just worked for me. Now I have been shooting film for 2 years and have started going semi pro locally and ill be dammed if most of my images from an event aren`t shot on film.
Long rant sorry if it doesn't make much sense.


Makes perfect sense Jake. Glad it's working for you.
 
Woah now, where've you found this!?

Hi,

Almost any branch of Poundland, which is a chain in the UK of shops selling almost everything for a pound...

You have to search for them (the films) and, as they are so cheap, resist the temptation to fill the fridge with them.

They are interesting as the small print on the box says they were/are made for some firm in Germany and Agfa etc have nothing to do with it. It also says 'Made in Japan' and so my guess is Fuji's C200 film. This website suggests it too;-

https://dexter.pcode.nl/ NB you enter the long number code printed on the cassette by the barcode.

Regards, David
 
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