By Camden Andl ’19 & Matthew Ramella ’19
THE ROUNDUP
Just as vinyl records and ’80’s clothing have been finding their way back into modern culture, film cameras seem to also be following this trend.
Multiple modern variables of the Polaroid camera have recently been created and can be purchased in almost every camera store around the U.S.
Although these cameras are more modern, they use the same technology featured in previous Polaroid cameras.
Similarly, after filing for bankruptcy in 2012, Kodak has also announced a new Super 8 movie camera which is expected to be released in 2017.
Digital photography and AP Studio Art teacher Mr. Jake Kelly ’09 said that a possible reason for the comeback of the film camera is that people want to put more thought into the pictures they take.
“Photography has become so democratic because everyone carries around a camera phone, and film is a way to differentiate yourself,” he said.
Ariel Gomez ’19 owns a Polaroid Sun 600 and a Pentax Spotmatic film camera.
“I find film to be more real,” Gomez said. “To know that I can go get it developed, or for the Polaroid, that in a couple of minutes I’ll be able to have the picture and hold it in my hand is amazing.”
Film cameras have been around for a very long time, and they were the most technologically advanced cameras around 30 to 40 years ago. But why are they still so prominent even with high quality DSLR’s?
“Cameras have gotten better and better, but there are still film cameras that rival DSLRs in terms of quality—digital is more error prone than some film cameras in the hands of experts,” Mr. Kelly said.
Many like how film cameras can also be less complicated than modern DSLR’s. With most film cameras, you only have basic functions which leads to less clutter on the camera body.
“Beginners can be daunted by all the settings of a DSLR,” Gomez said. “A film camera can sometimes be more straightforward.”
“I think people were fascinated with modern cameras at first with how the quality was. But then people wanted more … Now people have a good picture on their camera, but they want to hold it,” Gomez said. “You can’t get that with digital. I think the reason why film is coming back is because people want to have more of an interaction with the camera and the picture they’re taking.”
Gomez said that sometimes film images can come out with some flaws.
“Film is imperfect, but I think that’s part of the beauty of it. I think people will appreciate that,” he said.
