Coming back from Digital?

Coming back from Digital?

  • What is digital?

    Votes: 53 6.5%
  • I've tried digital, but found it's not for me

    Votes: 100 12.2%
  • I've never left film, but now shoot some (<20%) digital

    Votes: 144 17.6%
  • I've never left film, but now shoot mostly (>80%) digital

    Votes: 104 12.7%
  • I'm back from 100% digital to some (<20%) film

    Votes: 148 18.0%
  • I'm back from 100% digital to mostly (>80%) film

    Votes: 186 22.7%
  • I'm back from 100% digital to 100% film

    Votes: 58 7.1%
  • What do you mean, film?

    Votes: 27 3.3%

  • Total voters
    820
It will be interesting to see if the mfgrs. of digital cameras can EVER restore the utter simplicity and control, without hassle, you have w/ film.


Well they pretty well have with the M9 ... shame about the price!
 
Well they pretty well have with the M9 ... shame about the price!
That is what killed it for me. I have to think long and hard about purchasing a $200 lens. A $7000 body is just not even fathomable. I'm sure that someday, digital will reach that level of simplicity, ease, and affordability that we all desire. But I don't see it happening for a very long time.
 
A winding lever to cock a non-clonking shutter, and I'm in. Getting all of it in a body the size of an M6 and I'd sell a kidney to get me one.

Until then, I burn film.
 
99.999% Medium format film these day

99.999% Medium format film these day

Last summer after shooting almost 100% digital for the prior 4-5 years I decided to give rangefinder photography a try and picked up an M4-2 and 50mm lens. Maybe I didn't put enough effort or heart into but I've come to realize the simple fact that 35mm film photography just isn't for me. On the positive side I've found a renewed love of medium format photography. So I've pretty much decided that I'll be selling my Leica kit and the remainder of my Canon DSLR kit in the upcoming weeks and months and just concentrate on shooting medium format for now.
 
I have recently returned to some film for a couple of reasons. Four years ago, I purchased a used Nikon DSLR, a D50. I have been using it almost exclusively since.
Over the past year, I have dusted off my Canon A1 and Rollei 35S for B&W work. After my Dad passed, I inherited his Rolleiflex TLR and darkroom equipment which, the latter, I haven't used in over 30 years.
I will be doing some shooting with the TLR this weekend and hope to have the darkroom setup within the next month. There is something to be said for the hands on developing and printing of images.
 
There's no option for me in the poll:

I keep switching between film and digital. Film accounts for maybe 70-80% of my pictures, but I hardly ever do film/digital in parallel: I have phases, with the winters leaning towards digital...
 
I started out with film, tried digital and now going back to film 100%.
Digital is fine and with the development of the sensors it get's even better, I'm sure. But for me- the right place for a photograph is on paper first, then on lsd screen. Not the other way around.
Besides, the digital camera bodies I would like to shoot with cost way more than I could afford.
So, I'm 100% film shooter.
 
I started off with the FE2, then switched to the Lumix G1 last year, and at the same time got the CL with a 5cm/1.5, 35/2 and a vc15. The G1 was sold, used it for less than 6 months. I want some lighter gears, that's why I stop using the FE2. And sold the G1 because 80% of the function on it is pretty much useless for me, I just need the shutter, apeture, and meter. And the picture is just too sharp for me as well.
 
I came back to film recently for a project I'm working on. I have some 35mm RF's now, and I enjoy shooting them for many reasons, but for the majority of my shooting I'll stick with my D3. It's simply on another level and provides quality, flexibilty, responsiveness, and spontaneity that I've never found in film. That said, I still want an F3HP at some point.
 
Shot my first roll of Super 8 ever tonight. It was E6, so I pulled it out of the cartridge and developed it loose in a daylight tank with the Kodak 6-step bath. Cool stuff! I could definitely see myself shooting some of this on vacation, although for more important rolls, I would let a lab do it. The stuff is still hanging in my shower and I have no idea how it will spool...
 
I'm torn on this one - I started back in photograpy with digital in 2004 after a 20 year hiatus, but have got more and more into film and film cameras, 35mm and medium format since. What troubles me is that, if I'm honest, I think my photos were better and more interesting before I started mucking about with developing film, buying/selling film cameras, spending too much time on RFF etc. I love film and film cameras but I think they may have put my actual photographic creativity into reverse. Does anyone else have this or is it just me?
 
This is a kind of "so what?" post, similar to "Just waiting for the Mail". Something extremely important only to the bearer of the news. Yet, who else would you tell or what other forum would you post to?

I have shipped a beautiful D700 and four lenses to my favorite dealer. In return he has agreed to ship to me an M6TTL and a 35/1.4 pre-ASPH. No digital remain, except for my iPhone 3Gs, which ain't too bad under ideal circumstances.

Why I have done this has nothing to do with photo gear and everything to do with my turning a corner and deciding not to seek fame and especially fortune through the lens of a camera. I will simply take some pictures to please myself and not worry about the world.

So, what better instrument to thumb my photographic nose at the imaging world than a Leica? I know not another. I'll spare you the "Just Waiting for the Mail" but . . .

I'M JUST WAITING FOR THE MAIL!
 
I too have taken multi-year breaks from photography, and each time it took a while to get "back in the groove" creatively. It takes concentration and practice to regain that photographic vision. Keep at it, with a critical eye, and I'll bet you get better at it!
I'm torn on this one - I started back in photograpy with digital in 2004 after a 20 year hiatus, but have got more and more into film and film cameras, 35mm and medium format since. What troubles me is that, if I'm honest, I think my photos were better and more interesting before I started mucking about with developing film, buying/selling film cameras, spending too much time on RFF etc. I love film and film cameras but I think they may have put my actual photographic creativity into reverse. Does anyone else have this or is it just me?
 
So, what better instrument to thumb my photographic nose at the imaging world than a Leica? I know not another. I'll spare you the "Just Waiting for the Mail" but . . .
Good luck and happy trails with your new direction, Dick!
 
I recently retired my 5D Mark II and L glass, so I could get back to film and shooting with my ZI and Nokton 40 lens. Digital was too expensive for me. Always upgrading bodies each year, and I was always trying to get the look of my film shots from years ago. Sadly, I was one of those people that bought into the rumor that film was dead. Now I have a mini-fridge loaded with film for a life time it seems! I just have my D-Lux 4 for digital 20% of the time, the rest is all film once again.
 
Film and digital. I like both.

The results from a DSLR are in almost any technical sense superior, but art (even small-a art) is not, in my opinion, a technological arms race. I prefer the act of photography with my M6 to any digital I've ever used, I enjoy developing B&W film, and the results that I obtain with that setup are better than satisfactory for my purposes.

Bottom line is that both processes are a lot of fun. I have three or four years worth of black and white film stockpiled in my freezer, and if at that point it's not practical to continue with film, I'll happily transition to exclusively digital. It would make me sad to not use the M6 anymore, though. That camera is like an old friend. We've been through a lot together.
 
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