Recently, film cameras came into fashion again and it’s on everyone’s tongue. Saving photos in the digital form in cellular phones and DSLR is easier than the analog form, but there are people who miss analog aesthetics and use analog-like camera applications. Let’s find out what the attractions of film cameras are and why film cameras are in fashion again. -Ed.


# The charm of film cameras

  There are two ways of printing pictures of a film camera. The first way is to print them in a dark room, and the second way is to take your film roll to a photo studio. Neither of them would be easy, and you cannot help but to wait. Because of this problem of waiting, most people prefer a digital or DSLR camera to a film camera. However, people using a film camera say that the charming fact of a film camera is ‘waiting’ until the result comes out.
  No Gun-woo, who poses with a film camera on his blog, spoke about the fascinating things of a film camera, “The charm of a film camera is in waiting. You have to put the film rolls into the camera and take each picture carefully. You shouldn’t be impatient until you use the whole film roll, 36 shots. While developing and scanning a roll, you can have anticipation about reuniting with the past. For people who are worrying about the future like me, waiting for the past in pictures enriches their lives.” Lee Eo-jin, who is a university student of the Photographic Art Dept. ’16, also said, “A film camera’s strength is that you can use a full-frame at a cheap price. Unique colors that every film camera has make pictures beautiful in their own way. The soft and warming feeling of the grainy pictures of film rolls is one of the strengths that film cameras have.”

# The history of film cameras

  In 1884, roll film, an important constituent of film cameras, was developed, and in 1888, the first film camera ‘Kodak’ was made. After the release of many models in 1900, Brownie, which had a very low price, was developed and the camera’s mass market opened. Film cameras caught popularity for 80 years, but after the development of easy-to-use cameras, like digital cameras, cellular phones and DSLRs, the film camera lost its popularity.

# Trend of film cameras

  People of today live in a world that changes rapidly. The email substituted the letter, and these days, mobile messengers, like Kakao Talk, have taken the place of email. The time when people acquire information right away on their cellphones rather than reading newspapers finally has come. That’s why analog sensibility has faded away from people.
  Although analog devices have almost disappeared, people who are seeking analog sensibilities are increasing. The acoustic guitar is becoming popular again because the songs of Kim Kwang-suk, who is a famous songwriter from the 80s~90s, have been widely spread to people again. Film cameras have especially gotten so much attention that the popular portal site Naver introduced a film camera on its main page. On the main page of Naver, a lot of pictures of travel spots and daily life were posted using disposable film cameras. Moreover, if you search ‘film camera’ on the internet, you will find a lot of keywords related to it.
  In addition to this, for those people who want a film camera effect, vintage or bijou photo filter applications such as ‘Analog Paris’ and ‘Analog Tokyo’ are becoming trends. Still, since there are differences between mobile apps and real film cameras, some people are starting to look for   real film cameras.





# The rediscovery of film cameras

  Toy cameras, which are a new type of camera, play a role in the prevalence of film cameras. Most people think that a film camera is big and black, but this new type of film camera is a little different. The form of the camera, which is small and cute, is stimulating people’s collection needs, and some toy cameras have panorama functions or have two or three lenses which enable photos to be divided into two or three parts. Those cameras are entertaining and stimulate people’s collection desire. The price range is diverse from 10,000 won to much higher prices. You can enjoy one in accordance with your financial state. How about starting with a cheap camera and experiencing the analog feeling?

# How to take a good photo with a film camera

  Lee Eo-jin, who majors in photography at an art college, told us how to take a good photo with a film camera for CBNU students. “At first, you should know how to use your camera, like how much an aperture can be opened or tightened and how shutter speed can be faster or slower. It’s important to try to bring a film camera into focus, and you should consider your film camera functions, like coincidence focusing system range finder, twin-lenses reflex and visual distance estimation. If you have an automatic camera, you should be careful about a flash that can suddenly pop in dark places, and if the shutter speed is so slow, your photo might be blurry. If your camera has an exposure function which adjusts the amount of light of a camera, it is good to set it from 1/3 to 1. Some people don’t like it, but it makes soft and bright pictures.”
  Blogger No Gun-woo said, “I want to recommend the Yashica t4 and t5 film cameras for starters. These are easy to use and give us good results. In addition to this, personally, good pictures come out when I take the pictures with good feelings.” He added, “Yuk Myenong-sim, who is from the first generation of Korean photographers, said a photo is just a response of a feeling and I really agree with him.”

By Kim Soo-min
sm36@cbnu.ac.kr   
By Lee Joo-yeon
jy37@cbnu.ac.kr