It’s difficult to get good film scanners these days, as famously Nikon’s 35mm film and medium format film scanners are no longer made, and with mirrorless cameras making it easier than ever to take photos of your old negatives and slide film, it’s nice to see that the Essential Film Holder is selling so well, with 60,000 units being shipped worldwide.
At a glance
- Modular design
- Accepts 35mm and 120 film strips
- Integrated diffuser panel
- Optional holder for 35mm slides
- Available from: clifforth.co.uk
The Essential Film Holder is available from $87 / £65 (build-it-yourself) or just $98 / £73 ready made and ready to use. The Essential Film Holder was originally a lockdown project (remember lockdown?) of electronics engineer and high-tech company director Andrew Clifforth, and the first Essential Film Holder kit shipped in February 2020.
When we reviewed it, we gave it an impressive 5-stars, meaning it won our coveted Gold award rating. In our review we said: “Its uncomplicated design makes it simple to use, which means you can rattle through copying a strip of negatives in double-quick time. Even allowing for processing your files, it’s much faster than using a scanner.”
Andrew Clifforth has this to say about the record sales figures: “The milestone comes amid wider signs of ongoing confidence in analogue photography. Harman has continued to expand its colour-film range, while AP has also reported continued interest in film photography, including among younger photographers. More film photographers are also choosing to control the digitising stage themselves rather than relying solely on lab scans or dedicated scanners.”
You can watch an Essential Film Holder review by Pushing Film @pushingfilm above.
Related reading:
- Ignore the haters, film photography is alive and kicking in 2026 – Analogue in the Age of Digital
- How to photograph film using your DSLR or mirrorless camera
- Jon Bentley: Where have all the good film scanners gone?
- Dan Rubin: film photography and scanning tips
Do you want to win some great prizes for your photography? Enter your photos in our International Amateur Photographer of the Year competition. Free entry for photographers aged 13-21.
Follow AP on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Irys.
