digital users...what would entice you back to film?

Keith said:
I really don't see the need to be committed to one medium only when there are two available that both have such definitive strengths.
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+1.

When I post on "what are you carrying right now" thread, I have both film and digital cams most of time.
 
These are qualities I like about digital:

Capture stage equipment has improved tremendously.

Process stage can be very creative. Computers/Software/Internet have allowed this to take place.

Photographs can be viewed on various platforms.

These three processes can be used to help an image as well as over do it. I see many photographs today that are overdone.
 
I'm in a slightly different spot to what the OP's question asks - I ask myself these days, what needs to happen in order to continue using my digicam? (The place of film in my world is safe as houses, at least for as long as there is film available). One thing that I think will help me continue to use my digital camera (D90) is that I've finally figured out how to switch the bleeding LCD off. :D So, no more chimping! Getting a D800 would be another thing that would keep me in the digital world (though it's a bit too dear for me now). However, film will always have more love from me, if not for any other reason, then for the smell of those chemicals! Also, I actually don't mind scanning, it does take a lot of time, but then again I don't watch any TV, so finding time is not that much of the problem (at least on weekends). Now I also dream of getting a Zeiss Ikon ZI (in addition to my Nikon FE2), and when I manage to do that, my use of film will certainly go up.

So, I'm trying to get the best of both worlds here, and in addition to keep a very tight leash on the use of Photoshop (and other processing software), as I do agree there's heaps of overdone stuff out there.
 
Nothing really.

Nothing really.

Not 35mm anymore. Digital offers too many benefits and the downsides, if any, are too minor to be bothered with. Being able to shift ISO at any moment, B&W or color, no expensive and time-consuming trips to the lab (or darkroom), and (maybe most important for me) instant feedback on errors of judgement.

Medium format may still hold a bit of sway with me, but not for any real practical reason. Just one last emotional connection to film, so it might as well be a big negative that I get out of it. :)
 
Jamie Pillers said:
Not 35mm anymore. Digital offers too many benefits and the downsides, if any, are too minor to be bothered with. Being able to shift ISO at any moment, B&W or color, no expensive and time-consuming trips to the lab (or darkroom), and (maybe most important for me) instant feedback on errors of judgement.

Medium format may still hold a bit of sway with me, but not for any real practical reason. Just one last emotional connection to film, so it might as well be a big negative that I get out of it. :)
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It's interesting ... When I first started shooting seriously with digital (2002), I sold all my 35mm gear and bought medium format gear. Shot with both for a year. When I bought my first 6Mpixel DSLR, I knew I could get the quality I wanted out of that and it obsoleted the medium format gear.

What I mostly like working with in film nowadays is 35mm (out of nostalgia probably) and ultraminiature formats, like Minox 8x11, which returns unique aesthetic qualities that I like a lot.

​
 
JSU said:
In Coastal Texas this time of the year the tap water is running just above 85 degrees F. I typically lightly wipe my film to remove excess Photo Flo, but yesterday the emulsion was wiping from the film base (of the leader) of the Efke KB-25 I had just developed and washed. Rather than lose my images, I just wound the film back onto the reel and dried it (cool air) as is. Fortunately the images survived, but it has taken me about an hour per image to clean-up with a spot healing brush and cloning tool to deal with the dust in the emulsion which can't be blown off. Eventually it will be Spot Tone for the prints.

Well, I should have known better, live and learn.

BTW, development & fixing was done @ 75 degrees F.
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I've heard that the emulsion of Efke needs to be treated very carefully.

I hang HP5+ on a film clip and drag my Jobo squeegee down it with some force and have yet to leave a mark. I would imagine that if I ever get some Efke I may have to re-think this process! :D
 
back alley said:
as much as i have embraced digital...my mind wanders occasionally to thoughts of a black m4...a hefty m5 or that lovely finder in the bessa r4...

could i ever use film again?...a thought that pops in at times...

a well crafted film camera might do it...
a panoramic camera might do it...

not sure what else might do it...

what about you other digital users?
anything tempting you at the moment?
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Medium format
Rolleiflex 2.8 + a very good friend that will process and scan for me.
 
If I had the ability to stay in one place long enough, I'd buy developing and printing equipment that would allow me to move back to film.

As it is, I simply move around too much, and the cost and inconvenience of having film developed and placed onto a CD are simply too great.

I'd love to be able to shoot medium format and develop and make huge prints... :rolleyes:
 
Having spent the last few days in the darkroom printing after a serious consideration of the M-Monochrom I'm sticking with film for B&W. I've been all digital for color for a few years now, but I don't think I could give up the darkroom, or the look of a good B&W wet print - that is something I'd miss...

But for color I can't imagine going back. The control one has over the process is so much more complete than it ever was with film & wet prints. And while I know it could be the same with digital B&W the surface and depth of a B&W fiber print trumps what an inkjet spits out. If there was only RC B&W paper I would absolutely feel differently.
 
Phantomas said:
rangefinder and MF. Once I can buy an EXCELLENT digital rangefinder and a hassy for cheap I'm ditchin' film completely. Well, maybe except for occasional foolin around.
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That's exactly where I am. I love rangefinders and medium format but simply cannot afford the digital versions. So film it is. That's not to say that film is a compromise though. In have a vast complement of digital gear but I find it's immediacy counter productive. The slow and deliberate use of film, coupled with it's costings, puts a greater demand on me and is invariably beneficial. Try as I might, I just cannot introduce this discipline into my digital approach.

Another issue is time. Being retired I have lots of it. Filling the day becomes a real issue in retirement. Digital shooting does not fill the day. A days film shooting and subsequent developing, printing and scanning keeps me gainfully employed for several days.
 
I have a digital camera (X-Pro 1) and I like it quite a lot. But I'm in love with film and darkroom printing. Using my digital camera just doesn't satisfy me the way that using my film cameras do. I'm fixing up a Fujimoto CP-31 right now so I can make RA-4 prints from my color negatives.
 
Sadly, not much would get me back to shooting film again.

Bob
 
boomguy57 said:
... Film takes more work, and separates the men from the boys, so to speak. You have to know a bit more, and have a bit more dedication than the average camera-phone diehard. ...
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That's an awfully confrontational statement.

I'd shorten it to just "Film takes more work." and add "I like the way the photos I make with it look." rather than load up my opinion with so much aggression. :)
 
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