Film or digital

[Sylvaticus]

My first experience of digital photography was the Canon Powershot G5, felt and looked like a 1950s rangefinder camera (except it was autofocus of course and the lens was zoom, but the viewfinder was optical see-through and the lens was f:2). Despite its modest pixel count the pictures were much less noisy than film scans from my elderly Canon film scanner. I still take a few films each year for old times sake, but I do mostly digital nowadays.

 

[trev2401]

Film for me, anytime!!!



My cousin had his wedding shot digitally 6 years back (with a D30 or some DCS frankenstein F5 i think) thinking that the pictures would be more 'vibrant' than the alternative then (kodak gold.) Now he's having major issues getting prints done beyond 11x17 even with interpol. software..

meanwhile, i just scanned and printed for my dad a 4x5 neg of my great grandparent's wedding, taken just after WW1. It's amazing how much detail a 4x5 neg can capture... =)

 

[gb hill]

I shoot 100% film, eventhough I have nothing against digital. I just can't seem to keep up with all the modes on a digital camera. Besides I have too much $$ tied up in film cameras to change.

 

[gregg]

Professionally I shoot 75% dSLR - 25% film with RF. This tends to be my "keep rate" anyway.

Personal projects - 100% film with RF. This would change to 100% digital if I had an M8. J'ai raison...

Snapshots and carry-around - ~100% digital P&S (sometimes the IIIc goes along though...)

 

[Senecabud]

I had to vote 75% film because there was no 98%, and 100% isn't quite the whole truth. I do use a digicam now and then, but 98% of the time it's film in various formats.

 

[literiter]

Your cousin is a rarity. Most people rarely even look at their wedding photos again after a year or so, much less get really large prints made of it.

Wedding photographers would love it if there were more customers like your cousin!

In our experience as picture framers we frame quite a few portrait, family portrait, wedding and event photographs. These photos can be old pics of grandparents to be reframed, or recent, to be framed for the first time.

Family portraits are popular in fairly large sizes, 16 x 20 or more is not unusual. These will be hung conspicuously in the home.

Quite often, black and white photos of grandparents and parents will be archivally re-framed. Many families will copy old photos to redistribute to extended family members. These are almost always framed.

Newspaper/magazine articles, historic photos, and photos of the old home are framed and they want to hang them on the wall.

Many families seem to want their photographic history preserved in some way for their offspring and grandchildren.

Wedding pictures are very common. Some come in within a year of the occasion, others have been in a drawer for years, some even have thumbtack holes in the corners. It can take a few years in some cases but, we get 'em.

From our point of view the trev2401's cousin is not a rarity rather the norm. This is reflected by comments from other picture framers.

The point seems to be that many people want a photographic history preserved and they want to hang it on the wall and look at it.

 

[Steve Williams]

Professionally I am 100 percent digital. It makes sense in terms of time, expense, process, and it's what the art director wants and expects from me.

I shoot black and white exclusively and process and print in a cozy darkroom in my basement for all my personal creative work. I can print up to 20x24 silver prints and so far haven't been interested in any departure from gelatin silver prints.

For my Scooter in the Sticks blog I have been shooting almost entirely digital images though now and again I would take along a film camera-- an M6, Mamiya 7, or Hasselblad --- to shoot landscapes and things I see while riding.

 

[Kim Coxon]

The wedding portrait of my wife still hangs on the wall and we have been married 30 years. :angel:

Kim

Interesting. While there is usually a "wall of dead relatives" in houses I've been in over the years, they are generally faded color or yellowed B&W in a mishmash of cheap frames. I don't know anyone who has wedding photos on the walls beyond a year or two into the marriage.

Maybe I just hang around with the wrong crowd.

 

[vrgard]

Good for you, Kim. We, too, have our wedding photo from 22 years ago hanging on the wall at home along with other family photos.

-Randy

 

[d_ross]

There is so much discussion here about Digital verses film, usually it's based around mechanics and workflow etc. But I thik the great difference is in the mindset of the photographer.

An advertising agency owner I know once said he likes to commission film photographers because when shooting digital people will get to a point they know they have a shot and stop, while a film shooter will get to a point they think they have a shot, then to be sure will go that little bit further to be sure!

 

[Steve Williams]

There is so much discussion here about Digital verses film, usually it's based around mechanics and workflow etc. But I thik the great difference is in the mindset of the photographer.

An advertising agency owner I know once said he likes to commission film photographers because when shooting digital people will get to a point they know they have a shot and stop, while a film shooter will get to a point they think they have a shot, then to be sure will go that little bit further to be sure!

I never thought about it that way before but there may be some truth to it. When I shoot assignments I will often tether the digital camera to my laptop so that the designer or art director can see what I'm doing. More often than not when we have the picture we're done save for a couple safety shots. It's more like shooting a movie scene.

 

[d_ross]

I guees in that case Steve the art director couldnt really commplain about much I wonder too, do you think you would give him better work if he wasnt there tethered to you ?

 

[bmattock]

I like photography. I try to choose the tool most suited for the photograph I want to take, but sometimes I use whatever I have available at the time. Sometimes I go to extra lengths to use a particular camera, lens, or film that I want to experiment with.

I will not state a preference. I just like photography. That should be good enough.

 

[Steve Williams]

I guees in that case Steve the art director couldnt really commplain about much I wonder too, do you think you would give him better work if he wasnt there tethered to you ?

In big shoots the final results for me are always better with an art director on site. Even my assistant monitors the images as they load on the laptop looking for problems. It was a different challenge when I shot film.

I had a big break in my career. I hung up the camera professionally in 1992 to become a film maker. Then last summer I picked up the camera again. I've had to address the who digital workflow from scratch since I mainly continued to shoot film for personal projects.

I am having a great time though.

 

[BillBingham2]

Too bad the Polling software would not allow us to compare how many people have had to replace digital cameras because it was not cost effective to repair them vs film? I know I've given away five digital cameras because they stopped working well. I'm keeping the 6th and working with it anyway because I love it so much. Never had to do that to a film camera. It should also be said that I have never had any auto anything cameras.

B2 (;->

 

[dannynono]

I'm working my way back into film, ~30% right now, but my goal is to pickup a decent scanner and do my own b/w processing - color will still be outsourced. hopefully, that should help lessen my long-term costs with shooting film.

MF is still a big draw for me and if it's being used, the 35 RF comes along for the ride.

as for the dslr replacement - I've had the 20D for 3 years now...not worth nearly what i paid for it used, but it still works. knock on wood.

 

[paragon]

Maybe the question should be:

What camera will you NEXT buy to use, (rather than collect) - even for members of an RF forum

a film or a digital

for me, digital as a user, film as an object to keep, take care of, read about, be interested in and use occasionally

I would love another Nikon RF, (an SP), - to keep, hold, look at, etc., and use now and then. If someone walked up to me with a mint boxed set, at a price I knew to be reasonable, I would buy it, I would not be able to resist the temption. I would never turn down a Leica or Nikon F if I felt it was a bargain

But, what do I grab each day - a digital P&S

What do I take with me when I know I want to take photos - a digital DSLR and , (less and less), my M6 and M3 ----- what get used the most, my Pentax DSLR

With film, (generally, before you all jump on me) - I think age now plays apart - we all look back at the stuff that we could not afford and really wanted - the Nikon stuff, Pentax and Canon. We can now buy it on Ebay for less than the cost of a good meal and Nikon lenses cost less than we pay to get our haircut. WOW, what do we do when we see a "bargain" - probably have "two of each"

Digital is an unstoppable force, and photography is a creative art now enhanced by the computer which most of us are into. The digital camera is just a logical and very good part of life today.

just my views

 

[MCTuomey]

i shoot sports (mostly futbol) as an amateur, and a bit of hired work here and there - all digi. that's where my volume is. but for myself, i usually prefer film and plan to supplement my 35mm RF with a 4x5 rig when i have the means or can sell off some of the dSLR gear.

film by its nature isn't a volume question, imho.

 

[rich815]

Maybe the question should be:

What camera will you NEXT buy to use, (rather than collect) - even for members of an RF forum

a film or a digital

for me, digital as a user, film as an object to keep, take care of, read about, be interested in and use occasionally

I would love another Nikon RF, (an SP), - to keep, hold, look at, etc., and use now and then. If someone walked up to me with a mint boxed set, at a price I knew to be reasonable, I would buy it, I would not be able to resist the temption. I would never turn down a Leica or Nikon F if I felt it was a bargain

But, what do I grab each day - a digital P&S

What do I take with me when I know I want to take photos - a digital DSLR and , (less and less), my M6 and M3 ----- what get used the most, my Pentax DSLR

With film, (generally, before you all jump on me) - I think age now plays apart - we all look back at the stuff that we could not afford and really wanted - the Nikon stuff, Pentax and Canon. We can now buy it on Ebay for less than the cost of a good meal and Nikon lenses cost less than we pay to get our haircut. WOW, what do we do when we see a "bargain" - probably have "two of each"

Digital is an unstoppable force, and photography is a creative art now enhanced by the computer which most of us are into. The digital camera is just a logical and very good part of life today.

just my views

Bill, I'm the same---except vice-a-versa. I really love my two digital P&S cameras (a Sony F717 and Panasonic LX-1) but end up using my film cameras much more, except when I want pure convenience over quality (subjective for what I expect), family/friend snapshots, or to use the Sony for it's digital infra-red feature.

 

[David R Munson]

Probably about 75% digital, but it's a misleading number. I'm broke, am out of 35mm film, and have no darkroom. With different circumstances it would probably be about 50/50. I love both!