Film photography photo challenge

The theme for our April Editor's photo challenge was "Film Photography."

This month, we returned to the analog roots of photography: film. DPReview photographers made every grain count, with photos ranging from the serious to the whimsical. What made this challenge even more interesting was the fantastic variety of cameras used to capture this month's images!

As always, we received many more great photos than we can feature here. Our favorites, showcasing a diverse range of vision and talent, are presented in random order.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this photo challenge. If you'd like to participate in other photo challenges, you can visit our Challenges page to see currently open or upcoming challenges, or to vote in a recently closed challenge.

Speed from the past

Photographer: RacingManiac

Photographer's statement: I found a box of color slides I shot back in 2006. It was never digitized, and it was basically just an experiment as I was getting into photography. I decided to try to digitize them using a DIY method. The race was an American Le Mans race at Mosport, Canada.

The camera was a Minolta Maxxum 7, probably with a Minolta AF 300 F4 G APO. The "scanning" was done with a Sony a7 IV and a Minolta 50mm F2.8 Macro, using an LED light to backlight the slide, then post-processed in DxO PhotoLab.

Film: Fujifilm Velvia 100

Equipment: Minolta Maxxum 7 + Minolta AF 300mm F4 G APO

Tiny dancers

Photographer: swald

Photographer's statement: While traveling in the old Soviet Union with a small group, I was able to visit a small ballet school in St. Petersburg. The young dancers were very excited to perform for us.

Film: Kodak T-Max 400 film

Equipment: Asahi Pentax Spotmatic + Super-Takumar 35mm

Veins of light

Photographer: Vincent DP

Photographer's statement: A long exposure of city traffic on Rue de la Loi, Brussels, at blue hour. The saturation from the Kodak Ektar film makes the cool blues and vibrant reds pop. This is the heart of Brussels' European Quarter, with veins of light running to the horizon.

Shot with a medium-format Altissa Box camera made in the early 1950's that I inherited from my grandfather, with an ND filter duct-taped on. I developed the film at home.

Film: Kodak Ektar 100

Equipment: Altissa Box + Altissar Periskop

Wrestling

Photographer: Champ42e

Photographer's statement: Shooting at ringside in Roanoke, Virginia, I experienced my first and only professional wrestling match, shooting for a long-gone local magazine. I had to dodge several wrestlers flying over the ropes.

I used an on-camera flash. The negative was scanned using an iPhone 13 Pro with a homemade negative holder/camera mount.

Film: Kodak Tri-X 400

Equipment: Olympus XA-2

Robert Plant 1977 – Led Zeppelin

Photographer: vbuhay

Photographer's statement: Best concert of my life. Led Zeppelin, April 30, 1977, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan. A shot of Robert Plant singing one of their iconic songs, "Stairway to Heaven." One of the frames from that photo shoot was chosen by the band and published in their only book. I was paid for the shot and given a photo credit; my name appears in the book.

Shot handheld, fully manual, I guessed on the focus and exposure since I could not see the performer due to the large crowd at the front of the stage. I made the shot by shooting overhead without looking through the viewfinder and got lucky.

Film: Not specified

Equipment: Vivitar SL220 SLR + Vivitar 135mm F3.5

Renault 5 GT Turbo

Photographer: horvat

Photographer's statement: Although this photo was taken only last year, I did my best to create it in the "period-correct" fashion. The location was Zagreb-Fair, with Yugoslav-era brutalist architecture, to suit the French hot hatchback from the '80s.

Film: Kodak Ektar 100

Equipment: Nikon F65 + Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm F1.8G

Calf roping

Photographer: Apochroma

Photographer's statement: This was my first rodeo, both as photographer and spectator. The thing about this rodeo was the location, a purposely picturesque arena built at the Old Tucson Studios, a movie set for westerns popular in the '50 and '60s. Having played and watched sports, I knew what to expect, plus the arena was not large, meaning with the Canon EOS 300mm f2.8 lens, the events were easy to focus on. Walking around with a big white lens, everyone assumed I was a pro, which I was not, but faked it. The camera was a Canon EOS 10s.

Film: Kodak Tri-X 400 exposed at ISO 320

Equipment: Canon EOS 10s + Canon EOS 300mm F2.8

Ski jump

Photographer: BenGauthier

Photographer's statement: A son of mine in the French Alps in 1992. It was difficult at that time to shoot quickly! I had someone telling me when the jumper (my son) reached the top of the small hill.

Film: Not specified

Equipment: Canon ELPH 100 HS (IXUS 115 HS)

Venice gondoliers

Photographer: rpjallan

Photographer's statement: I believe this is one of the best photos I have ever taken. This was taken in 1985 in Venice, on a Pentax ME Super with, I think, a 50mm F1.7 lens. I saw these guys having a chat as I was crossing the bridge. I framed the shot, then shouted "Hey" and took the photo. Scanned on my Nikon Coolscan LS9000.

Film: Ilford XP1 400 Chromogenic B&W

Equipment: Pentax ME Super + SMC Pentax M 50mm F1.7

Europan

Photographer: adlerblack

Photographer's statement: Film is an "antiquated," finicky, and less flexible medium when compared to digital. But as someone who enjoys photography for the process itself more than the end result, those restrictions, uncertainties, and quirks are exactly what draw me to film in the first place. This photo, which is my favorite I have shot on film to date, is a perfect example of all of the above.

Shot near Times Square, my Canon A-1 experienced a film advance fault for the first time, resulting in an unintended partial double exposure of two shots meant to be separate. The end result is far more interesting than either of the shots would have been on their own, and never would have been possible if I hadn't fallen in love with a 47-year-old camera that costs me $1 every time I press the shutter. But hey, who's counting when they sometimes turn out like this?

Film: CineStill 800T

Equipment: Canon A-1 + Canon FD 35mm F3.5

Icelandic waterfall

Photographer: GeffBourke

Photographer's statement: This waterscape was taken on a photo tour trip in 2017 to the southern region of Iceland. Our participants all shot digital, while I made it a challenge to shoot only medium format film on this trip. I went with 30 rolls of Ilford Delta 400 120 film and used a Hasselblad 501c and 80mm lens. I also used a Sekonic meter and spot metered on the highlights, mid-tones, and shadows, then calculated with a 10-stop filter attached. I don't remember the exposure time now, but it was a couple of minutes.

Film: Ilford Delta 400

Equipment: Hasselblad 501c + Hasselblad 80mm

Rostiger Nagel, Senftenberg, Germany

Photographer: Andreas Stueckl

Photographer's statement: This black-and-white analog photograph captures the interior staircase of the Rostiger Nagel, or "Rusty Nail," a landmark viewing tower in Lauchhammer, Germany. It symbolizes the transformation of a former industrial mining region. From a low angle, the structure dissolves into an abstract interplay of lines, shadows, and geometry. The repeating steps and intersecting beams create a disorienting spatial rhythm, reminiscent of M.C. Escher's impossible architectures.

Film: Kentmere 100

Equipment: Pentax ME Super + Pentax SMC M 28mm F2.8

Jacob's Ladder at Glacier National Park

Photographer: Landscape Lover

Photographer's statement: I was driving in Glacier National Park when I came across this scene of Jacob's Ladder over Lake Sherburne. I thought at the time that this would be the most spectacular scene that I would ever encounter. I told myself that I had to get this picture right. I think that I did. To this day, I have never come across a view that was this dramatic.

Film: Kodacolor VR 200

Equipment: Mamiya Sekor 500 dtl + Mamiya Sekor 50mm

Annecy-le-Vieux

Photographer: OdeonPhoto

Photographer's statement: I was strolling through the old town of Annecy, France, when I spotted this spot high up. But something was missing, so I waited until this man appeared. This photo is an 11x14 print from the '70s that I have hanging on a wall. Since I couldn't scan it, I took a picture of it with my Nikon D90. At that time, I had a black Nikon F, which I was very proud of, with a micro Nikkor 55mm and a 24mm Nikon lens.

Film: Kodak Plus-X

Equipment: Nikon F + Nikkor 24mm F2.8

Grandpa Floyd at age 93

Photographer: James5601

Photographer's statement: While visiting my paternal grandfather at his home in Arlington, Massachusetts, in late May of 1981, I asked to take a photograph of him. He was pleased with my request and sat in his reading chair with the portrait of his mother on the wall behind his right shoulder. She died in 1910 when the first automobile in Huntingdon, Tennessee, scared the horse that was pulling her carriage, and it bolted, throwing her to the ground. A few months after this photo was taken, he moved to a retirement home and lived until the age of 95.

I took this photo with my trusty Canon FTb and probably a Canon 50mm F1.8 lens. No flash; light from a large window to Floyd's left provided fill light. I used slide film, probably Kodachrome, speed unknown. To produce this digital file, I photographed the slide with a Sony a7R III and a Tamron 24mm F2.8 lens as a backlight. I made color balance and highlight/shadow adjustments to the file to correct for a purplish hue and to normalize contrast.

Film: Slide film (probably Kodachrome)

Equipment: Canon FTb + Canon 50mm F1.8 lens

Analog divers

Photographer: StefCande

Photographer's statement: I live in the south of France. And not far from my place are a bunch of open submarine caves where you can paddle inside and ride through them. This time I carried my mostly waterproof Nikonos V with me, and my black and white film to go. It's quite dark inside, and the silhouette effect makes it look like a drawing.

Film: Shot on Kodak Tri-X 400

Equipment: Nikon Nikonos V + Nikonos 35mm F2.5

Statue of Liberty

Photographer: ronphoto

Photographer's statement: For the 1986 centennial and restoration celebration of the Statue of Liberty, I set up on the roof of my apartment in Brooklyn, NY.

Shot using Bulb mode at F8. A Black card was raised and lowered while the shutter was open. About two, three or four bursts were recorded without bumping the camera.

Film: Ektachrome 400

Equipment: Nikon F2 + Spiratone 600mm

Pods

Photographer: GrantsImages

Photographer's statement: Milkweed pods are one of my favorite subjects for still life. Shot on my back deck to allow the fluff to fly where it will. Wind helps to create an interesting and dynamic composition.

Film: Fujifilm Neopan Acros 100

Equipment: Mamiya RZ67 Pro II

The glory days of film

Photographer: Fabian from Swizzy Land

Photographer's statement: This photo was shot back in 2013, when film was out of fashion and buying a Hasselblad 500CM with an 80mm lens was quite cheap. I remember that I paid 500 Euros for the set and went out to Prague to capture the beauty of the city. I decided to use slide film because I wanted to be able to hold these colorful little 6x6 slides in my hands and look at them against the light.

Digitized with a Sony a7 IV and a Cinestill CS Light source.

Film: Kodak Ektachrome 100

Equipment: Hasselblad 500 C/M + Hasselblad 80mm F2.8 CF T* Carl Zeiss Planar

River gazing

Photographer: Loose_Canon

Photographer's statement: Last December, I was in Florence. Crossing one of the bridges, I noticed a young woman gazing out over the river. Quietly, I stood behind her and caught this moody frame.

Film: Ilford Delta 100

Equipment: Leica M2 + 35mm