What the Camera Dictates

Photo by Andrea De Santis on Unsplash

I stumbled upon a YouTube channel where a young photographer spoke about his introduction to film.  I love to hear how young people were drawn to film because it is so different than what I experienced.  I grew up with film, but never took photography seriously until I was older and shot digital.  After a bit, my father gave me his OM-1 and I took it out to shoot and never looked back.  I was reintroduced to film.

But young people did not grow up with film and had to be introduced to it fresh. This is a massive undertaking so I respect their journey greatly.  I probably would have given up at the third frustrated loss of images.

Back to the YouTube channel, here was this young man speaking about film and he mentioned something very insightful.  The size of film you shoot dictates the camera you use and the camera will dictate your style.  The example he gives us is the following...

If f you are new to film and pick up a roll of 35mm and then reach over for a simple camera for a beginner you will grab onto a pocket sized automated, point & shoot camera. This has all manner of electronics to focus, determine exposure, decide if a flash is needed and shoot the picture with a single button press!  But if you select medium format lets say in 6x6 then you would pick up a Hasselblad which has no light meter, no automated function and nothing to help or guide you.  

So the film size you select dictates the camera choice and the camera choice then determines your photography. A Hasselblad 500com is a wonderful camera, one of my favorites but it is not for street photography. It is for portraits and perhaps some landscape but certainly nothing fist action like street or sports. 

So, young grasshopper, pick your film wisely as all you do after that will be determined by your film size.