My analoge Nikon film camera

The camera model

A few days ago I was invited to a wedding. The bride and groom had asked me to take some photos. Beforehand, I went into my basement and got out my father’s analog film camera. I went straight to the nearest Rossmann store (a German drugstore) to get a new black and white film so that I could take an incredible amount of 36 photos.

The film development

The entire process, from taking the photos to receiving the finished image on paper, has become much more complex compared to using a digital camera. Now, I repeatedly spend seven or eight euros (depending on whether it’s a color or black-and-white film) to buy a new roll of film with 36 photos. And only when the entire roll is fully shot can I take it to a DM store (a German drugstore) so it can be developed in their photo labs, which takes about three weeks and costs nearly 10€. If there are particularly good pictures that someone else might want as well, I can put the negatives back in an envelope, mark the desired images, and have more prints made. So far, I’ve only had negatives and prints made. For the future, I’m considering having the photos delivered digitally (via cloud), so I don’t have to digitize them myself, though the quality of the results tends to vary. But that may be because I suck at digitalizing film.

Developing film means waiting

I’ve also learned not to have my film developed at Rossmann (another wide spread drugstore in Germany). Perhaps it was just two unfortunate incidents, but I dropped off two rolls of film at different times at the Rossmann in Gescher, and in both cases, I had to wait more than six weeks before I could pick up the finished prints and negatives. While the waiting time at DM was also three weeks, that’s at least only half as long.

At a wedding, I shot two rolls of film. Interestingly, I wasn’t the only one with an analog camera, as my cousin also had one that she brought along. She has her films developed at a photo lab in Berlin. So, that’s another option I have, and I’ll definitely try it out next time when I have two or three rolls to develop. At the end of August, something is sure to happen that’s worth capturing on film. What exactly that will be, you’ll find out here.