S3 2000 is now a part of therapy!

Pardon me, but I merely quoted George, my original intent was to share a therapeutic fact that shooting one shot at a time was a way to see photographs again rather than pressing a shutter button and hoping for the best.

My digital work pays it's way...my work with the S3 2000 pays in a different way.
 
Dave,
I agree with you 100 percent. Surprised no one else feels the same.

I like film -- especially film in my S3-2000 -- because it makes me approach photography in a very methodical way. My work camera, which I just set down, has 996 shots on its meter this evening. My home DSLR has an equivalent number.

I like the pace of film ... If I have two bodies or have just loaded a 36-exposure roll, I might blast off a few quick frames, but mostly I take it slow and make each shot count. I'm still faster with the RFs ... I know how to get the exposure within the tolerance of the film, so I can concentrate on the right moment or expression, whereas with digital I still sometime press the shutter and wait an excruciating fraction of a second or longer while the autofocus (on a D80 and D40) tries to make up its mind in tricky light. And I still haven't gotten the hang of DSLR metering ... as often as not I have to take a few test shots, then set the camera on manual. The reflected readings inside the camera just aren't right to my eyes, compared to incident or "sunny 16."

I like going on a trip and shooting six or seven rolls of film with one third or half the shots being keepers. Yes, digital cameras are great note takers, and I use them a lot for quick grabs of scenes when I'm at work.

But I fully agree with the premise ... film slows you down, but in a way where I don't miss shots but instead often get better shots. And with the S3-2000 (and SP) I like being in complete control of the image. I like that there's no second-guessing from the camera. I set it the shutter speed, aperture, focus and get what I get. I was flying over Lake Victoria a couple of weeks ago in a propellor plane and realized that my DSLR wasn't going to let me get the shot I wanted of the source of the Nile at Jinja, Uganda. I just wasn't positioned right in a small, crowded airlplane cabin. I grabbed the SP, set it for f/11 at 1/1000 with the 28mm lens and held it at arm's length up against the window of the plane and fired the shutter once and had the shot, all in the space of about 2 seconds. No it's not a National Geographic cover, but it's the travel picture I wanted to be able to show my kids.

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S3-2000 usage is indeed therapeutic! It encourages keeping in mind basic photographic knowledge and technique.

But there's not an inevitable reversion to the "shotgun" shooting method with digital cameras; one can exercise discipline and make one thoughtful shot at a time. Just turn off the shutter burst mode and consider the value of each exposure; quality over quantity. I think it might also help to use only the optical viewfinder and turn off picture review.

This is the approach I took with my M8 on vacation (just back the other day), taking the equivalent of a couple of rolls of film per day, about the same as I would shoot with a film camera.

And now I'll continue with my S3 with an old Jupiter-12 2.8/35mm on it to see how this works out.
 
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