5 reasons why women are taking a film camera to every event this year
Festivals, weddings, birthdays, hen dos. You've got a year of them lined up and nothing to show for the last one. Here's why the photos you actually keep this time won't come off your phone.
Shot on a CATCH camera · Nobody posed for this one.
Here's the bit nobody says out loud about a big year. You come home from a wedding with 340 photos and about four you'd actually send anyone.
Same three angles of the same room. Twelve seconds apart. Everyone braced, everyone lit from below, everyone looking slightly worse than they did in real life.
You were there. The photos just don't prove it.
The short version
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"Will I actually look good in them?"
Film is kinder than your phone
Softer grain, warmer skin, a flash that flatters instead of flattening. The look you have been chasing with filters, straight out of the camera.
"I take 300 photos and keep four."
You get 24. That is the point.
One frame per moment. No burst, no reshoot, nobody asking to see it. Everyone relaxes, and the photos look like the night actually felt.
"I will ruin the roll."
There is nothing to get wrong
Point and press. Fixed focus, one flash switch, mechanical wind. Loading takes about thirty seconds and there is a guide in the box.
"When do I actually see them?"
In your inbox in about a week
Post the roll in the prepaid mailer. We develop and scan every frame and email you the digital photos. Straight into the group chat.
"And then it sits in a drawer."
The next one is already covered
Fresh film and developing arrive before the next thing in the diary. You never have to remember to buy a roll again.
1,333 reviews · 4.9 / 5 · 90-day money-back guarantee
This is for you if…
- You've got more than 2 events this month worth capturing
- You want photos of your friends, not landscapes
- You've thought about film but assumed it was complicated or expensive
- You've never loaded a roll and you're slightly worried about ruining one
- You want the photos, without becoming the person who does photography
Film makes you look good
Your phone sharpens everything. Every pore, every shadow, every bit of overhead lighting in a marquee. Film does the opposite. Softer grain, warmer skin, a flash that flatters instead of flattening.
It's the look you've been trying to get with filters, and it comes out that way without you doing anything to it. No editing, no presets, no sitting there at midnight dragging a slider.
24 photos per roll · 0 edits
You only get 24, and that's the whole point
One roll is 24 frames. That's the budget for the entire day, and you can't check them, so you can't take the same photo eleven times hoping one lands.
What happens instead is that you choose. Every frame gets a decision behind it, and the ones that come back are the ones that were worth it.
That's why they feel special when they land. A photo you picked out of 24 carries something a photo you picked out of 340 never will.
24 chosen beats 340 taken
You genuinely can't get it wrong
The most common thing people say before their first roll is that they'll ruin it. You won't. There is nothing to focus and nothing to set. Point it, press it, wind it on.
Loading takes about two minutes the first time, there's a guide in the box and a video in your welcome email, and the camera is built so the mistakes that matter are hard to make.
Everyone you hand it to can use it too. That matters more than it sounds, because the best photos on a roll are usually the ones somebody else took of you.
0 settings · 2 minutes to load
They're back in about a week, and they land in the group chat
A prepaid mailer comes in the box. Finish the roll, drop it in, put it in any postbox. Postage is covered in both directions and there's no lab to find.
We develop and scan every frame by hand, then email you a private gallery. High-res files, yours to download, share and print. The whole thing takes about seven days from the postbox.
Which is roughly the point where somebody in the group chat asks what camera you were using.
7 days from postbox to inbox
The next one's already covered
Three fresh rolls turn up every three months, with the developing already paid for. So there's film in the drawer before the next save-the-date lands on the fridge.
No last-minute hunt for a shop that still sells 35mm. No working out where to get it developed afterwards. No deciding whether this particular weekend is worth £13 to find out.
Most people are four events deep by the time they get round to sorting it out. This is the version where you already have.
3 rolls every 3 months · 72 photos
Twelve frames, real customers, real rolls. Nothing retouched, and one of them is technically a mistake.
Free UK delivery · 90-day money-back guarantee
Phone, disposable, or this
Same weekend. Three very different sets of photos.
| Your phone | A disposable | CATCH | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photos you'd actually send | 4 of 340 | Maybe 6 of 27 | Most of 24 |
| Editing needed | Every time | None | None |
| Everyone can use it | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Use it again next time | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Developing sorted for you | n/a | ✕ | ✓ |
| Postage covered both ways | n/a | ✕ | ✓ |
| Film ready for the next one | n/a | ✕ | ✓ |
4.9 / 5 from 1,333 reviews · 91% five star
"It's the only thing that's ever got me off my phone at a festival. And the photos are unreal."
"First time I'd ever shot film. The tips you sent made it fun to learn rather than intimidating. Photos came back and it felt like being back there."
"Genuinely felt like I was at my own festival. Not behind it, filming it."
Shot with CATCH at
What turns up
One box. Nothing else to buy and no lab to find afterwards.
- CATCH CameraReusable 35mm point-and-shoot. 28mm lens, built-in flash, one AA battery, wrist strap
- 3 × 35mm filmsOur own seasonal stock. 24 shots per roll, 72 photos in total
- 3 × development creditsEvery frame developed and scanned by hand, then emailed to you
- Prepaid return mailerPostage covered both ways. Any postbox
- Corduroy travel bagSo it survives the bottom of a rucksack
Before you ask
I've never loaded film. Is this a disaster waiting to happen?
No. Point, press, wind. Loading takes about two minutes the first time, there's a printed guide in the box and a short video in your welcome email. The camera is designed so the common mistakes are hard to make.
How many photos do I actually get?
24 per roll, 3 rolls per delivery, so 72 photos. Then 3 more rolls every 3 months.
How do I get the photos back?
Drop the finished roll in the prepaid mailer and post it. We develop and scan every frame, then email you a private gallery of high-res files. About 7 days from the postbox, and there's nothing to pay when the film comes back.
What if a roll goes wrong?
A person checks every roll that reaches us, so if something has genuinely failed we tell you rather than sending you 24 blank frames. And there's a 90-day money-back guarantee either way.
Can my friends use it?
Yes, and they should. There's nothing to set, so anyone can pick it up. The best frames on most rolls are the ones somebody else took.
How long before it arrives?
Dispatched within 48 hours, free UK delivery. If you've got something in the diary soon, email us and we can rush it.
Do I keep the camera?
Yes. It's reusable and it's yours.
Three save-the-dates. One camera.
72 photos where everyone looks good, developed and back in your inbox in about a week.
Get yours now →4.9 / 5 from 1,333 reviews · 90-day money-back guarantee · Free UK delivery