I have always wanted to meet people who have the same interest as me: people who still adore film photography. Sadly, I don’t really have anyone around me who still shoot film and like talking about film.

My friends who are into photography cannot understand why I want to use film medium. They were shocked I spend SGD400 on a film camera but they didn’t even bat an eyelid when they bought a digital camera body which costs SGD2000.

Also sadly, they now ‘categorised’ me as uncool (If you are reading this, no it is not you because you are interested and asked me a lot of film questions instead of shunting off). Which is fine because I’d rather be happy doing what I like than to be the norm.

Then, Instagram came along and it became my lifesaver because it helps to connect me with other film enthusiasts.

Singapore film meet

The two main organisers: Tsun Hao and Izdiyad, organised their second Singapore film meet on 26th March 2017. I missed the first because it was a weekday and I had to work.

That day, more than 10 people turned up. We chatted, and found that the most common reason why we shoot film is because we like the look of film. Everyone knows a lot about film photography too. After talking to them, I feel that my knowledge about film photography is so shallow. I have so much more to learn!

On camera repair

Previously I blog about repairing film camera in Singapore. It turned out that they know a more reliable and delicate master. His name is Phillip Tay and his shop/station is situated near Paya Lebar.

Address: 511 Guillemard Road #01-47 Grandlink Square Singapore 399849

Call to make appointment first. Just google his name + camera repair, his website will come up. 

On black & white photography

I have shot 2 rolls of black & white films: Ilford Pan 400 and Kodak Tmax 400. Both results turned out bad and I didn’t like them. After some discussion, Izdiyad highly recommend me to do self-developing at home. It is super easy and cheap!

The reason why my black & white is bad is partly because of the developing lab (Trippppppleeeee Deee). Well, I haven’t blog about it before because I didn’t want to say: they actually scratched my films!

Anyway, I also blog about how to save money while shooting film. One of the sections mentioned that developing film at home might not be cheap. I am wrong. Developing black & white at home is definitely cheaper! I will blog about it once I successfully learn the technique. So stay tuned.

On minimising expenses on film photography

Following from the point above, I would like to add on that you can really save a lot more money if you know where to find resources.

For example, you can get bulk film from B&H online store. Bulk film is where you buy a long roll of film, like how you buy cloth to make clothes. Then you have to cut the film yourself (in the dark) and slot them into the canister, etc. So Tsun Hao did that and managed to reduce the price of black & white film to SGD2 per roll. He also bought film from Taobao. Super cheap!

On flash

I have tried shooting with my camera in-built flash. To be honest, I always screwed it up because I don’t know how to control the flash. Hence making my subject overexposed. During the film meet, they were playing with flash on film and digital. I was amazed at the effect.

Moreover, I have always like Izdiyad’s photos with flash I saw on his Instagram. Now, I am determined to source for a cheap flash so I can expand my limit to also shoot at night or dimmed condition.

Conclusion

Overall, this film meet was very fun where a bunch of film photography enthusiasts meet up to shoot together. After that, we sat down together and chatted. It’s a rare occasion where I actually get to chat about film!

So, if you found my blog and is feeling lonely in shooting film, join us! You can contact me via this blog, social media or you can follow Izdiyad or Tsun Hao’s Instagram and contact them directly.

Hope to see you in the next Singapore film meet!

 

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