Weddings on Film

cgw · May 13, 2023

Seems to be a thing for now in Toronto, too. Works if you have a competent lab at hand. Interesting read:

In the Digital Age, Wedding Film Photography Has a Resurgence

Across the country, more couples are seeking out film photographers to shoot their weddings.

www.nytimes.com

Too bad Portra 400 120 in Toronto is near C$18/roll...

vintagesnaps · May 13, 2023

Film keeps 'coming back'... my fridge is used to sharing food storage space with film! It is more costly than it used to be but easy enough to have negs scanned so you can have digital copies, best of both worlds maybe.

And now that I looked, yikes it has gone up quite a bit! But so has everything since the pandemic. Or sized/package smaller to make it not so costly.

But hey, they still make 828 film. And 127. My vintage cameras will like that once in awhile.

RAZKY · May 13, 2023

If I was going to charge for a film shoot, the cost of film would be included.

cgw · May 14, 2023

It's a very personal choice for couples. Those into photography want that "look" for at least part of their weddings. Most others just want files to share and a small book for the parents. It really only works if the old film infrastructure of pro labs/printers remains intact locally.

smoke665 · May 14, 2023

There's a successful wedding pro on here that shoots both film and digital, and uses a custom emulation to mimic the digital to match the film. Having started with film in late 60's the only real advantage I saw in film vs digital, was the ability of the film to more accurately render micro transition on a print, but when you convert a negative to digital you lose that advantage. So much so that I doubt an untrained eye would be able to tell the difference between an image shot on film, converted to digital and printed vs a digital with a good film emulation print.

cgw · May 14, 2023

Good labs still deliver prints from film whose appeal isn't lost on customers. These aren't scanned but printed old school. It costs, sure, but some couples will pop for a few large prints from film for the novelty and look they don't get from digital. As usual, it's a matter of taste and budget.

terri · May 14, 2023

vintagesnaps said:
But hey, they still make 828 film. And 127. My vintage cameras will like that once in awhile.

Easy to find 620, too - basically 120 on a different spool for some of my vintage cameras.

cgw · May 14, 2023

terri said:
Easy to find 620, too - basically 120 on a different spool for some of my vintage cameras.

This crew is worth a look:

The film photographer's best resource for film and cameras.

The Film Photography Project informs, engages and inspires film enthusiasts of all levels. While promoting the viability of vintage cameras and film.

filmphotographystore.com

terri · May 15, 2023

cgw said:
This crew is worth a look:

The film photographer's best resource for film and cameras.

The Film Photography Project informs, engages and inspires film enthusiasts of all levels. While promoting the viability of vintage cameras and film.

filmphotographystore.com

Got a box sitting on the table in front of me atm from these folks.

webestang64 · May 16, 2023

Yep, that's a "thing" here in St. Lou. We have a few photogs that shoot weds on film but all we do is scan the film for them. There is one lab (online/mail in only) left here that uses a digital enlarger for RA-4 prints but the film will still need to be scanned.

Spirit Vision Photography · Nov 26, 2023

When I was shooting a lot of weddings, I had couples that insisted on film. And a few of them requested B/W film.

Don Fischer · Nov 27, 2023

I'm not a pro but I do know a few things that raise the cost. You have to raise the price to cover film, Have to have the film developed and printed in a lab as opposed to fixing the image on your computer and printing on your own printer. Then not all that much but shipping the undeveloped roll off and having them returned And I suspect someone else can come up with more. On top of that you get a bad shot with digital you see it right away and delete it equals no lost frames on the film. Your being paid to take picture's if they decide what you have to take them with, price goes up! Who knows, maybe they want you to use Nikon equipment and all you have is Canon! So do you go out and buy Nikon equipment to do one shoot or do you write them off? Maybe you should take the job and show up with your Kodak Instamatic!

bobthetog · Nov 27, 2023

Film is not dead! it just smells funny.

cgw · Nov 27, 2023

Don Fischer said:
I'm not a pro but I do know a few things that raise the cost. You have to raise the price to cover film, Have to have the film developed and printed in a lab as opposed to fixing the image on your computer and printing on your own printer. Then not all that much but shipping the undeveloped roll off and having them returned And I suspect someone else can come up with more. On top of that you get a bad shot with digital you see it right away and delete it equals no lost frames on the film. Your being paid to take picture's if they decide what you have to take them with, price goes up! Who knows, maybe they want you to use Nikon equipment and all you have is Canon! So do you go out and buy Nikon equipment to do one shoot or do you write them off? Maybe you should take the job and show up with your Kodak Instamatic!

Most couples already have a sense of the (dis)economies of film if they ask. It's a look they're after that contributes to the occasion...Pass the Tri-X and TMY-2!