You summarized the feeling of shooting film quite well. I struggled a bit lately with setting the wrong iso, wrong shutter speed for a studio shoot and having to pull a roll of 120 because I didn’t measure at the correct iso. I was a bit frustrated and thought about going back into digital. However, I started scanning the images from my Japan trip in September last year and the thoughts of switching were gone in an instant.
As a mere hobbyist I can't really justify the crazy prices of film nowadays. Added to that and my enjoyment of processing the film at home is gone, just too much hassle and little time, and in my area no shops develop film anymore, which in itself is ridiculously expensive too. So my F3 and RB67 have gone to new owners, only holding onto the 645 now, which I've a special attachment to, but eventually it'll also find a new home. It's a pity the way things are nowadays because, undeniably, there's no better feeling in photography than shooting a film camera..
It’s not scary that you sold your cameras, you can always buy them again, laboratories are not entirely necessary, now there are no problems with developing photographic film yourself, it’s even very exciting. I'm sure. that time will pass and you will return to the film. You're not the first)))
I think with cost you can rationalise it any which way. Yes, with film, there is a tangible cost per shot but film cameras are (still) cheap compared to their digital equivalent. So, pay as you go or pay up-front. There are ways to reduce the cost; bulk film buying / loading, home developing and scanning, etc. Regarding convenience, there are plenty of online labs that will develop the film and return the negs and/or scans. But I don't think convenience is a fair metric to use when comparing film with digital. The slowness and complexity of the process are just a couple of elements in the mix that make the film experience different from film. You either dig it or you don't and, having experienced digital, going back to film is always going to seem a bit of a faff.
@@jasongold6751... Film has been cheap, it just depends on how old you are and when you started in photography and if digital didn't exist (as in my case) and wasn't an option.
I've been taking photos for fifty years, so most of that was film photography with Nikons and Pentaxes mostly. I also did the B&W darkroom thing. That's what I miss most. I went to digital in the early 2000s. Yesterday, I received an Asahi Pentax SV (totally manual, no internal light meter) and a Pentax Spotmatic II, one of the first TTL metering cameras. I have four rolls of Kodak Gold 400 in the freezer and am looking forward to the experience of shooting some film again. I don't know yet how I'm going to arrange development and scanning. I live in Ecuador now, and I might have the only film cameras in the country (probably something of an exaggeration, but nevertheless). I still have a good collection of m42 lenses that I use with my Sony cameras which is part of the reason I decided to buy the film bodies. To give an idea, with the S-M-C Takumar 55mm f1.8 and the Super Takumar 55 f1.8 that came on the bodies, I now have nine of that focal length and speed, including an Auto Sears/Sekor SX that's a current favorite.
Excellent decision! I did that after retiring from being a staff photographer for large newspapers. I'm now in year 15 of going back to film. I'm so much happier and I like my work so much better since I've gone back to real thing.
I agree, another vinyl lover with a tube amp and still shooting monochrome film with old cameras but not always with a smile on my face, love it though.
Good for you, working for the newspaper!! I got to the newspaper myself, but it was between 99-‘05. By the time I would have gone from a small newspaper to a bigger one, the industry was starting to really get effected by the online disruption, and the decline of buying a print version of the paper. Now the newspapers, as you know, have figured out a way to survive online, but it’s not the same kind of employment opportunities like when I started in’99. Would like to check out your work sometime!
I only got in to photography in this new digital age but started shooting film about 18 months ago. Logically, it makes no sense - cost, inconvenience etc But that misses the point of why take photographs. The whole act is more considered from pucking your film stock, taking the photo and then the magic of pulling your roll of film out of the developing tank to see if you have anything and then the absolute magic of making a print for yourself in the darkroom. Digital will never be able to bring this joy.
I completely agree understand the point you make. The Japanese use the term wabi-sabi as an expression for the value of imperfection, like what you can find in film. For me and looking at my pictures, digital is (mostly) technically perfect but emotionally flat.
Enjoyed that very much. I’m two months onto a one camera, one lens, one film, one year project with an M2, 50 Summarit, and HP5+, coming from an M10 and 35. Love it so far. All the best with your new adventure.
I too have gone back to the dark side and sold my digital cameras. I now just use an MP , M2 and Rollei 35S only in B+W with HP5+. IMO developing your own films is an important factor in the whole film experience. Choosing developer etc adds another analogue layer to control the process. A lab will just give you middle grey. I think the fact that we can now scan our negatives instead of having to print in a darkroom makes film so much more accessible. There are a lot of film photographers that over photoshop and over sharpen their images almost trying to make them digital and join the latest 50mp sharpness obsession. Aggressive adjustments in Lightroom make the image film in name only. I am going the opposite - I scan using an Epson V800 scanner and Silverfast set on the least sharp setting - Less Auto Sharpness(-) and don't use Lightroom or Photoshop - Just Photoshop Elements (cheaper but no subscription) to get rid of the invariable dust. I also make no adjustments on my Mac except cropping as this also seems to sharpen the images automatically. I embrace light, mood and imperfection and sharp grain to me looks like sand rather than softness. Welcome back!
Thank you. I’m not into the film development side of things at the moment. I think my lab does a better and more consistent job than I can do. That may change, but I ran a pro darkroom for three years at the start of my career and saw it as a means to an end rather than adding anything creative to the process. But I also realised that many people see this as an integral part of the process. Which is great. It’s something which digital can’t give you.
@@WalkLikeAliceI find it odd hearing some photographers treating film development and darkroom processing so differently to image processing in Lightroom which, for many, is an integral part of their workflow that most definitely adds to the creative process. It seems that sending one’s film to a shop and getting them to develop and print is akin to only using the auto button in Lightroom (I’m not sure that’s what you meant though, I think you just get your film developed and then edit the scans?). I definitely don’t think this has much bearing on whether the photos are good or bad as that’s subjective, but nonetheless if one appreciates editing then development and darkroom work is an essential part of the artform. I appreciate that everyone can and should do what they want when making their own work of course. Edit: thanks for making this video! The beach photo is a fantastic moment.
@@rtr0spct210 Most top photographers in the world today don't do their own editing or darkroom work. I can think of maybe a couple. Mainly because of time, but also because some don't have the inclination or skill to do that work. There is nothing wrong with that. As for whether I send the films just for dev and scan myself. Yes, you are correct :) I can also get a better result using this method than I could ever get in the darkroom because I was never that skilled with my hands. Everyone is different, and we are at the stage in photography now where there is a multitude of ways to get from capture to print. All are valid.
I’m glad that you returned to photographic film again, I like your film works better, digital ones are also not bad, but their quantity does not allow time to evaluate them, but film ones are almost all different, you can peer at them for a long time, realizing that these images witnesses of that moment directly, and not through wires.
I found my old Olympus OM2 couple years and now can't put it down. Still shoot digital when needed but love film for all the reasons you said. Can't wait to see your pics. I develop them myself, except an occasional roll of colour and that's part of the whole process for me
So, you're going full circle, here. I can only congratulate on this next step. Despite my bickering for years, your deviation to wide angle digital might have been a neccessary phase in your journey. And, who knows, you might stray fom film again. It is your personal journey and it is a priviledge and joy to see you exploring your own path. Please do continue to do so.
Really looking forward to seeing more of your work this year. You are so right about the importance of having time between taking and reviewing an image - works both ways, you are convinced you’ve taken a winner, and keep willing it to be one when it just isn’t, or the overlooked frame that really has something. Funny thing about film, I really like it, it’s more hassle for sure, but my hit rate of favourite pictures is many, many times higher with film than digital… Finally, the image you’re showing here is fantastic, I love the captured moment of everyone in the frame - separation is perfectly balanced. Great image! Look forward to many more.
Thanks for sharing , I also am heavily investing in Film cameras this year , late 2023 I purchased my first real high end Rollei , a 55mm F4 Wide , and it forces you to compose and think. The images are great oo , warm intimate organic in color.
Thanks for the video and yes I really get where your coming from. I like you really love the realism of analogue in both visual and audio. Before I go any further just like to say love the image on the beach. your composition is pleasing, the exposure and contrast is great with a lovely range of tones and of course the grain is wonderful. I also love there various groupings of people and what there doing, thats the beauty of realistic social documentation when you capture life in a truly candid manner. I once shot a wedding and the Black and White images I used Delta 3200 all shot with a reportage style they had bags of atmosphere. I learnt my craft as a photographer using film shooting 35mm, medium format and 5 x 4 large format. I reluctantly went down the digital road but enjoyed the convenience of digital and it was cheaper working as a wedding , portrait and social events photographer. But really when you look at a digital image it has no soul. I have retired from the business now and sold off all my pro kit, I have a couple of Leica`s, the M9 and a Q but it has crossed my mind to sell them and get an M6, OH and I also have a lovely old Canon F1 with a 50mm f 1.4 and a 28mm f2. OK film is much more expensive now but like you say using these camera`s your shooting much less and with your work flow being digitize after the film process your not having the expense of time in the dark room/ printing etc. Thank once again and look forward to seeing more video`s.
I am looking forward to seeing the new content. Ive been shooting film and digital for many years. I find film is not easy but much more rewarding when you get it right and just reminds me why i do it. All the best for 2024.
Having used film for most of my photographic career which started in 1970! I switched to digital in 2000. Yes, the switch improved my photography no end, everything was far too easy and it made me very complacent about shooting. For most assignments I would typically shoot 300 to 500 shots. In my early days when I shot weddings I would typically shoot 5 rolls of 120 roll film or 60 frames. I purchased a Nikon Zf early this year and have been using my collection of manual Nikon lenses, this has slowed me down and made me think more about the image. I have enjoyed your videos, I love the enthusiasm that your show and I love Sarah’s photos, she has a natural talent for seeing and capturing great images. Kind regards to both of you. Vincent Oliver
Happy to see this video. I just sold my only digital camera (Leica Q2) and I’m only shooting film now (Leica M3, M6, Hasselblad, Rolleiflex). Couldn’t be happier. Looking forward to your 2024 film photography!
Interesting. I used to shoot with Leica M6s snd a Rolleiflex 2.8f. Now I use digital Leica M246 Monochrom, and other digital cameras. What I miss about film is the long tonal highlight falloff, that digital never seems to match, and the beautiful, almost granulated skies, reminiscent of some water colour washes. In this sense film is irreplaceable. However, I do not miss the flecks and muck on negatives received from external processors, and I do not miss the home developing needed to make sure my negs were spotless. Price is also a factor. Good luck with you new direction, and I liked the image.
It’s weird isn’t it? I went maybe ten years without shooting film at all. I got so used to shooting digital, when I started to shoot film again, it was like “what is this thing? What do I do?” And yet I’d been shooting film from 88-04. 🤷♂️
I feel the same. I tried and tried and tried to embrace digi but ultimately found myself frustrated with all the variability available and controls which are available on the body sometimes 2-3-4 places per preference. That's the kind of redundancy and options I DON'T need in my art making. So now I'm back on my Nikon F developing and digitizing those rolls myself. I love it.
looking so much forward to following this "new" film journey. I shoot both film and digital - and its never the price thats keeping me from shooting film. And its just a different experience to shoot and the look of the product.
"It wasn't until just before Christmas that I was able to finally find time to look at those images I took back in the summer" is why, after about a decade and a half, I'm finally moving back in the other direction, putting my film cameras down and sticking with digital for street and other personal photography. I reached a point where it was just taking more and more time to finish rolls, never mind some more recent breaking points with film prices. I was fortunately enough to find a digital M at a great price to swap for my film bodies and it's really opened up new worlds without really changing so much in the way that I shoot, and I'm surprisingly so much happier for the switch.
I used film for 20 years back in the day, hated not knowing if I’d got it in focus or exposure was correct. But loved the darkroom process of seeing my photos come to life. I achieve this with digital by using Lightroom on a 30 year old PC which takes me at least 5 minutes just to load an image.
Waiting new pictures! Two years ago you (your chanel and pictures) inspired me return to street photography and digital Leica and reconsider my own style. Thanks!
If you’re enjoying the process of shooting film and the end result pleases you then brilliant! The only Leica I could afford now would be an m2 or m3, I’d happily shoot film if I could but I’m kinda in the frame of mind of using older, less feature rich digital cameras.
I have gone back to film as well, I have put my Sony A7s down for my Leica M3, M6TTL and Hasselblad V. I love how it’s a tangible medium, I love the imperfections, and I love how it slows me down, so in the end I get more useable images instead of spraying and praying like I used to. But for me, most importantly (although subjectively) I prefer the way film conveys light, I feel it’s closer to what my eye sees, there is just something magical about light on film in my opinion…
My canon r6 is my Hasselblad 500 c/m light meter and backup. I have balance. My EOS 1V is my "lazy" film camera. I have stopped scanning my films and now enlarge the fave negative. Balance.
Within the frame of the last beach photo, the nice thing about the people and groups of people is they form individual triangles within the larger frame. Much like Paul Cezanne's paintings, you created a happy accident with timing and luck! Great shot!
As a newly 'reborn' hobby photographer that last used a a Zenit-E and Helios 44 in the 7-80's I've been struggling (it's only been six months) to get that excitement I had of going out with a roll of 12 and then waiting for them to come back from Boots. I bought an E-M10 and Panasonic GX880 as a daily with some OK lenses but I find I am now looking at used Fujifilm and Leica cameras with some hope that a more 'old world' camera will bring that vinyl record spark back. Thanks for this video, you've helped me decide where I need to go; it'll be digital, but low tech, maybe a Fujifilm X-E2 with a 40mm. Good luck, I'll keep watching.
Thank you. The joy of photography is the many ways in which we can make photographs. What is right for one, may not be right for others. Ultimately, the photograph is the most important thing.
I have to say one thing. You did the right decision. I don't want to argue if it is better digital or analog (I believe that both have pro and cons), but I think that photography as a form of art needs to be practice with the tool we feel most confortable with. One thing that I can say, generally speaking, is that I don't understand the ones that shoot digital and seek day and day out to have photos with analog vibes...I shoot digital (I came from analog)...I don't deny that at the beginning I was very into to put more grain and so on...but then I thought, hey...if you want grain go and buy back the analog camera. It's like to do risotto with basmati rice...instead of Arborio (or other qualities...)...
So many good reasons to go analog. While only a hobby photographer, I am currently going through the same thought process. I would like to ask two questions: 1. How much, if any, processing do you do after scanning? 2. Do you have a preferred film? Looking forward to your next videos!
Very nice commitment. I wanted to do the same when I bought the M7. But after shooting films for a decade I realised the it is never the camera which will finally make the final image but the scanner. The camera is a light box where the most important stays the lens (where generally Leica shines)Film is still fun and an other way of taking pictures but I am happier now with the Monochrome. Just my way of seeing things
100% Jeff. I bought an M4 and a Rolleiflex and am loving going back to film. Love slowing down and metering even on the street. It’s bliss. Have a few Ricoh GRIII/X’s and am loving the film with limitations of 36/12 shots.
Image "capture" is only the start of the photographic process, whether it's via film or digital. But what about the rest of the process? As a professional, how do you share images with your clients without scanning film and delivering digital files? Or are you specifically going to be darkroom printing color and B/W onto paper via a wet process, exclusively?
I have also now completly transitions to film. The only digital camera that I occasionally use is my Nikon D700. But 95% of the time I shoot film. And despite being much slower, even family events with kid zooming around are not a problem.
And selfdeveloping B&W and printing is so much fun. I can now even make a developer from scratch. Mainly I use beer and wine for this purpose. I kept shooting B&W on film, and I am very happy I did, while transitioning to digital compacts for colour (SOOC, digital C41 so to speak).
well said and I can relate. I miss the old days. but I threw out all my film gear and darkroom stuff years ago. I'm just glad I grew up with a grounding in film.
Looking forward to all your upcoming work and videos. And don’t give up on street, it just needs a different approach. I was the madman who came on your Oxford workshop with a film camera and I got some images I absolutely love. Photography is more interesting when you have something to learn and explore. As for your M6 shutter woes, may I suggest a Voigtlander Bessa? Very reliable 😉 Have fun, still the best photography channel on UA-cam.
I love that beach image. The composition, tones and contrast are perfect! Congrats on the move back to film. The last time I shot film was 2013. However, I still have three film cameras, and am planning on getting back into shooting some film this year. Was wondering which film scanner you use?
@@WalkLikeAlice thanks. Just read it. I had a Nikon Coolscan 5000 some years back, but sold it on EBay. I packed it up with a lot of padding, but the guy I sold it to in Italy claimed it was damaged when it arrived. So, I had no choice but to give him a partial refund. 🙁🙁 Hope you can get everything sorted out with your Leicas and the scanner sooner rather than later.
Bring it on. I'm excited to see what you capture mate. I've got an old pentax here I bought last year in Portabello Road. It's sits there, between two books I've not read, yawning at me. Maybe I'll put a roll of film in it soon. Great videos Jeff mate and thanks for the dialogues. Katie has to sssshhh me up when we're on the sofa as I'm often p1sing myself laughing. Ha!
I miss film, but it is so cost prohibitive sometimes. That’s what spurned me on to get the Leica M9, to get that film workflow and mindset within the confines of an old digital system. This video has inspired me to dig out the Fed 2 and shoot a few rolls again. Good luck on your next chapter.
Cost is a major problem. I’m not going to lie, but at the same time I think it will pay for itself in the long run. Especially given the onslaught of AI.
@@WalkLikeAlice I do have the kit to do my on developing, and can do it. But it’s the scan that gets me. No proper space for the gear. If you’re really broke, you can always develop your film in coffee (Caffenol) :)
If you shoot enough to make film a serious cost factor which is bigger than the cost of gear you are doing something right. If it isn't you dont shoot enough or you are living your GAS. 😂
Hello!! Great to see you again! Happy New Years to you!! Very interesting hearing your reasoning on this. I had something similar..as that I love film and digital too and the way I found the place was: If I could shoot it in Full Frame 35mm, I went digital. This is mostly on my Leica M10M. For anything else aspect wise...I shoot on film. I love Medium Format (6x6, 6x9,6x12, 6x17). For smaller 35mm film, I'm shooting that for pano too, I had a PressPan made for me to shoot 35mm film a bit longer than a Xpan, and I have the old Russian HorizonT camera... I basically on my side said "for FF, digital is best"...for anything else, I can't do with FF, I use film...and so far this works. LOL..however, even I mess with my FF...by almost always these days...using vintage lenses adapted to my digital. Anyway, I'd crossed this bridge a little while back and was quite interesting to hear how you went. Have a GREAT year and looking forward to seeing your next video!! CC
Very Disappointed!, just found your channel a couple of months ago and it has been quite enjoyable and informative. I did my thing with film in the 70's and 80's and have no plans to return.
Brave but understandable move. I have sold all my new digital cameras and gone retro with 10+ year old Sony apsc with manual lenses and recently several Olympus cameras so now I have to actually make the image instead of pointing and shooting for a digital looking over sampled image. Photography has become fun again for me.
A year ago I felt really bored by the photography I was doing and I took out my old Nikon FE2, searched for my Jobo 1520 in the attic and now I'm in fill swing again (Leicas are involved too). Developing and digitizing Ilford Delta 400, mailing exposed Portras to a friend who opened a dev/scan-service and makes a living from it. Film is not dead it's just the fixer on your hands that smells funny. 😅
I love film, I used it for the first twenty years of my photographic career. But I hate 35mm I do like medium format. I used a mamiya 7 for fun years ago, should not have sold it ☹️
Oh wow this is spooky,,, I decided at New Year that I would shoot film all this year, for the first time since digital arrived. I shot my first trial roll today in order to see how the workflow and process is going to play out. It felt immediately natural and simultaneously rather odd. Should be an interesting time. Go well with your year. Thanks for posting.
I made the same choice. I chose slowness and living in the moment instead of stealing it. Nice black and white. Do you usually push hp5 or foma? Even with the yellow filter?
I am am amateur and digital is convenient and more affordable. However, the film DSLR camera my ex had (which I used more frequently) had better quality pics for that price point (entry level). It was getting harder to find somewhere to process film.
Yes. Anyone that has ever worked in one gets a bit nostalgic. I actually like scanning though. It adds something different to the process. Platon’s style is a product of scanning for example.
Way to put the cat amongst the pigeons. Or should that be Doberman amongst the seagulls? Great stuff, Jeff. Looking forward to this next chapter. Best of luck to you and Sarah for 2024.
I come from a background in analog photography. With digital you do not have to shoot a trillion pictures. You can still shoot contemplative. And you can still give you pictures an analog ‘feel’ in post. Almost all analog shooters on UA-cam scan their films and work on them in Photoshop to make them look analog again.
There must be some kind of film virus going around. I think I caught it too! I got my film cameras out before leaving on holiday (didn't bring them, of course) and shot a few rolls with the Pentax 645Nii and cleaned up my Nikon FA. I grew up with film and shoot digital like a film camera... deliberately. I'm planning on doing a lot of film this year, both 35mm and medium format. I'm looking forward to your results!
I’d like to be able to persuade myself to go back to film. I have several 35 and 120 rolls that have been sitting in the fridge for over 10 years. I even bought a Zeiss Ikon folder to use up the 120 film. I just can’t do it! The cost puts me off and I can get what I want with digital. Meanwhile the film just sits in the fridge!
Thats great, Chris. Haven’t shot large format since the early 90s. Used to have a fabulous Sinar P camera with Schneider lenses. Hope you have some great experiences with it.
Good luck with the Film, I have done my time with film and the darkroom. People think SD cards can be expensive lol. One thing's for sure many new wedding photographers wouldn't be taking 3000 photographs at a wedding and charging £300!
Some prefer vinyl. I love the unrivaled experience of 24 bits sonic purity. I used to shoot with a M6, decades ago. Currently I shoot M262 and M10 monochrome and I'll never ever go back to a film camera. Everybody has different tastes. The only thing that matters is to enjoy.
Hi Jeff, is your decision based on printing on actual paper (either inkjet or traditionnal wet darkroom) ? I am asking because your explanation is screen oriented I think black and white is "hard" to have good results with inkjet… ( I do have an Epson P900 which is pretty good in B&W / inkjet)…
It’s always based on printing. Screen is how we do UA-cam so I guess that’s why it feels that way. Inkjet is ok as long as you get everything calibrated. I send it to the lab these days though.
I'm doing the opposite. I'm trying to get more digital. I shot film in my 20s (back when dinosaurs walked the earth); went digital in the early 2000s; after a while I didn't like it. Went back to film for the last 10 years and now I'm getting too impatient for it - maybe that's not the right word. Let's just say, it's about making a change for lack of any other reason.
I doubt if it's more expensive today than 50 years ago adjusted for inflation I remember having to make 5 rolls of ektachrome last for a vacation if I remember right the film with processing was about $6 a roll which would be $60 today I finally bought darkroom equipment I paid $180 for the enlarger ,that would be about $1800 today film was never inexpensive and I think it is actually cheaper today if you scan it yourself Film cameras are much cheaper than they were back then I paid close to $300 for a Mamiya C220 back in the day equivalent to $3000 today I just bought a near mint C33 for $150 Remember film takes some work we have been spoiled by digital cameras where you can shoot hundreds of pictures for almost nothing and if you spend $6 on a Starbucks latte you can buy a roll of film for the same money you just have to really want it
Well said. I think the issue is that taking pictures for many people has been free (less the cost of the camera) and so to have to pay to press the shutter is something which seems expensive.
@@WalkLikeAlice True, you have to pay to play but in big picture it isn't all that expensive especially if you develop and scan yourself The real film experience is to develop it yourself IMO
It is very nice to return to photography using film. But the question is? Do film manufacturers still produce good films in sufficient quantities? Are there still development laboratories that develop films? I believe that if these companies and laboratories return to work, the film photography market will rise again.
Yes and yes. Leica sold 5000 new film cameras last year which, equates to about £25million in sales and about 40% of all new M camera sales. That doesn't include the second hand market, which is still very bouyant. Harman (who own Ilford) just released a new colour negative film. With the advent of Ai, a lot of people are looking at the possibilities of film for authenticity. In cinema, film is having a resurgence. 'Oppenheimer' - probably the biggest movie of 2023 was shot on Kodak film which will obviously encourage others to use it. I think the last Bond film was also shot on film. I think the future is very healthy.
I know exactly what you mean about film. However, I'm probably going to stick with a film / digital set up for this year now (but only in B&W). I was out shooting a couple of rolls in Bournemouth today. There is something magic about film. I am hoping to shoot with TMAX3200 in the summer, but I'll need an ND filter to control the shutter speed as my camera tops out at 1/1000.
Yeah mine does too. I haven’t shot anything that fast for years. You can also halve the box speed to 1600. That will help the shadows and contrast a little.
@@WalkLikeAlice I guess part of the fun of doing film is playing around with different films. HP5+ is my standard mono film (Ektar nowadays for colour, even through it gives cholesterol skin tones), but it's always good to mix it up.
Totally understand. It’s one of the questions I continually asked myself. Sarah is still shooting digitally. She’s not really interested in film. She likes the Xpan but not because it’s a film camera.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, I also shoot with an 8mm and 16mm film camera, there are a lot of mistakes and the money is different, so a roll of film costs very little compared to the pleasure of using it and waiting for the result
Interesting, I just bought an M6 for that exact reason, want to slow down, want to concentrate more. Struggling I have to say, noisy as f**k, bloody expensive, but very enjoyable
Grain takes some getting used to. Especially compared to digital. Sometimes, a lab can over develop the negs which makes it worse. Rate the film to half its box speed and see if that helps.
Mmm… I respect your decision, but I’ll say this now. Your work is breathtaking, you’re up there with the absolute best street/social documentary photographers in the world (Sarah is amazing too but I’m talking about you here). And your work is shot on digital, there is no need for you to waste hundreds of pounds a month on film, it’s gone, it’s not as good as digital….. your work cannot get any better and film won’t facilitate any improvement. But as long as you’ll be happy……and skint 😉
You are very kind. In my defence, I’m not a photographer that likes to stand still. I could simply carry on doing what I’ve been doing and that would be easy. But I feel I’ve come to the end of that road. It’s boring me now and I genuinely want a new challenge. I will be happy but not skint.🙂
I don’t like the way digital is going, especially with AI. Okay you can manipulate the image to some degree in the darkroom, but with digital I really don’t know what I’m looking at.
@@WalkLikeAlice I recall one time going into the darkroom in the evening, and when I came out, the sun was rising. I had to go to school that morning too 😬
Nobody says you have to make fast pictures with digital just because you can. That’s complete nonsense. I never do it. And alone the fact that no chemistry is needed and pollutes the environment is reason enough to never look back to film...
Making digital pics and then making them look as if shot on film, that's definitely not 'style'. Film has character, whereas digital painting by numbers. Of course you can take pics faster than 1 sec, if you want that use a Robot camera. Keep up the good work, analog rules, OK.
I admire your sentiment but I don’t agree with the comment. Style is how you see the end result and how you want others to see what you saw when you took the photograph. How you get to that style is irrelevant. It’s just part of the process. Sometimes it’s film, sometimes it’s digital. Film is a different process mentally and physically when shooting. In 2009, I submitted six b/w digital images (colour originals processed to my b/w film “style”) to Getty Image Gallery in London as part of a Canon sponsored group exhibit. Getty were printing the images. A week or so later, I had an email from the Getty printers asking me to submit Canon digital files as they couldn’t accept medium format film scans. So my files were close enough to scanned film to put doubt in the mind of some of the best printers in the world. As they would be because that’s how I like my images to look. In 2012, I edited and printed Don McCullin’s digital images. Colour to b/w with grain to keep with his b/w film style. He took the first print from the inkjet printer and said “wow. I could sell these in Hamilton’s Gallery”.
@@WalkLikeAlice That not what I understand by style. It has got nothing to do with how you see the end result. I associate it with quality of appearance, shape and pattern, design exhibiting collective characteristics.
"Why I'm saying hello again to analog photography." When I saw your title I thought: "What?! How can he justify shooting film?" If you're going to be rational in your thinking, I don't think you CAN justify your choosing to shoot film. You shoot film because: 1. you can afford to shoot film; and 2. it's fun to shoot film. Those are probably the same reasons you'd use to buy a Leica camera. Now, I'd appreciate your trying to justify shooting B&W. I watched a fellow shooting "street" in downtown Hanoi. His GoPro was in color and his Leica M-A was in B&W film. No way did his B&W still photos compare with the equivalent "color" stills of his GoPro. In my view, color just blows B&W away.
@@WalkLikeAlice , I have a digital Leica M10-R and a film Leica M-A. From personal experience I KNOW that my M-A just can't compete with my M10-R in street photography. That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy shooting with both of them.
![How Does Film ACTUALLY Work? (It's MAGIC) [Photos and Development] - Smarter Every Day 258](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TCxoZlFqzwA/mqdefault.jpg)
![How Does Film ACTUALLY Work? (It's MAGIC) [Photos and Development] - Smarter Every Day 258](/img/tr.png)
You summarized the feeling of shooting film quite well. I struggled a bit lately with setting the wrong iso, wrong shutter speed for a studio shoot and having to pull a roll of 120 because I didn’t measure at the correct iso. I was a bit frustrated and thought about going back into digital.
However, I started scanning the images from my Japan trip in September last year and the thoughts of switching were gone in an instant.
As a mere hobbyist I can't really justify the crazy prices of film nowadays. Added to that and my enjoyment of processing the film at home is gone, just too much hassle and little time, and in my area no shops develop film anymore, which in itself is ridiculously expensive too. So my F3 and RB67 have gone to new owners, only holding onto the 645 now, which I've a special attachment to, but eventually it'll also find a new home.
It's a pity the way things are nowadays because, undeniably, there's no better feeling in photography than shooting a film camera..
It’s not scary that you sold your cameras, you can always buy them again, laboratories are not entirely necessary, now there are no problems with developing photographic film yourself, it’s even very exciting. I'm sure. that time will pass and you will return to the film. You're not the first)))
I think with cost you can rationalise it any which way. Yes, with film, there is a tangible cost per shot but film cameras are (still) cheap compared to their digital equivalent. So, pay as you go or pay up-front. There are ways to reduce the cost; bulk film buying / loading, home developing and scanning, etc. Regarding convenience, there are plenty of online labs that will develop the film and return the negs and/or scans. But I don't think convenience is a fair metric to use when comparing film with digital. The slowness and complexity of the process are just a couple of elements in the mix that make the film experience different from film. You either dig it or you don't and, having experienced digital, going back to film is always going to seem a bit of a faff.
Film was never cheap! Changing and upgrading, all the new digital improvements, is way more expensive!
@@jasongold6751... Film has been cheap, it just depends on how old you are and when you started in photography and if digital didn't exist (as in my case) and wasn't an option.
I've been taking photos for fifty years, so most of that was film photography with Nikons and Pentaxes mostly. I also did the B&W darkroom thing. That's what I miss most. I went to digital in the early 2000s. Yesterday, I received an Asahi Pentax SV (totally manual, no internal light meter) and a Pentax Spotmatic II, one of the first TTL metering cameras. I have four rolls of Kodak Gold 400 in the freezer and am looking forward to the experience of shooting some film again. I don't know yet how I'm going to arrange development and scanning. I live in Ecuador now, and I might have the only film cameras in the country (probably something of an exaggeration, but nevertheless). I still have a good collection of m42 lenses that I use with my Sony cameras which is part of the reason I decided to buy the film bodies. To give an idea, with the S-M-C Takumar 55mm f1.8 and the Super Takumar 55 f1.8 that came on the bodies, I now have nine of that focal length and speed, including an Auto Sears/Sekor SX that's a current favorite.
Excellent decision! I did that after retiring from being a staff photographer for large newspapers. I'm now in year 15 of going back to film. I'm so much happier and I like my work so much better since I've gone back to real thing.
"The real thing"
@@johnkelly-pd3vq Ha ha right. What a ridiculous comment. I guess making music isn't real either unless you're recording it to vinyl. 🙃
I agree, another vinyl lover with a tube amp and still shooting monochrome film with old cameras but not always with a smile on my face, love it though.
Good for you, working for the newspaper!! I got to the newspaper myself, but it was between 99-‘05. By the time I would have gone from a small newspaper to a bigger one, the industry was starting to really get effected by the online disruption, and the decline of buying a print version of the paper. Now the newspapers, as you know, have figured out a way to survive online, but it’s not the same kind of employment opportunities like when I started in’99. Would like to check out your work sometime!
In my 50s now. Digital is spray and pray and I have tens of thousands of pics, with film I remember every single shot I ever took.
You’re doing better than me. I can’t remember what I had for lunch.
I only got in to photography in this new digital age but started shooting film about 18 months ago. Logically, it makes no sense - cost, inconvenience etc But that misses the point of why take photographs. The whole act is more considered from pucking your film stock, taking the photo and then the magic of pulling your roll of film out of the developing tank to see if you have anything and then the absolute magic of making a print for yourself in the darkroom. Digital will never be able to bring this joy.
Digital can get close if you print your own.
I completely agree understand the point you make. The Japanese use the term wabi-sabi as an expression for the value of imperfection, like what you can find in film. For me and looking at my pictures, digital is (mostly) technically perfect but emotionally flat.
Enjoyed that very much. I’m two months onto a one camera, one lens, one film, one year project with an M2, 50 Summarit, and HP5+, coming from an M10 and 35. Love it so far. All the best with your new adventure.
Thank you. And the same to you for your adventure.
I too have gone back to the dark side and sold my digital cameras. I now just use an MP , M2 and Rollei 35S only in B+W with HP5+. IMO developing your own films is an important factor in the whole film experience. Choosing developer etc adds another analogue layer to control the process. A lab will just give you middle grey. I think the fact that we can now scan our negatives instead of having to print in a darkroom makes film so much more accessible. There are a lot of film photographers that over photoshop and over sharpen their images almost trying to make them digital and join the latest 50mp sharpness obsession.
Aggressive adjustments in Lightroom make the image film in name only. I am going the opposite - I scan using an Epson V800 scanner and Silverfast set on the least sharp setting - Less Auto Sharpness(-) and don't use Lightroom or Photoshop - Just Photoshop Elements (cheaper but no subscription) to get rid of the invariable dust. I also make no adjustments on my Mac except cropping as this also seems to sharpen the images automatically. I embrace light, mood and imperfection and sharp grain to me looks like sand rather than softness. Welcome back!
Thank you. I’m not into the film development side of things at the moment. I think my lab does a better and more consistent job than I can do. That may change, but I ran a pro darkroom for three years at the start of my career and saw it as a means to an end rather than adding anything creative to the process. But I also realised that many people see this as an integral part of the process. Which is great. It’s something which digital can’t give you.
@@WalkLikeAliceI find it odd hearing some photographers treating film development and darkroom processing so differently to image processing in Lightroom which, for many, is an integral part of their workflow that most definitely adds to the creative process.
It seems that sending one’s film to a shop and getting them to develop and print is akin to only using the auto button in Lightroom (I’m not sure that’s what you meant though, I think you just get your film developed and then edit the scans?).
I definitely don’t think this has much bearing on whether the photos are good or bad as that’s subjective, but nonetheless if one appreciates editing then development and darkroom work is an essential part of the artform.
I appreciate that everyone can and should do what they want when making their own work of course.
Edit: thanks for making this video! The beach photo is a fantastic moment.
@@rtr0spct210 Most top photographers in the world today don't do their own editing or darkroom work. I can think of maybe a couple. Mainly because of time, but also because some don't have the inclination or skill to do that work. There is nothing wrong with that. As for whether I send the films just for dev and scan myself. Yes, you are correct :) I can also get a better result using this method than I could ever get in the darkroom because I was never that skilled with my hands. Everyone is different, and we are at the stage in photography now where there is a multitude of ways to get from capture to print. All are valid.
I’m glad that you returned to photographic film again, I like your film works better, digital ones are also not bad, but their quantity does not allow time to evaluate them, but film ones are almost all different, you can peer at them for a long time, realizing that these images witnesses of that moment directly, and not through wires.
Very exciting!! Looking forward to seeing what you create Jeff! Happy New Year to you and Sarah!
Thanks Paul. HNY to you too.
I found my old Olympus OM2 couple years and now can't put it down. Still shoot digital when needed but love film for all the reasons you said. Can't wait to see your pics. I develop them myself, except an occasional roll of colour and that's part of the whole process for me
Good luck on your latest adventure. Looking forward to seeing more great images
Thank you
So, you're going full circle, here. I can only congratulate on this next step. Despite my bickering for years, your deviation to wide angle digital might have been a neccessary phase in your journey. And, who knows, you might stray fom film again. It is your personal journey and it is a priviledge and joy to see you exploring your own path. Please do continue to do so.
Thanks Frank 🙏
Really looking forward to seeing more of your work this year.
You are so right about the importance of having time between taking and reviewing an image - works both ways, you are convinced you’ve taken a winner, and keep willing it to be one when it just isn’t, or the overlooked frame that really has something.
Funny thing about film, I really like it, it’s more hassle for sure, but my hit rate of favourite pictures is many, many times higher with film than digital…
Finally, the image you’re showing here is fantastic, I love the captured moment of everyone in the frame - separation is perfectly balanced. Great image! Look forward to many more.
Thank you. Yes, my hit rate is a lot higher with film.
Thanks for sharing , I also am heavily investing in Film cameras this year , late 2023 I purchased my first real high end Rollei , a 55mm F4 Wide , and it forces you to compose and think. The images are great oo , warm intimate organic in color.
Thanks for the video and yes I really get where your coming from. I like you really love the realism of analogue in both visual and audio. Before I go any further just like to say love the image on the beach. your composition is pleasing, the exposure and contrast is great with a lovely range of tones and of course the grain is wonderful. I also love there various groupings of people and what there doing, thats the beauty of realistic social documentation when you capture life in a truly candid manner. I once shot a wedding and the Black and White images I used Delta 3200 all shot with a reportage style they had bags of atmosphere. I learnt my craft as a photographer using film shooting 35mm, medium format and 5 x 4 large format. I reluctantly went down the digital road but enjoyed the convenience of digital and it was cheaper working as a wedding , portrait and social events photographer. But really when you look at a digital image it has no soul. I have retired from the business now and sold off all my pro kit, I have a couple of Leica`s, the M9 and a Q but it has crossed my mind to sell them and get an M6, OH and I also have a lovely old Canon F1 with a 50mm f 1.4 and a 28mm f2. OK film is much more expensive now but like you say using these camera`s your shooting much less and with your work flow being digitize after the film process your not having the expense of time in the dark room/ printing etc. Thank once again and look forward to seeing more video`s.
Thank you 🙏
Happy new Year! All the best. Pleased you deleted! Enjoy the adventure! Look forward to coming images!
Fell in love with your wedding photography twenty years ago, happy to see film back in your life!
Thank you. It’s not quite going as planned. Check out the community post I made about it.
I am looking forward to seeing the new content. Ive been shooting film and digital for many years. I find film is not easy but much more rewarding when you get it right and just reminds me why i do it. All the best for 2024.
Thank you. And to you
Having used film for most of my photographic career which started in 1970! I switched to digital in 2000. Yes, the switch improved my photography no end, everything was far too easy and it made me very complacent about shooting. For most assignments I would typically shoot 300 to 500 shots. In my early days when I shot weddings I would typically shoot 5 rolls of 120 roll film or 60 frames. I purchased a Nikon Zf early this year and have been using my collection of manual Nikon lenses, this has slowed me down and made me think more about the image. I have enjoyed your videos, I love the enthusiasm that your show and I love Sarah’s photos, she has a natural talent for seeing and capturing great images. Kind regards to both of you. Vincent Oliver
Thank you, Vincent. 🙏
Happy to see this video. I just sold my only digital camera (Leica Q2) and I’m only shooting film now (Leica M3, M6, Hasselblad, Rolleiflex). Couldn’t be happier. Looking forward to your 2024 film photography!
Thank you. Me too!!
Interesting. I used to shoot with Leica M6s snd a Rolleiflex 2.8f. Now I use digital Leica M246 Monochrom, and other digital cameras. What I miss about film is the long tonal highlight falloff, that digital never seems to match, and the beautiful, almost granulated skies, reminiscent of some water colour washes. In this sense film is irreplaceable. However, I do not miss the flecks and muck on negatives received from external processors, and I do not miss the home developing needed to make sure my negs were spotless. Price is also a factor. Good luck with you new direction, and I liked the image.
Thank you. I agree with everything you say.
I started shooting film last year after a 13 year break.
I think i learned more last year about film than i forgot in that digital decade.
It’s weird isn’t it? I went maybe ten years without shooting film at all. I got so used to shooting digital, when I started to shoot film again, it was like “what is this thing? What do I do?” And yet I’d been shooting film from 88-04. 🤷♂️
And that's wonderful
Looking forward to what this decision brings in 2024. And YES, film offers the photographic equivalent of the pleasing fizzle of the run-out groove!!
🙏
I feel the same. I tried and tried and tried to embrace digi but ultimately found myself frustrated with all the variability available and controls which are available on the body sometimes 2-3-4 places per preference. That's the kind of redundancy and options I DON'T need in my art making. So now I'm back on my Nikon F developing and digitizing those rolls myself. I love it.
looking so much forward to following this "new" film journey. I shoot both film and digital - and its never the price thats keeping me from shooting film. And its just a different experience to shoot and the look of the product.
"It wasn't until just before Christmas that I was able to finally find time to look at those images I took back in the summer" is why, after about a decade and a half, I'm finally moving back in the other direction, putting my film cameras down and sticking with digital for street and other personal photography. I reached a point where it was just taking more and more time to finish rolls, never mind some more recent breaking points with film prices. I was fortunately enough to find a digital M at a great price to swap for my film bodies and it's really opened up new worlds without really changing so much in the way that I shoot, and I'm surprisingly so much happier for the switch.
I used film for 20 years back in the day, hated not knowing if I’d got it in focus or exposure was correct. But loved the darkroom process of seeing my photos come to life.
I achieve this with digital by using Lightroom on a 30 year old PC which takes me at least 5 minutes just to load an image.
Haha. That tickled me. 🙏
Waiting new pictures! Two years ago you (your chanel and pictures) inspired me return to street photography and digital Leica and reconsider my own style. Thanks!
Thank you. 🙏
If you’re enjoying the process of shooting film and the end result pleases you then brilliant! The only Leica I could afford now would be an m2 or m3, I’d happily shoot film if I could but I’m kinda in the frame of mind of using older, less feature rich digital cameras.
The Leica M8 would be good. It’s comparatively cheap too. It’s the ultimate in old, basic, film-camera-like, design and function.
I have gone back to film as well, I have put my Sony A7s down for my Leica M3, M6TTL and Hasselblad V. I love how it’s a tangible medium, I love the imperfections, and I love how it slows me down, so in the end I get more useable images instead of spraying and praying like I used to.
But for me, most importantly (although subjectively) I prefer the way film conveys light, I feel it’s closer to what my eye sees, there is just something magical about light on film in my opinion…
I agree. Totally. Film renders light in a far more subtle way. Especially with medium format.
The final image what you described. I like the shadow themes of though it was coming from the seagull. Good looking image.
Thank you
My canon r6 is my Hasselblad 500 c/m light meter and backup. I have balance.
My EOS 1V is my "lazy" film camera.
I have stopped scanning my films and now enlarge the fave negative.
Balance.
I still have both those cameras. Used to make a living using a 500 series blad and a 1V. The meter prism for the blad was pretty good.
Within the frame of the last beach photo, the nice thing about the people and groups of people is they form individual triangles within the larger frame. Much like Paul Cezanne's paintings, you created a happy accident with timing and luck! Great shot!
Oh wow! The part where you said about moving to 50mm blew my mind. That is a very interesting move, but I get within the context of slowing down.
As a newly 'reborn' hobby photographer that last used a a Zenit-E and Helios 44 in the 7-80's I've been struggling (it's only been six months) to get that excitement I had of going out with a roll of 12 and then waiting for them to come back from Boots. I bought an E-M10 and Panasonic GX880 as a daily with some OK lenses but I find I am now looking at used Fujifilm and Leica cameras with some hope that a more 'old world' camera will bring that vinyl record spark back. Thanks for this video, you've helped me decide where I need to go; it'll be digital, but low tech, maybe a Fujifilm X-E2 with a 40mm. Good luck, I'll keep watching.
Thank you. The joy of photography is the many ways in which we can make photographs. What is right for one, may not be right for others. Ultimately, the photograph is the most important thing.
Brave decision! I‘d be happy to take care of your Monochrome for the time being.
Haha. Sarah has already taken it 😂
I have to say one thing. You did the right decision. I don't want to argue if it is better digital or analog (I believe that both have pro and cons), but I think that photography as a form of art needs to be practice with the tool we feel most confortable with. One thing that I can say, generally speaking, is that I don't understand the ones that shoot digital and seek day and day out to have photos with analog vibes...I shoot digital (I came from analog)...I don't deny that at the beginning I was very into to put more grain and so on...but then I thought, hey...if you want grain go and buy back the analog camera. It's like to do risotto with basmati rice...instead of Arborio (or other qualities...)...
So many good reasons to go analog. While only a hobby photographer, I am currently going through the same thought process.
I would like to ask two questions:
1. How much, if any, processing do you do after scanning?
2. Do you have a preferred film?
Looking forward to your next videos!
1. Video coming soon. Not as much as digital but enough to make it interesting.
2. At the moment Fomapan 200 & 400
Thanks! And looking forward to that video 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Very nice commitment. I wanted to do the same when I bought the M7. But after shooting films for a decade I realised the it is never the camera which will finally make the final image but the scanner. The camera is a light box where the most important stays the lens (where generally Leica shines)Film is still fun and an other way of taking pictures but I am happier now with the Monochrome. Just my way of seeing things
100% Jeff. I bought an M4 and a Rolleiflex and am loving going back to film. Love slowing down and metering even on the street. It’s bliss. Have a few Ricoh GRIII/X’s and am loving the film with limitations of 36/12 shots.
Limitations are good!!
Very glad to have found your channel today! Cheers from 🇨🇦
Thank you
Image "capture" is only the start of the photographic process, whether it's via film or digital. But what about the rest of the process? As a professional, how do you share images with your clients without scanning film and delivering digital files? Or are you specifically going to be darkroom printing color and B/W onto paper via a wet process, exclusively?
The business side of my photography isn’t open for discussion on UA-cam. Sorry.
I have also now completly transitions to film. The only digital camera that I occasionally use is my Nikon D700. But 95% of the time I shoot film. And despite being much slower, even family events with kid zooming around are not a problem.
And selfdeveloping B&W and printing is so much fun. I can now even make a developer from scratch. Mainly I use beer and wine for this purpose. I kept shooting B&W on film, and I am very happy I did, while transitioning to digital compacts for colour (SOOC, digital C41 so to speak).
well said and I can relate. I miss the old days. but I threw out all my film gear and darkroom stuff years ago. I'm just glad I grew up with a grounding in film.
That grounding in film is priceless.
Exciting development. Looking forward to where takes you in your journey.
Thank you
Excellent! No more spray and pray and hours in LR to make a completely new image lol
Steady. You’ll trigger someone with that comment 😂
Looking forward to all your upcoming work and videos. And don’t give up on street, it just needs a different approach. I was the madman who came on your Oxford workshop with a film camera and I got some images I absolutely love. Photography is more interesting when you have something to learn and explore.
As for your M6 shutter woes, may I suggest a Voigtlander Bessa? Very reliable 😉
Have fun, still the best photography channel on UA-cam.
Thanks Owen. I’m not giving up on street, far from it. Just changing the approach.
I love that beach image. The composition, tones and contrast are perfect! Congrats on the move back to film. The last time I shot film was 2013. However, I still have three film cameras, and am planning on getting back into shooting some film this year. Was wondering which film scanner you use?
Thanks. Check out my community post on this. It’s interesting reading.
@@WalkLikeAlice thanks. Just read it. I had a Nikon Coolscan 5000 some years back, but sold it on EBay. I packed it up with a lot of padding, but the guy I sold it to in Italy claimed it was damaged when it arrived. So, I had no choice but to give him a partial refund. 🙁🙁 Hope you can get everything sorted out with your Leicas and the scanner sooner rather than later.
This image on the beach is incredible!!!
Thank you
Can't wait to watch the next episode!!!. Hope I can use my Hassy more often in 2024 too.
Thank you
Bring it on. I'm excited to see what you capture mate. I've got an old pentax here I bought last year in Portabello Road. It's sits there, between two books I've not read, yawning at me. Maybe I'll put a roll of film in it soon. Great videos Jeff mate and thanks for the dialogues. Katie has to sssshhh me up when we're on the sofa as I'm often p1sing myself laughing. Ha!
I’m a bad influence, Gary.
Totally enjoyed . Makes me look at what I really want after having 2 camera's break on me. 1 film and 1 digital .
Great. Glad you liked it.
I miss film, but it is so cost prohibitive sometimes. That’s what spurned me on to get the Leica M9, to get that film workflow and mindset within the confines of an old digital system. This video has inspired me to dig out the Fed 2 and shoot a few rolls again. Good luck on your next chapter.
Cost is a major problem. I’m not going to lie, but at the same time I think it will pay for itself in the long run. Especially given the onslaught of AI.
@@WalkLikeAlice I do have the kit to do my on developing, and can do it. But it’s the scan that gets me. No proper space for the gear. If you’re really broke, you can always develop your film in coffee (Caffenol) :)
If you shoot enough to make film a serious cost factor which is bigger than the cost of gear you are doing something right. If it isn't you dont shoot enough or you are living your GAS. 😂
Fellow film shooter here (although I shoot the non-TTL M6). Really looking forward to see what you're gonna create back in the film world! :-)
Thank you. 🙏
Hello!! Great to see you again! Happy New Years to you!!
Very interesting hearing your reasoning on this. I had something similar..as that I love film and digital too and the way I found the place was: If I could shoot it in Full Frame 35mm, I went digital. This is mostly on my Leica M10M.
For anything else aspect wise...I shoot on film. I love Medium Format (6x6, 6x9,6x12, 6x17). For smaller 35mm film, I'm shooting that for pano too, I had a PressPan made for me to shoot 35mm film a bit longer than a Xpan, and I have the old Russian HorizonT camera...
I basically on my side said "for FF, digital is best"...for anything else, I can't do with FF, I use film...and so far this works.
LOL..however, even I mess with my FF...by almost always these days...using vintage lenses adapted to my digital.
Anyway, I'd crossed this bridge a little while back and was quite interesting to hear how you went.
Have a GREAT year and looking forward to seeing your next video!!
CC
Thank you so much. Hope you have a great year too.
Very Disappointed!, just found your channel a couple of months ago and it has been quite enjoyable and informative. I did my thing with film in the 70's and 80's and have no plans to return.
Haha. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of digital content. Sarah hasn’t gone over to the dark side.
I am an amateur but I feel the same and I want to go back to my sweet cameras, the planning, the waiting, the prints to look at!
I found the hardest part was actually committing to doing it.
Brave but understandable move. I have sold all my new digital cameras and gone retro with 10+ year old Sony apsc with manual lenses and recently several Olympus cameras so now I have to actually make the image instead of pointing and shooting for a digital looking over sampled image.
Photography has become fun again for me.
Those Olympus film cameras. Some of the best ever made.
A year ago I felt really bored by the photography I was doing and I took out my old Nikon FE2, searched for my Jobo 1520 in the attic and now I'm in fill swing again (Leicas are involved too). Developing and digitizing Ilford Delta 400, mailing exposed Portras to a friend who opened a dev/scan-service and makes a living from it. Film is not dead it's just the fixer on your hands that smells funny. 😅
Haha. Yeah, those fixer days. Film is very much alive and kicking. The more AI takes hold, the more likely people are going to be attracted to film.
You express my esthetic perfectly (film). Great video.
Thank you
I love film, I used it for the first twenty years of my photographic career. But I hate 35mm I do like medium format. I used a mamiya 7 for fun years ago, should not have sold it ☹️
Oh wow this is spooky,,, I decided at New Year that I would shoot film all this year, for the first time since digital arrived. I shot my first trial roll today in order to see how the workflow and process is going to play out. It felt immediately natural and simultaneously rather odd. Should be an interesting time. Go well with your year. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for watching.
I made the same choice. I chose slowness and living in the moment instead of stealing it. Nice black and white. Do you usually push hp5 or foma? Even with the yellow filter?
No I don’t push films.
I am am amateur and digital is convenient and more affordable. However, the film DSLR camera my ex had (which I used more frequently) had better quality pics for that price point (entry level).
It was getting harder to find somewhere to process film.
Enjoyed the video a lot - would you retouch the scanned films?
Only the dust spots and any dev marks.
I would do this with a darkroom, i miss that experience.
Yes. Anyone that has ever worked in one gets a bit nostalgic. I actually like scanning though. It adds something different to the process. Platon’s style is a product of scanning for example.
Way to put the cat amongst the pigeons. Or should that be Doberman amongst the seagulls? Great stuff, Jeff. Looking forward to this next chapter. Best of luck to you and Sarah for 2024.
Cheers Joe. 🙏
My Leica Monochrom is an M6 loaded with B&W film.
I get the sentiment, but they are nothing like 😉
I come from a background in analog photography. With digital you do not have to shoot a trillion pictures. You can still shoot contemplative. And you can still give you pictures an analog ‘feel’ in post. Almost all analog shooters on UA-cam scan their films and work on them in Photoshop to make them look analog again.
Correct.
There must be some kind of film virus going around. I think I caught it too!
I got my film cameras out before leaving on holiday (didn't bring them, of course) and shot a few rolls with the Pentax 645Nii and cleaned up my Nikon FA.
I grew up with film and shoot digital like a film camera... deliberately. I'm planning on doing a lot of film this year, both 35mm and medium format.
I'm looking forward to your results!
I had two Pentax 645N back in the day. I wish I still had them. Fantastic cameras but very easy to overshoot with them 😂
@@WalkLikeAlice I can see that happening, although I'm pretty deliberate when I'm working.
I’d like to be able to persuade myself to go back to film. I have several 35 and 120 rolls that have been sitting in the fridge for over 10 years. I even bought a Zeiss Ikon folder to use up the 120 film. I just can’t do it! The cost puts me off and I can get what I want with digital. Meanwhile the film just sits in the fridge!
Haha. Someone will probably buy it if you pop it on ebay.
I also said bye to digital in 2023, im very happy for you, I go into large format.
Thats great, Chris. Haven’t shot large format since the early 90s. Used to have a fabulous Sinar P camera with Schneider lenses. Hope you have some great experiences with it.
@@WalkLikeAlice same for me in the 90's, I used to work with a Sinar P, awesome camera
Good luck with the Film, I have done my time with film and the darkroom. People think SD cards can be expensive lol. One thing's for sure many new wedding photographers wouldn't be taking 3000 photographs at a wedding and charging £300!
Very true. We used to give 100 images from ten rolls of film back in the day and charge 4x more than we did with digital.
@@WalkLikeAlice You two have a great 2024.
Some prefer vinyl. I love the unrivaled experience of 24 bits sonic purity. I used to shoot with a M6, decades ago. Currently I shoot M262 and M10 monochrome and I'll never ever go back to a film camera. Everybody has different tastes. The only thing that matters is to enjoy.
100%. Couldn't agree with you more.
One does not interfere with the other, I think. what else will you return to the film and remember me
My Leica Q3 is arriving tomorrow 😶 Looking forward to seeing what you share in film Jeff 🙌
Fantastic. Have fun with the Q. It’s a top, top camera.
@@WalkLikeAlice Thank you Jeff, all the best for 2024 my friend 👍
And to you
I get this ❤ totally
🙏
I would love to shoot more film but it’s too expensive for me. I still do a roll or two per month though.
That’s good. It’s all I used to do.
Hi Jeff, is your decision based on printing on actual paper (either inkjet or traditionnal wet darkroom) ? I am asking because your explanation is screen oriented
I think black and white is "hard" to have good results with inkjet… ( I do have an Epson P900 which is pretty good in B&W / inkjet)…
It’s always based on printing. Screen is how we do UA-cam so I guess that’s why it feels that way. Inkjet is ok as long as you get everything calibrated. I send it to the lab these days though.
thanks and cheers !
Interesting decision!
Great! More content like this 👍
Thank you
I'm doing the opposite. I'm trying to get more digital. I shot film in my 20s (back when dinosaurs walked the earth); went digital in the early 2000s; after a while I didn't like it. Went back to film for the last 10 years and now I'm getting too impatient for it - maybe that's not the right word. Let's just say, it's about making a change for lack of any other reason.
We all get to a point where we need to do something else. I honestly believe that. I went from MF to 35mm in 94. I wanted to change even back then.
I doubt if it's more expensive today than 50 years ago adjusted for inflation I remember having to make 5 rolls of ektachrome last for a vacation if I remember right the film with processing was about $6 a roll which would be $60 today I finally bought darkroom equipment I paid $180 for the enlarger ,that would be about $1800 today film was never inexpensive and I think it is actually cheaper today if you scan it yourself
Film cameras are much cheaper than they were back then I paid close to $300 for a Mamiya C220 back in the day equivalent to $3000 today
I just bought a near mint C33 for $150
Remember film takes some work we have been spoiled by digital cameras where you can shoot hundreds of pictures for almost nothing and if you spend $6 on a Starbucks latte you can buy a roll of film for the same money you just have to really want it
Well said. I think the issue is that taking pictures for many people has been free (less the cost of the camera) and so to have to pay to press the shutter is something which seems expensive.
@@WalkLikeAlice
True, you have to pay to play but in big picture it isn't all that expensive especially if you develop and scan yourself
The real film experience is to develop it yourself IMO
I have a question. Is it possible for me to join your online workshop from LA?
Absolutely. Most of my 1-2-1 sessions are with photographers from the USA 🙂
It is very nice to return to photography using film. But the question is? Do film manufacturers still produce good films in sufficient quantities? Are there still development laboratories that develop films? I believe that if these companies and laboratories return to work, the film photography market will rise again.
Yes and yes. Leica sold 5000 new film cameras last year which, equates to about £25million in sales and about 40% of all new M camera sales. That doesn't include the second hand market, which is still very bouyant. Harman (who own Ilford) just released a new colour negative film. With the advent of Ai, a lot of people are looking at the possibilities of film for authenticity. In cinema, film is having a resurgence. 'Oppenheimer' - probably the biggest movie of 2023 was shot on Kodak film which will obviously encourage others to use it. I think the last Bond film was also shot on film. I think the future is very healthy.
I love the Leica M6, but if I want to get one I'd have to sell my whole digital equipment.
Yeah they aren’t cheap. I’m fortunate in that I bought all mine 20+ years ago. I wouldn’t be able to justify the cost of a new one.
I know exactly what you mean about film. However, I'm probably going to stick with a film / digital set up for this year now (but only in B&W). I was out shooting a couple of rolls in Bournemouth today. There is something magic about film. I am hoping to shoot with TMAX3200 in the summer, but I'll need an ND filter to control the shutter speed as my camera tops out at 1/1000.
Yeah mine does too. I haven’t shot anything that fast for years. You can also halve the box speed to 1600. That will help the shadows and contrast a little.
@@WalkLikeAlice I guess part of the fun of doing film is playing around with different films. HP5+ is my standard mono film (Ektar nowadays for colour, even through it gives cholesterol skin tones), but it's always good to mix it up.
I'd love to do this but in reality I can't afford the price of film considering I take one good picture for every 99 bad ones.
Totally understand. It’s one of the questions I continually asked myself. Sarah is still shooting digitally. She’s not really interested in film. She likes the Xpan but not because it’s a film camera.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, I also shoot with an 8mm and 16mm film camera, there are a lot of mistakes and the money is different, so a roll of film costs very little compared to the pleasure of using it and waiting for the result
Interesting, I just bought an M6 for that exact reason, want to slow down, want to concentrate more. Struggling I have to say, noisy as f**k, bloody expensive, but very enjoyable
Grain takes some getting used to. Especially compared to digital. Sometimes, a lab can over develop the negs which makes it worse. Rate the film to half its box speed and see if that helps.
Film & analog cameras and lenses have a distinct personality. Digital images look the same too sharp.
Mmm… I respect your decision, but I’ll say this now.
Your work is breathtaking, you’re up there with the absolute best street/social documentary photographers in the world (Sarah is amazing too but I’m talking about you here). And your work is shot on digital, there is no need for you to waste hundreds of pounds a month on film, it’s gone, it’s not as good as digital….. your work cannot get any better and film won’t facilitate any improvement.
But as long as you’ll be happy……and skint 😉
You are very kind. In my defence, I’m not a photographer that likes to stand still. I could simply carry on doing what I’ve been doing and that would be easy. But I feel I’ve come to the end of that road. It’s boring me now and I genuinely want a new challenge. I will be happy but not skint.🙂
I don’t like the way digital is going, especially with AI. Okay you can manipulate the image to some degree in the darkroom, but with digital I really don’t know what I’m looking at.
Ai is another reason why I’ve gone back to film.
I have fond memories of the darkroom. You are shut off from the world and time seems to just disappear.
Don’t. I’ll be emptying the garage in the morning and looking on eBay for darkroom kit 😂
@@WalkLikeAlice I recall one time going into the darkroom in the evening, and when I came out, the sun was rising. I had to go to school that morning too 😬
Nobody says you have to make fast pictures with digital just because you can. That’s complete nonsense. I never do it. And alone the fact that no chemistry is needed and pollutes the environment is reason enough to never look back to film...
Nobody says you have to get angry at a UA-cam video just because you can, and yet, here you are.
Shoot film for your soul, digital for your business. Film is magical, but so is digital if not abused in all these AI piwered image editing software.
And the Ai side of things is another reason why I’ve been attracted back to film.
Yes I agree. That is a big worry for real photographers.@@WalkLikeAlice
You'll come back to digital. Give it 6 months
Haha. Oh ye of little faith.
Making digital pics and then making them look as if shot on film, that's definitely not 'style'. Film has character, whereas digital painting by numbers. Of course you can take pics faster than 1 sec, if you want that use a Robot camera. Keep up the good work, analog rules, OK.
I admire your sentiment but I don’t agree with the comment.
Style is how you see the end result and how you want others to see what you saw when you took the photograph. How you get to that style is irrelevant. It’s just part of the process. Sometimes it’s film, sometimes it’s digital. Film is a different process mentally and physically when shooting.
In 2009, I submitted six b/w digital images (colour originals processed to my b/w film “style”) to Getty Image Gallery in London as part of a Canon sponsored group exhibit. Getty were printing the images. A week or so later, I had an email from the Getty printers asking me to submit Canon digital files as they couldn’t accept medium format film scans. So my files were close enough to scanned film to put doubt in the mind of some of the best printers in the world. As they would be because that’s how I like my images to look.
In 2012, I edited and printed Don McCullin’s digital images. Colour to b/w with grain to keep with his b/w film style. He took the first print from the inkjet printer and said “wow. I could sell these in Hamilton’s Gallery”.
@@WalkLikeAlice That not what I understand by style. It has got nothing to do with how you see the end result. I associate it with quality of appearance, shape and pattern, design exhibiting collective characteristics.
Nope. You can have a style which has very few of those things.
"Why I'm saying hello again to analog photography." When I saw your title I thought: "What?! How can he justify shooting film?" If you're going to be rational in your thinking, I don't think you CAN justify your choosing to shoot film. You shoot film because: 1. you can afford to shoot film; and 2. it's fun to shoot film. Those are probably the same reasons you'd use to buy a Leica camera. Now, I'd appreciate your trying to justify shooting B&W. I watched a fellow shooting "street" in downtown Hanoi. His GoPro was in color and his Leica M-A was in B&W film. No way did his B&W still photos compare with the equivalent "color" stills of his GoPro. In my view, color just blows B&W away.
Thanks for your comments. I stopped justifying myself to other photographers in the mid 1990s.🙂
@@WalkLikeAlice , I have a digital Leica M10-R and a film Leica M-A. From personal experience I KNOW that my M-A just can't compete with my M10-R in street photography. That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy shooting with both of them.
oh no video ended haf way out of nowhere see you later
Not sure what you mean.