How film cameras won over a younger generation

[KerrKid]

I saw more young women than men with film cameras lately.

But as said one may doubt any statiscal relevance.

That may very well be the case here and I don't know it. I may just not be where these folks are hanging out. I'd love to run into them.

My wife hardly even knows how to hold a camera and yet she has taken the best picture of my parents that has ever been taken. She said exactly the right thing to them to get a great look out of them and snapped the picture. It's amazing.

 

[KerrKid]

I've made friends over the past few years striking up conversations with randos with film gear. I'm always strapped so I've had people come up and schmooze with me about cameras. Caught a few gems like that.

I really need to find more ways to pick up and incorporate photography slang and Yiddish into my everyday conversations. Thank you. Lol. "Randos". I like that one.

 

[Cholentpot]

I really need to find more ways to pick up and incorporate photography slang and Yiddish into my everyday conversations. Thank you. Lol. "Randos". I like that one.

Rando isn't Mamaloshen, though it sure would fit in. I'm trying to wrangle an American English version of Yiddish.

So much of photography slang a Yiddish are interchangeable though. 'Kook! Kaise!'

 

[Moose22]

I saw more young women than men with film cameras lately.

But as said one may doubt any statiscal relevance.

Was shooting at an open mic tonight to test a lens/film combo (HP5 at 1600 vs Delta3200). Girl walked up "You shooting film?"
"Yeah"
"CooooL!"

her boyfriend couldn't give a crap. Nor could anyone else in the room.

Last week I had the F3 out and a girl at the coffee shop asked about it. Tells me all about he Canon that her grandmother gave her. Three of her coworkers (young women) all shoot film. One is pestering me to sell her my Pentax 90 because I joked I'd sell it for $20 when I was done and brag I made a 33% profit (I got it for $15). She reminds me regularly she's first in line.

Earlier in the year I had the leica out, a runner (female) shouted "Nice camera" as she ran past. Girl working at a restaurant in town saw me walking past and had to drool over the thing. She shoots and FM3A and has a couple of point and shoots, so we got to bond over shared cameras.

This is all anecdotal, but in my world the over 50 film nerds seem to be guys. Under 30 film nerds seem to be girls.

 

[Agulliver]

Film motion picture cameras are a nearly-extinct breed. Use wears on them terribly and there are no new ones being made. How long until no movies are shot on film?

Projection is a lost cause. It is totally senseless for cinemas to pay someone to run a film projector. Over the past two years, most movie theatres have almost gone out of business. Digital projection is a relief to those businesses. They don't care how the movie is made.

And you can digitally project The Wizard of Oz, too. You just have to pay for it.

What does this have to do with a discussion about young people taking up still photography?

Though I have to say, over here in the UK a screening of classic films *on film* is an advertising point. Perhaps because it is becoming increasingly a rare thing, but cinemas will make a thing when they put on a classic film and project from film.

Regarding earlier posts, perhaps 100 burst pictures is an exaggeration but part of the appeal of film over digital is not taking a whole bunch of photos of the same thing and then checking them, sharing them immediately on social media and missing out on what's happening around you. Film necessarily separates the two parts of the process. You take the photo, and see it with your own eyes, not on a screen....and later you actually see the recorded image, and then do what you like with it at a suitable time. You don't miss out on the present.

 

[Don_ih]

What does this have to do with a discussion about young people taking up still photography?

Well, considering it was a response to several comments made before it, I guess you started reading there. Perhaps Helge is on your ignore list.

 

[Agulliver]

Another observation/anecdote is that when I see cameras in charity shops, the volunteer staff there are aware that the cameras are likely to be bought to use rather than as decorations. Five years or so ago the assumption was that all such instruments were for display only as nobody would be foolish enough to actually use them, assuming film still existed in the first place.

Though I did come across a charity shop earlier this year where a member of the staff thought that Ilford and Kodak had stopped making film. I put her right and she instantly added £5 to the price tag of the two cameras on sale there.

 

[Helge]

I saw more young women than men with film cameras lately.

But as said one may doubt any statiscal relevance.

You mean you notice young woman more? ;-)
Woman has always had a bigger share of this art than most other arts. Right since the beginning. Not that it’s ever been 50/50.

 

[AgX]

You might think so... But no, since many, many years I keep my very own statistics on coming across on street someone with a film camera.* And as I explaind here repeatedly I meanwhile stopped approaching anyone with a film camera, independant of age or gender as nearly always these people turned out most unfriendly. In complete contrast to people not sporting a camera I approached, or non-photographers who approached me for the weird cameras I was sporting.

Concerning your second remark: why then before that turn of age ALL film photographers I came across on street where elderly men?




*another point of interest is seeing young people buying a/inquiring on a film camera... (in the last 15 years in spite of spending literally countless hours at fleamarkets, thrift stores and camera shops, I saw 2)

 

[Duceman]

I saw more young women than men with film cameras lately.

I was recently vacationing in Miami, Florida. Was in "Little Havana" with a Minolta Autocord around my neck. Lo and behold, I spotted a young woman with a Canon A-1. Anecdotal, yes, but I can not recall the last time I randomly ran into anyone shooting film, other than me. May have last occurred in the mid-2000's. For the last 15 years or so, it's usually strangers coming up to me and asking what kind of camera I had; they're always shocked when I tell them it's a "film" camera.

 

[Helge]

You might think so... But no, since many, many years I keep my very own statistics on coming across on street someone with a film camera.* And as I explaind here repeatedly I meanwhile stopped approaching anyone with a film camera, independant of age or gender as nearly always these people turned out most unfriendly. In complete contrast to people not sporting a camera I approached, or non-photographers who approached me for the weird cameras I was sporting.

Concerning your second remark: why then before that turn of age ALL film photographers I came across on street where elderly men?




*another point of interest is seeing young people buying a/inquiring on a film camera... (in the last 15 years in spite of spending literally countless hours at fleamarkets, thrift stores and camera shops, I saw 2)

Because they have bigger cameras and they strut them more?

Go to the big Berlin flea market (forget what it’s called). There is droves of people flocking around the used film camera stands. And there is many of those stands.

 

[Bronson Dugnutt]

It definitely seems like a generational phenomenon to me when photography has come up in my 'NPC conversations'

Many Gen X men I've spoken with recently will describe to me their notably absent Rebel w/ kit lens and share enthusiastic stories about their father's Nikon F and/or their brief encounter with film and inevitably ask "can you still get film for that?". Familiarity, but no analog practice. I most often see cameras actually carried by Gen Z women, usually digital APS-C, which after a brief introduction I point out is the same size as a half-frame from the Canon Demi I'm carrying. Practice, but no analog familiarity, as it were.

The local photo club is all Super Geezers, or 'Silent Boomers' if you will.

Millennials... well... we just ruin everything.

 

[AgX]

Because they have bigger cameras and they strut them more?

Go to the big Berlin flea market (forget what it’s called). There is droves of people flocking around the used film camera stands. And there is many of those stands.

No male film photographer I came across had anything bigger than a plain 35mm SLR.

I know that Berlin is different, but do not take Berlin for whole Germany. I had talks with analog photographers from Berlin who within the last years moved to another german photo-metropole and they did not see anything of an analog scene at their new place. So it not just my distorted view...

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

You mean you notice young woman more? ;-)
Woman has always had a bigger share of this art than most other arts. Right since the beginning. Not that it’s ever been 50/50.

When I look at female contributions to photo sites, I think theirs are much more intimate and emotional. They aren't caught up with the technical aspect and are more into the art then men. In general, their work seems better. I assume that's the same with women who take up film photography.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

It definitely seems like a generational phenomenon to me when photography has come up in my 'NPC conversations'

Many Gen X men I've spoken with recently will describe to me their notably absent Rebel w/ kit lens and share enthusiastic stories about their father's Nikon F and/or their brief encounter with film and inevitably ask "can you still get film for that?". Familiarity, but no analog practice. I most often see cameras actually carried by Gen Z women, usually digital APS-C, which after a brief introduction I point out is the same size as a half-frame from the Canon Demi I'm carrying. Practice, but no analog familiarity, as it were.

The local photo club is all Super Geezers, or 'Silent Boomers' if you will.

Millennials... well... we just ruin everything.

I'm in a super geezer photo club. Well, I live in a 55+ community. When I first joined eight years ago when I was 69 and mentioned I still shoot film, many asked whether there was still film being made. The rest who all shoot digital, some pushing 80, scratched their heads and wondered why I was so old-fashioned.

 

[KerrKid]

I'm in a super geezer photo club. Well, I live in a 55+ community. When I first joined eight years ago when I was 69 and mentioned I still shoot film, many asked whether there was still film being made. The rest who all shoot digital, some pushing 80, scratched their heads and wondered why I was so old-fashioned.

Kids always think they're the trendsetters when, in fact, they're just enjoying reruns. Our old is their new.

Lately, they are wearing bell bottom jeans and using the term "Gaslight" and thinking these things are new.

Maybe they somehow think that someone is out there making new old cameras for them.

 

[Cholentpot]

Kids always think they're the trendsetters when, in fact, they're just enjoying reruns. Our old is their new.

Lately, they are wearing bell bottom jeans and using the term "Gaslight" and thinking these things are new.

Maybe they somehow think that someone is out there making new old cameras for them.

Kids don't have the negative associations of film that many casual photographers from 20+ years ago have. I grew up with film and it took some work to get over the bad vibes I remember from when film was king.

As much as we love the stuff it wasn't always like that for many. If not for digital I wouldn't shoot film. The cost of entry and learning curve would be too high. I'd be shooting a disposable or point and shoot like I did back in the day.

 

[Duceman]

Maybe they somehow think that someone is out there making new old cameras for them.

That, no one is doing.

I think of this sort of like present-day Havana, Cuba... not very many newer cars, so people do with what they got... mostly autos from the 50's... they just keep on repairing 'em anyway they know how.

 

[Bronson Dugnutt]

I'm in a super geezer photo club. Well, I live in a 55+ community. When I first joined eight years ago when I was 69 and mentioned I still shoot film, many asked whether there was still film being made. The rest who all shoot digital, some pushing 80, scratched their heads and wondered why I was so old-fashioned.

A kid, maybe 10 or 11, saw me carrying a camera at the skate park and asked if I'd take his photo. I explained it was a film camera, not digital so I couldn't show him the screen. 'Like a Polaroid?' he asked. Nope, unfortunately, you have to develop the film. It's in the gallery. Maybe I'll find a way to get a print to him sometime. I didn't ask for a twitter handle.

Lately, they are wearing bell bottom jeans and using the term "Gaslight" and thinking these things are new.

The latest fashion scourge, as foretold by SNL...

 

[KerrKid]

That, no one is doing.

I think of this sort of like present-day Havana, Cuba... not very many newer cars, so people do with what they got... mostly autos from the 50's... they just keep on repairing 'em anyway they know how.

Maybe some cottage industries will pop up to supply parts. Here’s hoping. I just bought a parts camera just for 2 screws and it arrived missing one of the screws I needed.

 

[Cholentpot]

Maybe some cottage industries will pop up to supply parts. Here’s hoping. I just bought a parts camera just for 2 screws and it arrived missing one of the screws I needed.

There's a fellow out there who machines graflex parts. That's all he does. I guess the market is big enough.

 

[MattKing]

It is a #1 seller....

 

[KerrKid]

There's a fellow out there who machines graflex parts. That's all he does. I guess the market is big enough.

Oh really? I imagine an enterprising soul could determine the typical parts needs of the more popular camera lines and profit from that if the demand for these cameras remains high. Maybe one of these tech-savvy youngsters?

 

[KerrKid]

It is a #1 seller....
View attachment 307784

I've gotten 2 Olympus XA2's in minty shape for less than that, not to mention the minty Nikon N75 with 2 Nikon lenses, strap and bag for $35. On the one hand, I'm glad that this F9 is selling because it's a new camera that may prompt other manufacturers to get on the bandwagon, but on the other hand, it doesn't present much of a value.

Any idea what the quality of the pix are? Passable?

 

[MattKing]

It is a new camera, thus meets the needs of those that value that fact more than those of us who feel confident buying used cameras, as well as the needs of retailers who need new goods to sell.
As I understand it, the quality is quite decent. Results that are at least as good as the millions and millions and millions of basic 126 cameras that were sold over the years, and gave very satisfying results to those who used them.
Particularly considering how much film has improved since 126 was current.