Contemplating the unthinkable for me

[raid]

Have lots of fun, Frank. It took me many years to accept a move to digital cameras.

 

[element6]

That's right. Buying a digital camera.

You wont like it. Its a pain to pass the camera around to friends to show them pictures. Also the screens are typically much smaller that 5X7 so you never see the detail. 🙂

 

[cz23]

I do have some digital processing experience. I've scanned negs and made adjustments using photoshop elements (but I don't know how to use layers), and with my iPhone and ipad, I use Snapseed to make adjustments. I'm not a total noobie.

Lightroom sort of emulates layers. So, for example, you won't need dodging and burning layers because the edits are inherently non-destructive and remain adjustable. Same goes for pretty much all the other edits that we used to place in layers.

I think you would enjoy Lightroom and probably find it a faster learning curve to achieve what you want.

John

 

[ferider]

I'm in my 5th month of digital now, Frank.

One of the reasons I like film is that it is different from work, where everything revolves around computers and technology.

The biggest change is learning to expose correctly. Amazing how easily highlights blow and how far you can pull the shadows. Like slide film, but worse. Checking for blown highlights is the one thing chimping is good for 🙂

I do stay away from Liveview and EVF (my wife has a great Lumix system, but looking at the world through a computer screen just doesn't feel right). If you are like me, you might want to consider something with an optical viewfinder.

The basic photo creation process doesn't change of course. And more free time when I don't have to wait for film to dry and scanning.

I like it enough to consider also buying a digital SLR (an old Sony A850 or A900, probably).

Roland.

 

[FrankS]

Thanks everyone for your continued contributions.
My current PP of an iPhone pic takes less than a minute with Snapseed.
Roland, the EVF response is much improved from xe1 to xe2, also the camera has a hotshoe that can hold one of my external CV viewfinders.

 

[danielsterno]

Frank- for me, the fuji x100 is a nice experience. The cost (bought it used almost 3 years ago) User Interaction (though quirky (like film), for me its the closest to film both images and expectations and the sensor is preferable vs. xtrans. i do wear it around my neck with a m6 or m5 a lot unless I venture out with either….good luck

 

[robert blu]

That's true. There appears to be a certain amount of guilt involved when a fairly committed film shooter decides to get a digital camera. You realise that you will probably shoot less film as a consequence and that can play on your mind IMO.

I know very well this kind of internal conflict....still suffering it...

Frank, if you have darkroom experience once you know a couple of basic point of LR you can use it easily to "replicate" your darkroom procedure, dodging, burning, a little bit more contrast here...

robert

 

[MIkhail]

Who the heck cares, digital or film? Especially in this day and age.
Picture is a king, not a tool (c). Captain Obvious

Pinkhassov shoots digital, D'Agata - film. Whatever works to produce good (great) image.

 

[FrankS]

You should know that I care, Mikhail.

Photography is my hobby, and the final image is not all that matters to me. I am also committed to process.

I do this for myself so I don't care if no one else cares how the image came to be. I care how.

 

[MIkhail]

You should know that I care, Mikhail.

Photography is my hobby, and the final image is not all that matters to me.

If the process matters more than result, then sure. In my humble opinion, photography is a tool to produce the objects of harmony and beauty and express yourself that way, hobby or not. Even better if hobby, you dont have to shoot somebody's wedding or passport portrait for living..

In my personal experience, no digital B/W conversion matches the film.
But as far as color- I like digital better, I can control color better that way.
Adobe Lightroom is not that complicated, really.

P.S.
Something to consider, about digital B/W... without intentions of starting a discussion... I recently looked thru several supposedly great example that show how well the digital Leica, for one, handles high ISO without noise, all so smooth!
In my personal opinion, the grain is an integral part of the B/W image, and these smooth images to me are like man with shaven legs 🙂 I guess where I am getting is: completely different aesthetics, one who is switching be prepared for that 🙂

 

[nongfuspring]

X-E2 is great, but check out the X-E1 also. They are both fairly similar, the X-E2 has some extra features that may or may not be worth the price difference depending on your needs. Enjoy!

 

[FrankS]

Mikhail, probably film for b+w, digital for colour for me too.

Nongfuspring, I like the idea of wifi connectivity of the xe2. Like my iPhone.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

I'm a long-time film user (first picked up a camera as a pre-teen in the very early 1970s). I was a relatively "early adopter" with digital back in the early 2000s but, in may ways, I wish I'd waited until this point to pick up a digital camera. Why? Because it's been an expensive and crooked path to get to a point where I feel comfortable with the kit I've got and its output.

I will never give up on film as my preferred medium unless some digital camera emerges which, in my opinion, trumps the output from the various film cameras / formats I use. That said, I think refusal to acknowledge the strengths and benefits that digital photography brings to the party would be naive and limiting. There's no logical or compelling reason to choose one over the other when you can have both.

We are photographers and yet we are still consumers. The X-E2 is a fine camera and accepts a lot of excellent optics, native and others, via adapter.

Have fun. This is not a dress-rehearsal.....

 

[Stuart John]

I really like my Fuji X100 but if I'm honest it is closer to a digital Canonet than a Leica.
I had a Fuji XE1 and never liked it, I bought the X100 a few months later and got rid of the XE1.

 

[willie_901]

I am a noobie. Been in film since my Central Tech days in Toronto of the middle 50's. Having a hard time with this stuff after the digital picture taken. Been taking down all Willie 901's tips. They really help. Thanks Willie

Thanks.

The post-production leaning curve is also a factor.

One thing to try in the beginning is to shoot JPEG (or JPEG + raw) and automatically bracket exposures (aperture) in 1/3 or 1/2 stops. Once you are completely comfortable with the camera, then the developing a raw post-production work flow won't be as daunting.

 

[FrankS]

It's done. The camera body has been ordered, and I can pick it up tomorrow. The camera store did not have one in stock, but have one in their warehouse.

 

[burancap]

Congratulations. I think it was a good choice.

 

[FrankS]

Thanks, I think and hope so too.

 

[nikonosguy]

Give yourself to the Dark Side. It is the only way you can save your friends. Yes, your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for... sister. So, you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her, too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the Dark Side... then perhaps she will...

 

[FrankS]

Take your meds, I am. 😉