why still film? For how long?

I am slowly switching to film only after 8 years using only digital.
I had to slow down, getting out of snapshot mode: shoot less and stop looking at the LCD what i had....
I think more before i shoot, also because i use full manual filmcameras, which works out positive at this moment.
I like the filmworkflow at the moment much more.
 
for me it is the process, hands on. being alone in a darkroom under low red light in silence, creating photographs. that has much more romantic appeal to me, it's my meditation.

that and seeing a B&W print on fibre paper printed large and hung on a wall. it just 'does' it for me, sure i could produce an image with higher image quality at the size and with less noise if i used a digital camera but it's no fun.
 
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rya said:
I am less focused on the end result and more so on the process of getting there. I much prefer using a film camera, spending more time on each shot, and not filling my hard drive with shots I will never look at again.

It is like asking why do you prefer paint to charcoal? Sometimes it is for the look, but the style and technique going into the art is very important. The rangefinder versus other film camera question has a similar answer, but I do use an SLR. I'd like to try an R-D1 with the screen always closed....

If someone offered me a new hassleblad with a digital back for the price of a Nikon SLR I would probably take it, but I picked an M6 over a D300.
Click to expand...

Yes. Me too. Process is important, and I too chose an M6 vs. contemporary Canikon kit. If I took pictures to pay the rent (actually I do, but that's through various very expensive microscopes with very, very expensive digital cameras), things might be different -- the cost per picture might matter. But a couple of hundred bucks a year for film and chemistry, sleeves and miscellany, and a few dozen hours for souping and scanning, are for me completely doable.
 
For me, film photography is the art of capturing light. I'm by no means good at it, digital or film, merely playing around. I find film, especially film camera's are much easier to use, and it gets you thinking as to what you want to achieve, using simple methods of filters and exposure etc etc. Digital, for me, is photography design. You see a scene and you can see what you want to have it look like, so you snap away, and process afterwards. I could explain it in terms of traveling. Film is about the journey to the destination, digital is about the destination.

I think the gratification of a great picture via film is just as rewarding as a great picture via digital processing. I suppose, come to think of it, possible people, some of them at least, enjoy the journey of digital processing. For me, I find it a hundred times more gratifying receiving my prints back and seeing a good picture. Its like farming....ok ok, enough with the metaphors.

However, I think for a lot of photographers, the taking of the picture sets the emotion of the picture. What I mean is, if you shoot film, you shoot if for a reason, and shooting it is rewarding. Ti doesn't make it better than digital, just different, like riding a Harley is different than a BMW 1200Adventure.

I really want a DSLR, but can't afford it now. So I shoot film. I would suggest that film, to those not studying photography, does make you think before you click.

Would I leave film behind, I suspect 30 years from now I might not have a choice. But if I take good pictures with my DSLR, then yes, its less hassel. But, I still like film.

Happy snapping
 
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Pavel+ said:
I have noticed that many, in fact most, of the digital aficionados who scorn film are oddly in two fields. There must be at least 80 percent who are employed in the IT or engineering field.
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Interesting observation, but I don't agree based on my own experience. Most photography lovers I know in any engineering field shoot in fact both digital and film. I don't think I know any engineer/scientist who shoots only film anymore and there are many who shoot only digital, which holds for most people who aren't really that much into photography but may own nice gear. Everyone respects what others are doing and appreaciate good photography regardless of the medium, though.
 
I just had insight - worrying about death of film is very similar to those families already living in bunkers and waiting end of days, drinking distilled urea and eating canned pork left from WWII.

I don't say it's wrong, just I will not follow them.
 
>I have noticed that many, in fact most, of the digital aficionados who scorn film are
>oddly in two fields.

I've not noticed that either. Web developers, maybe. But then again, most people around me know not to put down Film.

Although, the Kodak Gigabit Storage System Circa 1970 that used photographic film to optically store large amounts of data was a short-lived system, replaced by more suitable physical layer media.

SO: being a computer engineer, film is not as good as magnetic media and silicon for storing digital data.
 
Wallo said:
Interesting observation, but I don't agree based on my own experience. Most photography lovers I know in any engineering field shoot in fact both digital and film. I don't think I know any engineer/scientist who shoots only film anymore and there are many who shoot only digital, which holds for most people who aren't really that much into photography but may own nice gear. Everyone respects what others are doing and appreaciate good photography regardless of the medium, though.
Click to expand...

I am a practicing engineer. In the past, I was in IT. I am also a computer programmer.

I have shot film almost exclusively, after I fell out of love with my dSLR. I just went for bigger negatives. I still own the digital, and might be inclined to bring it out for certain things, but I just plain don't want to carry it around with me. I either want better (Medium format or larger, the Mamiya 7 and a lens are smaller, lighter, and higher quality images than my D80 w/ grip and a lens) or smaller (leica) and as good.

I suppose if I am looking for telephoto, I would use the SLR. That hardly comes up anymore.

Note: I have nothing against digital per se. I just seem to get better results without spending more on the back than I would on a car. (Phase One).

Oh, I also like to process my own film. Part of the fun for me. When that wears off, I expect that I will switch back again. My color is mixed media, as is much of my B&W, although that is shifting back to wet printing.

Just another data point.

And the last sentence above is key: We all appreciate a good photo, right?
 
When I took up photography after a very long lapse, I wanted to use a rangefinder. That made using film the only option.

I continue to use film because the cameras I own use film. I scan, so, from my perspective, film lags behind digital in terms of speed and convenience. I'm one of many around here hoping someone brings out a digital I can afford that can use my lenses without imposing a crop factor. At some point, however, I'm likely to tire of waiting, buy something, and sell off a lot of stuff.
 
I shoot only film...
for how long? now I have >200 rolls in my freezer and some ID11 and some Xtol and some Rodinal. I shoot until I finish them... then I'll buy more... and will do that again... and again... until it's not available anymore. Will it ever happen? I don't know and don't care - probably when it happens I'll be already too old to hold my cameras still at 1/250...
 
This has been raised a few times in the thread, but I'll raise it again, for me it's not *still* shooting film, I started off with digital, bought a film camera after that and now only shoot film except for snapshots for eBay etc. I don't think it'll always be just film, maybe when M8s get a little bit cheaper, I'll have a look, but having said that, if someone came out with a new and desirable film camera, I'd have a look.

I don't think it needs to be about *still* shooting film, I'm a newbie, and I really enjoy shooting film, there are new film shooters, not just the old guard.
 
Why? Because I like it. For how long? As long as I like it and can do it.

I wish I could say the results get better and the artist in me gets bigger when using film, but I believe it is opposite, the results are better from my digital cameras. But who cares as long as I like it......
 
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