I'm not one prone to hyperbole. I don't easily get caught up in gear hype. However, I can whole-heartedly say that my decision to purchase and shoot with a little army of film point and shoot cameras early last year was easily the best decision I made for both my personal work and my own growth as a photographer. When I say that picking up a $20 camera will change your life and your photographs, I mean it – and other photographers agree!
Whether you're using a thrift-store Canon compact or a posh Contax T3, shooting with a little film point and shoot will change the way you operate as a photographer, how you interact with your subjects or people around you, and how you create. Over the last year, I've replaced all my silly day-to-day iPhone shooting with more deliberate work with a Fuji compact and cheap drug store color film, and I'd highly encourage you to try the same.
See the World, Not the DOF
A while ago, Ryan Muirhead (easily one of my favorite photographers) posted this:
I get a lot of compliments on composition and a lot of questions about how to get better.
So here it is, the simple answer: stop shooting wide open when you don't need to be. It's a crutch. Shooting with deeper stops forces you to use all the elements in the frame to tell a more complex story.
Also shooting a rangefinder really helps as you aren't seeing through the lens and thus are forced to deal with all the elements of the frame regardless of stop. If you can't afford a rangefinder go buy a $5 point and shoot with a big viewfinder from a thrift store and practice composing pictures even if you aren't shooting.
Using a compact camera is an awesome tool to encourage better compositional habits. You'll notice your pictures having added depth, more careful layered compositions, and you'll find yourself relying on f/ 1.2 as a stylistic crutch. I know... shots fired! If, like me, you're too broke to pick up a new Leica, using a compact for your day-to-day shooting might be the next best thing.
Limit Yourself
In the same vein as the above, having limited (and in some cases no) manual controls gets you to focus on the things that matter. When I travel, I don't bring a SLR, bag of lenses, flashes, tripod, etc.; I bring my Fuji Klasse and a grab-bag of film. Imposing limits on yourself will make you more creative and you'll be forced to see beyond the abilities of your world-class gear to focus on the things in an image that really matter – namely what you put in front of the camera.
Capture the Moment, not the Shot
I'm a perfectionist. As the child of a pseudo-tigermom, I tend to err on the OCD side. This is most apparent when I shoot digital — I'm constantly chimping. Is there a hair in the wrong place and are some of the lines crooked? Better re-shoot! With all things film you don't really have this option. I find that when I shoot with my compacts in particular, I am much more inclined to quickly pick up my camera, take a quick picture, then get back to enjoying myself. You're shooting the moment, not getting "the shot" and that's okay.
It's a Time Capsule — Don't Post Right Away
Building off the last point, when you shoot a 135 compact, you're at least an hour out from posting on Instagram. It's not that it's a bad thing, but it can certainly be a distraction. One of the coolest (to me at least) results of shooting film is the idea of every roll being a time capsule. Depending on what you load up in your camera, it could take weeks, sometimes a month or two, to chew through the entire roll. When you do finally get your scans back, you get the opportunity to relive an experience or small moment you'd perhaps forgotten about.
Technical Features
One of my good buddies, Anthony Peter said this about his Contax T3:
It's like the mixture between your mom's camera, a bar of soap, and a sports car — with a Zeiss lens.
A lot of cameras are nothing to bat an eye at. Contax T2s and T3s feature titanium bodies, and stellar Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 lenses; Leica MiniLuxes and CMs have a f/2.4 Summarit 40mm; my personal favorite, Fuji Klasse S, has a 38mm f/2.8 with Fuji's legendary Super EBC coating. From a technical perspective, there's a lot to love about these little guys and nothing with quite the same specs (full frame, awesome fixed lens, small form factor) really comes close (in my opinion) in the digital space.
Some Awesome Work All Done on 135 Compact Cameras
1. Kirk Mastin » Fuji Klasse S
2. Dave Waddell » Fuji Klasse S
3. Sandy Phimester » Olympus Stylus Epic
4. Anthony Peter » Contax T3
5. Andrew Jacona » Leica Minilux
6. Jon Cu » Fuji Klasse S
7. Rob Timko » Canon QL17
8. David Pexton » Ricoh GR1S
9. Zane Yau » Fuji Natura Classica
10. Mike Murrow » Olympus Xa
11. Will Yum » Contax T2
12. Alpana Aras » X3A
13. Jason Curescu » Contax T2
14. Garrick Fujii » Contax T3
17. Ricardo Benavides » Canon QL17
15. Ignacio Woolfolk » Pentax IQZoom
16. Jack Chauvel » Olympus MJU
18. Trent Brown » Olympus XA
19. Jonny Edwin Bennett » Ricoh GR1V
20. Aaron Warthen » Olympus Stylus Epic
21. Kornelio Mamic » Konica C35 AF
22. Thomas Tran » Olympus Stylus Epic
23. Rachel Wells » Contax T2
24. Austin Rogers » Fuji Klasse S
25. Kristen Marin Papac » Canon Sure Shot Max
26. Daniel Michael Pellissier » Nikon 35Ti
27. Jake Rohde » Lomo LCA
28. Kyle Panis » Ricoh GR1
29. Brandy Jaggers » Olympus Stylus Epic
Below are the photographers in order of their appearance:
1. Kirk Mastin | 2. Dave Waddell | 3. Sandy Phimester | 4. Anthony Peter | 5. Andrew Jacona | 6. Jon Cu | 7. Rob Timko | 8. David Pexton | 9. Zane Yau | 10. Mike Murrow | 11. Will Yum | 12. Alpana Aras | 13. Jason Curescu | 14. Garrick Fujii | 15. Ignacio Woolfolk | 16. Jack Chauvel | 17. Ricardo Benavides| 18. Trent Brown | 19. Jonny Edwin Bennett | 20. Aaron Warthen | 21. Kornelio Mamic | 22. Thomas Tran | 23. Rachel Wells | 24. Austin Rogers | 25. Kristen Marin Papac | 26. Daniel Pellissier | 27. Jake Rhode | 28. Kyle Panis | 29. Brandy Jaggers
Bonus Tip: BTS Re-Imagined
I always take one or two little Canon Sure Shot Max cameras (that I bought on eBay for under $20) to my shoots and give them to models, MUAs, stylist, etc to ask them to shoot all their behind-the-scenes work with it. This has a couple benefits, the first being that you get control over the images — having the BTS on film prevents people from releasing anything too important before you have a chance to process and edit the real photos. Second, you end up with much better quality, non-Instagram-filtered images that you'd actually be comfortable sharing and tagging yourself in.
Above is an image of yours-truly from last fall on Superia 400 X-Tra (cheap, drug store film).
I'll caveat a bit and say that I shot the same shot with my X100T and a 1-click VSCO for Tri-X 400+1 and the results are pretty indistinguishable. So, for me, shooting film isn't about the look AT ALL, as it can easily be replicated by software. For me, it's just a fun learning tool and a fun challenge to take neat photos with cheap film cameras.
Right on dude. Like I said earlier, it's awesome to see VSCO get this *so* right. From my experience the only thing that could get you so close to the real deal was Mastin Labs. *Shrugs* of course it's all about whatever floats your boat. I say shoot with whatever makes you happy, whatever lets you try new things. If that's a Phase1 that's cool, if it's a CVS disposable camera that's 'aight, too. :) Keep on keepin' on, Rob. Thanks for sharing your work in the post, BTW!
I like that with film I just have this picture in my hand that already has this "effect" on it. I don't even get most of my film scanned. I didn't have to do anything with a computer and I have this product in my hand. It just feels good. I don't add a film effect to my digital photos for the most part either, so the pictures in my hand feel special. I guess it's all about sentimentality or the emotional value, for me at least. And the benefit of slowing down and enjoying shooting and not having instant gratification, etc. I'd be genuinely sad if film ever got too expensive for me.
Heck yeah!
I'm gonna have to stop you right there. You obviously don't shoot film. I have VSCO and use it all the time and though the results are nice, they pale in comparison. Your photos is nice but doesn't look like Tri-x buddy. Nice try though.
Without wanting to sound too over excited... YES! To all of that! At the end of 2012 I bought a Yashica T5. By may 2013 I had set up 35mmc.com. A blog dedicated (at the time) to 35mm compact point and shoot cameras. I have since started writing more about rangefinders, but the core of the site remains about point and shoots.
My most recent, and one of the cheapest and indeed most crap camera discoveries was the Olympus AF-10 super. A camera that is so crap it manages to go all the way around to being brilliant again!
Here is the post I wrote about mastering its shortcomings - http://www.35mmc.com/08/01/2015/olympus-af-10-super-pushing-functional-l...
And a shot I took with it
Thanks for sharing dude, awesome to see you getting your Terry on with your T5. :) Keep up the excellent work!
T5 FTW. Its the ultimate street photography camera
Incidentally, if thine readers do get themselves to a charity shop and get themselves something fairly pants to run a roll of 35mm through ... They might consider entering one of the resultant images in a little competition I'm running to win my Leica iiic - http://www.35mmc.com/06/02/2015/win-leica/
Shameless plug, but hopefully it is obvious my intentions are positive ;)
Olympus XA, Fuji Superia 800.
I have a pile of point and shoots: mju ii, Hexar AF (maybe a bit more than a P&S, but still), and the XA, which might be my favorite, since not only is it pocketable and fast, it is a true rangefinder.
Right on! I love all the Superia stocks (more than 400H!). I totally think the Af counts as a point n' shoot. Awesome stuff dude.
I love my minilux! A client gave it to me as a gift years ago and I shoot many of my personal photos with it.
Holy cow, Greg. You're a lucky man! Where can I get clients like that?
It was back in my Wedding days. Sometimes I miss photographing Weddings & Engagements and having a personal connection with my clients.
Love film. Keeps you sharp
NIkon FM3a | PRO 400
Not to stir the pot, because this is an intriguing article, Austin.
But I was quite let down by my own recent experimentation with film. Here's my findings:
http://lifeascinema.blogspot.com/2014/10/king-kong-vs-godzilla-digital-s...
Yes film isn't for everyone. You can't pick up a film camera and expect it to be as easy as digital. It takes patience and time to master.
It's not a film vs digital debate.
Rather it's what medium suits you best and how you choose to work. Personally I enjoy bulk loading, developing and all the extras that come with film vs sitting in front of my computer. I also enjoy the cameras more than DSLRs.
Really in the end it's about what keeps you interested. And that's what this article is about, keeping it interesting.
Heck yeah. For me it's all about the process of shooting. I'm not a bulk roll guy, I don't develop or scan my own work. I love how it slows me down while shooting and makes me embrace little quirky imperfections in my work.
Likewise, I don't develop my own film or scans. For traditional B&W developing, I've had to send my film out of state. Now, local pharmacies have dropped developing of C41 film, so that has to go out of state also for developing and scanning.
I also don't won't inflame the film vs. digital debate; but film cameras are simpler to operate.
Okay, so we have to manually focus the lens our self;; but there are fewer controls: On/Off/Timer, ISO, shutter speed, aperture. Film cameras can have a program mode, shutter priority, aperture priority, manual mode, and a stopped-down mode. My Canon EF 24-105 f4L lens doesn't have an aperture ring.
I've been shooting with my Canon A-1 since 1980 and I think I've mastered the controls. In 2013, I bought a used Canon F-1N with the AE Finder FN for aperture priority and AE Motor Drive FN for shutter priority. The majority of the time, I'll use manual exposure; for those situations requiring quicker response, I'll use either aperture priority or shutter priority.
DSLRs trumps film cameras with the ability to change ISO midstream without changing film and also the white balance since there are very few tungsten balanced films. Auto ISO is one benefit I didn't have when I photographed the final Space Shuttle landing. I dumped a roll of Kodak Ektar 100 in the pre-dawn hours so I could load Kodak BW400CN and exposed at ISO 1600.
I think that I've mastered the controls of my Canon A-1 and F-1N, but I haven't mastered the controls and menus of my Canon 5D Mk III.
I couldn't agree more. You'll never hear me make the argument that film is better than digital, certainly not in the formats that I shoot. I'm all about the process. That F-1N is a solid camera, alot like my F100 (Nikon equivalent). There's something SO right about shooting film with modern glass.
Mike and Austin... well spoken. Reminds me of guys (like me) who love pipes and fountain pens... all the fuss that goes into using and maintaining is pleasure of itself.
Stir the pot all you like, Sean! :) You're always welcome. I actually stumbled across your blog post a while ago if I remember correctly and found myself nodding along with a lot of it. To echo what Mike said, film is *so* not for everyone. It's time consuming, it's expensive, and it's imperfect. For some people the process just clicks. Beautiful images in the post man. If I can make one suggestion, check out an F100. See if your local camera store has one you can borrow. It'll operate just like your D800 (has a max shutter speed of 1/8000, flash sync of 1/200) — I think you may like that experience a lot more plus you can use your AWESOME Nikon glass with it. Keep coming back to it, it may surprise you one day.
I will tuck away your F100 suggestion. Thank you. In the meantime, anyone want to buy my Mamiya and lenses?!
Totally agree, and I was thinking about this subject a couple of weeks ago. My favourite camera I own is a £5 Pentax Espio 115m that I picked up at a charity shop, and it now goes everywhere with me. I bought it as I was going out to Hong Kong on an assisting job, and I didn't have space for anything else and I really wanted a camera with me, but it was great because wherever I went it went with me, and I got photos I wouldn't have been able to get otherwise! The lens isn't great, the autofocus is a bit funny sometimes and I'm sure it's going to break soon, but when It does, I'm going to get another one!
This is one of the photos I took with said camera!
Right on dude! What city is that?
Hong Kong!
I haven't thought about getting a film Point and Shoot, but when I first flew into Iowa for seven months, I didn't have my Canon A-1 with me, so I used disposable film cameras
I have to find the film from 1994, but using a disposable camera, I got a great photo of the neon light show at Chicago O'Hare. Once I drove my van from South Carolina to Iowa, I used disposable cameras initially in my "drive-by" shootings; after that, I set my A-1 to program mode, focus on infinity, and put the camera near my eye for rough framing to shoot.
I bought my A-1 new in 1980 and I still use it; I bought a used F-1N in 2013 so I could capitalize on my Canon FD lenses. For the year 2012, I shot the entire year exclusively using B&W film; it was a learning experience to visualize in B&W and also use B&W contrast filters. With two film cameras, I'll keep one loaded with B&W film and the other with color.
December 2013, I bought a Canon DSLR; recently, I turned off image review since I haven't gotten into the habit of chimping my shots.
I'd love to see some of the images, Ralph. :) I rarely look now when I shoot digital (for client work) — it's probably a bad habit at this point!
Austin,
I'm on Flickr; there's a mix of film and digital. Here's a link to a panorama that I created from three frames of Ektar.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ralphhightower/8436105383/in/set-721576331...
Great article. Totally unrelated, but is that BTS photo in the Chagrin Metro Parks? It looks exactly like one of the paths by the river.
Are you based in CLE, Alex? :) I'm in Columbus. This is actually a little park in Bexley.
I sure am! Oh, awesome! I thought for sure that it was Chagrin. :)
I shot film from 1985-2002 from range finders to large format. I don't feel like I was limited in any way or form. What I did like about film it made pre-visualize a shot. If I was shooting in a classroom or office my camera setting would be f/2.8 at 1/250 with ISO 400. 2 of my favorite manual film cameras was the Nikon f2 with a motor drive weighed 6lbs, and the other was the Nikon FM2.
This shot of Johnny Cash was shot with an FM2 with a 180 f/2.8, the camera was set at f/2.8 at 1/250with Tri-X film rated at 800 ISO.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4054/5147635607_ba5740ce18.jpg
Dude this picture has everything. Holy cow.
It's not shooting film that is limiting. It's the type of camera. Compact p&s cameras limit you, make you think differently about your approach. That's the point
Well along those lines I had a class in college in which we did pinhole cameras. If you what the fully shackle yourself try the Canon D30 dslr it made Technicolor 126 cameras hi tech. ;)
Great article.On way back from a holiday on Monday called into a country town to visit rellies. ended up visiting a local and bought 4 used film cameras. (Barely used).Also had 5 rolls of out of date film with the package.One of the cameras is a mint condition minolta maxxum 3 with 2 zoom lenses.It looks and feels so good! Basically a point and shoot SLR. Had to get new batteries for all the cameras and now starting to shoot.I have lots of point and shoot compact 35mm cameras that just keep coming to me.I probably have about 20 film cameras at the moment loaded up with half shot films.The emotion and back to grass roots idea of shooting film is what I like and also the quality is amazing most of the time.My approach is to get film developed in a lab then scan at home.The idea of being less manic in firing off heaps of digital mages and being more thoughtful about shot selection and composition is very much about using these cameras.I also like the challenge of using the very meagre adjustments on most of these cameras to deal with the subject before me.Having said all hat I think its great while the 2 mediums of digital and film can still sit side by side.I hope it continues indefinitely. Whenever I go on a holiday these days I always have a film camera or 2 with me.
Couldn't agree more, Geoff! I'd love to see some images once you get them developed!
Will work on that Austin.
In the late 80s I started getting tired of lugging my Nikon gear around (and I would lug quite a bit of it), so I started experimenting with various simple compacts of the time, starting out with a cheap plastic Kodak 110 pocket camera I got in a yard sale for $5. You could still get Kodachrome 64 110 at the time, and I would experiment with that a bit. The sunset through the old-school GM bus window you see below is one such shot (that's a 4x5 Ektachrome duplicate transparency of the original that I digitized). The camera's flash illuminated the inside, I shot an an angle to avoid the flash in the window.
In the 90's I picked up an old Ricoh 500 G pocket rangefinder with a busted light meter for $25 that I would use in a lot of street night photography with pushed positive and negative stocks. The busted mirror and slow speed shots of lights in my old beloved Yaffa Cafe in NYC are samples of those adventures (these are 8x10 duplicate transparency films I digitized).
I recently went in opposite direction of what you're suggesting, picking up a Bronica GS-1 6x7 camera (although touted as the most compact 6x7, I suppose it's game for your compact camera suggestion LOL!). I will be shooting about with it, as well as my old Nikon FTN and F2SB bodies with a bunch of free 35mm and 120 film I picked up at the Photo Plus Expo last fall. :-)
I will add that one of the grandaddy of all compacts to toy with is the old Rollei 35T.
Right on, Spy! That GS1 is a badass machine. Cool pictures dude, I particularly like the last one.
It isn't actually in the point and shoot but I use the rollei 35 recently. It is actually a scale focusing camera. So I put it in at either 2-3 meters or infinite and I dont worry about it. I just point and shoot. The fact that it can slide in my coat pockets is awesome. I don't stress about getting the shot or not. I shoot then I stop worrying. I shoot for fun walking in the city ( Montreal ) . Even the focusing mistakes are fun sometimes. They give results you sometimes would have deleted but after a while they seems to grow on you. Some of them make the image a certain look. Really awesome camera.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/61082644@N05/sets/72157650281180290/
Ps: I don't know why but it cuts the link in two. You need to copy paste it. Sorry
These rock, Philippe. That Rollei 35 is beautiful.
Great article and I agree. I think that using old cameras has made me more open when searching for subjects and also to try new angles. I also really like that there is more time between taking the picture and seeing it.
I found my first camera when I was cleaning out a drawer 2 years ago. An old Agfa 1035 that I got from my grandpa a summer when I was around five. I looked through the viewfinder and got such a lust to use it. At the time I wasn't happy with my digital pictures and I thought my digital camera was too advanced. So many buttons. I wanted something simpler.
I tried the camera and really liked using it and I also liked the result on some of the pictures.
My favourite camera is my Olympus XA. I upload some of pictures to flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ol/sets/72157640889310665/
//Ola
Love this! That XA is an awesome little guy.
I really enjoyed reading this article. Thank you.
My pleasure.
My friend bought a 35mm range finder for 2.50$ in a yard sale. Still working and everything.
2.50$. Think about that for a second. For the price of a starbuck coffe flavored sugary drink and muffin you can get a camera and 32 exposure on film.
What can you get for the same amount in the digital era of photography?