Despite their decline in popularity, film cameras can still be bought if you hunt around, and there are plenty of second-hand bargains to be found – you may even score one for nothing on websites such as freecycle.
Disposable (single-use) film cameras

Disposable film camera.

The cheapest film cameras are disposable single-use cameras from manufacturers including Kodak and Fujifilm, as well as own brands from the likes of Boots and Superdrug. They often cost less than £5, and are sold in shops such as chemists and supermarkets, as well as popular tourist spots and online. Some include the cost of photo processing in the initial purchase price.

They’re popular for parties or at the beach – anywhere you don't want to risk damaging an expensive camera and don't demand high-quality photos. They're also popular at weddings, where each table has its own camera, then, having collected the cameras at the end of the event, the happy couple have a wealth of informal shots from their big day.

Disposable cameras come in various types:

* Standard
* With flash
* Underwater
* Black and white

Compact film cameras.

Compact film cameras are now rare, but are small and easy to use. Simply buy a 35mm or APS film, stick it in, take your snaps and get your film developed. These cameras usually focus automatically (Autofocus, or AF), and have a small zoom and a flash. You should be able to buy one for much less than £100 – but you may have to search hard to find a store that stocks them.
SLR film cameras.

Canon film SLR.


Film single lens reflex (SLR) cameras are larger, and offer better image quality than both single-use and compact film cameras. While compacts and single-use cameras are essentially point-and-shoot, film SLRs allow you to be more creative, and have many different settings and options for interesting effects.Film SLRs cost from £200 with a lens, but you may want to buy more lenses for different situations – for example, powerful telephoto lenses for long-distance shots such as taking photos of distant birds on trees.


Nikon film SLR.

Lenses and other accessories add to the cost of SLR photography. Film SLRs, like compact film cameras, are increasingly rare, and cater for more specialist photography.

A little history.

Twin-lens reflex camera.
The two lenses are coupled with gears around their circumference in this simple design.
A great TLR — the Rolleiflex
Mamiya C220 & Mamiya C330 with typical rollfilm box
1957 Kodak Duaflex IV, an inexpensive fixed-focus TLR.

A twin-lens reflex camera (TLR) is a type of camera with two objective lenses of the same focal length. One of the lenses is the photographic objective (the lens that takes the picture), while the other is used for the waist-level viewfinder system. In addition to the objective, the viewfinder consists of a 45-degree mirror (the reason for the word reflex in the name), a matte focusing screen at the top of the camera, and a pop-up hood surrounding it. The two objectives are connected, so that the focus shown on the focusing screen will be exactly the same as on the film. However, many inexpensive TLRs are fixed-focus models. Most TLRs use leaf shutters with shutter speeds up to 1/500th sec with a B setting.

Higher-end TLRs may have a pop-up magnifying glass to assist the user in focusing the camera. In addition, many have a "sports finder" consisting of a square hole punched in the back of the pop-up hood, and a knock-out in the front. Photographers can sight through these instead of using the matte screen. This is especially useful in tracking moving subjects such as animals or race cars, since the image on the matte screen is reversed left-to-right. It is nearly impossible to judge composition with such an arrangement, however.

Mamiya's C-Series, introduced in the 1960s, the C-3, C-2, C-33, C-22 and the Mamiya C330 and Mamiya C220 along with their predecessor the Mamiyaflex,[1] are the only conventional TLR cameras to feature truly interchangeable lenses.[2] The Mamiya SLRs also employ bellows focusing, making extreme closeups possible.

Rollei Rolleiflex model TLRs have an additional feature for the "sports finder" that allows precise focusing. When the hinged front hood knock-out is moved to the sports finder position a secondary mirror swings down over the view screen to reflect the image to a secondary magnifier on the back of the hood, just below the direct view cutout. This permits precise focusing while using the sports finder feature. The magnified central image is reversed both top-to-bottom and left-to-right.

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