Why I shoot film

We all know why not to shoot film. There’s no need for me to go into detail other than to say expensive, slow, delay, hassle, digital. Just those five words are probably enough for anyone to clearly explain why they would never try, or why they gave up shooting film. I’m not about to start discussing that here, it’s well documented and frequently discussed. I want to think about the real reasons I shoot film, and perhaps why more people should give it a try.

I’ve worked in the IT industry in some form or another for many years. I spend much of my time in front of a computer screen. I was already getting an interest in photography having bought a digital point and shoot camera back in the days when three megapixels was pretty good. By chance I met an old school teacher who was also a photographer and who suggested I join one of her photography classes. I took a dive straight in at the deep end and learnt film photography, film developing and darkroom printing, using a Canon AE-1 Program that my parents gave me so I could do the course.

While the camera had automatic controls, I learnt to use it fully manual and went on to complete my photography A Level. I rewarded myself after that with my first digital SLR, which I continued to shoot with in manual mode.

Having learnt the entire process I didn’t revisit film photography very often for several years, until early 2022 where I made an active decision to get back into it a bit.

Starting to build up a small (and pretty cheap) collection of cameras helped to inspire me over the last few years. I’m fascinated by the technical aspect, the mechanics of a camera that doesn’t need a battery. But all of a sudden, I had a couple of dozen film cameras with their own quirks and characteristics, all of which I needed to try out.

Now I have around 60 cameras and I am still trying to get out and use every single one and write about each here. I’ve tried about a quarter of them, and clearly written about far fewer. But I keep getting drawn back to a few favourites that I love to use and I know I can depend on.

A day out to an event, for example, I’m almost certainly going to take a Canon EOS camera, probably the 1N. It’s bulky, but coupled with the L-Series lens I’ve had for many years for a digital camera, I get consistently reliable results and it’s an absolute workhorse.

Over the last few months on a few day trips, I’ve been inclined to take a Zenza Bronica ETRS. This is currently one of my favourite cameras to use. With a waist level viewfinder and a manual winder, it seems such a detached process compared to taking a photo with a phone or any kind of SLR. To boot, the image is inverted when it is reflected onto the viewing glass, so composition is just that little bit more awkward. I’m not selling this well am I? But as I mentioned before, this mechanical, technical process is exactly what intrigues me.

Going out for the day with a film camera is a welcome break from being attached to a digital screen all the time. I don’t pretend to be a good photographer, perhaps I’m not even trying to be a good photographer. I’m not keen on post-processing and I’m even worse at that than I am at taking photos. For me, photography is far more about being out and about with a camera and the process involved in taking a photo than it is about the end result. Because of that, I don’t devote a lot of time to improving the post processing and for my requirements, the results are satisfactory.

This is probably the biggest cliché of them all and I’m sure many other people will tell you the same, but film photography forces you to think about what you’re doing. This is important, and it’s the single strongest reason I would suggest any keen photographer to try it. One of the cameras I have is a medium format camera that shoots 6×7 frames. You only get ten frames per film. When a single film can cost as much as £20, it’s £2 per frame before you’ve even considered developing and any scanning or postage costs.

Each press of the shutter button is suddenly very expensive so you don’t want to waste that frame. Suddenly, you’re starting to think about the lighting, the composition, distractions in the background. Can you simply move a metre to one side so an unwanted object isn’t in the frame.

My photography tutor always taught all of us “get it right in camera”. Darkroom printing for most of us that have tried it is a dark art (pun intended). It is difficult. Going back to the days where you would go to the darkroom with the negative, print your test strips, test for exposure, dodge, burn and whatever else (yes, all those tool names in Photoshop really did come from processes invented well over a century ago), it was a time consuming process even if you were good at it, but there was also much trial and error. If you took a bit longer when taking the photo, you can save a lot of hassle later.

I believe the benefits really extend to all forms of photography. I hope that if anyone is inspired to have a go at shooting film, you can find it a rewarding experience that can enhance your work overall.