My first film photography - Zenit TTL

10 May, 2026

A while ago, I decided to take my dad's old 35mm camera, buy a roll of film, and learn a bit about film photography. At first it was mostly just a test to see if the camera still worked, but the photos turned out surprisingly nice, so I decided to document the process.

To cut costs, I only ordered negative development and decided to scan the film myself. I don't own a scanner though, so after some internet surfing I found the cheapest setup I could manage. Thankfully I still had a light board from my drawing days, so I used that together with my Sony camera and a small contraption made out of pill boxes. Initially I wanted to use a toilet paper roll, but it turned out to be too inefficient.

My setup introduced an interesting problem though. Strange light bleed patterns, at least that's what I think they were. (That ring in the middle is probably a reflection of my Sony lens.)

After some experimenting and iterating, I managed to get some decent enough "scans" to start editing.

Editing itself was another challenge, since the white balance and exposure were often far off. I also accidentally messed up the ISO setting on the camera, so many shots ended up slightly overexposed, but film is apparently quite forgiving in that regard.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with the process. It's a shame film prices are so high, because that's really the main thing stopping me from shooting film more often.

Please enjoy the results!