While an iPhone offers an exceptional, cheap option of capturing photographs, film photography is the original. 35mm film was popularized throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s with everyone that owned a camera. Around the 1980’s, disposable cameras were used daily so kids could photograph their summer without their parents help. Fuji released the “Quicksnap,” a $10 disposable 35mm film camera, in the spring of 1987.
Film’s popularity was short-lived in the 2000’s. Many film brands and certain stocks were going out of date and no longer popular. For example, Kodachrome, a 35mm film stock introduced in 1935, was discontinued in 2009 because of declining demand.
Today, film is coming back, better than ever, with prices skyrocketing. In 2005, a set of 5 rolls of Portra 400 cost around $34.99 from the shop B&H Photo. Today, that exact same film stock set retails for $74.95. Another example of this increase is with film cameras. The Contax T2 was valued at $282 in 2009 and today, the Contax T2, retails for $1200, used, on many retail sites. One main reason for this increase is when Kendall Jenner used that same camera on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and made the camera more popular than it ever was.
The increase of film prices has many causes, like the nostalgic side of 35mm film, when adults now would capture photos and develop them as a kid. Film’s return has to do with the new generation’s obsession with the vintage look film offers. Whether it be a disposable camera, or a Point and Shoot, teens are bringing back the aesthetic that film created. Pace, class of 2025 student, Drew Martin says “I am definitely worried about whether or not I will still be able to do film when I graduate.” On the brighter side, film is not dead. The community has brought back a classic timeless activity that will always be enjoyed. Like Anne Weiss said, film will always be “so fun and a thrilling activity that everyone loves.”