想與大家分享一個小話題：為甚麼要保存底片？ 又或者，為甚麼我們經常會主動詢問大家是否需要保留底片，希望大家妥善保存呢？
其實，原因有幾個。第一，底片可於日後重新掃描，隨著掃描技術不斷進步，早年拍攝的照片亦有機會獲得較現時更高清、更細緻的成像效果。第二，若日後希望嘗試黑房放相，底片便顯得格外重要，因為只有保留底片，才可進一步進行後製及放相。
A small topic to share: why should film negatives be kept? It is often worth asking whether negatives should be retained, with the hope that they can be properly preserved.
There are several reasons. First, film negatives can be rescanned in the future, and as scanning technology continues to improve, photographs taken many years ago may be reproduced with even higher resolution and greater detail than is possible today. Second, if there is ever an interest in trying darkroom printing, negatives become especially important, as keeping the negatives is necessary for further editing and printing.
不知道大家在年幼時，家人是否曾經為你拍攝菲林照片？如果有，不妨看看家中是否仍保留著當年的底片；如有的話，亦可交由我們協助重新掃描，讓影像以更清晰的版本再次呈現。若底片保存得良好，甚至仍可見到惜日菲林沖掃店留下的底片袋，亦是一份珍貴的時代記錄。
It is worth considering whether your family used to take film photographs when you were young. If so, it may be worthwhile to check whether those negatives are still kept at home. If they are, they can be rescaned with our assistance so that the images may be presented again in a clearer version. If the negatives have been well preserved, you may even still find the negative sleeves left by the film lab, which serve as a valuable record of that time.
正因保存底片如此重要 ──
Precisely because preserving film negatives is so important —
作為菲林沖掃店，該如何鼓勵大家願意取回底片 ──
As a film processing and scanning lab, how can we encourage people to take their negatives back? —
我們聯想到街頭字體，不只存在於抬頭可見的招牌，也不限於傳統的鑼字招牌。它們同樣藏身於新舊店舖的角落之中。走進一間老店，或許你便能細味不同年代的筆觸與字體變遷。這些獨特的香港手寫風格，承載著城市的集體記憶 ── 從上世紀粗獷有力的筆勢，每一筆一劃，都訴說著老店的歲月故事。
Street lettering is not only found in the signboards we see when we look up, nor is it limited to traditional hand-painted shop signs. It also exists in the corners of both old and new shops. Step into a long-established store, and you may begin to appreciate the brushwork and typographic changes across different eras. These distinctive handwritten styles of Hong Kong carry the city’s collective memory—from the bold and vigorous strokes of the last century, each line and mark tells the story of a shop and its passing years.
光昍菲林店希望喚起來訪客人在取回底片的同時，對香港手寫特色字體的關注 ── 店主自小在父母經營的粥店長大，每一張童年菲林照片中，身後總出現父親親筆書寫的菜單背景。這些影像成為深刻的記憶，也轉化為今日的靈感 ── 店主邀請父親再次提筆，再將手寫字體數碼化，並融入菲林底片沖洗袋的設計之中。讓每位客人在領取菲林底片時，都能觸碰這份被轉化為日常物件的文化記錄，希望連結每位到訪的你，一起反思本地手寫招牌的獨特魅力。
At Filming Lab (光昍), we are more than just a film camera store—we hope to bring visitors’ attention to the unique character of Hong Kong’s handwritten lettering. The shop owner grew up in a congee shop run by her parents, and in every childhood film photograph, the background often featured her father’s handwritten menu. These images became deeply rooted memories, which later inspired this design project. The owner invited her father to write once again, digitised the handwriting, and incorporated it into the design of the film negative sleeves storage bags. When you collect your developed film, you can hold this cultural record in your hands—transformed into an everyday object——inviting you to reconnect with the unique charm of Hong Kong’s handwritten shop signs.
