Beginners Guide to Film

Beginners Guide to Film

If you have just bought a film camera or are thinking about shooting film you’re in the right place. I have put this guide together to help you get started with answers to the questions I had to figure out back when I started shooting film over a decade ago.

History/Background:

I won’t get deep into the history of film but there are things that are worth knowing which will help you make decisions like what camera to buy or film to use. Early photographers were essentially chemists, taking a single photo was very expensive, time-consuming and technical. Fast forward a few years, George Eastman founded Kodak and photography finally became mass-produced and accessible to the general public. All that had to be done was load the camera, take the photos and then send the film back to Kodak for processing. Back then the price of film included processing and the printed photos would be sent back to you.

Types of Film:

There are many different formats of film and it’s important to know what format your camera takes. Thankfully the choices of what’s available today is limited, and as a beginner, you will most likely stick to 35mm film, the most cost-effective and easy to use. Other formats that are still available are known as 120 and 110 film. 35mm film comes in a can with a little bit of film sticking out, once you’re finished shooting a roll of 35mm film you rewind the film back into that can until there is no film sticking out. 120 film is used for larger and often more complicated cameras. 120 film comes on a spool with a paper backing, this film won’t rewind and instead, as you shoot this film it will be transferred onto an empty spool. 110 film sounds similar to 120 film but it’s very different, it’s even smaller than 35mm film and comes in a cassette. It was made for very small travel cameras. Every film has a different ISO number, which relates to how sensitive the film is to light with smaller numbers being less sensitive than higher numbers, Kodak Porta 400 is twice as sensitive as Kodak Gold 200. There is also Colour Negative and Colour Positive film, Negative is the most common and most forgiving film, if something goes wrong with the exposure there is a wide margin of error so your photo may still turn out ok. However positive or Slide Film isn’t as forgiving and to get the best results you have to make sure your exposure is correct. Slide film will give you punchy colours with decent contrast.

Buying a camera:

Your grandparents probably have a Kodak Box Brownie laying around, there were fantastic point and shoot cameras at the time, however I would avoid using these. These cameras can still be used but often it might require some diy work and they’re often not the highest quality. Other cameras to avoid are ones that take APS film. APS film was introduced during the rise of digital cameras in an effort to compete with the slim design of digital cameras, unfortunately it was short lived and APS film is very hard to find and some labs won’t develop them. For beginners I would recommend a simple to use, cheap SLR camera like the Pentax K100, Canon AE-1 or Minolta X300. All of these can be found pretty cheap and using a manual camera like these will help you learn the basics of photography.

Loading a camera:

Each camera has its own way of loading but they generally follow a similar process depending on the film. First you’ll have to find out how to open the back of your camera. Once you have finished loading your camera, do not open the camera until you have finished shooting your roll of film. Then you will notice that there is a spot for the film can to sit in, you may need to pull the rewind lever out of the way to fit the film can. Now that the film can is sitting in place, gently pull on the extra bit of film, called the leader, over to the take up reel. Most take up reels will have a slot with a small tooth, that tooth should latch onto one of the perforations on the film leader. Once you feel the film is sitting firmly in place, press the shutter button and wind the advance lever slowly, if the film stays on the take up reel and moves along smoothly then you can close the back of the camera and begin shooting! Generally the first 2 frames will be blank as they were exposed to light while you loaded the camera, so don’t take any important shots on the first 2 or so frames. Also a good way to make sure your film is advancing properly is to watch the rewind knob when you advance to a new shot, if the rewind knob spins while you advance then the film is moving properly inside the camera.