Zack Daniels

The app that replaced all of my film cameras

If you know me personally, you know that I like to take pictures on film. I mainly love it for the look. Most of my favourite photos have been taken on film.

But all of that changed when my friend Zil showed me this app called Dazz Cam. It’s a photo app with film simulations - not a groundbreaking idea, but the execution is amazing. I think it’s safe to say that the photos taken on this app are 90% of what film cameras produce. And as a film lover, I’m not even mad.

The main issue I had with film is the fussiness of it. Sure, I love the tactile feel of the camera and film, but it slows me down. At times, this is a great thing - I love using a film camera when I want to slow down and take the scenery in. But when all you want to do is take a picture of your friend on her birthday, it’s very frustrating when my film camera is in my bag. Or I forget to select focus. Or I forget to load film. Or my battery is dead.

It’s different with this app. I always have my phone on me, which means I always have Dazz on me, which means I’m always ready to capture a photo.

I’ve realised that at the end of the day, gear doesn’t matter. Memories do. Dazz allows me to capture more memories than I can count - and for that, I thank it.

I guess the question we should all be asking ourselves is: What are we optimising for?

my settings: