Film Photography Without Breaking the Bank 2025
Everyone who’s even slightly familiar with film knows that it’s impossible to have a conversation about shooting without eventually talking about price. There is a general awareness (and acceptance) that film is just an extremely expensive practice. Supply chain issues, brand monopolies, and a consolidation of film brands all play into these continuing price hikes. The extreme prices have become ingrained into the culture of film photography. So what can be done? Here are a few unconventional methods to circumvent the increasing cost of film photography in 2025.
Bulk Loading
Bulk loading remains one of the most cost effective methods to save on film. This process involves spooling a 100 foot roll of film into reusable canisters using a bulk loader.
In 2025, bulk film is still significantly cheaper than preloaded rolls, and the ability to customize roll lengths (e.g., test rolls or extended rolls with 40+ frames) offers flexibility. However, a new consideration is sourcing high quality bulk loaders and reels, as second hand markets have seen increased demand. Many labs recycle film canisters daily just ask if you can take some. This eliminates an additional cost and reduces waste.
With bulk loading, each roll (36 exposures) costs about $3–$6, depending on the film stock.
Check out our recommended bulk loader here and search eBay for bulk rolls here
Bulk film supplies ©Daniel Sigg
Research your Gear
Lots of guides and recommendations tell buyers to buy cheap 35mm film cameras on eBay, and Facebook, or to source film cameras from thrift stores. This practice is extremely common for beginner film shooters. Just be aware that you’re rolling the dice on experiencing a plethora of issues that come with untested 35mm film camera.
If you’re going to spend money on one thing in the film process, let it be the film camera. Buy a 35mm film camera that you can grow with, one that is manufactured well. Nothing is worse than buying a film camera that immediately disappoints. For beginners don’t buy something that will immensely overwhelm you but still has capacities for manual shooting so you can begin to navigate your way through the iso/aperture/shutter speed relationship, which is essential for any film photographer to understand.
Always be aware of price gouging for specific camera models. 5-10 years ago 35mm film cameras like the Canon AE-1 and the Pentax K1000 were perfect beginner film cameras at great prices, but companies and resellers have caught on and these cameras now sell up to 5x their original value. These kinds of cameras should never be purchased for a price point that supersedes ~$150.
On the other end of the spectrum, be careful of 35mm film cameras that promise no manual work and gorgeous photos in turn. Film cameras like the Contax G2 and T2 are known for luring first time shooters in at extremely high prices because of the lens quality and point-and-shoot nature. Although these are both excellent film cameras, they might not help you learn the ropes of film photography. Buying expensive gear right off the bat, even if it’s fully automatic, does not guarantee better photos. It is always the photographer’s eye that delivers good photos, not the gear.
Check out some great deals on film cameras here.
Black and White at Home
When you search “how to save money on film,” most sources say, “Do everything at home.” This means buying the chemistry, understanding how developing at home works, and scanning (usually on a flatbed) all the negatives yourself. Although all this can be learned, and isn’t that complex when broken down, I’ve always found this advice overwhelming and process arduous, especially if you’re a hobbyist. I know lots of people (including myself) that would rather just eat the cost of having a good lab scan and develop in order not to spend hours working on this process at home. If you’re on this side of the spectrum, one very easy step you can take to cut costs is simply developing your own black and white inside a Patterson tank. Here is a quick 6 mstep guide for developing inside a Patterson tank
Materials Needed:
Black and white film
Paterson tank (appropriate for your film format)
Changing bag (if you don't have a completely dark room)
Developer, stop bath, and fixer
Measuring jugs and a thermometer
Scissors and a can opener
A film squeegee or a pair of clean fingers
Clothespin and a dust-free space for drying
Step 1: Load the Film onto the Reel and Into the Tank
This must be done in complete darkness. If you don't have a room that can be made light-tight, use a changing bag. First, use a can opener to pry open the film canister. Cut off the leader of the film, and then start feeding the film onto the Paterson reel. Once it's all on the reel, place it inside the Paterson tank and put on the lid. Once the film is in the tank and the lid is secure, it's safe to turn on the lights.
Step 2: Mix Your Chemicals
While you should follow the specific directions for your chemicals, typically, you'll need to mix your developer with water at a specific ratio. The developer's job is to convert the exposed silver halide crystals into metallic silver, which creates the image. You'll also need to prepare a stop bath, which halts the development process, and a fixer, which makes the image permanent and the film insensitive to further exposure.
Step 3: Develop the Film
Pour the developer into the tank. Agitate the tank by inverting it continuously for the first minute, and then a few times every minute after that. This is to ensure the developer is evenly distributed across the film. Your developer will come with a guide for how long this process should take, typically around 5-10 minutes.
Step 4: Stop the Development
After the development time is up, pour out the developer and immediately pour in the stop bath. Agitate for a minute, then pour out the stop bath.
Step 5: Fix the Film
Pour in the fixer and agitate as you did with the developer. The fixer makes the image permanent. Leave the fixer in for about 5 minutes, agitating occasionally.
Step 6: Rinse and Dry
After fixing, you need to thoroughly rinse the film to remove all the remaining chemicals. Rinse with running water for about 10 minutes. Once the film is rinsed, you can remove it from the tank. Use a squeegee or your fingers to gently remove excess water from the film. Then, hang it up in a dust-free space to dry.
And there you have it! Once your film is dry, you can cut it and put it into sleeves, and it's ready to be scanned or printed. Hopefully starting with this process makes DIYing film a bit more conceivable. If nothing else, this will cut down costs considerably if you are shooting primarily in black and white.
Buy a Patterson tank here.
Patterson tank and reels ©Ashley Pomeroy
Fewer Shots Better Frames
A really simple way to save money on film is to not be afraid to leave a roll in your 35mm film camera for weeks at a time. Often film shooters drop off 10 or more rolls of film at a time. More often than not the pictures across the rolls look similar or identical to those before them. Of course, everyone has anxiety about not getting a shot perfectly, hence taking multiple frames, but it can be a really useful discipline to just take one, and move on. Even just taking a single frame per location is good practice in intentionality, pinpointing exactly what you want from any given scene. It can be immensely gratifying to see a roll stretched across weeks with various faces, locations, ranging colors, and compositions. More often than not I’ll find I have more frames I like in a roll of 36 I spent time with than across hundreds of frames I shot running and gunning. It’s the thought you put into the process that really delivers results. This doesn’t work for everyone but it helps to really be thinking about why you are shooting film and if speed is a factor that separates the medium from digital. Saving money could be as easy as slowing down.
Pick the Right Film Stock
35mm film stocks like Portra 400 and 800 offer undeniable benefits over cheaper film stocks but does this mean the stock is right for you? Is breaking the bank over professional film stocks worth it at your specific stage of film photography? The answer is often yes but it’s important to know why you’re buying the film. A lot of people base the film they buy on Instagram content, or stocks their favorite photographers use. It’s important to always remember that many popular and professional photographers have an extensive backend process to color grade their work in a way that makes it stand out and appear unified. Research film specs like exposure latitude, tonal range, and grain structure over specific images you like. Also, consider if you might achieve the look you want by altering cheaper film stocks. For example, can I shoot Ultramax and color correct to give it a more skin tone-accurate look resembling Portra? There are many ways to skin a cat so think about what specifically you want your film photos to look like before buying into the most expensive option.
