film photography club

there’s a lot to learn and explore in film photography which makes it such a great analog hobby to get into!

if you’re looking for a good starting guide, i have a page on substack for this exactly!

check it out here: getting started with film

it goes through what you’ll need to get started depending on what you want to explore first. a lot of folks start off with a point and shoot film camera with auto mode to make things easy and get in the swing of the process.

others start with a manual slr to learn exposure settings (shutter speed, aperture, and ISO). if you’re up for the challenge, this is a good way to go. however, sometimes beginners might get frustrated and quit because it’s a bit difficult, which is why i might recommend starting on easy mode with a point and shoot first.

totally up to you!

let us know your questions below if there’s anything specific you’re wondering about or confused on.

film photography is so rewarding when it goes right but can also be very depressing when it goes wrong. so, as long as you mentally prepare for this, you’ll be fine!

a quick summary/some recommendations:

cameras:

i love the nikon fm2n for a manual slr. it’s very simple and doesn’t have too many confusing buttons. most things make sense. it also has a self timer and multiple exposure mode if you’d like to get a bit more experimental.

for a point and shoot, the canon u90ii is fantastic. however i recently was made aware of the minolta riva (or freedom) series which has both a self timer and multiple exposure mode! the canon u90ii doesn’t do multiple exposures that I have found.

if you’d like to try out medium format and are on a budget, the zeiss ikon nettar is a great camera. plus it can do multiple exposures! and they are super cheap – i’ve bought mine for 30 GBP on ebay. it’s all manual, no electronics. and it folds in and out so very portable.

there’s also fun plastic cameras that shoot medium format like the HOLGA GCFN. I love this camera so much, it’s very simple, only a few settings and does include a flash. if you’re vibe is more experimental, fuzzy around the edges, this might be the one for you.

film:

predictable color films that are great to start with are kodak ultramax, colorplus (or now kodacolor 200?), and lucky 200 if you can find it.

great black and white options include ilford hp5, ilford xp2 (which can be processed in c41 chemistry by the lab and may be cheaper than black and white processing), kodak tmax, or tri-x. tri-x is so lush. there are soooo many black and white films to try out though!

developing/scanning:

i would recommend sending your film to be developed and scanned at a professional film lab unless you are up for the trauma of learning to develop at home! (just kidding, it’s not that bad)

i’ve made a map of film labs as well which you can check out on the same page on substack here.

i use catlabs in boston and they are fantastic. also very affordable for basic dev and scan.

each lab is so different in the results that you might get. they use different scanners or have different processes. i’ve never had the same results from different labs.

ones that i really like are catlabs (usa), carmencita film lab (spain/portugal), ag photo lab (uk), gulabi (uk), and analogue wonderland lab (uk).

i would recommend film labs that are hip to the new gen film photography community (very involved/engaged) and over 4.5 star rating on google maps.

there are a ton of older/established photo shops that will ship your film out to be developed, but they often send it to older film labs that (in my experience) don’t always give you the best results. and a lot of the time, these labs and shops are not involved in the younger community at large.

i’d look for places that run workshops, photo walks, and generally are engaging on social media with the film community specifically (NOT DIGITAL).

there are plenty of digital camera stores that have a few film cameras and rolls of film around, but it’s not their focus and you won’t get the same enthusiasm (or help) often unless one of the staff shoots a lot of film.

bottom line – find the film addicts! lol

if you are new to film photography and want to share your first ever roll here, send us an email! check out this page on what to send and where to send it to.

can’t wait to hear from you 🙂