Your biggest piece of advice for people starting out with Film

[reyliaslaby]

Hey guys! I'm just starting out with film photography, and trying to figure everything out is a bit overwhelming, but I'm starting one step at a time. I was wondering if anyone here had good pieces of advice for anyone starting off, would appreciate any advice here! Thank you so much in advance!

 

[webestang64]

Just a few thoughts.......
Start with 35mm and color print film. Use your camera manual, I can not stress this enough.....USE THE CAMERA MANUAL.
Take you time, do not rush. HAVE FUN.
I would start by sending them to a lab that will give you your negs back.
Learn how to "read" negatives and compare them with the scans/prints so to adjust your settings next time.
Find some old photos books at a thrift store.

 

[limr]

Keep a notebook. Write down your settings for each shot. Note the lighting conditions. Experiment with only one thing at a time. For example, if you are trying to understand aperture, take the same shot at the same shutter speed and lighting, but with different aperture settings. When you get your film developed, take those settings you wrote down and match them to the image so you can start to connect certain settings with the visual effect they will create. It can be expensive to do this too extensively, but don't be afraid to burn through a few rolls with experimenting so see what the camera or camera settings produce.

 

[480sparky]

There's not an app for that.

Film / analog has a steep learning curve. Since it's not 'instant', you'll have a huge investment of time.... and money.

 

[earthmanbuck]

Get a good handle on how aperture, film speed, and shutter speed interact for proper exposure. You can even do mental exercises with different scenarios before you pick up a camera.

Start with a simple camera without too many bells and whistles if you can, it'll be less distracting and help you learn the basics better. And yes, read the manual.

Don't get too caught up in exploring different films/lenses/cameras right off the bat, it's a black hole that's hard to claw your way out of (I speak from experience). Get to know the film and camera you're working with first.

 

[dxqcanada]

You should ask for specific advise. We do not know what you are struggling with ... easier to ask in small bits.

 

[cgw]

Hey guys! I'm just starting out with film photography, and trying to figure everything out is a bit overwhelming, but I'm starting one step at a time. I was wondering if anyone here had good pieces of advice for anyone starting off, would appreciate any advice here! Thank you so much in advance!

In a word, don't. As above, what are you after that digital doesn't supply?

 

[ac12]

Get/borrow books, and READ them.
There is a LOT of info in the old books. The info in books from the 1980s and earlier are still good.

As @earthmanbuck said, SIMPLIFY, aka KISS.
- ONE camera.
- ONE lens.
- ONE film.
- Learn to do ONE thing at a time.

As @webestang64 said RTFM.
To use your camera well, you have to know how to use the camera. READ the manual with the camera next to you, so you can follow along and practice.
Some film cameras have things that you have to know to just use it.
Example1. Different cameras put the meter switch in different places.
Example2. Some cameras have a different/specific way of loading the film. And you have to know how to do it.
Example3. Older film cameras are manual focus, so you have to learn how to manually focus. Later film cameras have autofocus.

What camera do you have?
Some cameras are more difficult and tricky to learn/use than others.

With negative film, the lab will adjust the exposure of the print, so you don't know how good your exposure was.
That is why @webestang64 said you need to learn to read the negative.

As @480sparky said, shooting film is expensive.
I told my students, each time you press the shutter, it will cost you $1 (film and processing). That is 35mm. For other formats it can be/is more expensive. And you have to shoot a lot, to learn.

Do you have a digital camera? If so, which one?
There are some things that you can learn on a digital camera, then transfer that knowledge to a film camera. This will make learning cheaper and faster.

Having said all that, WHY do you want to shoot film? Digital has many advantages over film.

 

[Warfarin]

Reading the manual is no joke. I got an used AE-1 as a teenager with no manual and no internet to find one. I have had that camera rebuilt twice due to it being worn out. I obviously took a lot of photos with it. I just had to experiment to find out what worked and what didn’t as I had no clue how it worked. About a year ago I finally read a manual for it and realized I had been using it all wrong and now that I know how to use it, it is much easier to get good photos. Needless to say I have LOTS of bad ones since I was using it wrong all those years.

 

[RAZKY]

Reading the manual is no joke. I got an used AE-1 as a teenager with no manual and no internet to find one. I have had that camera rebuilt twice due to it being worn out. I obviously took a lot of photos with it. I just had to experiment to find out what worked and what didn’t as I had no clue how it worked. About a year ago I finally read a manual for it and realized I had been using it all wrong and now that I know how to use it, it is much easier to get good photos. Needless to say I have LOTS of bad ones since I was using it wrong all those years.

Surely you must have learned SOMETHING after all those years of trial and error!!

 

[Strodav]

A lot of good advice above. Instead of adding to it, I'll tell you what I do. I started in film 20 years before the turn of the century, processed it myself (still do) and had a full darkroom. Developing your own film (B&W, slides, or negatives) is not that hard. Darkroom is a bit trickier, but the toughest thing about the darkroom is the amount of time you will spend getting a few decent prints. If you really want to try your hand in the darkroom, find one that will rent you time.

My current workflow is to process my own film, mostly Kodak Tri-X 400 with HC-110 developer, then scan it in on an Epson Perfection V500 photo scanner (there are newer ones available), take the digital files into LightRoom for enhancement, calling on PhotoShop, Topaz Sharpen AI and Topaz DeNoise AI as needed. The Epson scanner removes the anti-halation mask on negative color film and converts color and B&W negatives to positives for you.

As far as using a film camera, the principles are exactly the same as with digital cameras, but a lot less automated and a lot less sophisticated. I used the P mode to give me an idea of what shutter speed and f stop the camera would use, then went to shutter preferred, aperture preferred or full manual and made my own adjustments from there. You don't have to worry about ISO as it never changes like in a digital camera, but don't forget to set it when installing a new roll of film. I never did trust the lightmeter built into my first film camera, a Canon AE-1, so always brought a lightmeter and graycard along with me and took a picture of it to help set white balance and help set exposure in the darkroom.

Film is not any better or worse than digital. It's just different and there is creativity and beauty in the differences. Have fun and good luck.

 

[cgw]

OP MIA since January??? Why bother?

 

[Strodav]

OP MIA since January??? Why bother?

I keep falling for this. I go to what's new and look for things that interest me and where I think I can contribute, but I never look at the original post date. I will do better, promise to myself.

 

[AlanKlein]

Ask for a raise.

 

[cgw]

I keep falling for this. I go to what's new and look for things that interest me and where I think I can contribute, but I never look at the original post date. I will do better, promise to myself.

You obviously meant well. It's the drive-by posters I can't take.