Photos were taken on film

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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Photos were taken on film.

Is this sentence correct?

Thanks.

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I would say:

Pictures were taken using film.
or
Pictures were taken with a film camera.

People use the word ‘photo’, especially if it’s a formal photography session. For casual photography the word ‘picture’ is much more common.

In the past it was assumed to be film, so the medium was not specified. Someone would just say:

Pictures were taken.

Now it’s the opposite. It’s assumed to be digital and it only needs to be specified if it’s film.

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Photos were taken with a mobile phone. (To say using ‘film’ is outdated now)

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That’s something we don’t know. It’s possible that the photos were taken with an analogue camera so ‘film’ would be the correct term.

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Torsten, do you mean to say there is film in a cellphone or a mobile phone camera?

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Hi Lawrence, what I mean is that the sentence

doesn’t say anything about how the photos were taken. They could have been taken with an analogue device such as a classical film camera.

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Forget the camera, forget, the phone, forget any clever device and why not say - Pictures were taken?

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He said film so I assume he had a reason for saying it. Why is everyone second guessing him?

He said photos were taken on film. Photos were taken on film. They were taken on film 100 years ago. They were taken on film 20 years ago. They were taken on film today.

If he meant something else, he can say so.

If I got back into photography I’d exclusively use film if it was available. There is actually more available now than there was 10-15 years ago. There has been a surge in interest.

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For some reason the phrase “photos taken on film” reminds me of the Duran Duran song “Girls On Film” although both phrases have different meanings.

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