What’s the fascination with film?
Digital is a dirty word when spoken to a true film believer. Just ask them.
Many of them will most likely reply with “film is not dead”.
Personally, I’m glad people stand up for film. I’m a firm believer of the medium as I believe it shapes us, defines our photographic style and makes us all better photographers.
That’s my belief, and I thought it might be interesting to hear what others might say, so I jumped on Facebook and posted:
“TELL ME:
What’s your fascination with film?”
…and here’s what they had to say…
Fascination with film is directly proportional to ability to use LR / COne / Photoshop…And an excess supply of money…. On a more serious note, I started out with film early on my photographic learning. I wanted to shoot panoramic style images following in the foot steps of the well known Australian icons of 617 colour photography. I had an absolute nightmare of a large format studio camera with a roll film back that had to be transported in a large wheeled box (read esky). I was working in the city a lot and had easy access to processing (read didn’t need to post the film). I enjoyed the process of setting up, focussing, waiting. I didn’t have the discipline or knowledge really to use my camera. Over time I felt like I learnt enough to produce decent images and kept going with film however the excitement of the shiny digital things kept catching my attention. The reading, the bits and pieces, the wider range of lenses. All of that consumer stuff appealed to me and then I stopped working in the city so access to processing was more difficult. I know posting some film off isn’t that hard but that process didn’t appeal to me in my learning phase where I was eager to consume and get instant feedback. I focused on digital panoramic stitching and the film dropped by the wayside as I started to learn the digital ways. To be honest I’m only looking at film again now because I no longer have time due to family commitments and work to spend time processing. Therefore the appeal of producing images without doing much finishing is bringing me back. But I’m not really taken by the aesthetic arguments, only practicallity.- Ian Burrows
2 things; heart and the necessity to push myself as a shooter. Digital is convenient and fast and let’s face it – great, but film has a soul you can’t replicate. Plus, being able to apply the mindset of being regimented, prepared and knowing how to shoot film keeps pushing me as a photographer as you can’t shortcut the basic skills needed as easily with film. – Lester Jones
I can use all those cool retro cameras,.. Loading film itself is way cooler than sticking memory card into the slot. – Eko Julianto
I like the way I can mould it and shape it into a hat to wear to the races personally. – Simon Pollock
Personally I’ll always love film because there’s less chance of me losing a negative than my raw files lol – Kim B Anderson
Simple, If your asking the question then you have never shot it so its bit like cake, stop wondering about it and take a bite – Tim Wallace
No matter how old or the type of film. It’s Dynamic Range will still be better than any Canon DSLR – Henry Louey
If you were told you only had 24hrs to live, you would choose to spend that time wisely on the most important things. Film has that same importance. Select your images wisely. – Mykal Hall
My take is that some people still shoot film because it’s less accessible. Makes people feel like they are different in a world where there are digital cameras built into almost every and any device. Just to clarify, I have nothing against film before someone tries to bite my head off… but it’s not dissimilar to why some people ride around in a vintage car.. it’s different (and cool) – Matt Krumins
I feel film is more “organic”. Where digital is fine, it can be repeated time after time- great for getting a shot, if you save your actions or workflow whereas film is never going to give you the same result. There will always be slight variations in agitation, temperature,etc (talking black and white here) that gives a unique feel to each and every exposure and print. – Tony McDonough
I love how expensive it is… I often wonder where I should spend my disposable income… then I found film. The way it reacts with light is beautiful. The tools to create images are just unique and splendid I might add. A camera from the 1930’s still Captures amazing day images even though in this day they call it “obsolete?”. The other part is it forces you to see light, feel light before you hit that “click”. You measure twice, shoot once. – John Yau
So I can take crappy out of focus photos with poor composition and shitty lighting. And when people tell me they look terrible, I can get all huffy and yell at them that they don’t understand #art. – Gareth Toms
I love film – because there is only a very limited number of shots per roll, I have to really think about what I am doing. There is no – ‘shoot 1000 images and pick 1’. I definitely think that if you work with film, it makes you a better photographer. Also, there is something about a good print that is just lacking in a digital image (digital is flatter, if that makes sense). If photo software developers also didn’t think that film was better then why do so many packages now have film emulator things?- Sharon Gillon-Grey
Film makes me think more about the image I am trying to create. My photography suffered with digital because I guess I became lazy – just blaze away and find a keeper sort of attitude.
Firstly, I am film trained, then moved 100% into digital. Lately I am moving back to film. Why? I like the whole deal, the quality cameras at ridiculous prices, (and the crap cameras), the smell of a freshly opened roll. I am using more and more film as well as rekindling my darkroom. The film creative process is more satisfying for me because I’m never sure what I’ve got. I rely on my skill as a photographer to get what I want to achieve. No quick review screens here mate. I feel I am a better photographer using film. I also prefer developing film and using a darkroom to sitting in front of a computer. – Michael Andrew-Finder
My take is that some people still shoot film because it’s less accessible. Makes people feel like they are different in a world where there are digital cameras built into almost every and any device. Just to clarify, I have nothing against film before someone tries to bite my head off… but it’s not dissimilar to why some people ride around in a vintage car.. it’s different (and cool) – Matt Krumins
What’s your fascination with film?
