Are film cameras really worth the effort?

AGuru remembers the good old days. Guru especially remembers the ‘it’s your fault, not ours’ sticker applied to almost every one of his hastily captured moments, forever immortalised on special paper as a sticky blur of melded inks.

Perhaps, in hindsight, a tripod might’ve been a better investment than roll upon roll of wasted film. And perhaps GaGu should stop looking to the past, given his general disdain for nostalgia.

So here’s the thing – film photography is, apparently, on its way back. Of course it is, just as poorly pressed vinyl is appearing in supermarkets and every retro band is pumping out poorly duplicated cassette tapes. But modern film or instant paper is good for the odd nostalgic tummy-bubble, and not much more.

The world’s current obsession with photography – well, selfies – is based on its convenience and ease. Whip out the ol’ black rectangle and you’ve done all the hard work already. That’s something film simply can’t replicate, as Guru’s messy family albums disappointingly prove.

While there are certainly well-made instant cameras coming out (see the really rather sexy Leica Sofort at £230, which takes credit-card-sized shots), they’re expensive novelties. Brandish one and your chums, depending on their level of drunkenness, will either hail you as a photographic party god or a hipster ass. GaGu wouldn’t risk it.

Guru is not even fully convinced of the quality of modern 35mm film or processing, given the tiny market and complete lack of, er, development in it since digital took over.

So even if you venture out and pick up an old-school SLR, now available for a bargain price from photographers who’ve finally gotten around to cleaning out their lofts, you’re by no means guaranteed of anything like that Instagram-filter old-school quality. If you must buy an old film camera, do it only to harvest those classic lenses.