We had been living in Songtan for close to two months at this point, and I had taken plenty of pictures. But I hadn’t gotten to see any of them yet! Totally, not cool. So I decided that for my birthday, I wanted to get a few rolls of film developed, and the first stop of the day was Chungmuro, which is sort of the photography district of Seoul.

Developing Film in Chungmuro – 35mm in South Korea

How I Got Into Film

ReExposure

I feel like most of my generation – or people in general – probably like polaroids. There is something so fun about taking a picture and having it pop out, shaking it, and watching it develop before your eyes. As a kid, I remember thinking they were pretty neat, but they sort of phased out for a while, and I didn’t think too much of them again until I was in Texas and was approached by someone who does polaroid photography and was interested in paying me to be a subject.

I enjoyed doing the shoots and he sent me scans of the pictures which I thought were so neat. I shot with him a few more times while we were in Texas and shot once with another polaroid photographer. He took an ordinary film camera on one of the shoots which sort of got the idea of film photography into my head – and it just grew on me from there.

 

Acquiring a Camera

Before we left for California in 2014, Kyle’s parents were getting rid of some things, including an old camera – from like the 70s. I had been interested in trying out film photography for a while but didn’t have the camera. And I never felt like that was something we could just spend money on. Finally, I had something I felt I could use, though I wouldn’t really use it for a while.

A few times I picked it up, but for whatever reason, it was probably not until early 2015 that I actually got around to really using it. I really knew almost nothing about using the camera or photography in general but soon was learning about shutter speed, F-stops, apertures, ISO, etc. as well as how to use the camera otherwise – loading and unloading film, using the light meter, focusing, changing the lens, etc. There was a lot more to do it than I thought, but I liked the challenge.

Getting Into The Groove of Things

For my first couple rolls – which were on Portra – I recorded the settings I used for many pictures so I could see what I might be doing right or wrong. I made the mistake of not resetting the ISO on the camera on my second roll but requested the film be pulled and it worked out fine. I could not wait to get my film developed – I took two rolls before getting them developed – and still can’t wait every time.

It has become one of my new favorite hobbies, although if you want your picture taken, I am open to making it professional! In regards to taking polaroids, I picked up an older Polaroid camera at some point – before the film camera – and it stopped working around the time we left California.

Now I enjoy using an Instax mini – which I absolutely love. I am interested in trying to develop film myself, but I have not really had the ability to because of all the space and chemicals required, and our location really doesn’t lend itself to that. But I will when we end up in a place of our own someday.

Anyway, Back to Chungmuro – Photopia

I had researched the best place to get my film developed in Seoul, and while Hongdae had at least one option, Chungmuro seemed like my best bet. I wrote down a couple of places to check out, but the first place I wanted to look for was Photopia. From my reading, it was going to be my best bet.

Though we did struggle a little bit to find the place, we did come across the store soon enough. There are actually two Photopia stores right across the road from one another. One is used for processing and all the behind the counter stuff, and the other is for purchasing and customer related things.

I went inside and handed them my film and asked them to be developed and scanned. They marked some things on a piece of paper and told us the price (KRW19,000 = ~$16.30). That is actually really good for 3 rolls and scans, at least compared to the U.S. I would later find a few places that had even better prices – like in Bali – but not in South Korea.

Of course, it was partly my birthday present but we are always glad to save money. Photography can be an expensive hobby, but I only shoot a photo or two every so often and really take my time to set up the right shot. They handed us a receipt telling when it would be ready which was the other great thing: it would be ready to be picked up later that day!

Hardly A Wait!

Yay, that is what I read and hoped for, and part of the reason I chose the place. It takes so long to get into Seoul – 1/5 hours from Songtan – I didn’t want to wait until the next time we would be in the area. They also gave me a Photopia card. You get discounts if you develop so many rolls, though I don’t remember what the number is – sorry. After this, we explored a little bit more in the area. There are tons of camera shops. I picked up a roll or two. It was about the equivalent of $3 for one. I only got slow film because of airport scanners.

Note: there are other options for film development in Chungmuro as well, but I did like Photopia.

After this, it was off to the Hello Kitty Cafe before coming back (at 7 pm) to grab the film. For those not in the know, I love Hello Kitty, and Seoul has got an awesome cafe that fans can enjoy.

Film Pickup

When I returned, I simply showed them my paper/receipt and they handed me a large envelope with my negatives, a CD with my scans, some papers, and we were on our way. Success! Note though, that many people don’t have access anymore to a CD drive, so if you don’t you may want to pick up a USB stick so they can load it right there in the store. I was lucky that we had the ability at our house sit, but later on, I would have to pick one up – since my laptop doesn’t have a CD drive.

We headed home and took a look at the photos which included some from Florida, Dubai, and Korea. I had a roll I hadn’t had a chance to develop before we left Florida and then was part way through another when we left. I was pretty happy with the quality of the photos. Though, they were a little smaller in size than from the place I normally get it developed in the US – though I typically get enhanced scans.

For fun, I decided to compare similar pictures from my phone and film camera – all unedited. My regular camera is was better than my phone of course but I guess I normally only take the same picture with two cameras. I’ve since upgraded my phone and the difference is crazy, but there is still a distinct quality that film captures that no digital camera can.

Phone vs. Film: Flower in Songtan, Korea:

 

Phone vs. Film: Sunset in Seoul:

 

Phone vs. Film: Ansan Mountain Hiking Trail:

 

Phone vs. Film: Pre-Thanksgiving (at Grandma’s):

 

Phone vs. Film: Seoul Lantern Festival:

 

It’s A Difference Worth Investing In

The difference is bigger when you see the pictures at full size. But I can only show them so large here. Even then, you can still tell the difference. I felt like the camera on my phone was pretty decent, but whoa! was I wrong. Admittedly, it is nothing compared to top of the line phone cameras these days. In a couple of these photos, it appears composition is also to blame.

Part of this may be because, with film, every picture counts. You have to think about how you want it to look, what should be in focus, how much, how clear, etc. I think it makes you stop and think about it which is part of what I like about shooting film. That is aside from the look of it, using the camera, waiting to see how things turn out, and doing fun things like double exposures:

I know there are other places to develop film in Seoul which I haven’t checked out but I would definitely recommend Photopia. Especially for how quickly they get the pictures developed!

Find It:

All in all, Photopia it is easy enough to find. It is within a five-minute walk from several stations:

• Chungmuro Station
• Myeongdong Station
• Euljiro-3-ga Station
• Photopia Address – 24-8 Chungmuro 3(sam)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Another Option:

Although I cannot personally vouch for it – Fotomaru also has excellent reviews and English speaking services. You can find it within Chungmuro district as well at: 58-9 Pil-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Need Film?

Part of what I love about using film instead of just sticking with our DSLR is that I don’t know what I’m going to get. It gets me excited to take the pictures and wait in anticipation to see what comes out. So much can happen when it develops, that you never quite know what you’re going to get. Unfortunately, the ease of digital cameras has left the art of film photography to be forgotten a bit – but I say it’s making a comeback! For those who don’t know exactly how to begin, I’ve got a few recommendations for you.

*Note that we are members of the Amazon Affiliate program and that we receive compensation for all valid purchases made through our site.

• Fujifilm instax mini 9 Instant Film Camera – One of my favorite purchases I’ve made, and I bring it everywhere now with me is my Instax Mini. It is so easy to use, and you get feedback immediately. It is also really portable, so it doesn’t take up too much room to carry. It’s basically just a modern Polaroid! Now it isn’t a professional camera by any means, but that’s not the point – it’s fun to use! What I really like about this bundle is that it comes with 80 shots, batteries, a travel case, and accessories.
• Fujifilm INSTAX Mini Instant Film 2 Pack– If you love your Instax like me, you’re going to run out of film sooner rather than later. It can be a pain to suddenly realize you’re out of film right when you want to take another photo – so be sure you have more film on hand.
• Canon AE-1 35mm Film Camera w/ 50mm 1:1.8 Lens – Now I am using a Pentax camera from the 70s, it was a gift from Kyle’s dad and I am pleased with it, however, you’ll probably never find one as they’ve long since been discontinued. If you want to get into using film, but you don’t have a camera already, you can’t go wrong with Canon. They’ve been in the business for a long time and know what they’re doing. This bundle is nice because you’ll get two options of lenses which will let you really have fun with your shots.
• Camera Film –  there’s a lot of different camera film out there, and a fair bit of it is old. While on the road, I often didn’t get to choose from many good options – just what was available. Because of that, I got some expired film which meant it didn’t always develop properly – one of my rolls didn’t develop at all (you have any idea how sad that made me). So with that in mind, you’re going to want to make sure you have the best film on hand. Kodak has been in the game a long time and I trust their stuff. – Kodak UltraMax 400 | Kodak Colorplus 200
• Altura Photo Rapid Fire – Regardless of the type of camera you’re carrying, we’ve since come to realize that a good over the shoulder neck strap is a blessing for shooting photos. It is no fun to pull out your camera, and put it away again, and the straps that come with the camera technically work but aren’t that comfortable or secure feeling. With a good strap, you can quickly grab your camera when you need it, but also feel secure with it hanging at your side.
• SanDisk Ultra Flair 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive – You need a place to put those photos once they’re developed. Back in the day, you would get the photos on a CD or – gasp! – actually printed! You, of course, will get back your negatives, but you probably don’t want to carry around prints, and who has a computer that can even read a CD anymore? Enter the USB stick, easy to carry, hold plenty of space, and reusable. This saved my butt a bunch of times, and with USB 3.0, the files will transfer a lot faster.

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