I may be going the opposite direction

[back alley]

i will never shoot film again…the only thing that i miss about film is the gear…i love rangefinders, heavy, metal, solid feeling...

 

[Rayt]

I am going the opposite direction as well. KEH had their Black Friday sale yesterday and I bought a Monochrom. I am currently 100% b/w film but have always wanted a Monochrom for when the light is too low. I don't like to push film beyond 800iso. Now I just need to sell a few things to alleviate the guilt.

 

[DKimg]

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

I can sense your passion with this response! Nicely said Tim!

 

[taemo]

raid, i'm on the same boat as you.
for the past 2 months I've been shooting primarily film with the iphone as digital only because my M240 is at Leica NJ for service and not feeling the X100 simply because I'm on a 28/50 phase right now.

anyhow, i find shooting film more relaxing because there's no pressure for me to get the perfect shot.
i'm not the type of digital photographer that chases that ultra clean, real-life image shots either though and prefer some grain on my images plus I love B&W.

once my M240 arrives, I will keep shooting it for color plus my wife doesn't like B&W =/ however for myself, my M3 or F3P with Neopan 400 or HP5+ are always my go to.

 

[mcfingon]

I use a "mix and match" philosophy Raid. I use my Sony A7S for quick-turnaround things in colour, particularly if someone has asked for the images to use in something like a magazine. But I use one of my film cameras for personal enjoyment and challenge, where I'm pleasing no-one but myself initially. I rotate between favourite film cameras: M2, IIIf, Canon L2 and FT, Nikon F70.

 

[uhoh7]

Change is a motivator. A new lens. A new body. Film, Digital.

I certainly have looked at MF and LF for landscape. I have bought a number of film cameras.

But for me the M9 and Kolari mod with the Sony A7, which is fantastic with SLR and RF glass, are a wonderful combo. My big changes have been new long lenses, once only affordable for organizations, now cheap, and really fun.

Each must find their own path and the intersections keep coming 🙂

 

[mcfingon]

I agree with uhoh7 said. I've been enjoying using a 135/2.8 Sonnar on the A7S. To clarify my response about film above into one word, Raid, I find film more re-creational.

 

[agfa100]

The idea of going back to film is very romantic, I also love my old film m's. But today I had great fun with a pre-war Summar that is not scratched that I was playing with on my old first version Sony Nex 3 and got a wonderful picture. So even with digital we don't have to have the newest with the most bells. It is still up to US to take the picture, in the end it is the picture that is the most important. Who really cares if it's on film or a sensor!

wbill

 

[hendriphile]

I was going to respond at length until I read Helen's post... she about says it all. Plus not having to read a 250 or 300-page User Manual, use the computer to select a language, set the date/time/year, time zone, set up GPS, learning sub-sub-menus, you get it. The M3's manual is 28 index-card-size pages long, the control knobs are few.
Digital is here to stay, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the simplicity of our classics when we're in the mood to, as you clearly now are....

 

[JP Owens]

Sounds like the ramblings of bored old men. 🙂

I shot film for 50 years. Zero nostalgia for it. Zero desire to go back to hours in a darkroom. Loved the gear, hated the medium. Having said that, it's really horses for courses.

If it's a hobby, and "Photography made difficult" is what pushes your buttons, go for it. It's the process, not the goal, that is important.

If, though, the photo you hold in your hand is the goal, then any tool that eases the way to that goal seems preferential to me. YMMV.

 

[jmilkins]

Both types of camera can be fun to use.

yes certainly Raid. Like many, I have spent a fair bit of time enjoying m43 and the Sony APS and FF digitals with a range of great vintage glass, as well as one or two of the fantastic native AF optics.

But it's easier to own the successes and mistakes of a fully manual film camera ..for me.

 

[mfogiel]

I met a pro photographer a couple of days ago. He is the official photographer of the Prince here. He is using a Nikon D4S. Two things have struck me: he was not using the "S" setting on his trigger - every time he was pressing the shutter it sounded like a Kalashnikov round, even when making a test shot of a static object... The second thing was, when asked what type of photographs he takes for himself, he said: "none", not enough time.
I work days almost twice longer hours than him, yet I'm nearing 150 rolls of processed film this year. There must be something to it: the easier the photography gets, the less interesting it seems to be.
Raid, consider getting an 8x10 - this way you will combine the fun with a healthy workout 😀

 

[KM-25]

For the first ten years I used digital, I hated it. For the next ten years I hated how many people claimed it was better than film and were not shy about telling the world that film was dead. But now, 22 years in, it is all good, people realize film is not going anywhere and I now have powerful affordable digital options in my favorite film systems ( Leica, Nikon, Hasselblad V).

There is far less bashing and more and more young people using film for reasons that have nothing to do with nostalgia or being a hipster. There is balance, even some of my jobs pay the marginal extra cost for it.

So for me, I have complete balance, creative connection, joy in using both mediums & clients who love my use of both. This is somewhat of a relief to me because I want life around me to continue to be the major inspiration of my photographs, not a camera or a medium.

I find my photographs are getting better not because I believe a medium is better but my attitude has gotten better.

 

[raid]

I use a "mix and match" philosophy Raid. I use my Sony A7S for quick-turnaround things in colour, particularly if someone has asked for the images to use in something like a magazine. But I use one of my film cameras for personal enjoyment and challenge, where I'm pleasing no-one but myself initially. I rotate between favourite film cameras: M2, IIIf, Canon L2 and FT, Nikon F70.

This is a possibility, but I have been "bad", and I stopped film completely since the summer of 2013.

 

[raid]

I met a pro photographer a couple of days ago. He is the official photographer of the Prince here. He is using a Nikon D4S. Two things have struck me: he was not using the "S" setting on his trigger - every time he was pressing the shutter it sounded like a Kalashnikov round, even when making a test shot of a static object... The second thing was, when asked what type of photographs he takes for himself, he said: "none", not enough time.
I work days almost twice longer hours than him, yet I'm nearing 150 rolls of processed film this year. There must be something to it: the easier the photography gets, the less interesting it seems to be.
Raid, consider getting an 8x10 - this way you will combine the fun with a healthy workout 😀

I do have a Linhof 4x5 camera that I have never used. This used to bother me. Then I forgot about it, but now it is coming back to me! 😀
It is a Linhof monorail camera that looks "like new" to my eyes.
It comes with a Schneider convertible lens, and with several backs, including a rollfilm back. It weighs a ton! I once asked a local photographer to show me hands on how to change film sheets in it. He never did. I may torture myself, and get out this camera. This is most likely a studio camera, and it will be a pain to haul it around to the beach, say. I would need to sign up at some Gym for a month or so before such a venture!


My Linhof looks like this one:

I used to watch one of my friends (Jim) as we traveled to the American SW. as he used his large format camera. It happened more than once that by the time he was ready to take a photo, "the light has changed", and he would fold thngs up and we would drive on to other places.

 

[awalkinthestreet]

I started off shooting digital when I first got into photography around 10 years ago. When I first started I used film on occasion but couldn't afford to keep buying film and processing back then. Now, ten year later I have sold all my digital kit and shoot only film RF's and point and shoots. I've found that my work has got a whole lot better by slowing down the process.

I still digitise my images by scanning them, so there is still that element of the digital world, however not seeing the images for some time after shooting has enabled me to be more selective when making an edit.

Now that I think about it, I don't think it actually costs me much more to work with film than it did with digital, because I just buy film and chemicals instead of replacing bodies.

 

[Oscuro]

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

I married the "Fast, Fun, and Easy" girl." Twenty years later, we're still fast, fun, and easy. What's wrong with you guys?

 

[Trius]

I married the "Fast, Fun, and Easy" girl." Twenty years later, we're still fast, fun, and easy. What's wrong with you guys?

If the fast, fun and easy model breaks down, it's really expensive to replace. 😀 😀 😀

 

[Oscuro]

If the fast, fun and easy model breaks down, it's really expensive to replace. 😀 😀 😀

Perhaps because I'm utterly and completely faithful there is a line up. I'm covered. Heaven forfend.

 

[raid]

I am right now only with my SWC and a spotmeter on a brief trip, and I feel happy to enjoy some film photography with a classic camera again. I put some Ilford XP2 in the camera, and very soon I will walk around and take some photos here and there. It is unimportant what I will take photos of, and it is more important to me to get some wide angle MF images.

I had initially also a digital camera with the Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 in the camera bag, but I decided in the end to remove it and leave only the SWC. I even have with me a very light travel tripod to complete my set. Who know? I may actually get lucky and I may capture some nice scenes.

I has been raining throughout the night, and maybe I will have a few time to use the camera when there is no rain today.