The Fun of Film

Film development seems to be one of the areas of modern photography that is never quite the same every time you try to find somewhere to get it done. Sure digital is king now for most working photographer and people who just enjoy taking a good picture every now and then. But film is still here and that’s why film processing is still one of the things we want to offer. And we have a few good reasons for that.

The why:

Today there’s still a big push among photographers to keep film alive and kicking. We have companies like Lomography and CineStill bringing back old film stocks and releasing new ones onto the market to ensure that the option to shoot film is still there. Even when studying photography one of the greatest ways to teach it is to get students to shoot film. You’ve only got maximum 36 exposures on that roll so you better know what you’re doing to make them count!

There’s lots of reasons people still shoot film today. Some for the aesthetic, some for the slower more relaxed mind frame that comes with it. For others it’s about the quality you can produce and the “feel” you get from film. There’s as many reasons as there are people doing it. But one thing is for certain, film processing and development is something that’s going to be around for a while longer and we plan to do our little part to keep it alive.

The Where:

Although there are a lot of people who like to develop their own film after it’s been shot there’s still an awful lot of people who still need somewhere to get theirs processed. Maybe they’re more casual film shooters who don’t have the time to process it? Perhaps it’s one of those films that’s a wee bit trickier to work with yourself, like slide film. Or maybe, and this is my favourite reason, it’s a roll you came across cleaning your attic, or knocking around your parent’s/grandparents’ house or found it tucked away in an old family camera that hasn’t been touched in years. It’s those little long lost gems that are always the most exciting.

But the biggest problem is where to go if you can’t process it yourself? It’s often happened me that a camera shop that everyone told me still processed film has stopped. It’s hard to blame them, it’s a bit if niche market. But that’s making it harder and harder to find somewhere that’s easily accessed and that doesn’t charge an arm and a leg! And I’m in the photography industry and I find it hard, so imagine what it’s like for someone not directly involved in photography. That makes me think, how many of those long lost rolls of family photos are going unseen because people can’t get them processed with relative ease? And that is a damn shame!

The Fun!

Photos are meant to be shot, capture those moments so they can be enjoyed and shared and relived for years to come. They’re not meant to be shot and be left trapped in that little 35mm canister! So at Printpoint we want to keep film processing alive, for both the people still shooting it and those family memory treasure hunters who find a roll of film that’s been hidden away for years. And the best part, it’s accessible! No asking people if it can still be done and no disappointment when you finally find somewhere you were told does it only to be met with “Sorry, we actually stopped a few years ago”.

So to you people still getting out there with your film cameras, keep it up! You’re doing your part to keep film a live. And to you people who discover a roll of film form a long lost family holiday, now you have somewhere accessible and guaranteed to be able to let you see what gems are hidden away on that little roll of film without having to spend god knows how long searching for a place that can do it. So get your film to us, old and new and let us do what we do best! Provide you with a high quality and reliable service with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of results. Let’s keep film alive, together.