I am a better photog with film.

I have to say I agree with this too.

A while back I took my girlfriends 5D out and shot some 600 photos just wandering around and in the end I did not find one keeper. When I had my Ricoh GRD I shot a lot of photos with it and yet again few keepers, same with my EP1 which until now I dont think I have got one true keeper with.

But the other day I took my old Contaflex out and shot 3 rolls of film and got about 8 great keepers and a handfull of ok keepers.

With film everything is clearer, slower, more considered, not "I will just get that in photoshop later...."so yes I agree that I too am a better photographer with film as well, not to mention all my fav cameras to use are film and digital cameras are distracting and for me really only usefull in the studio.
 
mgd711 said:
Maybe the reason for me that I’m happier with film is that I started shooting with digital and after 4 years switched to film. I had a lot off bad habit’s and a ‘machine gun’ style off attack. I had to quickly learn a new way of working. When I pick up a digital now I’m still tempted to fall back into those old habits...
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Yeah, this. It's hard to describe what it is about film, but I simply enjoy shooting with film more.. It makes me think more about my shot, not so much because I'm shooting on film and pay for each shot, but because I'm using predominantly unmetered bodies and having to consider the exposure and different lighting in my shot and the impact that it will have on the final shot.

It's rare that I pick up my dSLR these days - film is just so much more satisfying to use!
 
All this makes me laugh out loud. . . not because of what's being said but rather the memory of the quote I once read that an old view camera photographer said abouit the "new" Leica 35mm film camera when it first came out: "Why would anyone need to take 36 photographs at a time to get what they want? It's hard enough just taking one at a time." [I couldn't remember the exact quote, but close enough.] And he was absolutely correct! And so are the 35mm film photographers today when they talk about digital cameras. "Why would anyone want to see each photograph on a little screen right after it's taken when you cannot really tell what it looks like until you print it anyway?" This has got to make you laugh. Meanwhile, I like seeing the results immediately of 3-4 different takes before I see the one that makes me stop and move on to something else. And, yes, they always look different on the computer screen later. Enjoy them all.
 
I was just talking to my wife about this on our walk to the store today. I also feel like when I shoot film I get more keepers. I think that is because by the time I am done converting the RAW file from color to B&W and tweaking this and that I am much more critical of my image. With B&W negatives I pretty much get what I see and the film does allot of the work for me. I am much more accepting of what it gives me, it has a look that is kind of random. If I could have it my way, I wish there was a way of shooting in RAW and never seeing my images in color. I think this is pretty much a learning curve deal for me, I will eventually like digital as much as film.
 
back alley said:
that is absolute balderdash!
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It's not balderdash. Real, unique photons hit the film. The film is a unique document of that moment, whereas digital is a translation into human language. I'm not coming down for one side or the other, but it's not balderdash, the "chain of evidence" in analog media is more direct.
 
Whatever makes you happy 🙂 I use film because the current color negative films are just soooooooo good and I hate being in front of a computer!
 
I have (just about) no problem with shooting digital. As I have found a lot of people to say, film for fine art photography, digital is for 'documentation'. As an architecture student, I am always told "grab your digital p&s to go document the site", which usually means 'machine gunning it' so I don't miss any critical angles. If I have time, I try to find some interesting or thought provoking details that help me drive a design. These would qualify for film shots.

Walking through NYC with a Nikon D80 makes me snap everything. Walking the same streets with an Electro 35 makes me understand everything. When I get my negatives back, I feel almost as if I can tell a story about each shot, probably because I take the time to compose the frame, meter light, judge the aperture and focus based on the composition of objects, etc. Not to say that I need to go up and feel a brick wall before I capture it, but having that moment of serious contemplation through a small window on a metal box full of 35 really changes how I perceive the subject. With digital, the same can be done, but seeing [999] as remaining shots, along with the vast surroundings, almost pushes me from shot to shot without contemplation. The idea of 'a picture is worth a thousand words' becomes an understatement with film, whereas the rapid firing of digital p&s' and dslr's 'because I can' seems to dilute this adage.

I'll admit that with film, I sometimes feel as though I am missing shots that I could get with the ol' digital machine gun. On the other hand, going from film to digital for site documentation has gotten me hooked on manual focus. Using AF feels like cheating: the photos lose that sense of environmental understanding that I get when shooting with film (the Electro forces me to manual focus, of course).

After my Electro came in the mail, I probably shot about 60 times without film and an open back, just to get my mind around changing aperture, ASA, etc. Just from three days of tooling around with the film camera, I felt so much more confident in my understanding of the technical aspect of photography, that I almost never wanted to touch my very-auto-oriented p&s again. From a psychological-purist standpoint, having nothing but glass and film between me and the environment seems much more desirable than having a digital CCD 7.1 megapixel sensor pick up what is in front of it. Maybe I'm over-analyzing the psyche of these things, but I feel it when I'm out shooting.

All megapixels and film grain aside, I don't think I can ever devote myself to using just one or the other. The digital cameras are my tools, the film cameras are my paintbrushes. I can't live without both.

koniczech
 
Melvin said:
It's not balderdash. Real, unique photons hit the film. The film is a unique document of that moment, whereas digital is a translation into human language. I'm not coming down for one side or the other, but it's not balderdash, the "chain of evidence" in analog media is more direct.
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...it is more of a connection to the subject because of the mechanical nature...

THIS is balderdash...
 
I had to discipline myself after some time shooting digital and now it's pretty much treated like film - re: how the shooting is done - slower and more purposeful. Yes the quality of the shots regressed (as the number of shots went up) significantly with my first foray into digital several years back. After some reflection though the quantity decreased & the quality started to get back up....

So for me, it was a whole discipline thing...
 
Re: connections

I have a better (different/tangible) feel for the movement of time if I wear a mechanical wrist (or pocket) watch than if I wear a quartz one. It's the pleasure (or lack thereof) of the user that matters in the end. It's the collaboration (connection) between user and subject that is at the heart of the matter.

technical issues aside...

Casey
 
shimokita said:
It's the collaboration (connection) between user and subject that is at the heart of the matter.
Click to expand...

Well said.

The subjectivity of this debate has been noted on many accounts, but I think it's fair to point out that some people get this feeling and others don't. Not to say that its a 'born with it' thing, but some people don't have this 'connection' inherently, or don't take the time to appreciate certain things which seems unfortunate, but true. I'm sure there are many aspects of my daily life that I take for granted.

Another take; the presence of complex/intriguingly simple mechanics is one thing, but to actually recognize it is another. Maybe one day something such as a digital watch will be archaic enough to be regarded as such.
 
I have never understoond these arguments. I still shoot almost the same way as when I shot with film. I did not "shoot slow" when I shot 35mm film. I did not "contemplate" more then than I do now. I compose the images pretty much like I always have- I just do not get it. I like shooting.
 
It may be my imagination, regarding keepers. I shot two rolls of 120 recently and except for a couple of bonehead errors, I liked nearly every shot. I can't remember shooting 32 digital images and liking nearly every shot. That doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

For one thing, I find film easier. It's really hard to blow highlights, for one. I have quite a few digital shots that are just about perfect to my liking, except for blown highlights. Frustrating, and no amount of photoshop can help it. Whereas with film, unless the exposure is just completely blown, this just doesn't happen. The dynamic range is far greater. The brightly lit window in the background has detail, and I didn't have to think about it to make sure it had detail. With digital, the brightly lit window is just a huge white area in the image, unless I specifically prepared for it, bracketed, etc.

So, it's not an exercise or routine or slowness or machine gunning that makes the difference. It's simply that analog is easier for me. Digital is on-off. Analog is much more forgiving. It helps that I like the look of film.
 
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