Shoot Like a Film Photographer - With Your Digital Camera

Just for a day

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Do you like the idea of trying film photography but don't want to buy a camera and film and all that entails?

Here is an experiment you might like to try, shoot your digital camera as if it were a film camera for a day. You may find it incredibly frustrating but stick at it, I'll bet you learn something new from the effort.

To start with you will need to set up your camera, you may need to dig in to the menus for this. For this experiment we will be trying to replicate the experience of using a manual SLR and shooting one roll of film. That means that you will be limited to 36 exposures. No deleting frames, even if you think you made a mistake. The 36 shots must be consecutive (no cheating).

As far as your choice of lens goes, I suggest using just one - a normal prime lens. There's no reason not to use a zoom lens but most film photographers prefer to use primes.

So, let's get to it... Here are the settings (or perhaps non-settings?) that you will be using...

• Turn off all auto functions, including Auto ISO and Auto White Balance.
• Turn off the rear screen! Leave the rear screen off for the duration, absolutely no peeking at image previews or histograms.
• Turn on Single Point Focus. You will only be using one focus point, the middle one.
• Turn off Auto Focus... Manual focusing only.
• Put the camera into Manual Mode.
• Put your light meter into Centre Weighted Metering mode.
• Pick one ISO (I suggest 400) and use it for the entire 36 shots.
• Set your white balance to something appropriate for the conditions.

So, now that your camera is set up it's time to start shooting.

You have only two variables to worry about: shutter speed and aperture. I suggest ISO 400 as it's quite versatile and user friendly. You could use 100 or 200 but don't go over 800. Whichever you choose, don't change it until your "roll" is finished.

Instead of moving your focus point on to your subject, use only the middle focus point and then recompose the shot. For example, if you are taking a portrait and you want to focus on the subject's closest eye, focus on the eye and then move the camera to frame the shot correctly. That is how we do it when we don't have 55 focus points to choose from, focus then compose.

No chimping. Don't look at your photos at any point until you are finished and back at home. For a more authentic experience, don't look at them for a week ;)

After you have taken each shot, instead of looking at the rear screen, look at the world around you. Enjoy your surroundings.

Send me a comment and let me know how it went for you. Did you hate it or find it fun? Did you learn something, even if you learned that you never want to do it again?

How many "keepers" did you get?