{"id":139353,"date":"2025-09-13T04:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T04:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/139353\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T04:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T04:29:10","slug":"newtown-camera-shop-sees-film-photography-revival-with-gen-z-and-millennials-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/139353\/","title":{"rendered":"Newtown camera shop sees film photography revival with Gen Z and Millennials"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orrell shoots on film for fun and because it looks \u201ccute\u201d. She brings her film camera on nights out, to take photos of her friends and on holidays, like on her recent trip to Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt captures the moment, you can\u2019t be like \u2018I look ugly\u2019 and re-take it\u2026 The photo is what it is,\u201d says Orrell, who has been on a break from Instagram because of the pressure to capture and share a \u2018perfect\u2019 moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look back through my parents\u2019 pictures, and it\u2019s all about the memory and not about performing. When I get to 60, I can look back at my film photos and reminisce,\u201d says Orrell.<\/p>\n

In August, photography company Eastman Kodak reported its quarterly filings<\/a>, including significant debt, which led to news headlines that the company might be facing closure. Kodak called these media reports misleading and released a statement to<\/a> clarify that \u201cKodak has no plans to cease operations\u201d and is \u201cconfident it will repay, extend, or refinance its debt.\u201d<\/p>\n

In November 2024, the iconic 133-year-old camera company had to temporarily pause its film<\/a> production to make upgrades to its New York factory to keep up with the motion picture and still image film demands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny talking about what\u2019s going to happen in the future. We don\u2019t know. Pentax is the only manufacturer who have produced a film camera in 20 years,\u201d says Vlahadamis.<\/p>\n

Japanese camera manufacturer Pentax launched the Pentax 17<\/a> last year, the first new film camera from a major brand since the 2000s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a camera that shouldn\u2019t exist today. They have almost sold out globally. But as a major manufacturer, Pentax has gone out on a limb,\u201d says Vlahadamis.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The stores street view; The well-stocked film fridge.Credit: Abby Seaman<\/p>\n

\"Christopher<\/p>\n

Christopher Tiffany getting a single-use camera ready for processing.Credit: Abby Seaman<\/p>\n

In August, FujiFilm Australia took a similar risk and re-launched\u00a0QuickSnap<\/a>, a 35mm single-use camera targeted at Gen-Z customers.<\/p>\n

FujiFilm Australia\u2019s general manager Mary Georgievski says the product relaunch comes at a time of culture shift and taps into the younger generations\u2019 craving for nostalgia.<\/p>\n

\u201cGen Z are a lot about mental health, slowing things down, realising what we had in the past was great. While they\u2019re highly connected digitally, Gen Z is driving a renewed appreciation for analog, choosing film not in place of digital, but alongside it,\u201d says Georgievski.<\/p>\n

Film photography is experiencing a wave of revival at the same time as compact digital cameras<\/a>. Both trends are trying to tell the same story \u2013 perhaps the instant gratification of a smartphone camera is no longer satisfying for young people.<\/p>\n

Denis Hasagic was originally saving up to buy a digital camera when he was actively searching for a hobby.<\/p>\n

\"Denis<\/p>\n

Denis Hasagic, 25, was originally saving up for a digital camera when he found his love of film photography.Credit: Abby Seaman<\/p>\n

Instead, the 25-year-old Sydney Super8 regular picked up his dad\u2019s old Pentax MZ-50 and started shooting film. Only four out of 37 photos turned out, but Hasagic was already hooked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saved up all this money for a digital camera and then got a film camera for much cheaper and spent the extra money on film and development,\u201d says Hasagic who bought a Pentax P30.<\/p>\n

Although saving his money was short-lived.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

\u201cAround the new year, I counted up how much I spent last year and it was about three or four grand. So probably double that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hasagic loves that shooting on film forces a sort of mindfulness that makes you slow down and go with the flow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also the surprise element. When you get the scans back and the photo you thought was going to be really good turns out bad, but the photo you took accidentally is really amazing,\u201d says Hasagic.<\/p>\n

Professional photographer Julia Sarantis, 29, says that mistakes are to be expected when working with film.<\/p>\n

\"Julia<\/p>\n

Julia Sarantis outside of Sydney Super8 wearing a tie that previous owner Christopher Tiffany gifted her.Credit: Abby Seaman<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though it\u2019s heartbreaking, there are so many rolls [of film] that just didn\u2019t turn out … but it\u2019s magic when it happens,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Sarantis accidentally discovered her love of film photography when taking a required university elective.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I got in the dark room and saw the magic of the development, I got hooked,\u201d says Sarantis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had an interest in old technology. But I think in a larger, cultural way it\u2019s a deviation from immediacy of digital technology,\u201d says Sarantis.<\/p>\n

Sydney Super8\u2019s Vlahadamis wishes that more younger people wanted the physical prints as well as their digital scans, but understands the drive to post their shots on social media and is happy that they are embracing the old-school tech.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get one shot. We are in such an era right now where everything is instant \u2026 You\u2019re going back to the future in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox<\/a> every Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orrell shoots on film for fun and because it looks \u201ccute\u201d. She brings her film camera on nights…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-139353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}