FILM PHOTOGRAPHY: 3 Great Things About It

[@benrogerson9977]

Nailed it. Albums are the best. Whether digital or film, I choose 48 photos to print and put in an album each year. I just completed 2007-2016. Now I have the complete set of when I met my wife and our life started to the current date. They are a great reminder of our journey together.

[@ldc89]

Why 48? Is it due to the album size only being able to hold 48, or is this a very intentional number?

[@ec2749]

this is such a great idea. 2024 and onward!

[@arca5200]

I do them by 36 since one film roll has 36 frames and I found a perfect little album with exactly 36 spots. I also put them in order how they were shot.

[@greggoldman893]

One a week or 4 a month?

[@garethdelux9266]

Here's some great photography look up "How Israeli Apartheid Destroyed My Hometown" amazing lighting

[@spenwilli]

Last time I went to the photo shop the man behind the counter was wearing a Spirited Man hoodie.

[@officialpaperbagman]

Van is probably one of the most underrated filmakers of our time, His process in so unique and 1 of a kind

[@MikeLeeRose]

間違いない

[@cameronwertenberger8941]

2 of my favorite things: Van and Film. 10/10 episode

[@dtcaptures1302]

Agreed

[@spdaltcap5433]

Now THIS is how you get someone to find film photography appealing! Subscribed.

[@canadude6401]

Love physical photos! So much is digital and never make their way to physical versions. When my children were first born, I bought an empty photo album for each of them. Every December, I curate the best 16 pictures (2 pages of 8 pictures) from the years events, vacations, annual family shot, Thanksgiving, birthday's, first day back to school, graduations, Christmas etc. I give each of them the 16 pictures in their Christmas stocking. They are now teenagers and have a nearly full album for each year of their life.

[@robdixon5016]

Awesome idea!

[@trentglass2306]

You have serious mirror squeak. Here is how to repair your camera step by step. First remove the name plate there are 4 screws, under the name plate you will find more screws, you want to remove the one on the upper left hand side, then with a needle bent to around 30 degrees about 3/4 of a centimeter from the tip inject a thin lubricant and put it in the screw hole, once u have the bent needle inserted as far as it can go in and downward drop a couple drops of lubricant onto the mirror box and take a few pictures to make sure you got the lubricant in the correct spot. Then put it back together and the camera won’t sound like a dying bird every time you take a picture. Hope this helps.

[@joseph441-y2u]

Watching Van’s videos feels like getting to be a part of the future moment that his grandkids say one day, “Yeah, my grandpa was an amazing guy with all these cool hobbies and skills” except his life is actually captured on video. So cool.

[@KamilaOrtizpa]

spot on narration of your local photo shop🤍

[@jeffirwin485]

Great episode - the sound of the camera is fantastic.

[@JamesGWall]

Love it. It's made me want to get my film camera back out, I too love that most of the images aren't useable, but they're the shots I love the most.

[@derrickmcbratney8992]

Analog. I started my photography journey on my mom's AE1, that now sits on a shelf in my living room. Great video.

[@Tony16610]

What I love about film photography is it's free from GAS or buying the next best thing that some random KZbin influencer will try to sell you- and once you buy it, it's yours forever! No subscriptions, no annual fees to whatever software that comes with it, no upgrading to the new model since they all do the same thing! I shoot on a Leica M6 with Zeiss glass. The M6 belonged to my father in the 80's and went around the world with him. The Zeiss 35/50 I found in a garage sale and only had enough money (when I was a part time working teen) for one, but the kindly old Korean man gave me the other for free. No electronics to break (the light meter is nice but not essential to it working) and I love hearing the gears and springs and feeling the tension of the film advance lever for each shot. I'll send it off to get clean and lubed and adjusted every 3-5 years but I should have this for decades to come.

[@PerryLevy]

Mazel Tov on the new addition to your family! Thanks for the new video!

[@mtmccornack]

One of my luxuries is a "DNP RX1" high capacity thermal sublimation printer... I originally used for my paparazzi photo-booth but now stays in my office and handles all my 4x6 and 6x8 prints in house! Lets just say our fridge is epic!

[@gabriel_pauli]

Van, you just unlocked one of the best memories I have but haven’t been accessing for so long. Mom always had photography albums under her bed, and I always loved to go there and get them to take a look.

[@BattleMega]

Thank you for making your videos, they always seem to come at the right time to make me do things I want to or need to do.

[@DayneFilm]

Love the love film is getting ☺️

[@Suitrags]

I enjoy 600 slot photo albums as the spread involves 10 photos (6 landscape, 4 portrait). I first separate the horizontals from verticals then sift from there. Keep unused photos for a last minute gift idea after picking up a frame, DATED on the back of course :)

[@TCCR]

I literally had that camera Canon) delivered to me yesterday. Just shot my first roll. Can’t wait to get it developed.

[@sorwerk]

I have no idea why but this vlog made me feel so good, thanks Van

[@LeonardChurch33]

This video could not have come at a better time. I pulled out my film cameras within the last hour for the first time in years.

[@anthonydauer]

I started with a Pentax K1000 taking candids for my high school’s yearbook the 1st semester of my senior year and was able to transition to an independent study with my art teacher and learned how to develop black and white film. Bought a Nikon out of Basic and Advanced Training that I used to capture candids for my fraternity chapter, which I developed at the one-hour photo place I worked at part time. 😎

[@christopher59]

Loveeerrr physical photos … just something about them that holds better memories than digital

[@D.Trider]

Dude- I can one 100% relate to this. Myself wife and I welcomed a baby boy a year ago and it’s been a life changer. But I suppose, if our lives didn’t change, that would be more concerning. Thanks for the video and I’ll look forward to more!

[@MoiseevDmtr]

What a coincidence, I watch your video and make the same album for my son’s fifth birthday)))

[@morrisw4284]

I recently got the little Olympus XA rangefinder :)) Was at my local foto shop today for development and am very excited about how they turn out... and if they do at all. This is the main reason i do it for: the surprise element. If the film is expired or there are mechanical failures with the light seals etc. your film might be "ruined". However there appears to be a quick psychological adaptation: as long as the pictures come out, you are happy. And if they turn out great in your opinion, the way you wished them to be, you are even happier.

[@cheloazulay]

What a Unique Brain. Thanks for sharing your process to everything. Salut.

[@googoogaa100]

Just got all my scans back from the lab. Had film from 2017 through 2023 and it felt like going back into a time capsule of my life. Had shots from college all the way through marriage and first child. Everything was shot of Fuji disposable cameras and a Cannon Sureshot.

[@TentoesMe]

Congratulations! When I was 12, I worked all summer in a camera shop to earn my Kalimar SR 200 camera. I still have it. I shoot digital video now, but there are some things I miss about my completely manual adjustable camera.

[@WonderAboutUs]

Firstly, you're objectively correct, cameras are cool. Secondly, I'm surprised you don't process your own film - it's super fun.

[@arca5200]

I absolutely fell in love with film photography. Last summer, I got my hands on the legendary Canon F-1 (old version) from Japan and started shooting photos, one film roll after another. I chose white borders for my pictures because they really make the images stand out, and it’s also a legacy tribute to my great-grandfather, who was also a photographer and liked white borders. I've got a bunch of cameras, both film and digital, and loads of old photos since photography runs in the family. I make my own albums, keep my developed films and their boxes, and document everything on Obsidian. The best part is the nostalgia and memories those albums bring. I also really enjoy showing them to my family. I wish I could share my hobby with the world. But I can't stand dealing with social media, editing, and trying to please the algorithm.

[@weirdmark]

I had a Mamiya Secor 1000DTL, 1968 dual through the lens metering. It had an average meter and a spot meter. Kinda revolutionary at the time. Also had an Asahi Pentax, Honeywell Pentax in the states, that I gave to a local photographer for her studio display. I was in a photo squadron in Thailand and had film, studio and darkroom access. Those were the days.

[@robertgarland3625]

Great video, Van! One of the best you’ve ever done. Every aesthetic you have in one video

[@UnderstandingHumanity1964]

I just started getting into Film Photography about a week ago and was saying the entire time, “this seems like a Van Neistat activity” and BOOM here we are

[@Crazyguru1996]

Love watching your videos Van, that’s my hobby. I greedily watch them as soon as they come out lol

[@hoytfiles8467]

I have a Canon A1 and love it. Your AE1 sounds like it has the shutter squeak like my A1 did. It’s an easy fix and can be found on KZbin with a simple search.

[@talk.bunkus]

To have a tool capturing some parts of realities is a real gift. Can be a camera, youtube channel, whatever ;)

[@samhardy2038]

Well done. I’m an album guy. Have over 50 containing 300 pictures each. I find them at Goodwill. Best brands are Pioneer and Holsom. Shoot on.

[@kristobaljunta]

Blacking out the meter scale on the lens... most American thing to do, probably Great video, as it always is!

[@RhettAnderson]

That's a great camera. I have that and several of the other FD mount Canons. I bought my first one when it came out. So glad to see people enjoying film. I also had the original Stylus for taking photos of my kids when they were small (and moved fast). My daughter has it now.

[@GettingNegative]

You’d probably like the build of a light tight negative book/box. You could put your print sleeves in those. Try it out.

[@GxAce]

People seem to forget that photography should be fun. Perhaps give larger formats a try and shoot slide film. You can make really cool displays out of them since they are not negatives. You can back-light them in a diy frame and it looks super cool. Cheers. Hit me up if you ever want to borrow a camera.

[@DiscountSeanConnery]

You captured my feelings on film perfectly! Great video.

[@MichaelJLong]

Excellent and efficient story telling. 🙌 I’ve been picking up FD lenses recently. I think I’ve finally settled on the 24 f2.8, 50 f1.4, and 100mm f2.8 Super Spectra Coating versions. Pure gold.

[@kw7878]

I had a AE1 as a first camera. They are great cameras. I always used canon in my professional career. The whole Canon vs Nikon is like Ford vs Chevy, it's all personal preference or how you were brought up.

[@crazicat]

Good video Van. I started with roll film cameras bought at garage sales. Canon AE1 was my first good camera. Then moved on to Nikon F3hp although the Nikon FM ended up as my favorite. Had my own BW darkroom for years. Sold it all for enough to get one used digital set up, film was fun but don't see me ever going back to it.

[@smuggphoto]

the biggest flex here isn't shooting film but the 4 film boxes fitting perfectly in the trim (+1000 for the Olympus stylus/mju-ii; used to have one but gave it to the sister)

[@greggoldman893]

Go figure, van digs manual, arcane, tangible process! Rock on!

[@Jazzthink]

On the money this one.. Pure joy

[@patmcdonnell7784]

Great video Van. I love the AE-1. It was one of my first cameras. Mine was Black too. It sounds like your AE-1 has what's been coined the Canon Cough. Its an easy fix w/ a lil oil in the right place. It softens that squeak. Cheers man.

[@yannicnoack5389]

Film: complicating the now trivial, inviting you to actually think about the photo three times (When you buy the film, when you press the shutter button and when you receive the developed products) and giving you the haptic bless of an experience one can only get from either guns, cameras or post-war mechanical toys. I used to be obsessed. Today I realise it was just for the emotional outcome of opening the envelope and feeling like a child during Christmas. But that does not subtract from the happy moments I had while it lasted. Thank you Van, for the artform one might call "content".

[@fastestoneliner]

I had a Canon A1. The Canon F1 was the pro targeted camera. The A1 had more helper features, because it was for armatures, hence the A. I believe AE stood for Amateur Entry. The pros ended up buying the A series as second cameras and loved them just as much. I also use to get my prints in matt with borders, made it look more art like. Without white boarders the developer cuts a bit of the image off. I had lens filters and all sorts of stuff. The whole kit got stolen. When I was a late teen there was a photo developer next the the cafe my Anuti owned and knew the owner. The owner showed me how the prints where developed. This is where I learnt about pushing light, and how you push the exposure in post development. And that certain films popped more colour than others. Most chemists use standard exposure settings based on the film. The independent developers would adjust under exposed shots and even sharpen out of focus subjects, if they knew the photographer was a student, or armature. Would have been one of the most interesting jobs. Seeing photos of everyone's life all day long. That's all gone now.

[@calvinhesson]

Hey Van, I know you aren’t a huge fan of social media so hopefully you stumble across this message. I just wanted to share a quick story with you. I have a four year old little girl. She’s just like me. What I’ve noticed from watching your videos is that I find myself thinking that I’m just like YOU. Many similarities, interests, thought processes, ect. I’m even a huge Land Cruiser fan. I e shown your videos to my wife and she couldn’t believe some of the similarities, the object visualizer was a big one. Anyway, I have that four year old. We recently went on our first family road trip, Hamilton Ontario Canada to Orlando Florida. We did it all. I’m a big fan of capturing the moment so I brought my Fiji instax SQ6 with me. Between that and my phone camera I think. I did pretty well. I had a ton printed off and my daughter and I made our first photo album. The funny part of this is that while we were away I found myself wishing I still had a 35mm film camera. I did some research one night in our hotel room and found that the AE-1 seemed to be the most popular. As soon as we got home I bought one. The next week you made this video. The coincidence seemed mind blowing to me. I’ve had a ton of fun with my camera, and even bought my daughter a Kodak H35 N so she can learn it too. The ending to this not so short story is that to get her feeling creative, we’ve started watching this video every night. “Can we watch the camera video?” She makes my wife watch it with her now too. She’s gotten into all of your stuff. We just watched “screws” and the first thing she said was “he gots a shop just like us!”. We have a little wood shop that we build in the garage together. Tonight while watching this video once again, she started talking along with you. She knows it off by heart. I’m not sure if you’ll happen to see this, but I just wanted to say thank you for helping bring my daughter and I little bit closer than we already were. Im sure four year olds aren’t your target audience, but I thought it might make you happy knowing that impact that you actually have on people. Thanks again. Take care. Calvin and Effie Hesson.

[@TheAnnaNo]

All the best for your family!

[@bensidsaph4349]

I managed to find a free photography course at my local collage, it’s in the evenings and doesn’t cost me anything, I am on my 3rd course now

[@cape3015]

Van's advice is spot on if you're a newcomer to photography. Don't go out and buy an SLR like the Canon AE-1 right away just becasue that's what you see everybody else shooting. Go buy a Point & Shoot. Pick a brand. They are all pretty descent. The Olympus Stylus is a great camera, but KZbinrs have inflated the prices on this camera. I imagine the price went up even higher since Van mentioned it 😂 Anyhow, get a Point and Shoot and spend time working on finding nice things to photograph and working on your "eye". You can learn all the technical stuff as you progress but if you don't train your eye it won't matter how good the camera is down the road.

[@exquisitearc8498]

Congrats on the baby!

[@rhettlanders920]

Je t’aime Van Neistat le monde est rond lorsque je vois les vidéos. Merci

[@BryceDearden]

I’m 25 but I’m in my 8th year of film photography. I love going to the lab, feels like my Cheers when I walk in there.

[@revaaron]

15 years in shooting 1-10 rolls of (most) medium format a month. Still in love with it. I have a roll that I just finished 20 minutes ago to drop off and 4 there to pick up

[@revaaron]

I have a notebook that I keep notes on every roll (loaded/expired/type/iso shot at), the date, the settings, and the subject. So Ic an correlate them and improve.

[@ChrisBrogan]

I wanted to say, I really love how you promote the Patreon. It's a really smart way to get people over from the free. Also, now you've got me thinking about film. Damn it. You're expensive! ;)

[@doradix97]

1:19 To whom it may concern: It's of no importance if you are "good" or "bad" at a hobbie, the beauty about it is loving it😊. You'll inevitably end up developing your own style. Plus, if it is published, the public for it will eventually come to you😌

[@TheRocketN00b]

We have the same camera. I've had it since I was in my late teens, maybe 20 years old.

[@felipelibano8512]

I have the same baby bottle. Good stuff.

[@extremelydave]

You have to be a special kind of person to enjoy film photography these days with everyone going digital. Film just has a different aura to it. When you get your film back, it almost requires you take the time to enjoy the shots you got right. I do both film and digital and it is 2 very different worlds. Love them both.

[@jdogmcnasty1980]

Im wanting to revive our old Nikon N65 that kicked us (wife and I) off after we first got married. We’re taking an extended family vacation this year, mountains then the beach. Some OG film photos sound like a plan

[@greggoldman893]

Congratulations!!!

[@havaac]

Love it, Van! Much love!

[@pda1799]

Fantastic, analog video.

[@mrkoolzaad2]

Best voice over in the field.

[@inhousefilms_]

Congratulations on the new human!

[@Cesoide_]

Dude, the audio is awesome

[@marekzelinka1657]

Hi Van, I love film photography as well mainly because I feel more present in the moment or just more mindful of the ligthing conditions. Also having some weird beautiful camera with me just feels really nice. Camera that you might like is the Rollei 35, which is weird compact manual shooter. I love mine, goes on every trip with me.

[@mr_mr]

This is it. It's also a durable little thing (smallest 35mm camera too). Love this xamera

[@marekzelinka1657]

@@mr_mr I belive Olympus XA is slightly smaller, but surely isn't as beautiful as Rollei.

[@mr_mr]

@@marekzelinka1657 ah good point. You're most likely right.. The Rollei was the smallest at the time when it was made. It was marketed for professionals to have a compact camera I think.

[@crwn_munkz]

Might have to send it back for a cla... sounds like the classic AE-1 squeeky shutter.

[@TheSmartestManonEarth]

Its crazy how the things we neglect can be the things we love most

[@daverizz]

Oh I so totally wanted to see the shelf with all the new uniform albums lined up! I feel so incompleted!

[@spwaff.]

1:17 did that box say mochie things? i’m literally about to by something from them right now. something i’ve been wanting for years. if this isn’t a sign, idk what is!!😮

[@juliafranch7848]

I love how you said you have no clue what you're doing and still use porta, nice hahaha

[@f0t0b0y]

I’m using a Canon 24mm FD S.S.C. on vacation and getting insane shots.

[@thenexthobby]

The AE-1 Program has a “gotcha.” If you go full manual the meter shows how it would have exposed had you not gone full manual. The A-1 was the only A series model capable of full auto exposure with a meter that recognized any manual mode. I’m partial to the AT-1, all manual with old skool match needle metering. But for full auto shooting the AE-P can’t be beat.

[@starypes7595]

if you get 1 or 2 per roll which are pretty good, you can be more than happy haha. that's how it works with film. and good selection of films you bought btw!

[@N2YTA]

Now and again, I think about getting a film camera. I had a Pentax MX, it was completely manual with through the lens metering. One of these days I'll get another one. I also really like black and white photography, so if I do it, I'll get the equipment to at least develop my own negatives.

[@PawelNiksa]

My favourite reason was that every film had different properties. Even when you used 2 COLOUR rolls, because there were from two different companies, their colours would have different hues, intensity, look of the grain, and differently react to light. As an amateur, who only used a few films in my life, so I never knew what to expect after receiving unfamiliar film from the store. The other reason was the time you have to wait - you take the shot and you're not sure if it came out ok. You might take another one for safety, but the limit of frames makes you think much harder before you press the shutter again, so in most cases you just move on to another location. You have to wait until you shoot all the roll, then you wait for the film to be developed. In my case, it could take more than a month. I like the feeling of uncertainty when I build up a collection of pictures in the camera, but cannot see them. It makes me work harder for each frame to be better (composition, light intensity, shadows, subject etc.) And last but not least - the sound of the mechanical shutter from my Olympus OM-2n. The feeling of the working mechanism after each press of a shutter button. Love it so much!

[@scotthibbard5746]

Thanks for the video Van! Hey, a friendly FYI…. I purchased the Canon A-1 a week ago. When I released the shutter I noticed a squeal. I noticed the same sound yours is making when you released your shutter. It’s an easy fix.

[@CMKSDO]

^^This! It will extend the life of your camera too. Literally just did it myself last week to an AE-1 Program I came to inherit. undo a few screws to remove the bottom plate, and a few well-placed drops of sewing machine oil, and it will fix right up. just search for AE1-Program shutter squeal/shutter whine and there's plenty of online guides/YT tutorials

[@GettingNegative]

Welcome to my rabbit hole sir, it’s a fun place. All my videos are tethered to that light tight machine! 25 years and runnin.

[@ArtAndPrevailing]

you really made me think here, and i posted this on twitter: does anyone print their photos anymore? are you like me - take a ton of digital shots thinking i'll go back and look at 3yrs ago - but you don't. you think "i'll print them" - but you don't. all those artifacts of my life are lost in the cloud.

[@clavius5734]

Same here, I’ve had the idea to do albums with photos of my kids, but never seem to be able to sit down and make a selection. It’s the amount of pictures we took in that time; it’s just too daunting.

[@inhousefilms_]

As I'm watching this my Mju & F4 are on the shelf staring at me, wondering if I still love them.

[@melanybahl]

And just like that I regret getting rid of my manual cameras in my twenties.

[@gilgoncalves2304]

You made me willing to get my camera again!

[@paulanthony1689]

That's my film camera!

[@FrankDavalos]

Loved this Van 🙏

[@alexbrookins396]

I love and agree with all of the reasons in this video. Film feels and looks infinitely better, I just wish it wasn't $50+ per roll to do the entire process (cost of roll + develop + scans and prints) you showed here. I make a book of our family photos every year as gifts for everyone and just completed year 4. They started off film heavy and are now a nice mix with digital.

[@karenburns9952]

Congratulations especially for your son, I bet he loves his sibling

[@ronniesunshine1163]

I’ve been trying to figure out how to create photo albums with my digital photos, without diving into a whole bunch of graphic design. Social media sucks and I don’t want my photos public. Currently I just keep them in time stamped folders. But they’re hidden away. They sorted by name or date. It’s not intuitive. It feels lifeless. Not sure what the answer is yet but this reminded me how great photo albums are

[@jacobtheape]

grats on the baby

[@Fiwistphotography1]

The number one reason I love film photography is "object permanence" Something about film makes it feel more real. One day I'll be gone but these little strips of highly flammable cellulose will somehow outlast me.

[@olsonspeed]

Film was a bitter sweet relationship, the deal breaker was having a careless film processer destroy an entire 36 exposure, vacation roll. New to me Nikon F5 on shelf waiting patiently.

[@cesarcamacho1368]

You are just too great.

[@neloproductions]

the photo albums are cool!!!!