With the first camera being released to the public in the late 1800’s from Kodak, we’ve had the concept of photography to our disposal for generations upon generations. As time has passed, camera technology has progressed at a rapid rate. When we were first introduced to the camera, the thought of freezing a single moment in time was almost unimaginable. Fast forward over a hundred years or so, we now treat photography as a casual expression of creativity and communication, while still pushing the boundaries that, at one time confined us. With apps like Instagram and Snapchat, it can be argued that we don’t appreciate a lot of the subtleties that come with composing an image.
Ironically, in the last ten years or so, we’ve begun to romanticize the “nostalgic” nature of older, vintage photographs. This ends up happening in the same way we obsess over thrifting, record shopping, and now, film photography. As a result of this romanticization of nostalgia, there has been a rapid increase in those who’ve decided to pick up a 35mm camera to get that unique look to their photos. There is more to shooting on film than just buying the film and camera however. Shooting on film all begins with properly loading the film into your camera. While this point seems to be overlooked as it is seemingly “easy” to do, if the film isn’t properly loaded, you’ve just wasted anywhere between four to twenty dollars on a roll of film. Don’t fret, I’m here to break down the five steps to loading 35mm film into your film camera! |
Our first step might seem easy at first glance, however, it is once again, a pivotal point to getting the best results out of your film photography.
Start by picking your film, knowing your film, and most importantly, knowing the ins and outs of your camera. If there is anything you take away from this article, it should be that every roll and type of film is different. |
The only thing that is consistent with each 35mm camera, is that the film is loaded through the back of the camera. As far as getting the back of the camera open, I suggest you toy around with the camera, pressing buttons and pulling levers, one of them is bound to reveal where you need to load the film. After you’ve gotten the backside of the camera open, you should be able to identify which side the film canister will fit into. The opposite side should have some kind of gear system that you will feed the leader of the film into.
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While every design of a roll of 35mm is consistent, the camera loading process is not. For example, I have three 35mm cameras at the moment, and every one of them loads film differently. With old-school cameras like the famous Canon AE-1, the loading process is entirely manual. While every “point-and-shoot” camera I’ve come into contact with, has an automatic winding and rewinding mechanism in the camera.
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Once you’ve got the leader into the winding mechanism and close the back of the camera, you will either have to wind the film to the first frame, or the camera will wind the film itself automatically.
As I’d said previously, each camera works differently, and has a different loading system. If you are working with a camera that is more state-of-the-art, chances are that once you close the back of the camera, the film be automatically wound and ready to shoot. |
In the case that you need to wind the film yourself, you’ll need to pull the lever on the side of the camera you fed the leader into, and click the shutter button. You’ll need to do this three times to properly advance the roll to where it is ready to shoot. Every camera has its own patent system, especially when it comes to different brands.
So at this point in the process, researching your specific camera is going to be your best course of action. While the exact locations on each camera will differ slightly, the overall winding system will have the same general execution of winding the film. In case you were wondering what the winding mechanism does, this is what allows the film to be advanced out of the roll, onto the mirror image, and then thirty six images later, all rewound back into the roll, ready for development. |
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