I may be going the opposite direction

[raid]

While I spent the past two years almost exlusively using digital cameras, I feel like slowing down a little, and I want to go back to using my Leica film cameras and my other film cameras.

I see each day discussions of Leica M and its cost, followed by SONY and it problems with the corner sharpness when using Leica lenses, and then we get some dose of Fuji digtial cameras and it seems to me that I get bored with such talk. It would be a different situation if photography is done by me as my profession.

I want to slow down. I want to struggle with my cameras and lenses as I use manual focus and manual exposure, as I miss such struggles with the modern digital cameras. You quickly know whether you got a good image or not, simply by looking at the back screen of the camera. This removed the excitement factor at the time of getting back the negatives and the prints.

I wonder if what I have said here is just talk that is said on a Saturday evening, and tomorrow it is all gone?

I am unwilling to buy another digital camera, and I just bought a MF film camera a few minutes ago. Maybe, I am forcing myself a little to accept the fact that I better use my "new" vintage film camera.

Am I alone in feeling such feelings?

 

[Trius]

It sounds to me like you are responding to an inner voice telling you what you really need to do. Go for it. If you REALLY want to slow down, get an 8x10!

 

[raid]

I have a Linhof 4x5 ...

 

[FrankS]

I think everyone has to try/go through the digital phase. Some never leave, some come back to film after a time. Both are good and have their strengths and weaknesses.

 

[kxl]

I wonder if what I have said here is just talk that is said on a Saturday evening, and tomorrow it is all gone?

For me, more often than not, it is this. On those occasions when I still feel the same the following day, then I indulge the urge and go out with my film camera. And the following day, and so on... until I realize that I have to develop these rolls sooner or later. And that's when the backlog starts to build. For me, it's tough to find downtime to get everything set up and actually develop several rolls of film.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I decided to use what I have from digital. Zero interest of something new. Yours digital cameras are fine as well.

It is great time to get back to film. Film Leicas ain't so expensive, service is available, film is plenty; paper, chemicals and enlargers are cheap. Nothing compares to darkroom print of family portrait. Even if the rest of the family is disagreed 🙂

So, it might sounds opposite for many, but it is just normal for me. Film is candy, not struggle.

 

[DKimg]

I can say I had a similar experience. The hype of digital and the whole technical talks got me thinking in the wrong direction. This too lead me towards wanting to go back to film. Even so I started with 35mm film and too felt like it wasn't slowing down enough. MF is the sweet spot for me when it comes to the number of shots per rolls, the expense, the quality and the flow in which I photograph people. Then again, LF slows me down more but too like the flow of 8-16 shots per roll on MF.

I do have my cheap digital cameras, whenever I feel like shooting something quickly and getting that digital itch out of my system. My whole creative, artistic time is film. I like the relationship and the workflow of film.

 

[lynnb]

Wow Raid, can't wait to see some cat photos with the new Linhof - although first you will need to get a cat. So you are half way there 🙂. Meanwhile good luck with asking your lovely wife and daughters to hold still. Sally Mann could do it so it must be possible!

I have enjoyed slowing down with my film photography and I suspect you will too. For me it is my film 35mm cameras and MF 6x6 and 6x9. But I still reach for digital when I need to see instant results or take a large number of photographs - which is not very often nowadays.

I think you will find coming back to using your film Leicas, the SWC and your new Linhof will be like coming back to an old friend. One who says "I've missed you. It's nice that you're back".

Contact prints from the Linhof will be relatively easy to do, and quite amazing.

Enjoy!

 

[jmilkins]

I have both film (M) and digital (Sony) options, but I enjoy the sensory experience of film more than the sensor's experience in my digital camera....

Sure I could slow down with the digitals, set them all on manual and take more time, but I don't.

One thing I am doing is shooting more on the M without worrying too much that every frame has to count - its ok to miss a few as I relearn the joys of film.

 

[raid]

Lynn, my Linhof is not a recent buy. I got it many years ago, and I never used it. I have a 120 roll back for it too.

 

[raid]

I think everyone has to try/go through the digital phase. Some never leave, some come back to film after a time. Both are good and have their strengths and weaknesses.

Hi Frank,
I agree with you, It is useful to go through using digital equipment to get a feel for it all.

 

[raid]

For me, more often than not, it is this. On those occasions when I still feel the same the following day, then I indulge the urge and go out with my film camera. And the following day, and so on... until I realize that I have to develop these rolls sooner or later. And that's when the backlog starts to build. For me, it's tough to find downtime to get everything set up and actually develop several rolls of film.

Hi Keith,
I will use my film cameras again. They feel soooo good. 😀
Wide angle lenses, such a sthe Rokkor 21/4 or the Canon 19/3.5 or the Nikkor 21/4 will be useful again on film cameras.

 

[raid]

Well it's all Rather personal how One likes to spend their Creative time...
For Me it's the Absolute Simplicity of a M film body, the brilliance of an Image coming into manual focus and the Beauty of Light on Film that keeps me hooked

No Distracting Menus or lcd screens...
The anticipation of Developing a Roll
The Highs and Lows of viewing a scanned neg

Digital can be FUN but for me the rewards are Few

Hi Helen,
You are a film veteran. Light on film is very special indeed.

 

[raid]

I decided to use what I have from digital. Zero interest of something new. Yours digital cameras are fine as well.

It is great time to get back to film. Film Leicas ain't so expensive, service is available, film is plenty; paper, chemicals and enlargers are cheap. Nothing compares to darkroom print of family portrait. Even if the rest of the family is disagreed 🙂

So, it might sounds opposite for many, but it is just normal for me. Film is candy, not struggle.

This may be the main reason why I did not get deeper into buying modern digital cameras. I use what I have. Film developing may have to wait.

 

[raid]

I can say I had a similar experience. The hype of digital and the whole technical talks got me thinking in the wrong direction. This too lead me towards wanting to go back to film. Even so I started with 35mm film and too felt like it wasn't slowing down enough. MF is the sweet spot for me when it comes to the number of shots per rolls, the expense, the quality and the flow in which I photograph people. Then again, LF slows me down more but too like the flow of 8-16 shots per roll on MF.

I do have my cheap digital cameras, whenever I feel like shooting something quickly and getting that digital itch out of my system. My whole creative, artistic time is film. I like the relationship and the workflow of film.

I sometimes think about the possibility of not having film available in the future, so it makes sense to use film while it is easy to do so.

 

[raid]

I have both film (M) and digital (Sony) options, but I enjoy the sensory experience of film more than the sensor's experience in my digital camera....

Sure I could slow down with the digitals, set them all on manual and take more time, but I don't.

One thing I am doing is shooting more on the M without worrying too much that every frame has to count - its ok to miss a few as I relearn the joys of film.

Both types of camera can be fun to use.

 

[__jc]

Hi Raid,

A really interesting thought process. I went through the same process myself a few years ago, having taken a major holiday with the family using digital.

I found almost no pleasure in the pictures, even though some were very beautiful and of course were taken at a great time of our lives. But there was something drastically lacking in how I felt connected with the pictures, or rather with how I felt the pictures connected with my own experience of the moments they were taken.

Film always lets me feel connected, and I think for the very reasons you describe.

I have since lost the many hundreds - thousands? - of pictures I took on that around-the-world trip due to the vagaries of computers and a low care factor. But I still have every negative I have chosen to keep. And these negatives were physically with me, in my camera right there, when the pictures on them were made.

 

[FrankS]

Hi Raid,

A really interesting thought process. I went through the same process myself a few years ago, having taken a major holiday with the family using digital.

I found almost no pleasure in the pictures, even though some were very beautiful and of course were taken at a great time of our lives. But there was something drastically lacking in how I felt connected with the pictures, or rather with how I felt the pictures connected with my own experience of the moments they were taken.

Film always lets me feel connected, and I think for the very reasons you describe.

I have since lost the many hundreds - thousands? - of pictures I took on that around-the-world trip due to the vagaries of computers and a low care factor. But I still have every negative I have chosen to keep. And these negatives were physically with me, in my camera right there, when the pictures on them were made.

This explains it well for me. Digital is fun, fast and easy. Film is marrying material. 😉

 

[Timmyjoe]

I'm with Helen, unfortunately clients want things yesterday, so we're forced to use digital for their instant gratification.

I came up in the 1970's and my hero's were the fashion and documentary photographers in the 1950's and 1960's, as well as the Vietnam war photographers in LIFE. Everything I looked at and studied was shot on black & white film. All I dreamed of becoming was a really good photographer, creating beautiful, moving B&W images. It's still what I dream of, so whenever I'm shooting something for myself, it's done with one of my old film cameras.

There's also a permanence to a film image that I don't find with digital. So if I'm working really hard creating an image that really means something to me, having it on film, as opposed to bits and bytes in a computer, means a lot to me.

But it truly is personal preference.

Congrats on your new film camera Raid.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Rayt]

This explains it well for me. Digital is fun, fast and easy. Film is marrying material. 😉

Wow! With today's divorce rate I wish him better luck then that! 😀