Going Back To Film From M8

[Al Kaplan]

I went to a carnival after the Thanksgiving Day parade and ran some slightly out of date HP5 Plus through an M3 and an M2 sporting an 85/2 Nikkor and a 21/3.4 Super Angulon. I have no lust for an M8.

 

[noimmunity]

It's a really thoughtful thread. Thanks Dave for sharing your experience, from start to finish, with the M8.

The one thing I'm really waiting for with digital RF is eventually high ISO ability.

When I had the RD-1 I found it was useful in tandem with a film body as a tool to improve my film shooting. But I always preferred the look I could get from film.

 

[.ken]

I am right there with you. Digital is convenience, but film is love. ;-)

 

[Fred Burton]

Wow, you guys are not portending well for Leica's future. But it is hard to beat some old slippers, a nice fire in the fireplace and a well warn M3. Leica is trying to make peace with the future while its customer base is firmly entrenched in the past. Interesting thread.

 

[oftheherd]

I remember a time when I couldn't wait to get into digital. That was when 1 mp was considered high end for amatures. That didn't last long. When I got a chance at a 4 mp P&S about 4 years ago, I got it and liked it a lot for snapshooting. A couple of Christmas seasons ago, my daughters got me a 6 mp Sony P&S which I use, again mostly for snapshooting. Digital just hasn't grabbed me like it has some people.

I am slowly getting back into something more than snapshooting. Digital still has not grabbed me. I still prefer my 35mm SLR's, MF rangefinder and MF folders. I think I am like the majority of posters above.

Part of it may be cost. I can't afford an M8 or any other digital RF and the new lens line I would have to buy into. I realize that in the long run, digital would be cheaper. But I think most of it is just the preference for the use of film and the type of camera I have become familiar with.

To each their own I guess.

 

[Vickko]

Dave, I did exaclty what you did but in October.

Dave, I did exaclty what you did but in October.

Dave, I did exaclty what you did but in October.

Bought new M8 in Jan

Thrilled to shoot it for 7 months

Afraid to take it to Europe, didn't want electrical hassles, brought film camera instead

Then didn't shoot M8 for a couple months

Felt horrible about having so much money sunk into it

Dreaded having any malfunctions that would cause me to ship the M8 to Solms (I remember reading about your M8 failure)

So - sold it and now shooting film again.

Feels very very good to be shooting film.

But, sometimes I miss the M8. But the feeling is fleeting.


Welcome back to film. I understand what you went through. And I'm glad I went through it, to get it out of my system.

But, if you do want to sell it, please email me. 🙂


Vick

 

[__hh]

I also stopped using digital for all my work and went back to film. I and am having a blast documenting weddings just with a couple of M7s.

Cheers,

Although I am not a pro or anywhere near that caliber, I too went to a recent wedding bringing no other gear apart from my M6, 35mm, and a pocket-full of Tri-X. That was the first time I've done that.... and boy... what an experience.

Shooting someone else's important event was fun, unique, and even the official photographer and video-camera man came up to me to 'talk gear'. 🙂

The rig was small, quiet, and unobtrusive. Best of all, I never had to worry about my batteries running out (but the opposite can be said about my film running out).

Some shots here http://picasaweb.google.com/hunghang/SydneyNovember08

Oh... and I am one of those who bought an R-D1(s) and have sold it. Have not missed the DRF. If I wanted digital, I have my DSLR and P&S gear.

 

[sleepyhead]

Interesting thread - thanks everyone for your thoughts.

A while back I bought an R-D1 because I already had a bunch of M mount lenses and didn't want the hassle of getting into a whole new digital system (suchas Canon or Nikon). I used the R-D1 a lot, enjoying it, but foolishly thinking it would replace my film Leicas. I liked the results from the R-D1, but never considered them as "legitimate" as a piece of film with a nice image on it.

So I sold the R-D1 and went back to shooting my Film Leicas. Again, enjoying it. Then I saw an R-D1s for sale at a very low price and I jumped on it without even thinking. Why?

Because I realised that the R-D1s didn't HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING FOR ME, it could occupy a niche in my equipment, that is, I realised that it could live alongside my film cameras as a learning tool, an experimenting tool, and especialy as a camera for taking nice (better than digital point-and-shoot quality) pictures of my kids, i.e., portraiture, which is an area of photography that I think digital really excels because you can take many many shots to get just the right experssion, as well as check on the spot that you have a winning shot.

I also think that digital is better than film in a lot of situations for LOW LIGHT COLOR shots:

Therefore, I use my film Leicas mainly for B&W and my R-D1s mainly for color...

 

[Keith]

Wow ... if this attitude keeps up we are going to need some enterprising individual to come up with a way to convert all these useless M8's back to film ... perhaps with some type of insert!

Dr Leo ... where are you? :angel:

 

[Fred Burton]

Perhaps Leica could go into the film scanner business as their next direction. All of these film images have to be digitized to post on the web or print on the inkjet, so a super high end scanner to match the quality of the Leica lenses could be a good seller.

 

[Keith]

Perhaps Leica could go into the film scanner business as their next direction. All of these film images have to be digitized to post on the web or print on the inkjet, so a super high end scanner to match the quality of the Leica lenses could be a good seller.

I'm putting a red dot on the Epson right now to see how it looks! I'd want my scanner 'a la carte' of course ... and jaapv would probably buy two! 😛

 

[monochromejrnl]

Dave - thanks for sharing your experience with the M8. Do you plan to sell it and replace it with the 5D MkII for our paid work? the current generation of FX dSLR's image quality is what has prevented me from getting a M8... waiting for the dSLRs to drop in price before I take the plunge. For now my D200 is available when I want a digitial camera.

 

[dazedgonebye]

Perhaps Leica could go into the film scanner business as their next direction. All of these film images have to be digitized to post on the web or print on the inkjet, so a super high end scanner to match the quality of the Leica lenses could be a good seller.

Yea! A rebadged Epson V700 for $2k! 😱

 

[noimmunity]

Because I realised that the R-D1s didn't HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING FOR ME, it could occupy a niche in my equipment,I also think that digital is better than film in a lot of situations for LOW LIGHT COLOR shotsTherefore, I use my film Leicas mainly for B&W and my R-D1s mainly for color...

I know what you mean, sleepyhead, and I may well follow in your footsteps. But I really prefer Fuji Natura 1600 to the RD-1. And it's not so bad pushed to 3200:

C Sonnar @f/1.5

The cost, however, is rather high. A used RD-1 is about the price of 100 rolls of Fuji Natura + development and scanning. I could amortize that eventually. Hmmm... maybe I shoudn't be reading this thread!

 

[bluelight]

I am in similar boat as Dave and noimmunity.

Just sold my R-D1 and focus on film. I agree that current digital is best for color low light work but I want to shoot more B&W and develop myself.

It may have nothing to do with picture quality but as a hobby, you have to enjoy it....

 

[dazedgonebye]

Here I am just making long term plans to handle most of my 35mm work with something digital...something m3/4rds perhaps.
I've about decided I can satisfy my film urges with medium and large format, and use digital for a carry all the time camera. Even so, I know I won't be able to part with my Hexar AF, and the thought of giving up my R3A is hard to accept...not to mention some FSU and other misc. film cameras.
I wonder if I get my digital "35mm" will I use it or just keep grabbing film because I like it better?

 

[palec]

Yea! A rebadged Epson V700 for $2k! 😱

I thought Fred mentioned scanner which can match Leica optics 🙂

 

[semrich]

Dave, thanks for starting this thread and to all those who have added their thoughts and experiences, many of which resonate with what I've done up to this point.

My first choice getting seriously into photography was to go with range finders and digital. Best decision I could have made as is discussed on this forum often.

I learned a lot from the feed back provided by digital, and by then was mostly shooting monochrome. When considering a backup camera it made sense for me with my complement of lenses to get a film camera and shoot B&W.

Along came the MP and day by day the M8 saw more and more of the shelf. It just "feels" better shooting a film camera and I'm getting better shots. Now I have your M2 and when using a 50mm lens it almost always finds itself on the M2, I've learned first hand what others mean in their praise of it.

I'll have an M3 in my hands in a couple of more weeks, poor M8.

I now develop my own film and scan it and am not bothered by that process in fact I rather enjoy it. I imagine it like what a stamp collector must feel when spending time with his collection.

When I want to shoot color I have been using digital, however now that I've seen the results from Keith's developing his own color film I'm going to give that a go.

I haven't said anything bad about digital and don't intend to, I did learn a lot with it. It is just that my experience is richer with film and film cameras.

 

[raid]

Sometimes you don't know what you had until after you lost it. Oftentimes, you think you know what you want when you don't have it.

Carry on the discovery road, for it is littered with detours and distractions, and the end of it is the stuff of legend.

Or something. 🙂

Poets emerge at RFF.
Maybe we just leave people make their choices either way. "They" may know better what they really like.

 

[raid]

Wow ... if this attitude keeps up we are going to need some enterprising individual to come up with a way to convert all these useless M8's back to film ... perhaps with some type of insert!

Dr Leo ... where are you? :angel:

Keith,

It is people who converted back to film who flock to this thread. We need to consider another thread that says " I have left film for digital photography" to see how many people post there.