semilog
curmudgeonly optimist
If you go digital, remember to (a) back up; (b) make good prints of your selects. Else it's all for nothing...
randolph45
Well-known
why I got digital in the first place
why I got digital in the first place
Burning a roll and not getting the shot you want kills me,so some setups get shot in digital as proofs before moving to film Remember Polaroid film backs,instant gratification sort-of
why I got digital in the first place
Burning a roll and not getting the shot you want kills me,so some setups get shot in digital as proofs before moving to film Remember Polaroid film backs,instant gratification sort-of
TaoPhoto
Documentary Photographer
Of course, this was bound to devolve into a digital vs. film debate (yet again). There is one thing that bothers me about the responses in this vein: the claims that digital has the same "quality" as film or vice versa. Quality is a fairly meaningless term in this context. Usually it's meant in terms of resolution, or sharpness. Neither of those things are the be-all or end-all of image quality, however. What about tonality, dynamic range, or simply the different way that film handles color vs a digital sensor? Quality is a broad term, and needs a lot of clarification before we can even have a film vs. digital discussion.
FrankS
Registered User
Funny, I haven't noticed any devolution. And I have to look out for that kind of thing.
semilog
curmudgeonly optimist
All I can say is that I, personally, take (and select) different pictures on film than I do on digital, and that as film becomes less and less common, I value its properties more and more.
Your mileage may vary.
Your mileage may vary.
cosmonaut
Well-known
Burning a roll and not getting the shot you want kills me,so some setups get shot in digital as proofs before moving to film Remember Polaroid film backs,instant gratification sort-of
Yes and the smell. I am not comparing digital or film. Both are tools for an end result. In the end you need to chose which is better for the job at hand and what feels comfortable to use.
I let the lab scan my color negs. It is only a couple more bucks and saves me the trouble.
atlcruiser
Part Yeti
Sounds to me like operator error...I would have checked the scans as I went...jsut saying
atlcruiser
Part Yeti
another thought..consider MF. Much better images and much faster to scan.
Out to Lunch
Ventor
OK, after all this hand holding, lets see the prices for the cameras. Thanks, P
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
Come on guys, give Dave a break!
You never get so mad at something that you needed to vent?
I think he will cool down, re-assess things and patch up with his film gears.
On the other hand, if digital works for you. More power to you.
You never get so mad at something that you needed to vent?
I think he will cool down, re-assess things and patch up with his film gears.
On the other hand, if digital works for you. More power to you.
Fraser
Well-known
I don't enjoy scanning either but I like to shoot a roll of film every now and again, If I had a proper darkroom and forgot about digitising negs that would be more fun and a lot faster.
Keep going with both as someone said before no need to dump one for the other.
Keep going with both as someone said before no need to dump one for the other.
Steve M.
Veteran
Four words: contact sheets, darkroom prints.
Peter Klein
Well-known
Dave: Take this from someone who knows and likes your work. I think that part of your signature is the look you get from film. You could take the same pictures with digital, but you'd have to do a lot of postprocessing to get things to look almost--but not quite--what they look like now. Do you want to give that up?
Some of the suggestions about letting the lab do the initial scans, or using a flatbed to make digital "contact sheets" are good ones. They would take some of the drudgery and chance for error out of the process. Then you'd only have to do a full scan on the "keepers."
If you truly want to give up on film, and this incident is just the last straw, then sure. But if you're just temporarily p---ed off, then give it a rest and see how you feel in a few days.
I have to say that I've been very happy with the B&W conversions I make from RAW files out of my M8 (I know, a camera you hate, but there's always the M9). But recently I started scanning some negatives I took 40 years ago, and I am remembering why I loved Tri-X so much. Film is more time-consuming than digital, but it has a look, texture and highlight dynamic range that digital doesn't. If I had more discretionary time, I probably would shoot more film.
Best wishes, and regardless of how you choose, you're still going to take great pictures!
--Peter
Some of the suggestions about letting the lab do the initial scans, or using a flatbed to make digital "contact sheets" are good ones. They would take some of the drudgery and chance for error out of the process. Then you'd only have to do a full scan on the "keepers."
If you truly want to give up on film, and this incident is just the last straw, then sure. But if you're just temporarily p---ed off, then give it a rest and see how you feel in a few days.
I have to say that I've been very happy with the B&W conversions I make from RAW files out of my M8 (I know, a camera you hate, but there's always the M9). But recently I started scanning some negatives I took 40 years ago, and I am remembering why I loved Tri-X so much. Film is more time-consuming than digital, but it has a look, texture and highlight dynamic range that digital doesn't. If I had more discretionary time, I probably would shoot more film.
Best wishes, and regardless of how you choose, you're still going to take great pictures!
--Peter
stevebrot
Established
This link really made my day. My 5000 ED has been back and forth with Nikon Service and I have pretty much resolved that any future repairs and cleaning will have to be done by yours truly. Now that I know that the innards are fairly approachable, the future looks a bit more bright!
Steve
Gid
Well-known
Dave,
Chill out. Sh1t happens. At least you have the negs to go back to and rescan. A couple of years back I filled a 2GB card with M8 images whilst on holiday and accidently (stupidly) stuck the card into my RD1,reformatted and shot several images before realising what I'd done. A few months back I shot a roll in one of my OMs and opened the back whilst walking to take the roll out, got distracted and when I looked at the camera there was no film. I assumed I had just forgotten to load a film and carried on to a suitable place to reload and then realised that I did have film in the camera, but had dropped it - retraced steps but never found it.
I follow your PAW and enjoy the variety of film and digital shots you put up. I don't think the medium used matters that much and if you are really p*ssed with film then give it a rest for a while. However, over the last few years I've seen you move from film to digital and back again, so my guess is that you'll return - probably best to hang onto the equipment for the time being
Chill out. Sh1t happens. At least you have the negs to go back to and rescan. A couple of years back I filled a 2GB card with M8 images whilst on holiday and accidently (stupidly) stuck the card into my RD1,reformatted and shot several images before realising what I'd done. A few months back I shot a roll in one of my OMs and opened the back whilst walking to take the roll out, got distracted and when I looked at the camera there was no film. I assumed I had just forgotten to load a film and carried on to a suitable place to reload and then realised that I did have film in the camera, but had dropped it - retraced steps but never found it.
I follow your PAW and enjoy the variety of film and digital shots you put up. I don't think the medium used matters that much and if you are really p*ssed with film then give it a rest for a while. However, over the last few years I've seen you move from film to digital and back again, so my guess is that you'll return - probably best to hang onto the equipment for the time being
amateriat
We're all light!
Hold it...I thought you'd largely ditched film already?
At any rate: I've had hardware/software failures on both chemical and digital fronts; for about two years I decided to give up photography altogether (how's that for a gut reaction?). There have been cameras, lenses, CF/SD cards, and laptops I've briefly wanted to smash to bits. Rolls of film lost via the lab or Post Office. Yet, film is just how I work in photography (although my relatively-new-to-me Nikon Coolpix P6000 gets a lot of use). As others have pointed out, at least the film itself is there to be scanned from again.
Any technical failure sucks. Frank van Riper wrote about it here and here. It's tempting to say Goodbye to All That and kick film, cameras and scanner to the curb (and, ultimately, you need to do what you feel it best, whatever anyone else thinks), but, as with most anything else, it pays to approach a decision with a relatively cool head.
- Barrett
At any rate: I've had hardware/software failures on both chemical and digital fronts; for about two years I decided to give up photography altogether (how's that for a gut reaction?). There have been cameras, lenses, CF/SD cards, and laptops I've briefly wanted to smash to bits. Rolls of film lost via the lab or Post Office. Yet, film is just how I work in photography (although my relatively-new-to-me Nikon Coolpix P6000 gets a lot of use). As others have pointed out, at least the film itself is there to be scanned from again.
Any technical failure sucks. Frank van Riper wrote about it here and here. It's tempting to say Goodbye to All That and kick film, cameras and scanner to the curb (and, ultimately, you need to do what you feel it best, whatever anyone else thinks), but, as with most anything else, it pays to approach a decision with a relatively cool head.
- Barrett
Neare
Well-known
And what do you do when you fall off the horse?
Unless you just hate horses.
Unless you just hate horses.
igi
Well-known
Ah the conveniences of digital photography...
thegman
Veteran
If you are really upset... please send an M7 and the S3 set over immediately. I'll punish them for their being accomplices in the dilemma.
Felt the scanner mocking my efforts... got through a few scans on my 9000 and was scanning 6x12s, you have to scan a 6x7 on both halves and then composite them together as 6x9 is the largest you can get. It was only after scanning 3 of these (6 halves) that I realized the second half was way under exposed... So I rescanned one of them (the other two really weren't that good anyway!) and that was that.
I like to edit while the other scans are going, so I got some editing and some scanning done. It took way longer than I thought it would, but way less time and effort than getting me into a darkroom! And they don't make a 6x12 pinhole camera that I'm aware of so...
When I think of my ~23MP scans from 35mm film and my monster scans at 6x7, I quickly forget about the M9 and digital backs. I've a bunch of "digital" cameras; they just shoot film
Just as an aside, if you want a 6x12 pinhole camera, check out these guys:
http://www.zeroimage.com
segedi
RFicianado
Yikes, I meant to say 6x12 digital camera... the 6x12 scans I was doing were from the ZeroImage! Which is a pretty snazzy lil camera.