About film "development." It's not the same as "printing"!

This is Alps Camera, a specialty shop for photos and cameras.
Thank you for reading this article.

Film cameras are trending, with many asking, "Can they take emotional photos?"

While the boom continues mainly among the younger generation, some customers get confused by the menu when requesting film development at a shop.

For those who have been into cameras since film was mainstream, many know what the term "development" refers to. However, printing photos is not called "development"!

This article will explain the terminology and guide you on how to place an order that suits your needs, so please refer to it.

Even for failed photos, regular charges apply for development and digitization.
To avoid waste, let's try to prevent mistakes as much as possible. This article also covers common shooting errors, so please read it to the end.

Development

Development is the process of making the contents of a finished film visible, from the moment it's still in its case.
(*In the case of "Utsurundesu" (disposable camera), this film is built into the main unit.)
We will provide it to you in sheet form. This is called development.

The "development fee" is incurred for this process.
Due to incorrect shooting methods, camera operation errors, or camera malfunctions,
the development fee will still be charged even if not a single image was captured.

This is because it's impossible to know if photos have been properly captured until development.

I feel this might be one of the reasons why film is considered to have a high barrier to entry,

and I think some people who picked up a camera due to the boom might not understand this.

In the case of negative film, even if you only develop it, it's a reversed film, so it's difficult to tell what has been captured.

Therefore, you typically choose either printing or digitization.

Some customers who have the means to digitize themselves only order development.

Printing

Turning developed film into paper-printed photos is called printing.

Many people mistakenly confuse printing with development.

Ordering prints at the same time as submitting film for development is called "simultaneous printing."

Also, if you bring in already developed film and order prints, it's called
"reprint printing."

This also applies to additional orders.

Digitization

Precautions when shooting with film

Film cameras (including disposable cameras) cannot take photos in the same way as smartphones.
We will list some points for beginners to be aware of to avoid failed photos.

This assumes the use of general ISO 400 film.

• Use flash in dark places
  If you shoot indoors or after sunset without flash, the photos might turn out completely dark.
  Even if you perceive a room to be bright, it might not be so when photographed with film.
  
  
• Don't get too close to the subject
  For example, with disposable cameras, the instructions state to stay at least 1 meter away from the subject.
  Closer than that, the photo will be out of focus and blurry.
  While compact film cameras might technically allow closer focusing,
  depending on the autofocus performance, photos can easily become blurry due to improper focusing.
  *SLR cameras are excluded as you can judge where the focus is in the viewfinder.
  
  
• Don't block the lens
  Be careful not to block the lens with your finger or a strap, as it will show up in the photo.
  With disposable cameras and compact film cameras, you're not directly seeing the scene through the lens, so you might accidentally block it.

The above are common mistakes that our staff frequently observe during film development and printing.
Sometimes people accidentally hit the shutter and photograph nothing but the ground.
To prevent this, it's a good idea to turn off the power and put the camera in its case when moving.
For disposable cameras, deciding to wind the film before shooting can prevent accidental shutter releases.

*Important Note

The film development fee is charged per roll of film.
Therefore, if there are shooting errors and nothing is captured, the fee will still apply.
For digitization as well, a flat fee per roll applies, regardless of the number of properly captured images.
Only if not a single image is captured will the film be returned without creation.