All of the above were shot on my Nikon F6 SLR Film camera and Kodak Ektar 100 ISO colour negative film. However the processing and scanning involved were somewhat different. I have been using colour negative film for some time time now, because it's getting really difficult to get slide/transparency film developed. Also colour negative film seems to scan better. In the past I have posted my films off to a lab, got the negatives developed and scanned them myself using either my dedicated scanner or my Nikon copier attachment on a Nikon 60mm Macro lens using the built in copying facility on my Nikon D850. (This will even show negatives as positives.) This process is OK, but it does take a while and it's expensive.
However the above files were processed and scanned differently. Shops have recently opened up here in the UK and a local photographic shop has done the same. It offers a C41 in house developing and scanning package. So a few days ago I dropped off 10 films and a few hours later I got the 17MP scans emailed to me. All at a reasonable cost. Not only was this very quick, but the scans were excellent. The shop is Photozone and here is a link to their website. Photozone. Obviously this is only for film photographers in the UK, but for those interested they do Mail Order.
One thing is very clear from this. For most people film photography is different to what it was. In the film Under Fire, which was actually one of the inspirations for me to start photography seriously, Nick Nolte who plays a photojournalist shoots on his Nikons and develops and prints his black and white films in a tent in a war zone. Now not all photographers develop their own films. And colour film, negative or positive has always been difficult in a home darkroom environment.
So what we have these days is a film / digital hybrid. And a situation whereby I drop my exposed films off and get the scans emailed to me is hardly what a lot of lot of people would regard as film photography. But it suits me because these days to sell images they have to be digital, no one is interested in prints anymore. And to be honest this is one of the reasons that film can still exist. Even though at this time, because of Covid, film is actually difficult to get. The shop mentioned above told me that until recently they just couldn't get any film anywhere to replenish their stocks. It just wasn't being manufactured. That has since changed and supplies are now trickling through.
So, shooting on film is complicated, expensive and not easy. And in many ways it is a process for enthusiasts. Yes, some upmarket magazines (e.g. Vogue) are using film again, but this is still very rare. There does seem to be a core market however. I enjoy doing it and for me I need no more justification than that. But I would would certainly not recommend it for anyone who hasn't done it before, unless they are prepared to put up with the hassle and accept the costs. To sum up, photography is my job and film photography is my (expensive!!) hobby. And I will continue doing it for as long as I can.
