TOKYO: Keita Suzuki leads a group of young analogue photography fans around a coastal city in Japan, stopping to snap pastel hydrangea blooms with bulky vintage film cameras.

The participants later share their lush retro-looking snaps online — a trend a top Japanese camera brand wants to capture with its first new film model in two decades.

Instead of pressing a smartphone button, more and more young people “want to experience the original act of taking a photograph: winding the film up, looking through the viewfinder and releasing the shutter”, Suzuki told AFP.

Another “beauty” of film photography is that with limited physical film, you must think carefully about which memories to “lock in” to each photograph, he said.

Suzuki advertises his tours on social media and has seen a growing interest from teens and 20-somethings loading 35mm film and taking it to be developed for the first time.

Yuriko Yamada was one of around 20 people who joined a recent gathering in Kamakura near Tokyo.

“Digital photos are clear and clean, but film ones have faint, soft colours, which I prefer,” the 34-year-old said.

“It takes time to see the final product, but I really enjoy the process,” she added. “It feels nostalgic.”

Japan’s biggest camera brands stopped making analogue film models in the 2000s as digital ones became dominant.

Countless camera sellers in Japan’s big cities have since stepped up to fill the void, refurbishing old models for a new generation of analogue enthusiasts.

Despite the surge in popularity, many of those on the photo tour said they still find it difficult to repair their old cameras because the parts are no longer being produced.

AFP