How to make iPhone photos look like film
A film photo isn't just a photo with a filter on top. It's a handful of small things working together. Here's what they are and how to get them on an iPhone.
What makes a photo look like film
Colour. Every film stock has its own palette. Some run warm with creamy skin tones, some keep greens cool and muted, some push blues and reds. A phone camera aims for accurate colour; film has a point of view.
Grain. Film records light on tiny particles, which leaves a fine texture across the frame. Faster films, the ones made for low light, have more of it.
Soft highlights. Where a phone tends to clip bright skies to flat white, film rolls off gently, so the brightest parts of the frame still have a little tone.
Halation. On some films, bright lights pick up a warm red-orange glow around their edges, because light bounces back through the film. It's most obvious on street lights and sunsets.
Happy accidents. Light leaks, dust and the odd scratch. On a real camera you never quite know which frame will catch one.
Two ways to get the look on iPhone
Edit afterwards. Take a normal photo, then apply a preset or filter in an editing app. You get lots of control, but it's an extra step for every photo, and it's easy to end up with a camera roll full of half-finished edits.
Shoot through a film camera app. Pick a film first and the look is applied as you take the picture. You see the result in the viewfinder, and there's nothing left to do afterwards. You give up some control, which is also a big part of why film photos feel the way they do.
Tips that matter more than the filter
Find good light. Early morning, late afternoon and bright overcast days flatter almost every film look. Harsh midday sun and dim indoor light are hard on film too.
Stick with one film for a while. A day or a roll on the same film gives your photos a consistent feel, the way a real roll does.
Don't stack effects. One film look is enough. Adding extra grain, vignettes and fake dust on top of each other is what makes a photo look edited rather than shot on film.
Keep the imperfect ones. A slightly soft or leaky frame is often the one people remember.
Doing it in Isochrome
Isochrome, the iPhone camera app we make, works the second way: pick a film, frame it in a live viewfinder that already shows the film's colour, and press the shutter. Three films are included to keep, and Isochrome Pro opens all 33, from colour negative and slide to black and white and expired.
Now and again a frame picks up a light leak, a scratch or a little dust, and you can switch those off in Settings if you prefer clean frames. You can also load a roll of 24 or 36 and shoot until it runs out.
