San Francisco Film Photography (35mm & 120)
In 2018 I was lucky enough to visit California on vacation. Here are some San Francisco film photography highlights from my trip. (I left the digital Leica cameras at home and I didn’t miss them once!).
Cameras for visiting San Francisco
Lenses for the trip (+ other stuff)
- Voigtlander Color Skopar 21mm f4 lens
- Voigtlander Color Skopar 35mm f2.5 lens
- Hasselblad Xpan 45mm f4 lens
- Hasselblad Xpan 90mm f4 lens
- Nikkor 180mm f2.8D AF lens
- Zomei carbon tripod (see Photography Gear Essentials )
- Sekonic L-758 spot light meter
Film choices for San Francisco
I took so much film I don’t remember them all but the main ones were –
- AgfaPhoto CT Precisa 100 Slide Film
- Agfa Vista Plus 200
- CinesStill 800T
- Fuji Provia 100F (Ektachrome vs Provia)
- Ilford Delta 100
- Kodak Ektar 100
- Kodak Vision3 50D
- Kodak T-Max 400
- Kodak Tri-X 400
Leica M4-P + 21/4 + VIsta 
Leica M4-P + 21/4 + VIsta 
Leica M4-P + 21/4 + VIsta
Travelling around San Francisco
To get around San Francisco I made use of the trams and trains but also hired a bike. Being a cyclist and having a road bike it meant I could get across town in rush hour or any time of day with ease. I say ease.. I’ve never seen hills so steep! I was just praying I had good brakes on the vertical drop decents. I actually got to enjoy the San Francisco grid system too and cutting through the traffic. I felt more like a local than a tourist after a few days. I also walked a lot and ran to get around. The bag I used for San Francisco was a Lowepro Photo Sport 300 AW II (see My Essential Gear List ) for details. Perfect for such as trip.
San Francisco on film
I will try to keep the word count on this post to a minimal for a change. Here are some of the film photos I shot in San Francisco. I will add more photos as I get chance to process them. Click any photo below to see the camera/ film/ lens used.
35mm San Francisco colour photography
San Francisco on black and white film
120 film (San Francisco Bridges)
Mostly bridge photos, sorry!
I found the San Francisco bridges very photogenic. I shot Golden Gate bridge the most but I was staying closer to the Bay Bridge.
San Francisco – Highly Recommended!
If you ever get the chance to visit I would highly recommend San Francisco. It is expensive and there are a lot of homeless people on the street (which can be intimidating) but still very memorable (and very photogenic!). The photos posted here are maybe 10% of those taken. I just need to find time to work through more of them.
New York on film
If you like this sort of post you may also like my –
More film blog posts
- NEED FILM? Click Here!
- How to Process Film through to Digital (Develop, Scan, Edit)
- Rodinal Stand Development / Semi-Stand Development (Guide)
such stunning series.
love your ability to express the mood and atmosphere
Thank you Victor, I appreciate your comments and feedback
with my pleasure !
was interesting to che the gear list and the types of film you used for this collection.
Thanks Victor! It’s always great to hear what people are interested in with regards to what I share. I can write more of what people want if I know. 🙂 .. . for the film the Agfa slide film especially was great but sadly discontinued now. Ektar also good. The old Vista a bit grainy for nice vibrant colours. B&W you see me posting all the time I think 🙂