Useful iPhone apps for analogue film photography

Lately I am shooting analogue almost exclusively, trying to get unplugged. But since my old trusty iPhone 4s (IOS 8.1) is always with me I decided to try several apps to see if they can be useful for a film photography.

I completely dismissed image manipulating / organizing apps and focused only on those that, supposedly, can help with shooting film. After spending $ and time I have to say that majority of apps are just waste. But not all.
So here is my pick listed in order of typical photo workflow.

Unplugged

Here goes: my full frame camera, new ipad and memory cards...

Back to basics :)

Cheers!
vk

Why Film?

Folks, let me state from the very beginning, I don’t want to start any debates film vs digital, everything below is just my opinion. 

Any modern digital camera can easily out resolve the film, and a full frame (135mm) camera, like Nikon D810 paired with superb  Zeiss Otus, will beat the cr* out of any medium format or even large format film cameras. Obviously a great shooting discipline and post processing skills are required to pull out the best from the modern sensors. Digital cameras are also fast, provide instant feedback and the number of photos one can take is only limited by the size of storage, and storage is reusable. With many filters available (DxO, Nik, Topaz, etc etc etc) you can simulate the film “look” with few extra clicks. Why bother with real film?

Hasselblad 500 C/M, CF Distagon 50/4 T*, Kodak 400TX

Long time ago I realized that my pursuit for more details, more accurate colours, low noise or better dynamic range is pointless because it is not what always makes a great photo.

Back to film in new year?

Last weekend I scanned some of  my old negatives and slides that were taken about 10-12 years ago, just before I got my first digital camera. Back then I was using a lot of old cameras, expired films and cheap lenses. I didn't have auto-this and auto-that and enjoyed the simplicity of old mechanical cameras and manual focus lenses. It was so much fun like I never had after with any of digital cameras or, may be, I was just twelve years younger :)

 Christmas CAT. Nikon FM2. Fuji Velvia 50.

I was using Epson V700 and SilverFast 8 SE to scan everything from 35 mm to 4x5. Enjoy!

Background

It all started around 1984 when I got my first camera, then I developed my first film, then I printed my first picture in the darkroom and ... my life had changed forever. Since then photography has become my biggest passion in life. I had and still have some great lenses and cameras, anything from old 4x5 view cameras to modern full frame DSLRs. I am brand agnostic and using whatever camera is available or feels right for the moment.

From '80s. ICA A-G DRESDEN (old German camera circa 1912), 9 x 12 cm glass plate. Inspired by Joseph Sudek.

And few more photos.