Why Shoot Film In 2025?

It’s never been easier to take photos. Phone cameras are getting better and better. Technology has given us so much and making use of the latest advances can only be a good thing, right? Well, some things are gained but some things are lost. I’d like to make a case here for putting your super duper digital camera or phone camera aside and exploring the world of analogue photography. You might just be surprised by the benefits and have some fun in the process too.

Slows You Down

There is no doubt that shooting film slows you down. Most film cameras require more time to get the picture. Many of them are manual focus, for example, which for most first-timers takes quite a lot of effort. Not only that but there are a limited number of exposures on a single roll of film. With an SD card, which has way more capacity, you can delete old images on the fly and add new ones. This is impossible with film. What’s more, film has become really expensive, so wasting shots is something you try to avoid. And the result? You have to slow down and take your time. This is the only way to get good results when shooting analogue.

Teaches You The Basics

Nowadays, it is possible to know nothing about shutter speed, aperture and ISO and get great results with your camera. A lot of this has to also do with being able to see what you are getting on the LCD screen even before taking the shot. With older cameras, especially those that are pre-90s, more effort and skill is needed in order to get the picture. It is all well and good watching YouTube tutorials about the theory of how cameras work but nothing compares to learning from practice. Not paying attention to shutter speed, aperture or setting the wrong ISO can not just lead to poorer results with analogue but none at all. In most cases, you must know what youare doing and if you want a specific look, analogue is a fantastic way to learn how to achieve it.

Filmic Look

Film has character. It has grain. Grain is not the same as digital noise. It is something more pleasing. There is a kind of physicality to the image. A special sauce that is hard to explain but that makes a big difference. Both black and white and colour film both exude this while colour has something else special up its sleeve. Yes, there are hundreds of apps on your phone that can apply a retro colour filter to your pictures but to me it never seems quite the same as the real thing. The colours of Kodak and Fuji film stocks are special. It’s not so much about absolute accuracy but more about a feeling. At least to my eyes. Take Kodak Gold 200, for example. To me, pictures taken on this film feel like summers from long ago, road-trips with friends and sandy beaches.

Less Distracting

One other significant aspect of old cameras is that, by and large, they are nothing like computers. If you compare them to digital cameras or your smart phone, they are positively dumb. That, however, is there charm. Many of the older ones are very mechanical in operation. There is a simplicity to them and a quietness also. No flashing lights, no whirring sounds, no notifications or a barrage of settings vying for your attention. This makes the experience of doing photography very much a kind of meditation. You may well find yourself more present and more in touch with the process when liberated from the complexity of modern devices.

Expectation

One of the first things that somebody notices when you hand them a film camera if they’ve never used one, is the obvious fact you can’t see the picture before you take it.There is no LCD screen on the back. This makes things quite a lot harder but also potentially highly rewarding. There is nothing quite like taking pictures and not knowing how they are going to turn out until you get them back from the lab (or develop them yourself). I grew up in a time when there were no digital cameras and you often found yourself forgetting what pictures were on the roll until you got the prints back. The waiting was exciting and when the pictures arrived, opening the sleeve to check them out was always a bit of a thrill. Something very much lost in the digital age.