6 Reasons Why Shooting Film Will Make You a Better Street Photographer

I tried to take out my Canon AE-1 last week with a roll of black and white. I wanted to take my time and get some great shots. I hadn’t used it in at least a year, and I was disappointed to find it inoperable. To the shop! It’s worth it for me since I learned on film.

Can someone explain more about the visual difference (between film and digital?) Maybe side by side pics?

Enjoyable article!

Nothing will compare with getting a roll of film back and finding you have captured a really great shot, perfectly exposed, sharp, and not even remembering that you took it, having not seen it for weeks. It is a sense of achievement that digital will never offer.
Plus there is so much more mood in a film photograph, more authenticity.

Also film has the advantage of minimal post production. Sometimes I get a digital shot and think ‘What am i going to do to this one? Strong black and white? Vintage tones? Simple contrast boost?’.
With a film shot, you get it back, and the film has done all the work. It’s finished, complete, whole. It’s very hard to get this feeling from a digital shot.

Good piece Eric. I was lucky enough to shoot with an M7 and what I got back has me seriously thinking about wanting to put together a dark room all over again. I don’t know if I want to mess with all those chemicals but part of the fun before is seeing what you shot slowly appear on the negatives.

The other reason why I would want to develop myself is to be able to control the process and to save a few bucks. That roll of film I shot on the M7 ended costing me about $41. Processing the negatives wasn’t too expensive. Since I wanted to be able to play with the results, I had to have the negatives scanned and put on a disk….

So… cost is a CON.

Shooting film, you are more careful not to waste and it does make you even more aware of the basics…… this is a PRO.

Had a chance to see someone’s work today. Shooting film…. mostly medium format but seeing the results and the different types of film resulting in different results…. it’ll be an entirely different world.

Some very nice images here … thanks Eric

SteveSFO, developing your own WILL save you a lot of money and indeed give you greater control over the process. Lots of good used equipment to be had … five years ago when I decided to get back into printing my own, I had the good fortune to find a used Focomat V35.

Gut licht, and as the late great Sal DiMarco put it, happy snaps.

Eric, I find shooting single shots with my Trip 35 can be just as fast as digital. I like its thumbwheel film rewind as I could wind it indiscreetly plus it is so small and hanging it around my neck with one of my shoe string did not attract any attention.

I can also clicked through the focus zones and the aperture without the need to look at the dials but merely knowing how many clicks to get to the settings that I want.

Found your blog today and enjoyed your articles.
I think film & digital photography could be complementary each other. Digital life gave us easier ways of photographing, especially in color photography. No worries about expenses after taking photos such as developing/scanning films process. But as you mentioned, film photography is way different experience in terms of…what really photography was. I mean film photography let me get back to basics. I guess many people wasted of time by debating on these things, which one is better for photography…never ending story.

I think that’s totally matter of taste/preferences/needs. For pros who take, let say, thousands shots in one day, they cannot afford to buy all those films and develop/print. They will definately need digital camera.

For me, I prefer to take photos with my film RF camera even though it doesn’t have any built-in light meter. I am still struggling to get correct exposure especially for indoor scene, but I learn lessons from my failed photos though.

One funny story… I live close to Niagara Falls, NY. I like to stop by the Falls to take photos there especially in Winter. No so many people/tourists, but definately beautiful in winter. I brang my digital camera and film camera there in January. It was very cold. My digital camera didn’t work, but I could take most of picutres with my film camera, since it doesn’t require any battery. Later I had to stop taking photos, since the film started to break itself when I wound it due to cold weather. Nothing is perfect, but I prefer to bring film camera in this case.

Anyway I never had my own camera til age of 30 and I found that taking photos are really enjoyable for me. I am glad that I found your blog to learn more about (street) photography since I couldn’t afford to take any photography class.
Thanks for your inspiration and good articles.

I started photography on a cell phone to be honest but then moved on to an Olympus C750UZ. Experimented a lot on it in Av. Now I stick to Manual mode as I’m more sure of what settings will suit me(also depends on the lighting; if it isn’t constant then manual can get annoying). I also use a Canon EOS 55 film SLR. Black and white is the medium and developing and printing is part of the course at my college. What I have experienced with film is that you really ‘learn’ to consider the lighting, environment and settings. I only shoot in manual mode on my SLR and I personally think that it helps you develop as a photographer because you learn from your mistakes and don’t have unlimited shots on a roll. If you get a chance to shoot with film, don’t miss it. It might be a new learning experience for you.

I really like this article because I love street photography with film… I have been using an old cannonet RF, and now I am saving for a Leica MP, and I am always ask why film and I even have a couple more reason why I chose film.I am not a film purist (because I grew up on digital) However I want a camera that I am gonna have for years to come, and I dont know any one pro or other wise that had their DSLR for over five years.
Thats also an added cost, though film costs money per roll and developing etc. Its not like you dont have to get a new DSLR body after a few years. I want to put my $$$$$ in to something that I can take all over world, and will be with me in good and bad times. Here are five quick reasons why I choose a film rangefinder.

1. DSLRs are ugly imo, (they are too invasive and don’t inspire confidence)
2. The leica M9 is way too costly and shooting full frame 1:1 gives better quality that APS (film or digital lol)
3. Digital Components have shelf lives (planned obsolescence ) and if a chip or two goes bad there goes your camera.
4. The film look also gives you ime better dynamic range esp. for street (yes I know about HDR, but HDR has no place in street or candids… like a barf of color eeeewww)
5. I have gone through a few digital P&S and DSLRs. ime It is refreshing to have taken myself out of the digital rat race.

I actually lost interest in photography until i started using film. I actually don’t appreciate the so called “convenience ” of digital. It makes me feel like it’s not really important to know what your doing. I love film for the look, the resolution, the variety of film/developer combinations, the flexibility in the darkroom. I love the fact my gear is as old as i am and still just as good, all i need to do to get the latest and greatest is spend 5 or 6$ for the new type of film. I love the feel of a solid brick of steel, leather and glass. I love how if i screw up in any of the steps from click to print there are NO undos! i love how i need to learn and learn alot to improve. I never shot with film before, but just today i took out my digital to take a few pictures because i needed a flash and well…i was utterly bored after 3 shots browsing through the menus and looking at that LCD ughh…film changed me, no going back.