Should you have your wedding shot on film?

The short answer is YES! However, with the caveat of changing the question slightly to, “Should I have my photographer shoot some shots on film during my wedding day?”

This post will help you understand why I take the stance of only having a handful of film photography photos taken at your wedding day. There’s a lot to cover, so I’ll try to keep this post at the 30,000 foot overview of the topic and then add more specific blogs about individual topics in case you want to do a deeper dive.

Pros of Film Photography:

Unique look and feel
Controls highlights better than digital

Cons of Film Photography:

Slower to use
Potential Issues with film
Waiting period
Expensive film as well a development/scan costs
Film cameras are less reliable
Lack of photo manipulation in post production
Less detail in the photos
More shots wasted on unflattering faces (talking, closed eyes, etc.)

What type of film photography is best suited to a wedding day? 35mm film is the king/queen of wedding photography since it has the most shots per roll of film. The downside to 35mm is that it’s a smaller film type than medium format. So generally less detail captured on 35mm which limits how large you can/should print your wedding photos. A 35mm film camera gets 36 photos per roll, which is the reason it’s the more ideal wedding day camera.

Medium format is my personal favorite type of film camera to bring on a wedding day. Medium format cameras generally take 120 film which is almost twice the size of 35mm. The downside to medium format is that while you get larger images with more detail, each roll of film only gets you 8, 10 or 12 photos based on the type of medium format camera you use.

Shot at the Woodlands, Morrison, CO on a Hasselblad 501C

Film is just slower to use in general, no matter what type of camera your photographer uses. After each shot, the photog must wind the camera to advance the film. While the winding/film advance motion isn’t lengthy, its still much slower than digital. After the roll of film is done, the photographer must also rewind the film back into the canister, open the back, remove and store the film cartridge, then spool and load the new roll into the camera. This can take up to 5 minutes. This is also the reason that prior to digital photography, most wedding photographers has assistants and multiple cameras who had one job the entire day….. to load film. In the digital realm, 256 gigabyte memory cards are under $100 and can store anywhere from 2,500 to 6,500 photos in the card (depending on the type of camera used). That eliminated the task and time spent removing, storing and putting new cards in the camera.

The other area that comes into play when talking about speed with film is the fact that most photographers prefer fully manual film cameras. Since basically all film cameras a antiques since digital came out, the more working parts in a film camera increases the risk of the camera breaking. To mitigate some of that risk, most photographers will shoot on a manual focus, manual aperture and manual shutter speed camera since they require zero batteries and less moving parts. Manual everything increases the time spent on each shot.

Film does control the highlights in a photo slightly better, which is a huge benefit to film. Most weddings take place during the day with pretty harsh light, so controlling the highlights is a pro for sure. However, digital can capture a lot of detail in both the highlights and especially the shadows of a photo. So most photogs will expose for the highlights, then bring the shadows up in post. So this pro of film isn’t as much of a concern.

Reliability is probably the biggest factor a couple should be worried about. Film cameras aren’t produced anymore outside of the disposable cameras and instant cameras (think Polaroid). So it’s becoming harder and harder to find repair shops to work on film cameras. While the shops do exist, they’re usually 4+ months backlogged on work, so if a film camera goes down it’ll be down and out of work for a long time. Plus people, especially photographers themselves, aren’t used to troubleshooting film cameras. Since we’ve all switched to digital photography as a primary tool, we know less about the film cameras that we love. That trend will continue to worsen as the people who own and work in shops age out of working.

Film malfunction on my Mamiya RB67 Medium Format Film Camera. Looks kinda vintage and unique, but ruins the composition and intended photo

Outside of the cameras themselves failing to work correctly on a wedding day, the film can also have issues itself. I’ve run into random and unexplainable light leaks, film jams and such shutter buttons. Light leaks and other film issues are the big issue since the photographer won’t likely know theres an issue until it’s developed and scanned 3-4 weeks after the wedding happens. Digital gives the photographer and the couple the peace of mind in 99% of reliability since digital cameras give instant feedback on photos as well as a preview before the shutter is even touched.

So in conclusion, Film is a great addition to your wedding day. My advice though is don’t make it a large priority or play too heavy of a roll in your big day. If I were getting married myself, I’d hire a photographer who shoots on 2 digital cameras and then has a 35mm film camera for certain parts of the day. I’d look at the film as an add on package, not a primary package.

Feel free to reach out with any questions that you may have. Also be on the lookout for the deeper dives into each topic in the near future!