Why shoot Black and White film?

Vic Studios
Jul 17
4 min read

Portrait of me on Ilford delta 400 in Jan Marais Park, Stellenbosch

If you've never shot on film before or just started with film photography, black and white film probably doesn't sound that exciting too you. And I don't blame you.

The first 3 rolls of film I bought were 2 Colour rolls and 1 Black and White roll, mainly because I couldn't afford buying a third roll of Colour. And I don't think I was that excited to load the black and white roll.

Whats the point of Black and White film? Can't I just make it Black and White in Post?

I don't really have a answer for that, but what I can tell you is this:

Every time I load a roll of BW film; I take the best photos.

And when I shoot weddings, the photos everyone seems to like the most, are the Black and White photos.

So here are a few reasons I think you should consider a roll of BW the next time you buy some film:

(Disclaimer: These are just my thoughts and you can totally disgaree. I'd love to hear what you think in the comments if you disagree, I'm just having fun and learning as well:)

Gorgeous women at Stellenbosch University Engineering ball (My girlfriend)

Colours are perfect

This sounds weird but I will explain.

Don't get me wrong, a world of black and white would be very dull, but when you are busy taking photos you have to consider a lot of factors.

Composition, lighting, colours, the ugly fire hydrant in the background.

But with Black and White, suddenly you have a lot less to think about! And this really helps you not over analyse and just look for good shots.

The main thing I look for when shooting BW is composition and contrast.

If you look up Directors like Wes Anderson or Christopher Nolans first films, you'll see they are shot on black and white film stocks. This is done because of things like budget and Colour film is more expensive, but also because they then don't have to worry about set design with and matching colours or anything like that, the colours are already perfect!

Its Cheaper than Colour film

I haven't read any other articles about Black and White film or photography before writing this, but I am pretty sure price is one of the best reasons to start shooting Black and White film.

We all know film photography is not a cheap hobby, but with Black and White film you can save quite a bit.

A roll of Black and White film is usually around 50% the price of Colour film

Home Development

This is a big reason why I have shot so much BW.

Developing and scanning film at home is a rabbit hole I love and also wish I never got into.

Developing BW film is actually easier than most people think. Once you have the chemicals and a Paterson tank, you can develop film and seeing the negative come out of the paterson tank is a magical thing

Colour development is also cool, but I find it a lot more technical and you need to keep all the chemistry at 39 C which is quite hard if you don't have all the equipment.

The Cape Choral Academy, 2024 (Kodak T-Max p3200)

Timeless

I don't think I have to explain this point that much. Black and white photos have such a timeless and classy vibe to them. Its hard to know if a photo is from 1950 or 2025.

Explore cool Films

There are few many types of Black and White films to explore.

Films like Ilford 3200 or Kodak T-Max p3200 that boast a impressively high ISO of 3200 and allow you to shoot in very low light conditions.

Or Ilford Ortho Plus which has a very low ISO and is used for things like long exposures and landscape photography with a very sharp image structure. It also rendors red colours darker making unique images.

Flash flood at Gatsrivier (Karoo) will camping, 2024

It's Different

If you've shot a few rolls of film or even just done digital photography for a while, sometimes it's just nice to try somthing new and get inspired. I often turn my digital camera in BW mode when photography gets dull.

I think black and white film inspired me to take photos again and if I didn't I would probably only shoot video.

And because of that I am glad I do smell like film chemicals sometimes