Moved from digital to film for the first time?

[rayfoxlee]

I have been wondering how the move from digital to film has affected those who have never experienced film photography before? Has it made a lot of difference, has it been liberating to remove menus and many buttons or is the 'loss' of the review screen a major issue? Has your photography become better or in some way not so successful with film? Or do you keep drifting back to the convenience of digital?

Despite the helter-skelter move to digital, I get the impression that some photographers find the digital experience lacking in some way and that shooting film.

It would be really interesting to hear your experiences!

Ray

 

[emraphoto]

hmmm, well here's my thoughts.

i have been working on digital cameras for the past 5 or so years. mostly top end nikons (d1x, d2xs, d700, d3 etc).

recently i made a decision to return to film for my work. in the process i say goodbye to the spot news and wire service stuff as FAST is the name of the game there. the reason(s) i made the decision was that (in my opinion) imaging has a few problems. the most important problem, relative to what i do, is that folks don't associate much of a value with images these days. recently getty released their specs for images produced for smart phone platforms and the prices were around $4.50 US at the ceiling. don't quote me on the exact numbers but it was in that ballpark. remember getty keeps 40% of that (depending on your contract with them).

is it a credibility issue? is it a saturation issue? i don't know exactly but as it stands folks don't want to pay a whole lot for images. as the industry plods along to whatever crisis situation is looming i have decided to take a total left turn and re-invent myself. i now offer a product that hopefully sets me apart from the masses. i show up to a sea of dslrs and honkin' lenses with a pair of mamiya 7's. i shoot a lot more documentary work and say "no" to the shoot at 3 and file by 3:15 stuff. i see no reason in trying to compete and earn a living in a totally over saturated market. since i have made said left turn i have received three times the interest and assignment offers i would usually garner. go figure? maybe, just maybe folks see the process as more of a craft? maybe i am dreaming that up? who knows. i am hoping that is the case.

it is not the first time to film as i grew up shooting film so i can't offer any insight there. has it made me a better photographer? that's a tough question. i think so. i tend to be a lot more patient with the shutter these days. my motto of late is "if the picture isn't there no number of frames will change that".

do i find the digital experience lacking? i'll have to chew on that one for a bit.

what i do know is that simple, sometimes pain in the arse cameras make better photographs in my hands. i like limitations. i like the process of working around them. i LOVE the mamiya 7 for this very reasoning.

 

[shadowfox]

Starting with digital, I adopted film and use them both today.

Film continues to fascinate me because the results are more interpretative rather than replicating exactly how the world look. The more I went back in time to pursue photography techniques of old, the more I appreciate what they can offer in terms of quality. Something that you won't get today if you only limit yourself to digital.

Using film also taught me something that I need the most training of, patience. Even as I use a digital camera now, I no longer shoot excessively, rather, think first, shoot later. This has improved both the experience and the results.

In short, I highly recommend to try film for those who has not yet.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Try shooting medium format and your percentage of good shots will go up evem more!

 

[Roger Hicks]

Anyone considering such a move might find this of interest:

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps film welcome.html

...though the webmaster seems to have lost the header, which is 'Welcome to Film'.

It needs a bit of revision -- modern raw files are a lot more versatile than transparency film, for example -- but most of it holds good.

Cheers,

R.

 

[DRabbit]

Funny thing is, I really didn't get into photography until the digital age. I've had a digital camera of one sort or another for over 10 years. However, I've always shot as if I'm shooting film ... I'm not the type to take 1000 photos to keep 10. I've always been a slow patient shooter.

Discovering Rangefinder cameras was SO up my alley... I've enjoyed every minute of my M8. With a new found love of Rangefinders there wasn't much choice but to want to try more of them. I bought an R-D1 and, gasp, a film Zeiss Ikon.

Film fascinated me. I was scared to try developing myself but everyone here helped convince me it was the way to go... so I did. AND I LOVE IT...

Mind you, I still love my digital cameras. I don't shoot film a lot... but when I do there's nothing like it. It's so me. Take my time, compose the shot, trust I got it (no chimping!) and then waiting to see how it comes out when I go for the chemicals in my master bathroom. There's always an indescribable smile on my face when I pull the negatives out of the tank to hang in my shower.

I can say, if Zeiss made a digital rangefinder I'd be all over it... but at nearly 40 I'm glad to have discovered the joy of shooting film and developing it myself.