This is What It’s Like to Shoot Large Format Instant Film

Last Updated on 06/30/2014 by Michelle Rae Uy

While it’s no longer essentially used in professional photography these days, large format film photography has attracted a loyal following, especially from the worldwide community of film shooters. It’s easy to understand why – shooting in large format is not only more advantageous in terms of resolution, it’s also a more contemplative process that allows a photographer to be more involved with creating the actual photo. Plus, the end result just looks so dope.

If large format has piqued your interest, now’s probably the best time to get right on it. Large format cameras are easy to come by on eBay (though you may have to pay more for better quality), and there’s still a good amount of film left on the market, although many have been discontinued in production.

Before you go on a shopping spree though, we suggest watching Stefan Litster’s YouTube video on shooting in large format (a Zone VI large format camera, to be exact) with the Fuji peel-apart instant films. Shot in the streets of Victoria, British Columbia, this video is not so much a tutorial as it is showing you the actual experience of shooting with a large format camera – those very impressed people in video, they’re one of the many perks of shooting instant film! The video does, however, offer some pointers on how to load the film into the instant back and how to handle the film as shoot as you’ve taken the shot, which is very helpful if you’ve never shot Fuji’s peel-apart films before (the films are $20 a pop); and it makes the whole process look super easy.

Check out the video after the jump.