This Honolulu Store Specializes in the Warm, Retro Look of Film Photography

Rainbow Photo Video caters to amateurs and pros who love the traditional film-processing method.

It’s no surprise that Rainbow Photo Video on Ke‘eaumoku Street, which has been around since 1989, has a retro vibe inside the store.

“We do mostly film processing, which is 35mm film and 120 film. We can print it or scan it. We also do a lot of video transfers, old VHS tapes, beta tapes. We do audio cassette transfer, LP record transfers,” says owner Eric Phillips.

Even in the digital age, film photography still has a cult following among both amateurs and pros. “A lot of the younger generation didn’t grow up with film. It’s kind of new to them. It has a softer, warmer feel. It’s not as harsh as a really crispy digital picture, so it’s kind of inviting.”

Brett Sullivan, one of Rainbow’s employees, is pictured holding a strip of negatives. Negatives are “the film inside the canister once you develop it. It has the images on the film,” explains Phillips. “Basically, you put light through the negative and it makes a positive image. That’s what we scan to make the digital files.”

And in a meta twist, photographer Aaron Yoshino shot this image on film, then had it developed at Rainbow. Classic.