Film vs Digital - regrettable photos?

Steve_F

Steve_F

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Hi all,
As a film user (b+w) but also a digital user; primarily family snaps and freelance work, has anybody been out with their digi and taken shots only to wish the b+w film was with them.
There have been too many times when I've seen a shot, thought that'd be great on Delta 100 /100Acros or HP5, taken it and known full well it would have made a beautiful b+w FB print.
Funnily enough it's only happened once the other way round and Ilford do a great RC print from digital files, and although it's on the wall it lacks the soul I put into it printing it by hand on MGIV FB in Tetenal Eukobrom.....

Steve. :bang:
 
Back in the day when I had a 2 megapixel digital I've had some regrets that the shot would have looked better on film. Today, not so much.

But then, after that trip I've always had at least one film camera and one digital camera on every major trip.
 
I don't own a digital camera and never did. I'm never more than a meter or two away from one of my film cameras. If I really need a digital file of an image to email someplace that's no big deal to do.
 
Never so specific for me. Wishing I had film while shooting digital has almost always been a case of wanting more dynamic range than even shooting RAW and careful processing could yield. A few days ago I'd shot all the film I had with me and was shooting digital by the time a shot came up I really could have used any kind of negative film for in order to cope with the high contrast.
 
Never shot film in my life so wouldn't know... <shrug>

Bought a film camera last year but haven't got round to using it.

Far more important than camera gear is capturing an image worth keeping. Compared with that which camera/lens/film/digital/colour/B&W/etc. pales into insignificance.

You don't hear painters going "Yes, but if I'd used a size 5 sable brush instead a chisel-tip synthetic..." or "You know, if only I'd had oils instead of watercolours with me..." :rolleyes:
 
Except for not being able to shoot 5000 shots in a row, Ive never missed not having a digital camera. Old school shooters take their 4-5 best shots and be done with it.
 
Rich, you've never seen an artist buying brushes then. Going through a dozen or more at the art supply, checking the round brushes for symmetry, checking the corseness of the bristles, pushing brushes against the palm of the hand to check for flexibility and stiffness, running a fingernail across the ends to determine recovery time and evenness of the response, deciding on camel hair or sable...photographers aren't the only crazy people on the planet. I had one friend who could easily spend half an hour to buy one brush.

And yes, 35mmdelux, 4 or 5 pushes on the button are more than enough. Usually I KNOW when I have it nailed, but a back-up shot or two is good in case somebody else in the shot blinked or some such.
 
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I have also suffered from this problem. Proccessing a digital image to get that full tonal range is hard work . I find shoooting film and scanning much easier and more satisfying so I now carry my film camera with me rather than the digital as B&W is my main interest. The DSLR is great for filtered (nd Grad ) Landscapes and colour work as well as Telephoto stuff but I am drawn more and more to Mono film and my fun to use film cameras... for me its a hobby so enjoyment is what it's all about.
If you want that classic tonal range that film is well known for..... er shoot film.

Chris
 
Yes, in both color and B&W.

Some days i wish i had my slides, some days i wish i had my silvers.
And then it gets worse - some days i wish i had E100 instead of Provia, or Neopan instead of Tri-x.

Yet i can't live without digital either, because it gives me so much freedom to experiment, experiment, and experiment so i don't screw up when i get my shots on film. To be able to "see" the lighting without having to read the LCD screen and make good framing and composition second nature without having to think much at all.


I want to be fast and decisive on my film body. I know i nailed that shot. On the right film too.
 
Steve_F said:
Hi all,
As a film user (b+w) but also a digital user; primarily family snaps and freelance work, has anybody been out with their digi and taken shots only to wish the b+w film was with them.
There have been too many times when I've seen a shot, thought that'd be great on Delta 100 /100Acros or HP5, taken it and known full well it would have made a beautiful b+w FB print.
Funnily enough it's only happened once the other way round and Ilford do a great RC print from digital files, and although it's on the wall it lacks the soul I put into it printing it by hand on MGIV FB in Tetenal Eukobrom.....

Steve. :bang:
Click to expand...

Steve, that's because you print (darkroom) yourself. You can visualize a scene printed properly on a good paper.

Most people nowadays don't even know what an enlarger is, and those who do probably didn't like it before digital either.

I find darkroom printing to be more rewarding and fun than trying to deal with inkjet printers. Standing there and holding your own print is just so satisfying.

I've yet to do a digital negative, but it's only a matter of time.
 
I don't have a digi so I haven't had this problem, but I most certainly have wished for a larger format camera than I had on hand! It's an eternal problem, though.. If I have a 35mm I long for MF. If I have MF then I really wish I had my 4x5.

I actually went a reshot a scene in 6x7 yesterday that I had previously shot with my Canonet. The reshoot NEVER seems to come out with the same "soul" as the original. Here's to hoping a can buck tradition with this one :)
 
I recently went to Boston, I had my Nikon, 20 mm lens and some rolls of Acros in the bag then bottled it at the last minute and took my D80 and kit Zoom.
I ended up taking LOADS of average phots, because I could as I had an 8GB card. So yes I regretted the decision - ah well, Boston was great so I plan on going back (with some film :)
 
Not film vs digital, but I have had this feeling with film format, having only 35mm film and camera, when the situation would have been better captured by MF.
 
FrankS said:
Not film vs digital, but I have had this feeling with film format, having only 35mm film and camera, when the situation would have been better captured by MF.
Click to expand...


Frank,Im sure youve already tried this but just in case take a roll of 25asa b&w with you,I used to use kodak tech pan which I dont think is still available,the results are surprising......Neil.
 
Everybody should have the experience of going through a box of 8X10 film, if only just once in a lifetime, to see what B&W quality CAN be.
 
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