Thinking of Going all Film. Am I crazy?

[DougK]

Do whatever you like as long as you don't scare the horses.

 

[atlcruiser]

I have gone about 90% film. I got rid of all of my "big" digital about 5 years ago but held onto a canon P+S then I got an M8. I used digital 90% for work shots. I need to take and post about 50 pictures per week on my website. I was convinced digital was the way to go.

I sold my M8 to fund the deardorff 810 as the M8 was jsut too nice to use at work. I am left with my circa 2004 canon powershot G6 🙂 I now take 3-5 rolls a week of 35 and 120 with 6-12 sheets of LF as well as a pile of digital 7mp shots on a crappy old camera for work! It gives me a good excuse to use my gear and I develope all of it at home so my cost is very low. I ran the numbers and to buy the sort of DSLR I would wnat I can buy a LOT of film and chemicals.

I am keeping my eyes open for a cheap 10MP ish DSLR to use at work but I almost dont want it. But if you got one for sale........ 🙂

Just go for it, the worst that can happen is you will want to buy another digital

 

[Mark A. Fisher]

Nope, not crazy at all. I have both, and use both, but the digital is mostly because I teach an occasional digital photo course and have to have them. But I also teach film - black and white - courses, and for my personal work all the digital stays at home and my film cameras are permanent fixtures for everything. That being said, I'm waiting for the local camera store to get the next shipment of X100's in. I'd like to see what one feels like in hand, but the camera sales guys I know were talking about rumors of a second generation x100 capable of interchangeable lenses. While I'll stay 90% film, that
might be a tempting digital package to use for the remaining 10%! As Keith says above:

"It's interesting how often the X100 has been mentioned in this thread.
It may become the digital camera to own if you don't like digital!"

Well, it's Sunday, so it's time to load some film cameras and head out to see what I see!

Mark

 

[setyotomo]

Setyo,

Kodak, Ilford and Fuji won't stop producing film in the next year or two. 🙂 There are still quite a few of us film users in the world, and the number may be growing.

I hope so too, if the profit margin still there, film still be around.

And i think the lomography society keeps film alive somehow (people will try film again). But iPhone apps might kill this eventually.

You are right. Its only becoming less valuable. I've got a darkroom setup, but I'm more of a C-41 and scan guy now. I like color print film a lot. As much as I love printing I would much rather use a dedicated 35mm film scanner and color film because I am generally very busy working around 50 hours a week. After standing all day its pretty hard to be in the mood for making prints. That's an hours long affair after all.

Agreed. I work for 10hrs/day + 3hrs/day to go to work, on weekends i only have time to shoot some rolls, that's why i have around 20-30 undeveloped rolls on my shelf :angel:

Don't try out the Fuji X100! If you do, you may find this decision a bit more difficult. 🙂

nah.. still too early 😉 there will be X200 or X300 next year or two, maybe with interchangable lens and god knows what those guys in japan have in mind

It's interesting how often the X100 has been mentioned in this thread.

It may become the digital camera to own if you don't like digital!

haha it's true , just like RD-1 with that advance lever 😛

 

[Jamie123]

Keep the body sell the lenses, get a cheap zoom just in case you feel the need to shoot digital then invest in more film gear.

+1

Trust me, it's a good idea to keep a dslr around just in case.

 

[johannielscom]

I'm all film, and keep a tatty D1x for internet shots and things that say 'hurry'.

The 'hurry'-kinda jobs I shoot rarely require high quality shots, since the people that commission me would not recognize image quality if it bit them in the rear anyway so the D1x is enough. I toss the shots into Lightroom and correct them and thats it. Also, that D1x is a big bugger with the Sigma 17-35 lens and a flash and it makes me look so professional...😀


EDIT: just found out the shorter reply to this thread: '+1 what Damaso and Jamie say' 😛

 

[RFH]

I've been contemplating that myself. Just sold my GX100, so now the only digital body I have is the RD-1, which is a very, very nice camera. I like the fact that pressing the button doesn't cost me anything, and I like not having to scan negatives, which is a total bore compared to wet printing b&w, which is pure magic. On the other hand, there's still the dead pixel issue and sensor dust to deal with.

I don't know what the resale value of a D200 is these days, but if it's low, perhaps the solution for you is to keep it and your favorite lens and sell the rest to finance the coveted analogue gear. A good quality digital camera is always handy to have around. But as someone else said, it'll only get cheaper, so you can always buy it again some day if you decide to sell while it's still worth something.

 

[Mcary]

Since you already have an M2 for when you need something that is compact and portable while still delivery quality results my suggestion would be to get an MF SLR such as a Bronica SQ system or a Mamiya RB/RZ system + an Epson 500 or 600, if your Nikon scanner isn't an 8000/9000 in which case you're all set.

 

[Creagerj]

Since you already have an M2 for when you need something that is compact and portable while still delivery quality results my suggestion would be to get an MF SLR such as a Bronica SQ system or a Mamiya RB/RZ system + an Epson 500 or 600, if your Nikon scanner isn't an 8000/9000 in which case you're all set.

Eh, I'm not a big MF fan. Cameras that big don't really fit my shooting style. Size is one of the main reasons I dislike lugging around my DSLR.

Remarkably the D200 still hovers in the $400-500 range, which isn't much less than I paid for it.

 

[rogerzilla]

Even an ETRSI is a big beast, although it is quite usable handheld if you get a prism (any rectangular format SLR is virtually impossible to use without a prism). The lenses are hit and miss though, and a Leica knocks a Bronica into a cocked hat for sharpness if not for tonality.

 

[shadowfox]

Eh, I'm not a big MF fan. Cameras that big don't really fit my shooting style. Size is one of the main reasons I dislike lugging around my DSLR.

MF cameras don't have to be big. It's the negatives that are.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

I have been "all film" since the mid-1970's... 😉

Chris

 

[barnwulf]

I think you should change to all film. It's not like you can't change your mind somewhere down the road in a year or two. Jim

 

[Haigh]

I use digital for colour and film for b&w.

 

[kossi008]

I keep oscillating back and forth, but I still have no regrets. 😀

Stayed with film SLRs until 2006, then invested in a Canon APS-C-DSLR, mostly primes, upgraded to a 5D... bought a film body to do some b/w, discovered rangefinders, sold almost all the DSLR gear to finance my ZI and ZM lenses. Now I'm swinging back to digital (for a while, I guess), but I have no regrets: I simply bought a Nex-5 for my superb ZM glass.

I can't really tell you what to do. For me the main issues are compactness (ruling out a return to DSLR) and flexibility (ruling out a return to film-only)...

 

[J. Borger]

After shooting Digital only for 8 years i switched to film only about 2 years ago.
I use M6, Hasselblad and a Makina 670, but still have my M8 which i only used the last 2 years for taking pictures of stuff i put for sale. No regrets ... but somehow ca'nt decide on selling the M8 yet.

 

[Instantclassic]

It's OK. Please use whatever system you like.

I use film and find joy in that. I as given a digital camera (Canon 350D) and I am happy to have it but never use it. I am keeping it for posting ads to make my camera collection smaller.

 

[rizraz]

I discovered the joy of film again last year, after meddling with DSLR for 4 years.

As I will most probably won't go fully film,I might be 95% nuts...... will still use my G9 for some family shots and maybe my IR converted DSLR once in a blue moon.

 

[Chris101]

I shoot a lot of film - but then I also shoot a lot of digital. I cannot see going "all" of anything. Hell, I still paint. But acrylic, not that luddistic oil crap.