By Jake Schroeder | Photographer
Like many of you who grew up in the 2000s and early 2010s, my first personal camera was a fairly cheap and relatively poor-quality digital camera. They were compact and easily portable, but most importantly, they had a built-in flash. The flash from these cameras helped build the 2000s aesthetic; now it’s shaping the 2020s.
I’ll be the first to admit that, as a lover of all things photography, the look you get from these cameras is one of a kind. I bought into the hype and purchased a digicam late last year off eBay that I’m sure I could’ve found at a garage sale a few years back for $5.
Plenty of people I know do not understand the fanfare over these cameras, especially since modern mirrorless cameras are unmatched in quality, and cellphones can take photos that blow out most cameras from 10-15 years ago.
What they fail to realize is that the perfection of these modern devices has made photos look boring. Perfectly capturing the colors of a sunset is one thing, but making group photos at a restaurant look unique is the real challenge. In an era where likes, comments and shares are more important than anything, having photos that stand out is crucial. That is the real reason digicams have risen in popularity — people are favoring style over substance.
My alternative is a photography medium that isn’t lacking in style or substance: film.
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 140 years, you’ve heard about film. You might have used it once or twice as a kid in the form of those single-use underwater cameras. You might’ve dropped it off at CVS and, about three weeks later, received some iffy-looking photos at best.
That was all I remembered about film cameras until about four years ago. For my 18th birthday, I received a pair of disposable film cameras. Those cameras set me on a journey that’s only just getting started.
The central concern surrounds one question: What does film provide that I can’t get from a digicam?
Well, just like the digicam has an unmatched aesthetic, film does too. Film is unique, though, because it comes in so many shapes and sizes. The versatility film provides allows the photographer many different opportunities. If you pick the right film for the job, your photo can come out looking beautiful. If you pick the wrong kind, it’s still certainly going to look unique. If you want even a brief glimpse of how much film aesthetics matter in certain photography circles, look no further than the phenomenon of shooting on expired film.
Photographers will go out of their way to buy up old film stock that may or may not be salvageable because the look that an expired film photo can provide outweighs the risk of it not developing properly.
What I’ve found the most interesting since I started using film cameras is that in many cases, I wasn’t taking pictures of moments; rather, the moment was the photo. While my professional camera is nice, its goal is to capture what I am seeing as perfectly as possible. When my film camera comes out, people drop everything to create the photo.
The lightweight and portable capacity of the digicam is one of its primary selling points. The idea that you can pull it out of your pocket or purse at a dinner with friends or in the middle of a crowd at a concert is as important to the user as the look the camera provides.
Not all film cameras are as portable as those digicams, but there are several that I use that offer a similar experience. Disposable cameras are probably the most popular — the ones you pick up at Walmart or CVS. These cameras have their own distinct style in the film world, as the built-in flash combines with the plastic lens to offer a truly unique look.
The other popular type of mobile film camera is called a “point-and-shoot.” As the name suggests, you point the camera and press the button, and the little computer inside does all the work to make your photo come out just right. In this case, the camera is reusable, which helps cut down the costs, but it’s just as pocketable as a digicam, and the results are hard to beat.
I think both digicams and film cameras are great, but I’ve lived the digicam renaissance, and I’m telling you to pick up a camera before the film revival.
