Types of Film Cameras and their Digital Counterparts

Only a handful of companies still continue to manufacture film cameras these days. Big camera brands like Nikon and Canon have been decreasing production of film cameras in the digital age. As a matter of fact, Canon discontinued their last film camera in 2018. Film photography is still alive not because of the manufacturers but because of its community. There are still film cameras still in rotation but most of them thrifted or sold by vintage camera shops online. If you’re still interested in giving film photography a shot, you must know what types of cameras are still out there.

#1 Instant Film Cameras

Instant cameras, popularly known as the Polaroid, have made a huge comeback in 2014 because of the Fujifilm Instax. Fujifilm has also opened the doors to Impossible Project, who rebranded as Polaroid Originals after they had acquired the Polaroid brand. Both have gained popularity since 2014 and have also made its way in popular culture.

The beauty of using an instant camera is that you get the best of both worlds – film photography with instant gratification.

Best for: people who can’t wait for their films to process

Digital counterpart: Fujifilm LiPlay

The Fujifilm LiPlay is the newest addition to the Fujifilm brand. It’s a hybrid between the Instax mini and the Instax Share printer.

#2 Point-and-shoot

Point and shoot cameras are made for simple use. They typically have fixed lenses and have automatic settings which makes it easy for an amateur to use. Point and shoot cameras are often compact and sometimes come with a built in flash. These cameras have become extremely popular in the past that toy manufacturers like Fisher Price sold film cameras for kids in stores.

Best for: people who want high quality films without learning too much of the technical stuff

Digital counterpart: iPhone and compact digital cameras

#3 Toy Cameras & Lomography

Toy cameras are basically point-and-shoot cameras but made out of plastic and usually look like a toy. This format was successfully revived by Lomography and they are still manufacturing plastic film cameras to this day.

• Read: Lomography 101

Best for: photographers who appreciate vignetting, light leaks, and imperfections

Digital Counterpart: Instagram or VSCO

The closest to Lomography you could get on a digital platform is Instagram or any other app that provides film or lo-fi filters.

#4 Range Finder

The range finder is another film camera that is more complicated than the basic point and shoot but less complex than a single lens reflex (SLR). It’s called a rangefinder because it is a camera that has a rangefinder to focus on an object. It’s usually smaller than an SLR and does not have a mirror that an SLR has.

Best for: photographers who want the capabilities of an SLR but want something lighter and compact

Digital counterpart: Mirrorless cameras

#5 Twin Lens Reflex (TLR)

The twin lens reflex (TLR) is designed in such a way where one lens is used as the “real lens” and the other is the “viewing lens”. Typically, a TLR has a viewfinder that sits on top of the camera body that allows you to view the image from above.

Digital counterpart: N/A

#6 Single Lens Reflex (SLR)

SLRs are cameras that are better known as the “professional cameras”. Because SLRs can produce high quality images and also have the capability of interchanging lenses, they can come at a pretty steep price.

An SLR, in case you didn’t know, is a camera that “typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence ‘reflex’ from the mirror’s reflection) that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured”. 

There are still a few SLRs in the market but brand new models are a bit rare. As mentioned earlier, even big name companies have been ceasing production of their film cameras.

Best for: novice-advanced photographers

Digital counterpart: Digital SLRs (dSLR)