dumb question re digital

[back alley]

please don't laugh cause i'm serious...

how can you (or can you) tell if a posted pic was taken by a digital camera?

if i were to post a nice street scene could you tell if it was from my canon p or a canon g2, film or digital?
i'm just talking about web posts now.

joe

 

[Todd.Hanz]

I can download and with my secret spy software determine if it were digital or film, in fact I can tell what color socks you were wearing when you took it!

OK, maybe not. If Jorge wanted to he could use the same program he uses on DSLR exchange and it would read the EXIF (information from the digital file) and display it in the gallery.

Todd

 

[DaShiv]

If it's a low-light shot taken at high ISO setting/film, the digital shot will stand out due to lack of film grain (and digital noise, if visible at all depending on the camera and ISO setting, looks very different). Some who spend lots of time with both film and digital have other tricks to tell them apart, but I think if you were to set up a double-blind experiment, most photographers wouldn't be able to tell film or digital apart at web size (barring specific details such as "that grain looks like Tri-X" or "those oversaturated reds must have came from an F828" etc).

 

[GeneW]

I shoot with both and am on some forums that are primarily digital, and for colour, unless there's some obvious film grain, I can't usually tell. Funny though -- I can often tell the difference between digital and film at a glance in B&W unless it's a high-contrast image. Film B&W looks different to my eye.

Gene

 

[jlw]

Since by definition you can't post any web image that ISN'T digital (whether by camera or scanning) the differences tend to be muted. Digital images often hold up better you can skip the analog-to-digital-conversion (scanning) step.

The closer you can get back to viewing the original media, the more the different characteristics of various digital and film options become apparent.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Here is an example of an image I posted on DSLR Exchange ( http://www.dslrexchange.com/dslrxphotopost/showphoto.php/photo/331/sort/1/size/medium/cat/500/page/1) , EXIF information is contain in the camera file and contains all relative information, scanned images do not.
There are ways to not save EXIF so you could post an image w/o most people knowing.

Todd

 

[chenick]

Often you can tell by looking at the highlights, digital tends to have a sudden drop off in detail with bright objects.
Also I generally find digital shots to be 'flatter', but one can't always distinguish, especially if with the newer DSLRs for example.

-Nick

 

[Rick Waldroup]

I know that I can almost never tell a color shot from film or digital (unless it has been heavily manipulated), but I can almost always tell the difference if the shot is in black and white. I don't know if it is just me or what, but B&W film looks different than B&W digital. The film seems to have more contrast and depth. All I shoot is B&W so maybe that accounts for it, but whenever my wife and I are looking at photos on photonet, I can almost always tell the difference between B&W film shots and B&W digital shots. I know that most digital B&W shots are converted in photoshop, but some digital cameras have a B&W shooting mode also. My wife now likes to play a guessing game with me- is it film or is it digital...

 

[back alley]

thanks alot guys!

i am about to enter the world of digital on a smaller scale having just bought gene's canon g2.
it looks to be all the digital i need but i find i have some questions now that i have never given much thought to before.

it will be yet another learning experience for this old dog.

joe

 

[rover]

Funny timing, I am going to give the digicam I have to my son to play with. I will keep an eye on him, but I don't think the cam will last much more than 6 months. It will no doubt hit the ground a number of times.

 

[back alley]

well, i'm gonna try really hard not to drop mine!

i am by no means heading down the digital path but i am curious and i think it might be fun to try out as a carry camera.
and i think the g2 will be an ok cam for me as it has what i think i need in a digital.

joe

 

[Natalia]

Joe, it will be my pleasure to be of any help with your digital endeavor.

 

[back alley]

why thank you ma'am!

i am not shy and will ask when in doubt.

joe

 

[pradeep1]

Joe, it will be my pleasure to be of any help with your digital endeavor.

Me too. I am new here. Come from a film converted to fully digital and now reconverting to partial film background. But I am well versed with digital photography and computers in general.