Film Photography
A brief guide to different film types
Film photography has surged in popularity with more people discovering how much fun shooting with film can be! Film adds an experimental edge to your photography and the joy of slowing down and really thinking about each shot you've taken is a great break from the instant, perfect world of digital photography. There are a few main types of film that you'll have likely come across a lot and this guide will go through some to get you started.
35mm film
You'll definitely have seen 35mm before, and you may have even used it
if you've used a disposable camera! This film is pretty widely available
and you can get it developed in lots of different locations, including
some big supermarkets and chemists, however highstreet stores only tend
to develop colour film. There are also dedicated film development
services where you can send your film away to be developed. Black and
white film and some specialist colour film requires different types of
chemicals to develop your film, which is why sending it away to be
developed is a good option. The film comes in colour and black and white
and you can have 24 or 36 shots per roll. Manufacturers of 35mm film
include Fuji and
Kodak.
Buy 35mm film here
Instant Film
Instant film is what it sounds like - instant film! Rather than having
to wait for your film to get developed, this type of film is ready
immediately and prints from the camera you're using. With instant film,
you'll usually only receive around ten shots depending on the brand so
be aware that getting into instant film photography can become very
expensive. The two major brands making instant film are
Polaroid and
Instax and they both have very different
looks. Polaroid film can be quite dream-like
and unpredictable with the colours which is great for experimental and
artistic photographers. Instax prints are
slightly more colour-faithful.
Buy instant film here
120 film
120 film is a roll film that's similar to 35mm in the sense it needs to
be developed, but with 120 film you'll get less shots and the film
itself is larger. You're able to get higher quality prints from 120
film. As well as shooting 120 film for the high quality prints, you can
also enjoy experimenting with cameras such as the plastic toy camera
Holga, made by Lomography for a more
dream-like result. The 120 film is a little harder to get than 35mm or
instant film, but you'll be able to find film made by
Kodak, Fuji, Ilford and
Lomography.
Buy 120 film here