Analog Photography Makes a Comeback

BradS · Oct 5, 2021

faberryman said:
Probably because people over 30 remember using a film camera, so it doesn't really have the same cachet.

Well, yes. Maybe so. But if that is the case, then perhaps the interesting thing is that it does have cachet for that age group.

Pieter12 · Oct 5, 2021

faberryman said:
I don't know who Angelyne is or how many votes she got. I just assumed that anyone who got 1.1% of the votes came in last. Maybe Angelyle got fewer votes and holds the title of California's biggest loser. Anyway, Instagram didn't suggest I follow her, so her lunches must not be all that exciting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelyne

faberryman · Oct 5, 2021

Yikes!

MattKing · Oct 5, 2021

Pieter12 said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelyne
View attachment 287316

Personally autographed I see

Ernst-Jan · Oct 6, 2021

Pieter12 said:
How many of you post to IG? How often?

Never. I have a Flickr Pro-account.
I don't like adds and resized images.

Ernst-Jan · Oct 6, 2021

faberryman said:
I think Sibersalz35 is the German word for CineStill.

Silber=silver
Salz=salt

faberryman said:
ilbersalz35 is the same business model as CineStill - re-spool Kodak motion picture film and provide ECN-2 processing.

Cinestill doesn't offer ECN-2 processing and scanning as far as I know

Agulliver · Oct 6, 2021

I think it's worth looking at what the young whippersnappers are doing. Just yesterday a friend in their 30s asked me for advice on a compact camera for doing photo shoots of people...nothing pro but they want to make better social media posts of rope bondage (I move in....interesting circles). Not being overly familiar with the current compact digital camera market, I did a little research before selecting three models that suited my friend's specific needs....but in one "top 10 compact cameras for 2021" article I actually found recommendations for Fuji Instax cameras in amongst the Sonys and Kodaks. This was an article aimed at people who were looking to buy their first proper camera, as opposed to a smart phone, and was explaining why a real camera, even a cheap one, will often perform better for certain types of photo, compared to a phone camera. And in their top 10 list was an Instax camera. Like it or loathe it, it is film. And they were pointing out that it was film, with a different "user experience" and a tangible photo at the end of it.

I have made a small foray into instagram, in that I have an account and occasionally post film photos there. I have a small following, never to rival Ms. Jenner, but it is made up of three groups of people. Existing friends, locals who noted my #Luton on some pictures, and youngsters interested in film photography. I have no doubts that photographers who post better, more varied and more interesting shots and who put more effort into their Instagram have lots of young followers eager to emulate their work. It's one of the big ways people get started these days.

When I returned to film after a few years hiatus in 2013, I was posting to Facebook a lot. Sufficiently that friends who had either not tried film, or who had given it up, asked about buying film, getting it processed. A few years down the line I know I am directly responsible for friends buying *at least* 9 film cameras and two friends have fridges full of film. Last month a 50 year old friend who hadn't shot film in 30 years put a roll through a 60s Agfa camera and came out with a handful of truly excellent portrait shots that he's posted to social media and will further inspire his circle of friends to pick up cameras. But mostly I'm having an influence on a small number of people in their 30s or late 20s.

And it's all growing the film industry again. Whether I ever buy a Silbersalz product or an Instax camera.....indeed I probably won't...but it's all helping keep the coaters going, the chemicals in manufacture, the very idea of film in the minds of people. So it's all good.

dutchsteammachine · Oct 6, 2021

Film camera's allow me to truly relax and enjoy the moment.

So tired of digital fatigue I experience with my mobile phone and digital camera. All the notifications and messages and options drive me nuts.

An analog camera simply does what I want it to without a million settings and menus.

Agulliver · Oct 7, 2021

dutchsteammachine said:
Film camera's allow me to truly relax and enjoy the moment.

So tired of digital fatigue I experience with my mobile phone and digital camera. All the notifications and messages and options drive me nuts.

An analog camera simply does what I want it to without a million settings and menus.

Even some 90s film SLRs have too few dials and too many menus.

While I do use digital cameras, I totally understand the freedom that shooting with something less complex can give. There are occasions when I go out for a walk armed with a simple box camera because it has so little in the way of controls. Not that I don't understand the controls on other cameras but it is a joyously simple process.

Craig75 · Oct 7, 2021

Whilst I dont really like using digital cameras, they are in someways a lot easier to use than a manual film camera if you are just taking street photos, trees etc etc. Just stick it on auto, point it, and away you go. No buggering around with night shots and trying to find mystical developers to ring as much detail as you can - just switch ibis on and shoot at 1/4s handheld at 3200iso and you have captured far more than you could ever do with a film camera handheld. It just so happens you can also use them to shoot the olympics too or track birds with the crazy autofocus and tracking you get these days.

But yes there is something far more pleasurable in using a mechanical camera, setting it all up yourself, and going into the darkroom afterwards even if you cannot get the huge range of types of shots you can get with a nice digital camera.

Personally i think the rise in film photography is because kids have got so good with phone cameras that they want more of a challenge and implement what they have learned through phones by switching all the assists off and gaining full control of the image themselves in "harder" process; ie film so that they can show their friends they have the photography game on lock down in both mediums.

radiant · Oct 7, 2021

Craig75 said:
Personally i think the rise in film photography is because kids have got so good with phone cameras that they want more of a challenge and implement what they have learned through phones by switching all the assists off and gaining full control of the image themselves in "harder" process; ie film so that they can show their friends they have the photography game on lock down in both mediums.

I don't think it is that. They probably want something special and many enjoy the color film look. I would argue that very small minority is actually interested in manual exposure or even understand anything of that. They just want the a shot to be shared on social media.

faberryman · Oct 7, 2021

Craig75 said:
Whilst I dont really like using digital cameras, they are in someways a lot easier to use than a manual film camera if you are just taking street photos, trees etc etc. Just stick it on auto, point it, and away you go. No buggering around with night shots and trying to find mystical developers to ring as much detail as you can - just switch ibis on and shoot at 1/4s handheld at 3200iso and you have captured far more than you could ever do with a film camera handheld. It just so happens you can also use them to shoot the olympics too or track birds with the crazy autofocus and tracking you get these days.

But yes there is something far more pleasurable in using a mechanical camera, setting it all up yourself, and going into the darkroom afterwards even if you cannot get the huge range of types of shots you can get with a nice digital camera.

Personally i think the rise in film photography is because kids have got so good with phone cameras that they want more of a challenge and implement what they have learned through phones by switching all the assists off and gaining full control of the image themselves in "harder" process; ie film so that they can show their friends they have the photography game on lock down in both mediums.

How did you arrive at that conclusion? Is that what young film enthusiasts have told you?

faberryman · Oct 7, 2021

Agulliver said:
Even some 90s film SLRs have too few dials and too many menus.

While I do use digital cameras, I totally understand the freedom that shooting with something less complex can give. There are occasions when I go out for a walk armed with a simple box camera because it has so little in the way of controls. Not that I don't understand the controls on other cameras but it is a joyously simple process.

If that works for you that’s great. I shoot film too. I don’t find shooting digital complex, certainly not more complex than shooting film. Of course, I don’t spend time futzing around with menus and such. Just aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, and ISO, same as with a film camera. Honestly, I don’t know what digital shooters need to change in their menus when they are out shooting. Maybe some people are easily distracted and need to futz with stuff for reasons known only to themselves. And then don't get me started about chimping. Why do you need to review the shot on the back screen? You just saw it in the viewfinder.

You see similar behavior sometimes with film shooters too. They take a meter reading a couple of times just to make sure they got it right the first time, and then change around the shutter speed/aperture combinations a couple of times because they can't make up their minds, all the while taking their glasses on and off their head because they need them to focus but not to change their settings, or vice-versa. And then their wife starts yelling at them to just take the goddamn picture, which is a big relief because if their wife hadn't starting yelling at them to take the goddamn picture you were, which can be awkward. And then the guy takes one more meter reading just in case the light changed while his wife was yelling at him. By this time the bear has crawled out of the dumpster and is back in the woods, so the guy misses the vacation shot of a lifetime. And it is his wife's fault. So that means he needs to buy a new camera when he gets back home. And maybe a lens too.

I think it is a personality thing more than a camera being simple or complex. But everybody is different I guess.

Craig75 · Oct 8, 2021

faberryman said:
How did you arrive at that conclusion? Is that what young film enthusiasts have told you?

From the ones I worked with part of the cachet was showing off that they had the skills to go beyond an auto everything iPhone and filters and do the process themselves. For one generation it was moving from manual to aperture priority to autofocus to digital. For another generation it is other way round and journeying "backwards". That was my experience working with people who grew up with phones and enjoyed photography

Craig75 · Oct 8, 2021

vedostuu said:
I don't think it is that. They probably want something special and many enjoy the color film look. I would argue that very small minority is actually interested in manual exposure or even understand anything of that. They just want the a shot to be shared on social media.

I agree. It's not universal observation. Many totally contradictory things at play in such a growing scene but for some people there is a cachet in being able to label their photos with film tags

radiant · Oct 8, 2021

Craig75 said:
being able to label their photos with film tags

That is probably the most influencing thing in analog comeback. I know it sounds tragicomic. We live in very hedonistic world and whatever makes you special makes the cut. Shooting *film* makes you think yourself a bit special.

BradS · Oct 8, 2021

vedostuu said:
..... We live in very hedonistic world and whatever makes you special makes the cut. Shooting *film* makes you think yourself a bit special.

well...maybe but that seems a bit harsh and cynical. I like to attribute renewed interest in film to something like mega-pixel fatigue.
People get tired of chasing technology and eventually come to the realization that computer aided plastic perfection is boring and constrains one's ability to express one's self.

BradS · Oct 8, 2021

faberryman said:
How does shooting a digital camera constrain one's ability to express oneself? It is just a rationalization because you prefer film to digital.

Constrains may not be quite the right word....and no, it is not at all analogous to playing the guitar or ukulele.
It's more like comparing taking lessons and practicing eight hours a day five days a week for seven years to buying a bunch of CD's.
(I wrote a bunch of stuff, deleted it, tried again, and again and still cannot quite find the words to express what I'm thinking.)

faberryman · Oct 8, 2021

BradS said:
Constrains may not be quite the right word....and no, it is not at all analogous to playing the guitar or ukulele.
It's more like comparing taking lessons and practicing eight hours a day five days a week for seven years to buying a bunch of CD's.
(I wrote a bunch of stuff, deleted it, tried again, and again and still cannot quite find the words to express what I'm thinking.)

Now I am confused. Is shooting a roll of film and sending it off for processing and scanning equivalent to taking lessons and practicing eight hours a day five days a week for seven years or buying a bunch of CDs, because it seems like buying a bunch of CDs to me?

Alan Edward Klein · Oct 8, 2021

Pieter12 said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelyne
View attachment 287316

I'd vote for her! I think she'd make a wonderful governor.

She'll be back.

BrianShaw · Oct 8, 2021

Alan Edward Klein said:
I'd vote for her! I think she'd make a wonderful governor.

She'll be back.

She always comes back!

Would you be casting that vote with tour right hand, or left hand?

BradS · Oct 8, 2021

faberryman said:
Now I am confused. Is shooting a roll of film and sending it off for processing and scanning equivalent to taking lessons and practicing eight hours a day five days a week for seven years or buying a bunch of CDs, because it seems like buying a bunch of CDs to me?

No. Digital imaging is like buying a bunch of CD's (of the same same album or piece of music).

scanning negatives...meh, its somewhere in-between.

BradS · Oct 8, 2021

BrianShaw said:
She always comes back!

Would you be casting that vote with tour right hand, or left hand?

Or would you wave it around so that she could see it and upon seeing it, work her way over close enough to you so that you could reach up and tuck it into her g-string?

BrianShaw · Oct 8, 2021

Better audio comparison: vinyl LP vs CD. Let the arguments begin! BTW, I much prefer Nikon to Canon. LOL

BrianShaw · Oct 8, 2021

And, BTW, I was in last place in the California gubernatorial election. I only got 1 vote!

Analog Photography Makes a Comeback

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