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I’m an instant film photographer. Yes I shoot with the iPhone as well, however I still enjoy the instant experience that’s not at the mercy of a drive crash.

At current film prices film really slows me down (it always has done that, but now more than way back). I tend to take a photo I assume is good. A few better more thought photos give me much better photos than digital where it is so easy to just take a few different variants and come back with 200 average photos. I shoot much less junk with film because I think more. I think I've learned most from the photos I chose to not take. Especially with large format prices I really think is it worth the cost or not. (and all the work like developing and scanning the film).

Scanning? Get yourself a wet darkroom and stop playing about with "film". You are not experiencing film until you see that image slowly appearing on a sheet of photo paper.

Don't knock 35mm, printing A3 was never a problem but I printed in the Darkroom, that is where film really comes alive (B+W). However using Ektachrome and printing to Cibachrome is a joy to behold. But I will never go back to it, with the price of film these days High quality SD cards seem cheap. See if you can find a Zorki 4K an amazing 35mm rangefinder camera, you can even use the old Leica lenses on it. Keep shooting.

The new digital cameras of today looks artificial to me. Too sharp, too contrasty, not real world. That is why I bought a 12 mp Nkon D700, from 2008. It has a different sensor then other Nikons and the colors are film like. My lense of choice is a cheap Panagor 28mm 2.8 mf lens. Hazy and soft at 2.8, very sharp at F8. Lenses like these give me amazing film like results.

I love Film

Could`nt resist, on line camera store have an offer on TRI X 36 frame, bought 10 rolls, should keep me going for a while, trouble is when you shoot a good pro film, it`s hard to go budget. 👍

Most people who shoot digital just do program or auto mode…. Real skill needed eh? Then they download to Topaz etc and AI takes over. Real skill, eh. No thanks for digital…. I continue to shoot film and ‘learn’ everything I go out. !!!

Full electronic is super nice for sure …….until ! Right ? Looks like a killer camera for sure . I am shooting the Nikon F5 that’s full electronic and with certain Nikon af lenses you also have af. I mainly shoot manual focus glass . Then my other bodies are the Nikon fe it needs electricity mostly. But I mainly shoot with two different cameras one a rangefinder that has no electronics the Fujifilm GW690ii medium format 6x9 negative. Then a main carry with the F5 is the Nikkormat or Nikomat ftn 2 . It has a meter but can shoot without electronics. The Nikkormats are great cameras , built like tanks . I’ve been looking at the Leica M5 or the Pentax 6x7 mup ttl. Thinking the medium format is the better way to go but it’s big and bulky 5 lbs .

You are young and discovering your life! I HAD to use film. I'm old and look back at all film problems! Wrong colors! ASA/ISO not always accurate! Pro films came with different ASA/ISO! Old cameras and shutters may be/are inaccurate! Very poor Labs!! Film as does digital, have healthy leeway! 120 an exercise in expenditure! I used 120 in Mamiya C- Twin Lens. Film Verichrome Pan was magnificent! It was 27c a roll of film, 120. (about 50p)! I did many high end advertising and Industrial assignments! Lord I wish there had been Digital! Being stingy with exposures cuts one off, of getting better, seeing better and happier with your work.. When my pro printer couldn't tell me which image was 35 and the other 6x7 , I quit medium format! Digital is so easy to share! I do still shoot film.. but very little!

I use 35mm to shoot a manual rangefinder contax ii which would be crazy expensive in digital (like a Leica M10?). I agree about film SLRs though. I shoot 120 also and TLRs via Yashica are a good entry into 6*6. I develop myself to keep costs down and let the lab do the scans

Switching to digital was all I needed. But then I am a relic from the film days when cost of film was the limiting factor - with digital I can expose and experiment without limits. True film photographers do not scan - that is cheating... Digital photographers do not cheat - digital from capture to output - wonderful. 😊

Great video. I started off in film back in my college days and shot Kodachrome 64. I had one camera, a nifty fifty lens and I had a ball learning photography. Today, I shoot digital, instant film, 35mm and 120 film. Although I love my digital camera, a Fuji XT-2, there’s nothing like shooting film. For me, it slows me down and brings back the joy of photography.

You make a valid point, i will certainly consider this when i need to re, stock. Thanks for thinking of me, i obviously made an impression.

I shoot both 35mm and medium format. It all depends on the situation. Medium format for landscape and architectural photography, 35mm for street photography. Do you have any views on medium format for street photography?

With good technique and a decent scanner you can get perfectly acceptable results from 35mm. Moreover you are far more likely to use it more often because of compactness, portability and number of shots on a reel. Just look at the all but infinity of classic 35mm photography taken by the great exponents of the art.

I have two old film cameras. An Asahi Pentax Spotmatic SP and a Pentax ME Super. Nice cameras for sure. The issue for me is getting the film developed. Here in south Texas there are no places to get film developed... that I am aware of. I had to send the film to a place in California.

I’ve said a few times now. I have a stack of dead hard drives with pictures of my kids. From the last 20 years. Hopefully to recover them in the future. That’s the main reason why we now have so many cloud services. My stack of negatives from when I was a kid. I can scan or print and see it. They only get destroyed when the house burns down.

I was heavily into shooting medium format in the past, but nowadays, I predominantly use 35mm. The shooting experience with 35mm is superior for me. With a wide array of lenses available, achieving a quality comparable to medium format is entirely feasible. Opting for film photography is purely a personal choice. While it might entail higher costs, it's ultimately your money, and you have the freedom to spend it as you please-whether it's on that stunning Fuji or the Pentax. Keep indulging in film photography and creating those videos.

I shot plenty of 35mm film in the past. When I got a 6mp D100 around 2002, I never shot another roll of film. If you want to spend the money on film and processing, and the time required to scan, and clean up the images... that is your choice, but I would argue the way you become a better photographer is to shoot as much as you can... learn about light and composition instead of obsessing over the medium. The cost and time involved in shooting film will constantly be in the back of 99% of every film shooters mind these days.

Omg, that is a level of overthinking that borders on the ridiculous, did you watch back this video before posting, please stop talking

light bed ,loope, then dark room and print young man!!

I think Rollei is wonderful , I shoot Leica 35mm M bodies , I think 6x6 is more rewarding , also I have roll backs for the 4x5 cameras. Film costs more , but if you know what you're doing , it is more rewarding.

Boy, you must have a limited supply of money to be able to afford all of those little goodies that you got. I’m an old man on retirement and yet I watch what I spend too deep in debt, buddy. It’s hard to get out.

I think the value of film is the bottleneck. A parallel concept happened in car design. Cars used to be designed by hand with clay/wax and you had to be really thoughtful about each move you made because you can’t just add the medium back. Now you have CAD and can just CTRL Z. And while it’s more efficient, I think there is something lost there.

I always take one of my film cameras on my trips! They results always just have so much character that’s hard to get from digital..and also the process of film is fun!

bold statement about 35mm, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andre Kertesz, Alexander Rodchenko et al, would disagree. Being a photographer that shoots 8x10, 6x7, 35mm film and digital, there is a progression of difficulty and learning curve that needs to be understood with film. There is no substitute for skill, you can be a bad photographer on digital and still be a bad photographer on film. Digital doesn't make photography easy, it makes photography accessible to the masses as did the Kodak Brownie when that first came out. Film has become some form of yuppie hipster thing to do, and the truth is it's hard to do well. Pushing or pulling exposure and matching with your development, using a spot meter and understand the zone system and printing in the dark room, or not as the case might be. You talk about 35 mm being only 24 megapixels in size, you scan your film and put it on instagram what size are they? Instagram downscales everything! The truth is you can print 35mm as large as you want to, as you can medium format and large format, the larger the format the harder it is to find the equipment to do this and the more expensive it is (epson V850, that will scan 35, 120, 4x5 and 8x10 costs £850), to build a darkroom to do it properly would cost, well the price would be more like £8500. Now the F5 is a chunk of a camera looks a lot like the d850 with a battery grip added, but this was the hight of film camera technology when released for the Los Angeles Olympics, but compare it with a Leica M6. I would never advise someone to go straight to 120, start small if you like it move up.

I have been taking photographs for nearly 50 years, 60 years if you count my days with Instamatic 50. I use both, film and digital. I use film in all formats, from 135 to 5X7 and have a few digital cameras, from Nikon, Canon, Olmypus and Leica. My heart is with film. It is special, difficult, expensive and keeps you on your toes. Digital appears to be easy, but if you fall for that trap, crap is the end result. So use the film discipline for digital and enjoy it.

I'm in the process of scanning film from the late 80s to early 2000s. Mostly medium format but some 4x5 and 35mm. I would say that medium format might equal my Canon R8. I'm scanning also with the R8 and EF50 macro lens. 35mm doesn't look that great but I was using mediocre cameras and lenses. I won't ever shoot film again. If you want to slow down put your digital camera on a tripod and slow down. No need to spend 1-5 dollar a pic anymore.

RB6,4...RB65.? 🤔

Great video, very entertaining as well as informative. I love my film cameras too. I have a Nikon F and F2 and various lenses..... I get your point about medium format. More in keep with the higher megapixel digital cameras. Now a sub by the way.

Awesome video - and VERY well said.

Film or Digital? they are just mediums for photography. If you scan them they are digital.

For people who came from the analogue era, there is nothing in terms of analogue process that you can't replicate with digital i.e. you can choose to work slower, not chimp one's images etc. That's all well and good for photographic styles that lend themselves to that approach. But it fails miserably for a lot of jobbing photographic work that needs speed and consistent accuracy. I love all the film videos on youtube, but having shot film for thirty years, I don't miss it compared to MF digital for "slow" work and FF where speed and/or a wider lens range is needed. In case I come across as anti-film, film does have a different look to original digital images, even when scanned - though, at it's best, that can really be seen on large format sheet film. However, the fact that some people in the art community prioritise the film look on the basis that it is more authentically artistic is something that I do have issues with.

I went back. Actually I have tried to go digital on several occasions and failed each time!

I went just the opposite way, from my teenage years to the age of 50 years I used a film camera, film at that time was easy to get and sold in many supermarkets, I did not develop my own prints I had Kodak do my prints, setting up a darkroom and dealing with the chemicals that were used was not something that I could do and trying to dispose of chemicals today is a problem. When film became impossible to find in the local stores, I decided to go to digital photography. I got my first computer and a digital Pentax DSLR's not long after and on top off this I purchased my first photo printer from Canon so I had a lot of learning to do. Over the years I expanded my Pentax cameras to include all three k3 models, the Kp and K1 MKII. With these cameras and my ability to print my own work ,I went from photographing wildlife, landscapes and seascapes to photographing events. I was asked to photograph the Memorial day event at the correctional facility that I worked at and did so for eight years until I retired from my job as a Corrections officer. Three years into photographing the Memorial day event along with other projects, I was asked by a coworker if I would photograph his wedding, the following year I did two more weddings and two years before I retired I started photographing weddings, baptisms, birthdays, portraits and family photos shoots. If I was still shooting with film I would never have gotten involved with event photography as I found film photography to restrictive. The ability to shoot in different lighting conditions by simply changing a few settings on my camera and also being able to photograph an entire event with out stopping to change film made it easier for me to concentrate on capturing the day as it unfolds, I also found it easier to make exposure adjustments when needed and because I could edit the files and print a packet of photos I could deliver a finished product in a week and a half and I did this with out the help of a second photographer or assistant. At the age of 66 and now my wife being retired I went back to photographing for my self and I photographe some events for the family. My camera collection grew from my Pentax collection to include Panasonic, Olympus, Fujifilm, Nikon and one Sony A7 ii. When Nikon released the ZF that became my digital camera that I use like a film camera. I use Voightlander manual focus lens the screen is folded so it is not exposed. I use the diles on the top of the camera and I shoot mainly in single shot mode. All the glass I use are prime lenses and my auto focus lens are controlled with the aperture ring as are my manual focus lens. I have a wide variety of glass and cameras so I can photograph anything in any way that I want to but the Zf and Zfc are my go to cameras when time to shoot my subjects is not a factor, it's nice to get out in nature and to be able to enjoy the photography experience without being rushed into getting a photo and with the ZF I can shoot color and B&W photos with the flip of a switch.

I do both. Havent used my 35mm k1000 yet but just got it. Amd working on which lenses for my kit. But i also use my K50. And the k50 dod great. I do most of everything manually.

Welcome to Film mate. You might last longer. Might… Your first mistake is to think no great work can be done with 35mm film. WRONG. All newbies who start Film all want megapixels and large negatives etc. I once was you. Then I saw photo books and art gallery work shoot on 35mm. I have a friend who believes no great work can be shoot on any Film period. FYI, last year I made over 6k with my 35mm setup alone. That’s all I shoot now anyways. Sold all MF, LF and ULF. A wise man once said, 35mm is no longer for newbies… it’s for veterans. Cuz newbies only think in terms of details, bragging rights, the excitement of a large negative etc.

Unfortunately, whilst everyone was running to the camera store to trade in their camera kit for the Holy grail, I was`nt one of them by the way, I resisted, film manufactures took a big hit financially and eventually was the demise of film choice and cheap pricing. Pro labs also took a hit, my regular lab had to close down., During covid i made a decision that if i was going to continue to shoot film, i would set up a darkroom in my spare bedroom, to save costs and be in complete control of my photography, Since then i see black and white film prices increasing, .When i started to shoot black and white, back in the day, a roll of HP 5, trade cost £3.85 and now costs £8.50, and don`t mention how much that would cost to process and print in a pro lab in today`s prices, dos`nt bare thinking about, i can suck up the cost at the moment, but if it gets any more expensive, who knows i may have to give up photography all together. I would say that for majority of newbie film camera enthusiasts, it is too expensive to really learn film photography, it has had it`s day, unless there is more up take and film pricing falls to a more affordable price, it`s only a matter of time that film will die🤭 Blame my generation!!

all i have to say is: damn... this is heavy, but a very important subject

Disagree about film putting me in the moment more. I think I fell out of love with film and in love with videography when I took 2 minutes away from watching the most beautiful sunset I'd ever seen to pull my camera out of my backpack, meter light, compose the shot, make sure the lens cap wasn't on, carefully compose again, and finally shoot, whereas either before or after doing that I also took a video, pointed in the same direction I was looking, with only a glance necessary to make sure my aim was good, and I actually captured that moment, in a way that I could not have with photography, film or digital, and I was still totally present in the moment while doing so because I wasn't looking through my camera but over it. It's the best thing I'd ever captured on my phone and I bought a (semi)pro video camera shortly after. Aside from the time consumption I'm also pretty unsatisfied with lab scans but it seems like if I'd want to scan them myself I'd need a pricey Photoshop subscription to get the colors right. I wish it was as simple as inverting colors and increasing contrast but it isn't. I really wanted to like film and I've occasionally seen a glimmer of what makes it special, but in the end I found it even more unsatisfying than digital photography. I think if you want a film look without using film, using vintage lenses will get you halfway there, and there are a lot of vintage lens mount converters out there.

Try Half Frame 35mm. Try tiny fully mechanical Cameras. It is incredibly fun. Welta Penti 0 or Rollei 35SE. Absolute pleasure to have that in your pocket at all times.

Really enjoyed this. Subscribed!! There’s a calmness to your video and it’s relaxing and engaging. However, if you’ve watched this video and read this comment. Ignore the 35mm comment. 35mm is the original. It’s got character that medium format can not replicate. I shoot both formats and my 35mm tends to hold the memory and the emotion. The medium formats can end up being an expensive way to shoot photos that resemble a similarity to digital which is what you don’t want. None the less… all types of film is great. As it’s all about the process. Once you shoot film, digital feels cheating and you lose a little appreciation for those who shoot it. Finally…. There will always be a place for both digital and analogue in this world. Anyway, thanks again for a great video and glad you have found your love for the game again! J

I am genuinely surprised to see only 146 subs and 4 likes on such a relatively high quality video.