Guides and Tutorials

72 Film Photography Lessons and Theory Explainers

How to Retrieve a 35mm Film Leader
With HCL Film Picker 4 + Other Tools and Methods
December 11, 2025
A film picker (a.k.a. film leader retriever) is easy to overlook when shopping for home development supplies. However, it’s an essential gadget for saving time and money, and avoiding frustration. In this guide, I’ll explain how and why you should use a film picker. I’ll also show you a few ways to get your film out without one.
New! Save
How to Make Better Photos According to Science
What the Latest Research in Psychology Tells Us About Making Impactful Images
December 9, 2025
Photography is part art, part science. Traditionally, the empirical approach has been reserved for the design and operation of cameras. Unfortunately, the art of photography is often left to the word of authority (which can act as a gatekeeper) and guesswork. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In this article, I will review some of the latest studies, experiments, and findings that explain what makes our brains prefer certain types of images and apply that to the art of photography.
GOLDNew! Save
Top 10 Film Stocks According to 293 Photographers
A 2025 Film Log Report
December 2, 2025
“What are the most popular photographic films sold and used today?” seems like a basic question that should be easy to answer; however, it is not. I combed through the anonymized entries from the Film Log app to reveal the top 10 most popular films amongst photographers from 40+ countries and hundreds of film varieties (nearly 600 brands) logged since 2022, and compiled them into this list by distribution. This is the most accurate/dependable list of top photographic films on the internet!
GOLD Save
How to Make a Pinhole Camera
Easy (5min), Advanced (Day Projects), and Beyond!
October 21, 2025
Whereas most online resources will loosely demonstrate an idea and basic construction, many omit key steps needed to actually take a photo with a pinhole camera or are so dense that they are split into several hard-to-find web pages and tools. This guide fixes that with complete instructions for several levels of pinhole construction, from a simple 5-minute project to multi-day creative adventures. Featuring: paper shutters, sugar lens, and a scary pumpkin. 🎃
GOLD Save
How to Fix Expired Slide Film Colours
Automatically in Batches or Manually With Free Software
September 30, 2025
This guide will show you how to process your expired slide film scans to look as they were originally intended, using two approaches: automatic (with film Q) and manual (with any photo-editing app).
Save
How to Fix Film Ejection Mechanism in Polaroid SX-70
At Home With Minimal Tools
August 12, 2025
This article shares relatively simple, illustrated instructions for diagnosis and two separate repair tips to fix the broken ejection mechanism on Polaroid SX-70 cameras at home. Expect lots of detailed photos, close-ups, and instructions for testing the repairs for a reliable operation for years to come.
GOLD Save
Halation in Film Photography, Explained
A Physical Phenomenon, an Artifact on Film, and a Creative Effect
July 23, 2025
Film is an imperfect, physical medium. In the post-perfectionist world, where clinical image accuracy is relatively easy to achieve, film artifacts are now valued for their expressive potential and unique, one-of-one renderings of the real world. Halation is one such artifact, which I will explain and discuss at length in this mini-guide.
Save
Harman Phoenix C-41 Reversal Process (Rodinal)
I Tested 7 Recipes for HARMAN PHOENIX SLIDE FILM With C-41 and Rodinal
July 16, 2025
Harman Phoenix 200 is the company’s first colour-negative film in over five decades¹. Using the most common developer chemicals found in film photographers’ bathrooms, you can develop it as a slide film! Beware: this is an experimental technique for an experimental emulsion.
Save
A Beginner’s Guide to Film Photography
2nd, “200 Years of Film Photography!” Edition
June 17, 2025
Film photography is easy, but it’s more fun if you know what you’re doing! This beginner-friendly guide goes beyond the basics and is available as an illustrated read and a 73-page printable PDF book. The guide covers everything you need to get started and excel with a film camera in a digital world. Including the historical context, current culture, money-saving advice, and tips for better results with modern tools.
GOLD Save
All Photographic Film Sold Today
Sortable, Searchable List With Real-Time Updates
June 7, 2025
This page sources the incredibly comprehensive list of film stocks currently in production from Wikipedia and arranges it in an easy-to-parse table with real-time updates, a compact layout, sortable columns, and a search field.
Save
Are TIFF Scans Worth It?
May 22, 2025
TIFF files are much larger than JPEGs. They often cost more if you scan your film at a lab. But are they worth all that extra storage and dollars? This guide features a simple-to-follow decision tree and an in-depth explanation of the popular digital image formats.
Save
How to Overexpose Film
Pick the Right Film, Meter for (Over)Exposure, and Fix Colour Shifts
May 20, 2025
This guide will help you understand why and when overexposure is appropriate, which films to overexpose, how to overexpose your photos without destroying them, and how to scan and edit overexposed frames.
GOLD Save
The Redscale Film Guide
A Simple Analogue Technique for Styling Your Frames in Red + More Colours
April 1, 2025
If colour film is inserted with the emulsion side facing away from the lens, it will create darker, red-dominant images. That’s redscaling. This guide explains how this works, where to find redscale film, how you can make your own, and a special trick to get even more colours.
GOLD Save
Can You Scan Film Without Changing Its Look?
And Other Film Digitization Questions Answered
March 24, 2025
The opaque nature of scanning software makes comparing film stocks and understanding the results of different exposures, colour filters, and film brands unreliable. This guide introduces a technique for consistent and predictable film negative inversion. It also answers a few questions about scanning film, starting with an explanation of why it may not be possible to create an image from a film negative without interpreting/changing the colours, whether one film stock can be digitally edited to look like another, what may be the technical advantage of shooting film if it’s going to be scanned with a digital camera, and whether it’s possible to tell if an image was shot on film or digitally.
Save
Members’ Handbook
What You Get With Your GOLD Membership
February 20, 2025
Thank you for joining the Analog.Cafe GOLD membership program! You are supporting a small, ad-free, privacy-friendly independent publisher. This handbook summarizes all the things you get in return for your patronage.
Save
How to Make Sharper Photos on Film
23 Ranked Tools and Techniques for All Skills and Budgets
December 10, 2024
Photographs that show great detail, even when examined up close, can enhance the viewing experience. Images shot on film with vintage cameras can produce enormous amounts of sharpness and resolution — but that’s not necessarily the default, even if you’re wielding a premium point-and-shoot. These 23 tools and techniques summarize some of the most effective ways to improve sharpness and resolution in your film photography. They’re ranked based on their potential and include practical advice with appropriate references.
GOLD Save
How to Service the Nikon F2 Photomic Metered Prisms
A Simple Way to Fix Inacurate Meters
December 5, 2024
Nikon F2 Photomic metered prisms are beautiful and sturdy like the rest of the camera but are prone to issues. Perhaps the most common fault on the nearly indestructible Nikon F2 cameras is a malfunctioning metered prism. I’ve seen many copies sold with the readings off by a few stops. In this short guide, I’ll explain what may be causing this problem and how to fix this issue at home.
GOLD Save
How to Edit Film Scans
Bring the Best Out of Your Film
October 24, 2024
This course will teach you the nuances of colour balance and a few simple methods for applying colour corrections. You will learn how to get the best colours and detail out of your film scans and how to draw viewer’s attention to your photos through editing without going too far.
GOLD Save
Shooting Northern Lights on Film
No Screens, No Distractions: Just You and the Nature
October 11, 2024
Learn to pick the most appropriate film cameras, lenses, and accessories for photographing northern lights, select the best films for the job, understand your exposure settings, and how to apply appropriate development and scanning techniques for the cleanest results on film.
GOLD Save
How to Remove Remjet & Develop Cinema Film in C-41
Also, What Is Remjet?
October 10, 2024
Kodak is the world’s leading producer of colour-negative film, but not all of it is meant for still cameras. In this guide, we’ll examine Kodak’s cinema film options, what makes them unique, how to use them in still cameras (your regular rangefinder/TLR/SLR), and how to develop them at home or in a lab.
Save