How much film do you use?

[Messsucherkamera]

At present, I am shooting an average of about five rolls of 135-36 Tri -X per week.

I am 100% film based so all my efforts go into film. I have found that if you want to shoot a lot, having two or three ongoing photo projects keeps you busy and keeps your film advance lever active.

Five rolls per week may sound like a lot but it's not. When I go out to work on my street photography, it doesn't take much to shoot 1-2 rolls on the street in half an hour to an hour. If you have your camera with you at all times - which you do, if you are serious about your photography - you will pop off 5-10 frames on a daily basis that you wouldn't expect to. You will have new images that you would have not gotten othrewise. Five frames here, ten frames there - it all adds up.

Some will ask "What's the point in shooting all that film? Why spend all that money? Why 'waste' your time and money like that?" These people just don't get it. They are oblivious to the fact that the only way you will improve and your photographic eye will mature, grow and evolve is by shooting a huge volume of images.

Actually, that's only half of the growth equation. You must also study your negatives and contact sheets and learn from them. Learn from your mistakes, understand what you could have done to make an "almost" image a keeper - and print your best images.

I have heard of "name brand" photographers who have 250,000 images on file with a stock agency. Keep in mind that these are only their best images. They have thrown away anywhere from ten to twenty (or more) 'almost' and flawed images for every one of those 250,000 good images they have up for sale.

These people got to be "name brand" photographers by shooting a huge volume of images. There is no other way. There are no shortcuts.

The good news is that photography is like anything else in life: You will get out of it rewards equal to the blood, sweat and tears you invest into it.

 

[Skiff]

After some years of exploring the digital world, in the last three years I've come back more and more to film.
There are several reasons for that. One important reason is that I like my pictures big, impressive, with best detail rendition and tonality, and best brillance.
And by far the best way to achive this is:
Slide projection. It is a league of it's own, absolutely unsurpassed in its quality. Much much better than any beamer, even the most expensive 10,000$ ones. And slide projection is only a tiny fraction of the costs.
My current film consupmtion is in the 150 - 200 films per year range, mostly color and BW reversal film, but also CN, BW negative and some instant film (instant is not included in the 150 - 200 number).

 

[Pavel+]

I've slowly, over the last two years, gotten tired of digital, in the same way as I'm tired of fast food and bit by little bit I've shot more and more film, where now I haven't shot a digital frame in about four months. Counting my totals I have 38 rolls of 135 and 39 rolls of 120 in this last year but I expect that next year I will have somewhere between two and three times as many in 120, perhaps about the same in 135. I feel great about how it is all going, film wise I mean. I've got a full wet darkroom and it feels like I have my hobby back! 🙂