Why I Shoot Film in a Digital Age 

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Film takes a lot of thought, and it should! Every step and adjustment you make is manifested in each exposure. I've been shooting film since the mid-1970s; never stopped. But I did take up digital about 22 years ago. The event of digital has allowed me to practice composition in real time without the expense of buying more film. Then that allows me to preserve film photography as a very creative part of my hobby. For me the relationship between film and digital is very symbiotic. Thanks for sharing!

I got an old rangefinder from my father. Never had some photography before, so I learned on film. I had to study the fundamentals at a deeper level and make sure everything was right shooting full manual. Learning without a safety net made me better faster than if I just took a million digital pictures on auto setting. Plus, it's just more fun to shoot.

To be honest, I mostly shoot because I enjoy the tonality that colour negative brings, but I still appreciate the resolution of digital, which is why I mostly shoot 6x7. For me the fun of shooting something well made and mechanical feeling is just secondary to the results.

Wow what a high level production for someone with only 650 subs!! 100% deserves more.👍

I think the thing that separates film from digital is that shooting film makes you stop and think on every frame.

I am so happy to see someone your age passionate about film. And you couldn't have picked a better film camera to use. I have 2 Spotmatics and my favorite is an SP500, my first SLR I bought in a pawn shop 24 years ago. It's been everywhere... literally. And it is unfailingly reliable. I've never had it serviced or worked on. 50 years old and still works. You will not find a digital SLR that works in 50 years.

I don't have a digital camera. Problem solved.

Great video! Couldn't agree more! Let's keep film alive :)

Always kept my film cameras, despite digital. I love the quality of film cameras, and the simplicty of the controls.

I appreciate you brother, took me a second to realize why I prefer film over digital. As I am still at the beginning of my photography journey haha. But it just feels completely different. It’s like driving a manual car over an automatic. I’ve always preferred manual things. It allows me to focus. So, thank you!

Great video Noah! Love the images. I agree with the points you made. I prefer my film camera more nowadays!

I find that the more digital I shoot the more my photography skills deteriorate. I seem to get into spray and pray mode. So when I notice this I shoot a roll of film.. seems to get my head right.

So refreshing to see a young man achieve photographic enlightenment! ❤

You could get almost all of the benefits you talked about of shooting film on a digital camera by using it differently. Thats what I have to do, shooting film is too stressful for me. That double checking you talked about is hell for me. Very good video and points. Im subscribed. Keep it going.

To me, I don’t give a damn about the tactility or “feeling” of shooting film. I care about quality. When I can shoot a negative the size or 8x10 inch and get hundreds of megapixels out of it, it is better than digital. When I can do movements and place my focal plane where I want, it is better than digital. When I can overexpose portraits 6 stops and still not clip the highlights, it is better than digital. When each place in my negative contains full color information instead of interpolating a Bayer matrix, it is better than digital. I am tired of people taking for granted that film has lower quality than digital just because they look at the shitty lomography film stocks. Film can have better quality than digital, that is why I shoot it.

Great video clearly and creatively articulating the benefits of film!

Yashica 35 GT and a 36 rolls of HP5+ is my perfect match for a sunday walk ! Have a nice day people and make beautiful photos 🤗

Glad to see you appreciate the tactile, total control aspects of classic manual cameras, and the personalities of various film stocks. Most who grow up with digital have no idea of the experience, such as how an image POPS into focus on a microscreen while manually focusing. I wish my digital cameras had the feel and operational characteristics of classics like the Nikon F, F2, Pentax Spotmatic, Leica M3, or Hasselblad 500c.

I just watched this video, went down to subscribe and was stunned by how few subscribers you have. I expected like, 2 million not five hundred! The quality of everything in this video is phenomenal! And your narration is really relaxing. Seriously great job!

I also love film. I also have an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic. This is a great little video.

This was really well made and entertaining!

Use a leaf shutter if you want quiet!

It's wonderful how you demonstrate and obviously appreciate the old Spotmatic. This was my first SLR and I have been shooting with this equipment for about 20 years. But that was a long time ago and I can't imagine shooting analogue again, even though I love the feel and sound of mechanical cameras. I don't think I approach photography any differently with my digital camera. Looking for the right angle of view and framing - same! From time to time I take the old Pentax, look through the viewfinder, release the shutter, and all mechanics still work (>50 years old). Some times I adapt the old Pentax Takumar lens to my digital Canon camera.

I grew up with film cameras but than stopped for over two decades. Was using digital. Found myself snapping away and didn't like that I wasn't taking my time. I walk here snap I walk there okay that looks good snap little blown out or a bit to dark no problem I can edit that. Went back to film. Olympus om1. Boy my shots were horrible at first but after a while I was back at it, slowing down, observing a scene a bit longer, making sure my settings were just right. I get more pleasure with the film and the anticipation of waiting till the roll is done and you develop it is part of the excitement.

Just a note, in case anyone watching is completely new to shooting film, not all film cameras are fully mechanical. There are quite a few that require batteries to operate, and if the batteries fail, you can no longer shoot until you replace them. If you would prefer a mechanical camera so as not to be reliant on batteries, make sure you do your research when looking at cameras you are considering purchasing.

The pros you mention about checking more the composition, be more careful and getting more nicer photos aren't consequences of film per se but of it being quite expensive. I started with film in the digital era when a consumer roll was just less than three dollars, the same roll now is 15 dollars. That means that in the past you could take hundreds of photos with the same abandon as digital. I am sure if the cellphone camera would charge your credit card 1.20 dollars per each photo suddenly you would have many more keepers. I don't comment this antagonizing you, I use a Canon EOS 7 and a Fujifilm DL MiNi Super. I only think that much of what I like with my film photos is because of the economic pressure to not waste a frame.

I’m with you, Noah! I’m a commercial photographer and shoot digital for my clients. I shoot film for me.

I just shot a concert with digital and film. When I had my film camera in my hand I often didnt take the shot. Just waching everything unfold in front of me was so peaceful.

Awesome vid

In addition you could mention that film is a direct copy of reality, while digital is an interpretation of reality.

Awesome!

Cool intro dude

I have a K-5 DSLR that I hardly use anymore, but my analogue flock is quite satisfying to me: K1000, KM, KX, K2, MX, LX and 2 MEs. Love these machines to bits...

Nice video, although I can't relate to it. I feel like a lot of the younger people seem to NEED equipment that offers them less choices and distraction because otherwise they're having trouble focusing on what they're actually doing. Like buying an old MP3 player to listen to music because if they use their phone to listen to music they get distracted by messages, emails and notifications. I grew up with film but I switched to digital as soon as cameras started getting good enough to compete with film. I love digital photography. Not for the options I have when taking a picture, I just concentrate on lighting and composition, but for what I can do in post. My way of taking pictures hasn't changed after switching to digital, because I learned photography that way.

Great video

I have a full Nikon film system, which includes my first SLR and lens purchased in 1981, and several FE2s and other glass acquired much more recently. I definitely agree with you on how deliberate film shooting is these days. However, back when film was the only option, and digital was non-existent, I shot much more like I do digital now. I took more shots of the same subject, changing perspective and bracketing in an effort to capture the perfect image. As with many photographers, if I was very happy with three to five shots out of a roll of 36 exposures, that was typical. Nowadays with film, I am more deliberate, and this results in a higher hit rate, but there are several primary reasons for this. The first is being more deliberate, and one cause of this is the high cost of film today. The second is my experience gained over the years, which includes via the use of digital cameras. I would not refer to digital as "soulless", as it has resulted in many valuable images captured on the years - it is just another tool in my bag. Several years back, I was in Washington State on a quick trip to visit my wife's aunt. While there, we decided to take a few hours to see a local landmark. Not having planned to do any sightseeing, I did not bring my DSLR system, so was taking shots with my iPhone. That's when I overheard a young lady, who was holding an entry level DSLR, comment to her dad that shooting with a cellphone was beyond her - obviously referring to me. Although I had a mind to, I did not bother to correct her. As any photographer worth his salt knows, it is the person behind the lens, not the camera, that makes the shot. From my humble perspective, I believe you are a photographer worth his salt. I just think as a content creator seeking a larger audience, it is better to avoid judgmental wording, or explain your choice of words if you truly believe that way.

Thanks for the video. I shoot film and I shoot digital. I have been shooting film since 1952. I have been shooting digital since 2012. I have a wet darkroom and a digital darkroom. I love them both. I love the images I get from my film cameras and my digital cameras. I prefer to shoot with battery independent manual/mechanical cameras and lenses.

I love your channel. What's the name of that crossbody bag you use? Looking for something similar :)

I like the film cameras. I picked up a Minolta SRT 101 Wednesday. Time to load it and run a roll through. Digital has its place but film is what I grew up with, so I like to shoot the film cameras as often as I can. Minolta update....the mirror is locked up. I guess it's on its way to the fix-it shop! update to the update... I thought I'd tested it all ways... but then I found this 101 camera has a mirror lock up, later ones do not.... all is well, the camera works well. User malfunction. 😁

Mechanic dials for most imporant settings is what makes me enjoy film photography more. With my canon new f-1 I shoot only in manual mode but with my digital canon it's pain in the ass to manually change settings and automatic modes don't look good most of the times. My experience with the digital is constant fighting with poor UX in menus, terrible ergonomics and photoshoping every image because it doesn't look good enough :/

For shooting film in the experimentation issue is part of the reason I like digital. I scared of being in the situation of shooting a great photo that I really like the effects… then I am asking what were my settings. Speed of fil,m, shutter speed, etc. Another question I have is suppose you have ISO 100 film in your camera and ISO 500 or faster would be better. And then I just ran out of my last roll of film at that ISO. I’m not saying one is inherently better than the other, those are my concerns. I also do get to experiment with digitalal it’s just that the experimental process is different.

There is NOTHING wrong with film. It was all there was when I took up photography. I still own several film cameras, and I sometimes manage to shoot, a couple of rolls a year. The rest of the time, I shoot DIGITAL. That's my opinion. I enjoyed your video!

You should reshoot this video in super 8

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music was loud in the beginning

2:22 SHOT......how about an entire roll LOL.......yeah. Won't misload again though, probably, I hope.

Digital is too quick and easy. It’s fast food compared to a sit down meal. Film takes more time and is more satisfying

if i have to pay to take a photo, i choose film if i have to pay to have a photo taken, i choose digital

what SP series is?

Digital media is that, its cheap and disposable. Shoot 200 frames, pic the best, delete the rest. Considering most rolls of 35mm film are 24 or 36 exp, you’ll be soon slowing down as the thought of cost looms ahead. One medium format you have even less.. 8 or 12 shots per roll so you think about it before going ahead.

How come your video shots look like Red Dead Redemption 2 ? 🤔

Film is expensive, but I can afford it 🤑 Seriously: shooting film requires much more skills than using a modern digital camera or smartphone. So it's more the photographer who creates the picture, and not the fully automated camera.

Amo la fotografía analógica " pero hoy dia es un lujo como lo fue en sus principios.....no apta para jubilados pobres.tengo mi coleccion de camaras que hago funcionar en seco" de vez en cuando, y eso es todo.....😢😢😢😢 .

Nice video ! But try to speak slower.

I have been shooting film for nearly 50 years. Digital is not true photography, I consider it digitography because you are looking at arranged data. With photography you are seeing a specific moment in time which was formerly a latent image then brought out for viewing.

Why is everybody so concerned about the medium? It's ridiculous. Nobody ever talks about photography aymore.

Did you get rid of your modern washing machine and buy a twin tub ?

Because you're a hipster?

Because you got money to siendo it

Let's keep film alive but what a load of crap reasons, I despair for photography after watching this video

Wonderful film! Would you like to collaborate with us?