Many young photographers are now working on film to explore their voice. While some are still new to the medium, which raises questions about metering and exposure challenges, unlike when one uses a digital camera. To help these photographers, there are plenty of apps, but this new app for analog photography can be of help. Here’s a look at it.
Per a new Reddit post on r/AnalogCommunity, user u/raistmaj posted about the app, called Film Friend. The app was created by the creator alone, and helps photographers who also use a large format. The app offers a robust suite of tools for field shooting and darkroom processing. After months of development, the app is now available free of charge on iOS and Android. Moreover, the developer adds, “There is nothing gated behind a paywall and will never be.”
The analog app was designed to meet the personal needs of the developer, who wanted a better understanding of the development of 8×10 large format cameras. Speaking about it, the developer added, “I do all my development at home as 8×10 development is just too expensive.” Here’s a quick look at what to expect:
According to the app, you get a few field tools that can be of help. This includes a light meter, bellows extension calculator, focal length equivalency, and reciprocity calculator. The bellow extension calculator helps to calculate precise exposure compensation for extended bellows draw. The focal length equivalency helps to convert focal lengths to 35mm equivalents across multiple formats and 35mm equivalents across multiple formats. The reciprocity calculator helps to compensate data for 18+ film stocks, plus 40+ optical filters, including ND, polarizers, and color correction. There is also an exposure timer to help when working with long exposures.
In addition to field tools, there is also dark room management. The development chart showcases comprehensive times for B&W, C-41, E-6, RA-4, and ECN-2 processes. There is film holder tracking, which helps to look at the tracking status of film types, ISO, process info, photos, and notes. The mixing calculator is used to learn about the chemical dilution and how to do so accurately. Then the customer process options help with step-by-step development of recipes. The latter includes agitation schedules, import/export capabilities.
Some other abilities include full backup and restore functionality, temperature unit toggle (Celsius/Fahrenheit), and light and dark mode interfaces.
The developer has also revealed that there is an ambitious roadmap including in-camera positive preview, wet plate support, dry plate workflows, and printing formulas. The app also allows users to manually add custom workflows for specialized techniques.
The Film Friend analog app may be entering a crowded market, but what sets them apart is the large format-specific features. Those interested can give it a try, especially if you are about to perfect your own large-format photography.