In this digital age, you may wonder why we have an article on film photography. After all, you may wonder on how many people still use film...the answer is – quite a few! Film has a few advantages over digital, although digital we will not argue, has overrun film photography for a few years now.

It is a fact that film produces better print quality than even the best digital cameras. However, the fact that anything that we shoot is practically unusable unless we scan it, brings the quality of your negatives down to the quality of the scanner through which you process it! However, making a print from a negative would give you better results in terms of image sharpness and noise, than a print from a digital camera! We are of course assuming that the negative is of high quality.

Crime scene photographs are still shot on film and Polaroid in a number of countries, because of the almost unquestionable authenticity of a negative. Digital images are far easier to tamper with, as compared to their negative brethren (no pun intended). Of course, this may not be the most joyful experience of shooting film, but we thought we’d mention it nevertheless.

Going back to black and white photography, it is without doubt that the silver halide film wins over everything else that could have come up to challenge it. A few years ago the C41 monochrome film was becoming popular as a black and white alternative. Today, we hear of people shooting digital and simply desaturating their images of colour on their computers. However, the feel of a print made from black and white silver halide film is something totally different, as any black and white user would know. Add to this the way that black and white film reacts to colour filters on the lens, and you have an unmatched advantage shooting silver halide. We’ll discuss that in another article.

Finally, we’d like to cover the cost factor. While film photography used to be an expensive hobby, digital has done away with the continuing costs associated with shooting every day. However, digital cameras are not very cheap, even today. You could pick up some high quality mechanical cameras like the Nikon FM series, at a pretty affordable cost from dealers of used goods. These cameras were built to last a lifetime, and are awesome when you want to learn the basics. The fact that you do not have image preview and immediate feedback can actually go a long way forcing you to think before you shoot! Taking down aperture and shutter speed readings before you shoot, comparing this data with the negatives later...this is a learning process that people have forgotten with digital cameras, although it could still apply on a digital, by simply using the EXIF data.

And then there are those of us who simply like the feel of winding a film forward lever with our thumbs, and that’s why we take out our film bodies once in a way!