A.E. Pearson Photography photography blog of Drew Pearson

My case for shooting film – Part 1

My case for shooting film - Part 1

I've always been in love with black and white film (well, shooting film in general really). There is something about the look, the contrast, the grain, the tonality...its very organic. The look is organic, made of grains of silver rather than pixels. The process is organic, from manufacture all the way until you pull the reel/print out of the final wash in the darkroom. The result is organic, you fumbled in the dark, got your hands wet...you worked for it and the process itself gives a deeper more tactile relationship the images. I just love it.

There is something deeply satisfying about smelling the fixer on your own hands as you hold the first contact sheet up to your eyes.

I get questions pretty often about why I shoot film. As in, why on earth would you shoot film? "Digital is so much easier", "Digital is so much cheaper", "Do they even make film anymore?", "How can you afford to have a darkroom?"

I'll admit, shooting digitally is really easy...but easier? I think that's a matter of opinion.

With very little money you can be shooting on an archival medium right now.

Let me explain:

• Film is cheap
• Processing film is cheap
• Film cameras are cheap
• Film is archival

Film is cheap

Don't believe me?

Check out Freestyle, their privately branded black and white films are very "similar" *cough* to the major brand name versions and a LOT cheaper.

I get their LegacyPro 400 film, it's $2 for a 36 exposure roll...and very "similar" to Fuji Neopan 400 ($4.40/roll). So similar in fact, if you were to buy a 100' roll of it, you would find it's even wound on a Fujifilm reel. Their Arista Premium 400 is very "similar" to Kodak Tri-X...and only $2.19 for a 36 exposure roll (35mm).

Processing film is cheap

Well, not if you pay someone to do it.

If you process your own you can do it for real cheap though.

You only need a few basic things:

• General: Water (a sink is ideal), A Dark Place (even if only temporarily dark), A Towel (to dry your hands and clean up spills), A Timer (with seconds)
• Chemicals : Developer (for paper and/or film), Stop bath, Fixer (separate batch for paper and film), PhotoFlo (to reduce water streaks on your negs)
• Film processing tools: Some reels (35mm, 120, etc), A Processing Tank, Thermometer
• Print making: Enlarger (with lens), Trays, Chemicals (same as film, but for paper), Grain Focuser, An Enlarger Timer is a nice optional item

All of that can be found for cheap, used, on craigslist or ebay with the exception of the chemicals.

I have tried a ton of different film developers at all sorts of different dilutions. I landed on Diafine as my developer of choice. It's easy, cheap, and delivers excellent results (for me). One $15 batch of developer processes at least 100 rolls of black and white film with no replenishment (works out to about $0.20 per roll). With Diafine you don't use a stop bath, this makes the fixer last a lot longer...again, saving you money. Sometime soon I'll do a more in depth writeup on Diafine, it deserves it's own blog entry haha.

Don't have a darkroom? Don't worry. Do you have a closet, or a room without windows? Does it get dark where you live? If you said "yes" to any of those, you officially have a darkroom. Of course setting up an enlarger and making "real" photographic prints will require a bit more space than a closet but a bathroom with the windows covered at night will work perfectly.

And, remember, you don't have to make prints. You can just process the film and scan it if you would like. I just recently purchased an Epson V500 film scanner for $150/shipped from B&H photo. It works GREAT, worth every penny.

Film cameras are cheap

Nobody wants them anymore. You can get an old manual Nikon, Minolta, Canon, etc. for dirt cheap. In most cases <$100 with a lens. Most any old manual camera in decent shape will work. If the meter doesn't work (which it may not ) brush up on the "sunny 16 rule" and you'll be fine haha. Remember, black and white film has serious exposure latitude...there is pretty significant room for error in exposure while you are learning.

Stick with a 50mm lens for now, every manufacturer has a cheap 50mm manual focus lens. The 50mm has been the "bread and butter" for most manufacturers for a long time. Regardless of manufacturer you can almost always assume that any 50mm lens you buy is going to be worth the $. Even the earliest 50mm lenses tend to be incredibly sharp lenses. They are abundant and cheap.

Film is archival

As long as you fix and wash your negatives/prints correctly they will last well over 100 years. Well over. As long as you can find light, you can view a negative or a print.

Where will your digital image files be in 100 years? Will you even be able to view them? And how long do you think that inkjet print is going to last? Better keep it out of the sun...

Great news too, image sensor technology is only getting better. What does this mean for film shooters? It means that your negative scans are only going to get better with time as technology advances.

In conclusion

I use my digital camera pretty frequently, but when it comes down to it I prefer film. I'm not trying to make the argument that it's the "superior" medium, I'm just saying that if you are interested - you can try it out for cheap, and I bet you'll enjoy it.

Go dust off that old camera and put some film through it. I dare ya.