Film Photography 101|
A Guide to all things 35mm
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Photo + Video | May 21, 2020
Written By: Kyra Ten Brink and Marion Kamara
Contributors: Maya Stewart, Josie Murphy, and Jasmin Grant
Photo by: Maya Stewart
We’ve all seen those old photos of your mom or dad from their youth. They're aesthetically pleasing
that give you this familiar nostalgic feeling. More than likely, those photos were taken with old film
cameras!! In this article, we’ll tell you exactly how you can use them, from what starter cameras to buy to what film stock to use! Also, we’ve asked some of our favourite film photographers to
give us some tips for starting out with film photography (Click here for that) and we’ll give you the basics to get the settings right while shooting!
point 'n shoots
It all starts with buying your first ever film camera. For this guide we’ll be focussing on point
and shoot cameras. Point and shoot cameras are great to start with; they are easy to work
with and the results look just like disposable cameras. Which specific camera you’ll buy doesn't matter too much when you're just starting out. So, to give you a better idea of the results you’ll get with a point and shoot camera, we have collected a few examples.
Photo by: Kyra ten Brink
Photo by: Josie Murphy
Photo by: Josie Murphy
How to use one: Point and Shoots are basically environmentally friendly (reusable) disposable cameras. Although they have various settings those can be limited and unpredictable, so in our opinion its better to just load the film (according to the manual which you can always find on line) point it and shoot. Simple as that!
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Since we’re social distancing right now, you probably can't get one sat a thrift store. But luckily, you can find so many cameras on sites like Ebay or Etsy. Just search for ‘point and shoot’ and you’ll get so many results! Red flags to look for though is that if it says ‘untested’, you’re basically playing Russian roulette with your money, haha! Also, we suggest to not spend too much money on a point and shoot camera, because like we said the results will be alike! We've even linked ones you can buy right now for under $25 USD right here and here.
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Remember: AESTHETICS AREN'T EVERYTHING!!! We feel like
people shy away from the 1980’s to 2000’s style film cameras because they don’t have that
“vintage” look. But these cameras work so well, and they tend to be way cheaper and in better condition too! This goes not only for point 'n shoots but for our next topic.
manual cameras
Manual Film cameras (or SLR cameras) are the more technical and advanced film cameras that range oin a variety of shapes, sizes and prices. With a manual camera you have far more influence over how the photo will turn out. The Canon AE-1 is an SLR that gets a lot of hype but it can be costly due to its reputation so we've found some cheaper alternatives here and here.
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How to use one: First, the ISO. ISO in digital photography measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. When shooting film, it is an indication of how sensitive the film you’re shooting with is to light. Unlike digital photography, film comes with with a built in ISO that you'll find on the box. the number can range anywhere from 50 to 1600 and the lower the number the more light you'll need to get a properly exposed photo and vice versa. Most SLR's have a dial at the top where you can change the ISO you're shooting so you can over expose or under expose the photo if you wish.
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Now that we’ve set the ISO, we’re going to set the shutter speed. The shutter speed basically means how long the lens will be opened. This ranges from 30 seconds to 1/4000 of a second. When you’re shooting daylight (not too sunny) 1/125 should be good. But, depending on the light (which changes every step you take) the settings will be different. The lower the shutter speed is, the longer the lens will be open and the more light it will catch. I suggest to never go lower than 1/125, except for when you have a tripod, because photos will be shaky otherwise.
On the other hand, the higher you set your shutter speed, the shorter the lens will be opened and the less light your sensor will catch. When you’re shooting on a sunny day for example, you’re shutter speed will be higher than 1/125 because your picture will be overexposed otherwise.
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It’s really about finding out what settings work for you. In the beginning it’s really difficult, I have to admit that I really struggled with shooting manually. But practice really makes perfect and the more you’ll try the more you’ll get the hang of it.
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Another thing that’s really important for shooting manually is: Aperture. With aperture you can add dimension to your photo. For example, when you take a portrait and you want to have an unfocused background, you can get that result with the aperture.
Aperture ranges, depending on the lens you use (For this article I’ll use a Kit lens; 18-55mm), from F3.5 to F22. It basically determines what's in focus and whats not! With most film cameras there will be a circle inside the range finder and when that circle is in focus, it means that whatever is near it is also in focus. With an aperture of 3.5 you get a lot of depth so your foreground is detailed while your background is not, with an aperture of 22 everything in the photo is sharp and in detail. We suggest starting with the aperture around 5.6, you get great dimension with this setting and can experiment from thereon!
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Photo by: Jasmin Grant
film stocks and developing
Now for the fun part: choosing film stocks! Film comes in a variety of types and ranges in price from $3 a roll to $15 a roll. Every film stock is like different filter that gives the picture that nostalgic look. For beginners, we recommend you shoot consumer grade film like Fuji Superia 400 , Kodak Gold 200, Kodak Ultramax 400, Kodak Colorplus or Fuji C200. shooting cheaper film in the beginning gives you more room to experiment without worry of wasting a roll. Fujifilm films tend to lean more to the cooler side of the color spectrum while Kodak leans to the warmer side. This is not to say that Fuji can't be good for portraits like the one below, its just not the look some people are going for!
Photo by: Marion Kamara
Now for developing! You can get film developed at lots of drug stores near you like Walgreens or CVS and if you have a local darkroom or camera shop near you that's even better!! if not, there are plenty of places where you can send your film to be developed like Darkroom or Mpix. Another option (and a personal favorite) is developing your own film at home which you can do with this kit (there are other tools necessary as well like a film scanner).
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Okay, so now that you got the ingredients to a sick photo, start shooting!!!!! You can play around with settings and film as much as you like and remember: there are no rules for this!! You can basically create your own perfect picture piece by piece!
Our #1 biggest tip: try to create something every single day, even if it’s an uninteresting picture: you’re still practicing. And practice really does make perfect in our opinion. Hope you enjoyed it and we would love to see your photos!!
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