What is film-photography to you?

[EdwardKaraa]

Film for me is just the real thing. Digital is an imposter. I really tried to give it a chance. I moved all digital in 2003, switched back to film in 2006, digital again in 2008, and now back to film for good.

 

[jody36]

pros can do film equally as well as digital, ordinary people can't. digital is instant gratification even if its a bad photo. average people take average or better photos with digital most can't with film. why do I love film? because I'm average but demand better of myself and I can't stand not taking a good photo with film. So till the day I die I will continue to shoot film and try to learn. Besides, film cameras almost all of them, look better than any digital.

 

[Teuthida]

You do know that you don't 'have to' chimp with a DSLR, right? Just turn off the rear LCD and shoot. Presto.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

I have "done" film since the early 1970s and, so long as film remains, I will continue to "do" film until I shuffle off this mortal coil. I will also "do" digital as it's also bloody good fun. But I prefer film.

If I had to earn a crust from photography (which I don't - but I did have a go in the early 1980s) I would definitely use digital - solely due to the immediate feedback and ability to re-shoot there and then if necessary. Otherwise, it's film all he way for me.

 

[mrrobleyleica]

Film photography is something I used to love, and may love again.

 

[xxloverxx]

Film by itself is just a method of shooting. But with it comes a vast choice of cameras with a build-quality you don't really find in modern (especially digital) cameras. More choice of lens, fully mechanical options (especially handy on vacation), folders and the characteristics of different films.

Oh, and it's far easier to buy film cameras online just to play with than digital. And from my experience, they just last longer. So it's a way for me to experience many different cameras without going broke.

I just think you have so much more to choose from with film.

 

[heartattackandvine]

I'm totally here with you on this Jamie! And I really like having to stop, maybe have a coffee or a beer as an excuse to change film. (Of course I can do this on the move easily but if I have the time....)

I might be unusual in that I started out in the world of film (there wasn't any other option in the early 80's!) and have never moved onto digital apart from a few shots taken for work on a cheap digital P+S and the occasional 'crappy' iPhone snap I use for 'fun' online.

I did try out my niece's dSLR on one occasion but hated the whole experience, from information overload in the viewfinder, autofocus that dictates focus for me, and not the otherway round, damn rear screen that lights up the world and draws attention to me, shutter lag, and this is one thing that the first time it happened really screwed me up - autofocus when it's dark and the damn cam lights up the scene even when I explicitly 'told' the camera I don't want to use a flash!:bang::bang::bang:

Then there's digital images - OK I know this has been discussed to death, but to me most digital images tend to look too 'sharp', something I just cannot put my finger on but I personally don't like them. In the same vein, digital B+W - again, I can't explicitly say why but it's as there is 'something missing', it does just not 'feel' right to me. Now, when we look at post processing, especially use of software to emulate the look of film, well.... maybe that's the way to go, I don't know?

Each to their own though and I admit that I have seen some really great images produced with digital equipment, however it's just that it's not for me. Maybe one day, but not today.....

Some great responses here, including this one I quoted.

I've given digital a serious go over a number of years. Not just bought (for me) an expensive kit, but also spent time actually studying the manual, and in addition to that, perfecting my skills in Photoshop.

The results I've got range from "meh" to "good", but the overall experience has never been really enjoyable.

I've decided to gradually switch back not only to analogue photography, but also to simplify the whole process. Certainly I'm not the only "old timer" who remembers the old days fondly not only by quite possibly more meaningful and better photos, but (perhaps more importantly) as being more enjoyable.

Perhaps film will disappear at some time in the future (I sure hope not), but it's not likely to be in my lifetime. So, I'll be sticking with film, and probably with only one camera and one lens (two at most - wide + normal).

I am not making money from photography, and if I'm also not enjoying it, then what the heck am I doing with it anyway.

Film, all the way.

PS. One thing that I experienced today when concurrently shooting the same subject with both digital & film cameras: naturally I tend to retake the same shot with the digicam many times over (because I, doh, can). It occurred to me now that this is second-guessing your best intuition. No wonder that it doesn't produce the results one would like.

 

[Photo_Smith]

I shoot film and digital, I prefer film because of the tangible reality of seeing your shots hanging in the drying cabinet, delayed gratification giving distance from the shooting event. only having 12 shots etc.

sure you can tape up the LCD and shoot with 512mb flash cards as suggested by another poster, but in reality I shoot digital when I need that quick response, film is different and no digicam gives you the feel of using a TLR.
I don't think using digital like a film camera works, because you have the modern advantages you just use them, the Pandora's box is open.

One is like a quick TV dinner the other like relaxing meal with wine music and company.

Just a personal take, I hate to be without either, film to me is real not transient electronic signals–of course you can convert your digital to analogue by printing it, though it never feels the same 🙂

 

[Contarama]

Digital is fantastic use it all the time but the problem is that things get boring at somewhere around a 1000 snaps. So I put it down and shoot with my film cameras until I can't afford it. I prefer my film camera over my digital camera not really because of the film but because of the camera itself...it is kind of like do you want to wear the Casio or the Rolex today? 🙂

 

[Godfrey]

I've been involved and entranced by photography since I was about six, and I'm 58 now, so photography was *all* about film for me until I was already in the game for 35 plus years.

Digital capture and image processing changed things, starting when I was doing image processing for NASA in the middle 1980s, but I didn't really make a serious effort to use it for my personal photography until about 2002, when I bought a quality 5Mpixel digital camera with a good lens. I concentrated almost entirely on digital capture and processing from then until late in 2010.

Now I'm shooting film once again, along with digital. I shoot more digital than film. They are two mediums, two different sets of constraints on my seeing, and I like using them both. I haven't shot any color in film since 2004 (other than some Impossible Project Polaroid SX70): that to my eye is something more usefully worked in digital capture. Black and white film negatives smash away so much capability that I find the constraints of the medium appealing to my creativity, and I do like the way it looks.

I shoot both and enjoy the challenge of making what I envision happen.

Good photography transcends format, even medium. It's all in what you see and how you express it. Little else really matters in the end.

..."Equipment is transient. Photographs endure."...

 

[FoldingCamera]

Have used film for more than 30 years

Have used film for more than 30 years

I have been using black and white film for more than 30 years and cannot see any justification to change, black and white film in my opinion still has validity and greater control of dynamic range than digital, colour film on the other hand has been superseded by digital on costs and convenience if you have the camera and the software it costs nothing to use and has greater dynamic range. I have recently put some information on my website about using film here;- http://www.stephenwhiteheadphotographer.me.uk/vintage-camera-and-photography-pages.html

Any comments would be welcome.

 

[jparriott]

I'm not a pro. But I prefer film for street photography, in that it slows me down, it makes me think, and I love the feel of my old IIIF. I like the delayed gratification as the film's being processed, and the look of the photos when I'm finished.

But, that said, I would never have started shooting film again, if I had to process and print. The digital age and the ability to scan is a huge advantage to those of us who don't have the time or the inclination to use chemicals or build a darkroom. Maybe our results aren't as wonderful -- but, I think, they're pretty damn good and distinctly film in their rendering.

As for day-to-day shooting? I greatly prefer my M9 for its ease and low light ability.

 

[Sid836]

Film is a world in itself - Different feeling, different means of expressing it and with the ultimate human touch on the results.

 

[Addy101]

To me, film is just another medium, but a fun one!
It is a different experience, just like manual focus is different from autofocus and a RF is different from a SLR. As some have suggested, the measurable advantages from film will diminish over time as the technology advances. But the film experience is hard to beat and the film "look" difficult to get with photoshop. There is a place for film just like there was place for manual focus in the age of autofocus!

Make sure you keep your customers satisfied (if you have them) and have FUN, either digital or film!

 

[Koolzakukumba]

To me, it's the difference between seeing a photograph in your head before you take it or only seeing it on an LCD screen after you've taken it:
http://www.theonlinedarkroom.com/2011/10/internal-v-external-visualisation.html

 

[Compaq]

There are several reasons why I'm planning on going 99% analog:

- more rewarding to create a print I'm happy with by doing it in the darkroom
- I don't need to worry about crashing hard drives
- it challenges me when shooting, with regard to being selective about my shots, reduced possibilities in exposure (constant ISO)
- I'm soon to start on my MSc in chemistry, possible also a PhD after, and so the process intrigues me on another level
- the cameras are lovely machinery, whereas the digital aren't
- I like the smell of the darkroom, and feel completely relaxed there

That's about the most important ones.

 

[Kent]

It's a niche activity, but a pleasant one. 😉

 

[Ming Rider]

It's all I shoot.

 

[RattyMouse]

To me, it's the difference between seeing a photograph in your head before you take it or only seeing it on an LCD screen after you've taken it:
http://www.theonlinedarkroom.com/2011/10/internal-v-external-visualisation.html

That is a really great image. Fantastic execution of your idea.

 

[RichLavigne]

I think you missed an answer... Film is a tool. I use it when I need to use it... just like digital.