A look at who is taking up which medium for photography

[El Jonbre Grande]

I've been shooting comfortably and happily with a Nikon DSLR setup for the past 6 years. I never shot film when I was younger apart from the odd snap with cheap point and shoot film cameras of the 80s and early 90s.

A year ago a friend let me borrow his Mamiya 6 to shoot a few rolls with. When I got the negatives back and scanned them I literally gasped - I had never seen anything like it! 🙂

Fast forward to now - the last 3 months I've been primarily shooting and developing my own b&w film and have developed a real passion for it. I've somehow luckily managed to obtain my 3 dream cameras (Mamiya 6, Bessa R2a and Rolleiflex) and can't be happier 😀 It's invigorated my photography and I think my improvement in general has been fairly rapid after hitting a bit of a plateau with my digital.

 

[shadowfox]

*Nothing* as important to the longevity of practical film-photography ('practical' means that I do not have to coat my own film) than re-introducing film as a valid (not obsolete) media to today's photographers.

Young, old, it doesn't matter.

With digital technology taking over the mass/consumer snapshot-taking crowd, film-photography has been liberated for those who are willing to open themselves to the unpredictable, craft-oriented, and dare I say: artistic -side of photography.

With digital technology taking over the precision-driven scientific shots, obligatory wedding/event shots, and eye-popping sharply rendered sport/action shots, film-photography has been liberated for professional shooters who values the nostalgic/romantic/handcrafted qualities of film, for them to re-educate their clients of the gentler side of photography.

It is far too early to call it quits, it is far too early to admit defeat.

While the evidences may be anecdotal technically-speaking, each awakened/discovered passion is real (read the post right above this one).

Even raindrops, when there are enough of them merging together, it will form a stream.

That is my hope for film-photography.

 

[Hamel]

I started with digital, and then worked my way back to film. For me, I use digital for shoots that require intense lighting set up, getting paid, or class work. All of my personal photos I am moving towards film.

To me, and a few of my friends (mind you, we all go to photography school) enjoy having a physical product. Of actually creating something and using our hands to work with it. I think I have more fun shooting film, anticipating my results instead of instant gratification.

 

[jsrockit]

I really don't see the difference these days... they are both good enough and I use both interchangably. Maybe it is because my "darkroom" is completely digital that I don't have a preference.

That said, I think it is complete bull**** to assume that film is art or a special craft and digital is throw away nonsense. Give me a break. Just use whatever works for you and make photos.

 

[Bike Tourist]

I have just completed a transaction wherein I exchanged a wonderful D700 and lenses for an M6TTL and 34/1.4 Summilux. My reasons had to do with my decision to not actively pursue stock sales (the D700 was perfect for that) and to try to enjoy photography again.

I wanted the freedom of working with minimal equipment, not being constrained by considerations of grain and artifacts, not obsessing over dust on the low pass filter and not carrying extra pounds of equipment with features I did not use and did not want.

My iPhone is now my digital notebook.

 

[jbielikowski]

I've started making photos about 10 years ago with film camera (now I'm 20), got one digital slr and now I'm going everywhere with my medium format GA645, simply there is no digital camera for 300$ that could give me so good IQ, weight less than 1kg, and allow me to take sharp photos @ ISO100 and 1/2 second handheld. Also I'm enjoying alchemy of darkroom much more than PS.

 

[patois]

I've noticed that a lot of the higher quality urbex shots at uer.ca are taken on medium format mostly by people under the age of 30.

 

[rpsawin]

Hopefully a lot of these kids, when they get sick of light leaks and artfully vignetted images, will move onto a decent second hand SLR or similar...

I spend way too much time at the Pike Place Market doing street shooting (most of it very badly) and I have noticed a marked increase in the number of younger photographers using older Olympus, Nikon and Canon slrs. There is a major art school not far from the market and I am sure most of them are students. But it's very cool to see them out and about "going old school".

Best regards,

Bob