Lighting Tricks with Old Film Cameras

With the heyday of film photography in the past, it’s easy to consider tossing your abandoned hand held cameras into the trash. However, as the Koldunov Brothers share, the following hack can put your old school point and shoot to use—without a roll of film:

While the camera function of many point and shoots might be a bit outdated, there is one feature that’s underutilized and completely up to snuff—the camera’s built in flash. Rather than allowing your film camera to collect dust in a drawer or attic, why not put it to use as a convenient hand held lighting source?

An inexpensive alternative to costly strobes or speed lights, the Koldunovs demonstrate just how the built in flash can produce perfectly exposed, professional looking results.

point-and-shoot-portrait

The trick is to use a shutter speed slow enough to allow for the flash to be set off several times in multiple directions. This ensures that all angles of a subject are properly exposed and mimics the effect of a multi-light setup in studio.

This technique works on portrait photography as well as product shots. As long as the subject is stationary, the point and shoot can light with the same efficiency of a series of strobes or continuous lights.

product-shot-point-and-shoot

As much as we love new gear, consider the tools that you’ve long forgotten before shelling out money on equipment. Giving something old and worn a second life is creative and frugal, and it doesn’t have to come at the cost of quality.

“We propose to look at things positively and use what you already have.”

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