31–40 of 82 posts
Film photography, for me, is the most affordable way to get into medium/large format photography. Not really excited with 35mm because full frame bodies are getting more affordable. On the other hand, the price of used GFX (50S, 50R) bodies are also getting more affordable. Yes I know some people consider it only "slightly bigger than FF and not true MF". Well, more than enough for me. And of course Hasselblad XD or…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
developing it yourself reduces that delay! and no photo shop staff to look at your photos.
While increasing the barrier of entry. Not everyone has a dark room laying around.
My Mom never left! She has a cell phone but still uses an old point and click film camera (at least it has autowind and doesn’t use the old lever to advance the film). We keep trying to convince her that paying for film and development isn’t such a good thing, but she is set in her ways. The grandkids at least are amazed when she brings it out. She even has a laptop and a desktop computer where she could store the ph…
I've shot tons of film over a great many years and I have a sizeable collection of cheap and expensive 35mm and 120mm film cameras covering the period from the late 1800's to the 1980's. I stuck to film well after digital cameras got cheap enough for my tastes and I still love to shoot film - I have about 25 rolls of exposed color film in my office waiting for me to develop, so I still shoot a fair amount on film. I…
Personally, I don't shoot enough to justify new equipment. Photography is a minor hobby of mine, and I actually really enjoy the limitations of film. Just the other day I was on shot 33 of my last 35mm roll. It hits a bit different to say "well, I've got three shots left, I better make them count." I was doing a shoot with some friends and another photographer was there shooting on continuous, snapping a dozen frames while I took one. Their shots were partially edited by the end of the night and I'm trying to find time to get to the lab.
It's just a different experience. Like I said, I like the limitation that requires more planning and intention. Things don't always work out. I'll have a whole roll that's massively under or overexposed. I'll have rolls that never loaded properly and get nothing but a clear negative after development. It's all part of the story for me.
It's a much easier on-ramp to photography than both film and digital cameras, in my experience.
Also taking fewer photos has the side benefit of improving ingress/processing time which are non-trivial if you're taking photos for a living.
Don't get me wrong, there's a time to motor drive f8 and get the shot, just in most cases it's better to not.
Digital has always been about huge up-front costs of cameras and computer processing.
Film purchase and processing now have scanned added on, and all are getting painfully expensive, not to mention the surge in camera prices as TikTok decides which camera is flavour of the month. I can no longer decide to buy a Contax G2 backup body cheaply, so lucky I did it a long time ago.
Photography has always been an expensive hobby, plus ça change
My Mom never left! She has a cell phone but still uses an old point and click film camera (at least it has autowind and doesn’t use the old lever to advance the film). We keep trying to convince her that paying for film and development isn’t such a good thing, but she is set in her ways. The grandkids at least are amazed when she brings it out. She even has a laptop and a desktop computer where she could store the ph…
In 50 years probably the only photos your kids will have from today will be her grandma prints.