When I was 22 years old, I was sitting at my Grandparent’s house when my Grandpa randomly came out of his office with a brown leather case. The case was in pretty rough shape and I could tell it was pretty old. He set the case on the table and just said “Here, you might think this is neat”. Inside the case was a Yashica FX-2, a few lenses, filters, and other film accessories.
That was my first film camera that I’ve ever owned and my introduction to shooting film. I was born in 1992, so I can’t say it was the first time that I’ve shot with a film camera, but it was definitely the first time that I started shooting film since I started taking photography seriously. Since then, it’s become a process that I really enjoy, and here’s why.
The quality of the photos are incredible! In a world where technology is king, it’s easy to disregard a dusty film camera. I’m sure many of the cameras from this period are pretty unreliable, but luckily that was not my scenario. My Grandpa takes extremely good care of his material things. It’s actually kind of annoying how careful he is when it comes to his things. However, I couldn’t be more thrilled with this character trait because the lenses and camera are in fantastic shape and the photos are incredible! The glass is very sharp and everything on the camera functions properly. As a result, I’ve been thrilled with the quality of the photos when they come back from the lab and I’m very grateful for this gift from my Grandpa. If this camera ever breaks, I’ll still keep it because it meant a lot to me that he saw something in me to give me his old camera gear.
The gear is relatively cheap. Grandpa was always the one shooting our home videos and taking photos of all of us on vacation, and the gear he purchased to do so was very high-quality. There are some film cameras that you can buy today that are insanely expensive. Anything with a red Leica dot is sure to make you start pinching your pennies. However, there’s many alternatives that are very high-quality and very affordable. Yashica was company that produced great products that often had many of the same features as the expensive brands. You can purchase a Yashica FX-3 on eBay for $50.00, which I’ve done. It even came with a custom leather body! My next film camera is likely to be a medium-format Yashica Mat 124G for $300, which has many of the same features, and essentially the same body, as the $2,000 Rolleiflex TLR cameras.
Film motivates me to think harder about my photography. I’ve mentioned this before in the last post, but since I only have 36 frames on my film cameras, I’m a lot more careful about what I’m going to photograph. I focus more on the overall story or feeling that I’m trying to capture, which can simplify the process and make my mission much more clear. By limiting the number of available exposures, this also prevents me from taking photos that suck. I may frame up a shot, just to eventually decide it wasn’t worth one of my limited frames and put the camera back down. Additionally, I may use a single roll for one specific topic. For example, I have a roll of Ilford HP5 in my camera at the moment that I’m only using to photograph the homeless population in Los Angeles.
It’s a different experience! As you could probably gather at this point, shooting film is an overall different experience. It’s unique in the sense that it’s limiting compared to my mirrorless camera. With a digital camera, you can constantly adjust your ISO setting to compensate for a light or dark scene, which provides flexibility to what you can photograph. With film, you load the film, choose an ASA speed (same thing as ISO, basically), and you’re stuck with that ASA speed for the remainder of the roll. By being limited, I personally feel that I’m more connected to the photos that I’m shooting and that the camera is an extension of my eye, as opposed to a digital camera that can feel more like a tool.
The photos look timeless. I love shooting my personal life, because I get to document what I’ve done and the people I shared it with. I’ll often bring a camera to family events such as birthdays or when we take all the kids trick-or-treating. When I shoot these experiences on a film camera, I can’t help but feel nostalgic when I look at the prints. Photos taken in 2019 of my nephews, feel like the same photos of my siblings/cousins and me when we were growing up. Plus, these photos bring a lot of happiness to the people I care about the most and are gifts that they can enjoy forever.
Overall, shooting film is exciting and only heightens my understanding of photography. It’s a great teacher in exposure, composition, and patience. I have my Grandpa to thank for introducing me to film photography, as I’m not sure I would’ve ever picked up one. I love the way film photographs look, but I can’t say if I ever would’ve pursued it. Now I have friends that will text me or DM me on Instagram asking my opinion on film cameras and film stocks, which is very exciting because I love helping others get into photography and it’s exciting to see how stoked they get when their first roll is developed. If you’re at all interested, check out your local thrift store or visit KEH.com, which offers awesome deals on tons of film cameras.