Ditch Digital Camera, Go Analogue!

All images courtesy of Craig DearsleyPhoto

Today Craig Dearsley is back with a post that is particularly close to my heart. Back when I was youngster my mum and dad bought me an second hand canon film camera. I took pictures of everything, granted most of the time the images were of my fingers that I had accidently left over the lens but I loved that camera. I loved the trip to the shops with the film when it was finished, I loved the 2 week wait for the images to be developed, I loved receiving the negatives and sitting in the car with my mum and dad as we went through all the photos because I was too impatient to wait until I had got home. Since then I have tried to get my head around digital, Jess has been a fantastic teacher and I have improved considerably, however there is still something not quite right about it, I miss guessing where to point and shoot (no screens on the backs of camera’s then) and I miss not having the images in my hand, printing them yourself doesn’t seem to have the same effect. So todays post is music to my ears and I cannot wait to get practicing with my lomography camera…

All this talk about megapixels and image sensors can just be overwhelming, so why not take a step back into the good old days and go analogue for a while? Lately my wife and I have found ourselves shooting on film cameras more and more, especially for personal and family work. There is just something about shooting film, it is simple and simple is sometimes good. I completely understand that digital is amazing and our images are getting closer and closer to ‘perfect’, especially as post production software is getting so advanced, but the untouched imperfections of film can be so beautiful and charming.

There are a lot of film format cameras out there and it is not as expensive as you think. You can pick up 35mm cameras for less than £10 and 35mm film is cheap to buy and develop. In most cases you don’t get to see the image straight away, this makes it exciting when you get the developed images, this will also encourage you to actually print your images. I am going to talk about some of the film format cameras that I use and hopefully persuade you guys to give it a go.

Standard 35mm Cameras
Whether it’s an SLR or point and shoot, you can pick these up cheap, all you have to do is type 35mm camera into ebay and you will see what I mean. I was at a car boot sale the other day and people were selling 35mm cameras for as little as £2.50, you can’t even get a cup of coffee for that price these days! 35mm film is also cheap to develop, you can get it developed and put onto a disc so you can share online or print.

Lomo/Holga
Holga/Lomo cameras are very popular at the moment, they come in all different shapes and sizes. I use a Lomography Diana F+ with 120mm film, which is probably the most popular model. Originally they all used 120mm film, which is a bit more expensive to buy and develop, but now you can get a 35mm and instant version, or you can just buy the back section and replace it to whichever format you prefer. Once you get used to using a Lomo, you can get some awesome pictures.

We are used to seeing our pictures straight away on our phones and digital cameras, but imagine having it printed there and then; this still blows my children’s mind! The market leaders for instant cameras have got to be Polaroid and Fuji Instax. Sadly Polaroid stop making film for the old style cameras a little while back, but fear not there is a company called The Impossible Project that now produces a stunning range of film for the old boys. Polaroid also have a more modern range and film is easy to find and not too expensive. Fuji Instax have become very popular, you can still get film for the older models and they also have a modern range, including the mini, this is probably the most affordable one, film is very reasonable.

Film

You can buy all the film mentioned in this post from most popular outlets, try to stick to brand names like Fuji and Ilford. You will usually get a better deal if you buy in bulk. If you want to create some cool effects I would suggest trying expired film or using a developing company that can provide cross processing. It’s also a good idea to get your images put on disk first so you can share them online and then choose which ones you want to print. One type of film I haven’t mentioned is 110, I haven’t used 110 for years because I don’t have a camera that takes it, but maybe one day soon……..

Have fun!!

Craig & Emily xx