Mistakes I made when learning to shoot film
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 พ.ค. 2024
- Shooting film is one of the most rewarding ways to take photos but it comes with some unique quirks. In this video, I want to tell you about the mistakes I made when getting into shooting 35mm film and how avoiding those same mistakes can save you from ruined photos and blank rolls.
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"It did not look cool at all" *proceeds to show one of the coolest film photos*
Haha, I'm glad you think so, Lelna. Thank you!
Right? 😂 my thoughts exactly 😅
I thought he meant cool like as in color tones
Fact
I loved those orange tones though!
Honestly there's nothing about film that looks bad to me even when you mess up, light leaks, dust etc. It all adds to it. Film is king every shot on film just feels like magic to me and it really is magic.
This is why we need to get ourselves a Holga 120N
I’m currently suffering the pain of winding my film wrong and not checking if it was actually advancing. I had some banger shots that are gone. But I’m now very cautious when loading my rolls.
I feel your pain, dude. Some lessons need to be learned the hard way.
Lost 3 month worth of pics thanks to that when I first started 😭
Get a Canon FTb-QL used. Very affordable and nearly as good as the great Canon F1. The QL (Quick Load) eliminates threading film in slots or any of that. And of course watch for the take-up/rewind to be turning while you advance to "1".
@@Almeeow so it’s pretty normal to do that first time?
@@thechemlightyoudropped not really I was just starting so I did not think any of it when I was taking more that 100 pics on 1 roll. The camera was broken so I was taking pics on top of pics. Now that I think of it I could have prevented the 3 month lost after 36 pics I should have said to myself “ oh that’s supposed to be it let me rewind it “ but I just kept taking pics lots of. Loads of memories lost but it’s ok we all learn from our mistakes now I shoot on a digital film that rolls automatically and not manually like I used to use. If you are careful and now the basics you should be fine ^^
I was a US Navy photographer in the 80's. We used filters to compensate for the wrong lighting. 85B for shooting in Tungston lighting and I believe FL-W for florescent lighting with daylight film.
way easier than changing out film for lighting situations.
This is cool to know thanks!
I feel like no matter what I’m learning about, I can’t escape the magnificence of chemistry!
Is it just me or does anyone else love the muddy photos? Like if I wanted to get the most clear picture I would get a digital camera but it’s something about the dirty rawness of a film camera that makes me want one
This is actually the reason why i shoot polaroid and starting to get into 35mm film.
Same
Film only really has dirty rawness when it's not exposed properly or if you shoot ultra grainy films like 3200 speed film. It's not really supposed to look dirty and raw by default, but it's cool to play with it that way and break the rules or whatever.
I shoot high speed B & W for the grain.
I personally don't really like muddy underexposed images,
I shoot a bunch of different formats. And in some cases you can get a higher resolution than digitial... However resolution isn't the reason
Some films also have better dynamic range as well btw
My main reason for film is it's 'feeling / vibe' of both the image but also the process of shooting. I just enjoy using film cameras a lot more than digital. And I adore the color profiles and grain of film. Changing film is like changing your sensor. And makes huge differences
Also black and white film is very cool to experiment with
Another thing if you like doing things in camera. With film you can do more crazy things like double exposures in camera with split filters
In the end it's more of a 'experience and feel thing' but I don't like muddy images. Although aot of people do enjoy it
You should give it a shot. I think you would like expired film a lot as well!
Idk! I think the second shot of your room does look super cool. Maybe not what you wanted out of the shot, but there's something to it that I like. Just getting into film here and your videos rock dude thanks for helping me along. Keep on keepin' on!
Appreciate that Pat. Thank you! It's definitely got some interesting character to it, that's for sure.
Great video! Never heard about overexposing film is better, that`s good to know because I get used to underexpose shots in digital. Thank you for the advice so much!
So glad you found it helpful! I encouraged you to experiment with over exposing by a stop or two. In many cases it will bring out the colors and give your images a brighter, more pastel look!
@@Codacolor I definitely will! Thank you!)
Same here, I just started shooting in film and I underexpose them a bit, because I used digital before. Thank you for your help! Really excited to get my first film back hehe.
@@Codacolor You can use daylight film under tungsten light by using an 80A (blue) filter.
Assuming it is a negative film, this is true. With slide film though, you should never overexpose, as this will result in highlights just blowing out. There is more latitude with underexposing slide film, but not much. That said, even with negatives, the trend with young folks overexposing their film for multiple stops is not recommended. The film will render pictures, but it will not perform as well as it could with a perfect exposure if you try to overexpose by +3 or more. (on most color negatives)
making mistakes on film is nice because the pictures that does come out nice are so much apreciated
I've learned to wind my films in total darkness (to take advantages of the before-zero-counter shots), so now I feel that the tremendous loading pain of my first rolls has literally gone.
So refreshing to have someone who is so good at what they do, be so humble at it, currently trying to get into 35mm photography and your content is so refreshing and encouraging for tragic newbies like myself man
Really appreciate you saying that. Thank you so much!
Point number 2 is why I get a bit nervous using an automatic wind camera, even although in every other respect it's great - you never 100% know if the film really is winding. I also miss the half burnt first shot that you often get on manual wind cameras.
Just starting to shoot film for the first time, will definitely keep coming back to this video to ensure my photos come out good. I've been worried about what settings to put my camera on so I don't shoot blanks, so glad you mentioned metering!
Excited for your film journey. Thanks for watching!!
The white balance mistake was corrected with WB correcting filters in the old days. They were bluish or orangish filters that corrected this at cost of requiring a little bit more exposure to compensate the filtered light.
Great content!
Great point. Thank you for bringing that up, Rodrigo!
When you said you didn't get your film back - my jaw just dropped. WHAT!!! I'd be furious.
Lovely tips however. I only ever really shot b&w, but was interesting to listen to colour tips. My biggest tip for anyone starting out in film photography is if you are buying a second hand camera from someone or digging up old camera from your relatives, take it to the repair shop to get it CLA'd. Sure you can put a roll through it and test if it's fine, but it shouldn't cost much to get it checked out and will save you a lot of trouble in the future.
Even professional film labs can really suck. Not every hipster lab hires passionate fellow photographers. I have tried multiple local labs in the cities I've lived in and they all suck (and no, they are not pharmacies). I ended up taking a chance and mailing my film to a lab recommended through reddit, which turned out amazing and have only used this lab since.
What lab is this?
What lab is it?
what lab is it?
What is the name of the lab? Do you have a link?
When I was shooting film years ago, and then digital photography came along I thought that shooting digital was so much easer. For one thing you get to see the results after you take the picture and its a lot easer to correct your mistakes just when you make them and then you can remember not to do that again. You are right when you got your film back from the lab it was like christmas to see how your pictures turned out. Just keep shooting and take a lot of notes. enjoyed your video.
Both analog and digital are excellent in their own ways. Thanks David!
When exposing my rule of thumb was to use the palm of my hand, which is one stop over the middle gray. So I choose where to expose, then I put my hand in front of the lens and measure for it.
I rarely come away from ‘top tips’ videos feeling that I’ve gotten truly useful insights. This is certainly the exception. Practical, clear. Thanks!
I didn't get my first digital camera till I was in my 20s, and I always felt film was just simpler. When I am serious I use my Minolta AF lenses on either my Minolta SLR or Sony DSLR, but when I want simple I always pull out my Ricoh R-1. For a while I carried a digital super zoom in my purse, but it was way more fussy than I expected, always needing to be charged, taking forever to boot up and be ready to take a photo. With the R1, it turns on very quickly and the battery lasts for the whole year, and the 30mm f3.5/24mm f8 lens is sharp enough and that is all I really need.
I was a lab tech back in the day, and I can't even start to count how many times I was adding filtration to the print process to correct for WB (although we didn't call it that back then, we said "color temperature") A good lab can correct it in print film (which is why all print film is daylight balanced) but when shooting slides/chromes, you really need to know about filtering, and why there is dedicated tungsten slide film.
Lot of great tips in here! Thank you for making it!
I really appreciate this video. I'm working on getting better with film. So I love seeing people's tips and tricks.
I also love my two local film labs. The closest one does an amazing job with film and offers to scan and do little corrections and put everything high quality on a flashdrive. The other lab is further away, but their turn around is amazing and they digitally scan then send a link to you. One time I dropped off a handful of rolls. By the time I got home (20 minute drive) they had already sent a link to my scans
This was INCREDIBLY helpful. Thank you so much!
got back into film with a fujifilm point and shoot, after using a zenit e from a flea market in greece for 2 rolls, almost sent it my first roll from the new camera to a walgreens, but thankfully was with a friend who told me all about the bad things, sent it to the dark room, and waiting on my scans now, extremely excited.
Thanks Cody for quickly becoming one of my fav film photographers ❤️
No, thank you for being here!
Thanks! I didn't know about long-exposure. That explains why my long-exposure images always are so dark. I also did the mistake shooting Fujifilm Sensia indoor, which also turned completely orange, while outside images where perfect. Thanks for sharing your mistakes!
I am just getting into film myself so this is super helpful thank you for this!
Love the video, vibe, and photos!
genuinely helpful, thanks man
Hey man I was binging your videos and was surprised to see that you don't even have 1k subscribers!! Your videos are authentic, a breath of fresh air. You're gonna get big I guarantee it.
Ash, thank you! Comments like yours make all the early struggles and doubt worth it. So glad you're here.
he now has 26.6k!!!
Helpful tips cody,Thanks
Great tips! Thank you!
Dude honestly such a good job editing this
Thank you! I am learning analog photography now, and I am always in doubt when deciding whether it is best to overexpose or under expose. Your explanation made it so much clearer! (And now I am a bit worried about some photos I shot yesterday because I really think I have exposed them the wrong way 😅)
Thanks for the film takeup indicator tip. I just did exactly this the other day!
Fuji Superia 400 handles tungsten light really well. Most consumer and Kodak films don’t do well in tungsten light but Superia 400 is balanced in a way that it does really well with that and the underexposure. Just make sure you’ll send it to a good lab.
Bro!! New watcher here and i was shocked to hear you send your film to State Lab! I live in Louisville and one of my best friends is one of the main guys there. He’s the best and I’m glad to hear and outsider loves their work!
YAY IT'S LIKE XMAS WHEN CODY UPLOADS A NEW VIDEO!! :)) Loved the format, super natural. Felt like I was with my pal.
Haha thanks man. hopefully you will be soon!
Really enjoyed this one. Thanks for sharing your mistakes!
Thank you dude. It was my pleasure!
So helpful and concise, thank you
That was so useful, thanks. I need to watch that rewind crank whilst winding the film forward.
i think the photos of ur room look so dope!
really informative and helpful! got my first roll sent back days ago, it did feel like Christmas. big appreciation
How exciting! That christmas feeling never dies. Stoked for your film journey. Thanks for watching!!
I’m glad i started my photography degree when digital was very young. You had to learn the basics of B/W film. Now people just shoot digital and have no concept of how many images they have taken or if all the critical settings for a great image are present. Too much of I can correct it in Photoshop so I’m not worried.
fantastic content and so refreshing to get someone presenting in a slow, intelligible and well articulate style. no bragging, no high speed, crazy transition, nor annoying music. And it brings back sooooo many memories ( my first camera, bought with my first salary, was a Pentax P30N, in 1990 😅) sh€€t that was a long time ago 😂😂😂
Thank you for the kind feedback!
Lots of good stuff in here I wish I knew when first starting! Well done 👏
Thanks, Rob. I hope it was helpful!
These are all good things to learn!
those bedroom photos may not have turned out how you expected, but they're still really cool imo
Thank you! I'm glad you think so. I think I'm beginning to _warm_ up to them. :3
One of the best "analogue" videos ever! I like how down to earth you are!
I'm so glad you think so. Thank you!!
Good to see you shooting film. I must have pressed my first shutter more than 70 years ago. And, yes, it was only film. The film winding issue cost me a great series of 36 plus great exposures in Italy around Florence. After the counter went to 37, 38, 39 I knew I had a problem. I did. it had not advanced at all. I had loaded many rolls of films through the camera, but this was the time that the film was not properly loaded. Load the tang, advance the lever to pick up the slack, wind the rewind lever, and yes, watch the lever when you advance using the lever.
Great tips thanks. Especially the one about metering for the shadows, I've been metering for the highlights like digital! :D
bought my first film camera and its supposed to arrive in two days so im just doing a little bit of reading and watching videos to gain some basic knowledge but most articles I've read just throw in a bunch of words that I dont know without actually explaining it so thanks for actually explaining unfamiliar terms that you mentioned 👍
My pleasure! Glad it was helpful!
Watched again, excellent....
I just bought a 1958 Olympus and a 1930s Zeh Bettax and I'm super excited to start my first trials. :)
Great video.
Im in Miami and love using my local film lab the vibes are always genuine and you feel that your in good hands bellows & Thackers are a go too
Ayyy you know something bro! Bellows in Wynwood & Thacker’s in Fort Lauderdale 🙌🏽
awesome video man. you clued me into some stuff to look out for that I wasn’t even aware was a thingb lol
Thanks for the tips man, I just found my dads yashica from my childhood and I'm getting ready to order some film and go out test it!!
This refresher on things like exposure and stuff was definitely helpful since I haven't don't this since high school haha, thank you!
Glad you found it helpful!
Thanks so much for this helpful video! I actually also really liked the photo in your room 😅
Grew up in high school in the darkroom. I’m glad film is making a come back.
Just bought my first 35mm cam, ill keep this vid saved for ref. Thanks!
Got my scans from the lab today. I've actually made the 5th mistake by filming pretty old day-time cinema film with flash.. Got really blue-ish images. OK, the lesson is learned now 😅
Thanks for the video!
My roll got a lot of light so I didn’t get any photos haha. Hopefully I won’t make big mistakes on the next roll
Flashes are usually daylight color though
What is the name of the lab
Yo those red/tungsten lights looked HOOTT
A great video. Even as an old “original” pre-digital dinosaur, I learnt something new too!
Subscribed! Straight forward & super helpful video.
Thanks Jessie!
Great info. Also, you got me nervous that I just sent an empty roll to get developed. When I rewound the film, didn't feel much resistance on it very long. Fingers crossed.
Very interesting and helpful! Thank you!
No, thank you!
Not sure why I watch these film photography videos, its interesting but I don’t shoot film. This video introduced me to several new concepts which I appreciate. Keep it up.
Thanks a lot! awesome help
i simply loved the orange room shots
They're growing on me!
On the contrary I think the orange bedroom shots were the bomb!
You have a good handle on the pitfalls of film photography and your advice will be very helpful to others. But go easy on exposing for the shadows. If you're shooting black and white you can do that if you then cut back on the development so as not to make the highlights too dense. I wouldn't overexpose colour negatives more than a stop.
Quality vid! Really enjoyed the intro edit
Thanks a bunch!
Thank you for this video! I recently started analog photography (after graduating from art school where I totally ignored photography class and regret that now!!). I got myself an Olympus trip 35 as I felt that was a great starting camera for film. I am planning to know how to photograph like this before I go on my year long trip :D
Excited for your analog journey! I'm sure you'll capture some stellar memories on your trip. Cheers!
I'm not 100% sure, but I think you can use a filter to convert daylight balance to tungsten. I don't remember how is called, maybe 80A. You probably loose at least a stop of light, but daylight films are a lot cheaper so maybe could be a much less expensive option, if you shoot a lot in this light condition.
Great tips for film lovers, Cody! Like your your content, well done, keep them coming :)!
I appreciate you dude, thank you. Much more on the works!!
I believe I learned film photography better by selecting transparency film vs. negative film. The next level was learning how to shoot transparency film to get a better print. Thank you for the tips. When using transparency film, I exposed for skin tones and not gray tones.
I am finally sending my film to get developed after 4 years. It is 5 rolls and the fear and anxiety from the wait is so real. I just hope the money isn't wasted
3:37 -- One of the things I like to do when loading film is, when the camera back is open, before I pull the film over to the spool, I turn the rewind knob until the film *just* starts to retreat into the cassette a small amount to take up some slack, then I pull it to the spool. That ensures that when I turn the crank, the rewind knob moves. Don't know if that's the best way to do it, but it works for me.
Good tips. Some of them have happened to me before.
Dude, your room looks awesome
i love your video,it’s so good
Thanks so much!
White balance film differences! Every day is a school day! Thank you lots. 😊
i usually just run my exposure comp +1-2 stops for color film. Depending on subject matter, but it's what i like to do
thanks for the tip Cody
My pleasure Nondis!
Pro-tip for #1, don't use a photo lab. Get a tank and reels and chemical kit and develop your own film. It's cheaper, higher quality, and you can develop and scan within a day. I never go to a lab anymore and I'm very happy about that.
Can you share what equipment you use? I’ve been wanting to get into this but I’m not sure what I really need
@@RoscoesMuziqq I use a 2-reel tank with two reels that can adapt between 135 and 120 film widths. I use a change bag to load the reels with the exposed film (takes patience to get faster at it). I then use a plastic tote I fill with hot tap water as a temperature bath to raise the temperature of the chemicals in the bottles up to 38C (100F). All the 3 chems are in 3 accordion bottles (developer, blix, stabilizer). I final rinse with distilled water and a tiny bit of photoflo. I clip the negative strip to a coat hanger and hang it on my shower curtain in the bathroom. After drying they're ready to clip and scan. First few times takes patience and good reading of instructions, after that it's both fast and cheap. Chemicals last about 6-8 weeks so you'll want to use them before they get too old to work.
@@cedarandsound What about scanning? Do you scan yourself or use a lab?
@@unbroken5885 I scan myself with the DSLR method. If something is worth the cost of printing for sale, I'll send the negative in for drum scan.
@@cedarandsound Thanks for reply. I don't have a DSLR tho, so I'd need to send for scanning anyways. Is it still worth developing myself?
Oh no I did exactly what you said "I'll just take my film to the CVS up the street from my house" as I didn't even know how crappy it would be I just thought it really was going to be the same. Lo and behold, crappy results, no negatives, and you get the "scans" in a CD (which I don't even have a CD reader anymore?) I was pretty bummed because I wanted to really keep that first roll of photos as my "first ever film shots" no matter how bad (in terms of my own technique) they were. Now that I read and watch more about film developing I've been saving my next few rolls of films (I have like two so far I haven't developed yet as I also realized I should bulk them instead of sending one by one and waiting).
Nice, informative video 🙏🏿✨
So cool!!! Thanks from Spain, I want to create content as you do!
2:00 I know I'm late to this, but man as a film photographer this just pains me to hear. Fortunately, I never made this mistake, but this is something that everyone should know! Your negatives is what has the most value and something that you have to store, since it can actually survive decades and be rescanned later
Do you know where you get the film developed?
@@existapro856 Try looking for a local photo lab that processes film. You could also send it to a lab if you can't find a local one (they ship the negatives back to you after). Look at reviews and make sure you get your negatives back after sending the film in!
Really helpful! Thank you. I just found a really old camera from 1960, went through the manual and what other users were using as film and just copied... I think I'd need your knowledge. I still don't know how the photos will turn out 😮💨
Awesome video 👍
Thank you for these tips. I'm just starting (3 days in). I've already broken a roll of film (I think it was stuck on the spool.. thing. Lol) and I rewound a roll of film too far. (Didn't know that was a thing). I was a little confused about the metering before, but your explanation helped! I'm sure the roll I took will be off... if anything develops. Lol, I'm going to keep trying, though! New sub.
When I was learning film I went on a holiday and brought with me a roll of Portra 400, which I was super excited about. I don't even remember where I went wrong with the winding and unwinding process. The holiday went by I shot so many family memories and other stuff. But I was so devastated when the guy at the photo lab called me and said "your fil m is blank"
I bought an Olympus Om 2 for my birthday 6 weeks ago. I'm currently on holiday and almost have 4 films full... I really hope the photos are at least not all black! Definitely have to check if the film gets transported as you have shown! If not I will simply cry 😂
Any updates?
It works!! The pictures are a real vibe, I really love the outcome. Only the focus isn't always on spot. But thats ok, I might just need a little more exercise :)
I got so excited on my first film camera and I was using my ISO dial like a digital cam.
Thank you i learned a lot :)
There’s lots of local shops that can do it in house (if you live in a city). Mine does digital scans too! They come out amazing.
Awesome video