Many professional photographers and hobbyists love the excitement of processing 35mm film in a dark room. There is something magical and mysterious about 35mm film photography and shooting on a 35mm film camera without knowing the results until the film has been developed in a dark room.
We earn commissions if you shop through the links below. Additionally, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read the full Affiliate Disclosure.
Cost of 35mm film photography
The cost of purchasing 35mm film and the cost of processing that film in a dark room or through 35mm film developers can be expensive but this creative genre of photography can be a very worthwhile experience. This makes the actual art of photography more exciting due to the effort and skill required to produce just an extremely limited number of photos from your 35mm film camera.
Rather than shooting hundreds of photos on a digital camera to produce a dozen good ones, shooting with a 35mm film camera will compel you to consider just the 24 or 36 film exposures on your 35mm film roll so that you compose your subject in a more meaningful and thoughtful artistic way. The skill and thought required before pressing the shutter button provide for an authentic result.
There’s something magical and mysterious about shooting on a 35mm film camera without knowing the results until the film has been developed in a dark room.
The look of film
The look and feel of genuine 35m film photography cannot be matched! Sure, modern digital photography post processing can emulate the look of this type of photography, but it cannot match the thought process and ability to capture the image in the first place.
The history of 35mm film photography
German photographer and engineer Oskar Barnack is credited with inventing the first commercially produced 35mm still-film camera in 1913. Barnack introduced the world to the Ur-Leica 36mm x 24mm film size camera through Ernst Leitz II at the Leipzig Spring Fair, Germany in 1925.
35mm film photography was not one of the first ways of capturing photographic images. However, up until the recent invention of digital formats it was the most widely used photographic format in the world. 35mm film has a ratio of 3:2 (6×4), most known for producing 6×4 photo prints.
Getting started
You can get started with this fun style of photography either by purchasing a 35mm film camera second hand through second-hand stores, from a multitude of online marketplaces, or buy a new modern 35mm film camera online.
Many hobbyists and professional 35mm film photographers purchase film darkroom kits for home-processing of film for their 35mm film cameras. If you do not have the time to set up your own darkroom there are still several professional 35mm film laboratories that will process your 35mm film.
Go in deep with digital
A wonderful way to get into the feel of 35mm film photography with a modern digital camera is to decide on a project and only shoot 12, 24 or 36 frames for the entire task (the same number of shots available on a standard 35mm film roll).
This will force the photographer to contemplate camera settings and composition at a much deeper level before pressing the shutter button. Imagine, instead of blasting away with a limitless number of photos but instead, only being able to take such a limited number of shots. Try it anyway as it will improve your thought processes and may lead to much higher quality images that require less post processing.
The in-between idea
If you are prepared to spend the time on 35mm film photography, an idea that may be worth considering in being able to share your work with others is to take the photos and have them processed, but then digitise those photos by either scanning or photographing them using a DSLR. This will provide the ability to display the 35mm photos online or via social media.
Have fun
Have fun experimenting with 35mm film photography. At least if it doesn’t work, you’ll likely have one or more nice old 35mm film cameras to display.
Have fun with 35mm film photography!
Go old school, go 35mm film camera.