why still film? For how long?

I started with digital but feel like I have graduated to film. Film is simply much more fun and tactile, especially when I home dev my B+W. I love choosing the film for the results I hope to get. I scan and print digitally. Shooting with rangefinders started as a romantic affectation, I love all the great street shooters. But I grew into loving the rangefinder way of working. I like the size of the cameras and not needing to charge batteries to go out shooting. Sometimes with my TLR, I will spend many minutes composing my shot in the ground glass, just enjoying the process.
 
why is it assumed that with digital we all become sluts and shoot fast and loose?
i shoot the same with film and digital, at my own pace.

and film is not magical, not any more magical than a digital sensor.

all the attributes that have been written here about film can be applied to digital as well.

some of the things i like about processing with a computer is that my mac never smells like stop bath or fixer gone bad and it never drips on the floor or my clothes. and clean up is so much quicker and easier.
there are no tanks and reels to clean and dry.

one bad thing about digital is that with my sd cards there are no film cans to store my change for parking meters...
 
back alley said:
why is it assumed that with digital we all become sluts and shoot fast and loose?
i shoot the same with film and digital, at my own pace.

and film is not magical, not any more magical than a digital sensor.

all the attributes that have been written here about film can be applied to digital as well.
Click to expand...

Curves man. It's about the curves and non-linear response to light. The natural saturation and feel of analog response. This is not magic or mystery.

It's also only one aspect of the "look."
 
I got back into film 4 years ago. I have never been on the DSLR side.
I have choices with film. B&W, Negative, and Chrome. You have 36 frames, to tell a story, do what you want!

I would not want to waste my time with digital / photo shop because you are changing the photo to what you want it to be after the fact, while with film, you get what you see when you have pressed the shutter! Nothing more!

"You have to do what you have….
It is very easy to complain about if I would have that…..or this picture or I had it ….but it didn’t….
Excuses are not valid in photography, you have it or you don’t…… you know…….you can always have it, if you force yourself to have it."
Pep Bonet


Mark
UIO
 
Great responses, glad I asked! From what I read here, I think B&W 35mm film will be around for a long time.... but color is where the concern lies.... the passion is more with B&W, which makes perfect sense. Digital competes better with color....
 
Why film?
Because I find myself there more than on digital.

Digital is perfect, cold and sterile, like Ivan Drago in Rocky IV if you know what I mean. A machine programmed to work. But somehow without personality or with the appeal of a SnowWhite's apple: red and beautiful, or Pamela Anderson: too woman to be true!

Film is, well.. true to life. It does have grain as our life has wreckles and it's not perfect. It has temper, as our lives have. You choose this or that kind of film depending on the effect you know it will give you, more or less.

Of course digital is what probably relieves you from the problem to eat every day, nothing to say here. I'm not a professional shooter but I realize that if you have tons of work to do it's the more CONVENIENT choice to go for.
I don't think any longer of MP or quality, IQ and all the rest. Someone wrote that following the film path is like Zen, and I agree with it. Less things, but done with more care. With film you can really enjoy all those little rites which are absent on a DSLR: loading a camera knowing that you have only that roll for the next 36 pictures..

Again, digital may solve problems, film helps to realize them and enjoy your time more creatively. If I would have to choose which camera to keep in a steal, probably it would be the same thief taking the D700 (much more APPARENTLY TRENDY) then my old style film F6
 
back alley said:
why is it assumed that with digital we all become sluts and shoot fast and loose?
i shoot the same with film and digital, at my own pace.

and film is not magical, not any more magical than a digital sensor.

all the attributes that have been written here about film can be applied to digital as well.

some of the things i like about processing with a computer is that my mac never smells like stop bath or fixer gone bad and it never drips on the floor or my clothes. and clean up is so much quicker and easier.
there are no tanks and reels to clean and dry.

one bad thing about digital is that with my sd cards there are no film cans to store my change for parking meters...
Click to expand...

joe, you're in love with digital, we got it...

I am as well, otherwise why would I spend little fund I got on the Oly E-620. 😛

But I need more than what digital is capable of giving me. In doing film photography, there's just more things to do that are just cool in and out of themselves, like darkroom printing for example.

So I agree, film is not magic, it's just more fun 😀
 
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more fun for you...i believe that.

darkroom was a love/hate thing for me so not as much fun for me.

one of the things that i miss most about smoking cigars is all the ritual involved, choosing a good cigar (in my price range), getting out my cutter and stick matches and the long time it took to enjoy and smoke the thing. i get that about film too.
 
Imagine with me a scale of Image Quality.

A master craftsman (analog) might reach a score of 50 with 35mm film, 100 with 6x6.

A master digital craftsman might reach a score of 50 with APS-C and 100 with 24Mp FF.

Most of us are not reaching 50 and 100, so you can show me people who get better results with film than I can with digital and vice versa.

I personally get much better results with digital than I do with film, but I shoot about 50/50 because that's what my ZI takes and I love the camera - it puts a smile on my face and is wonderful to use. My 5DMkII is just a computer I use to help me make images. My digital images are technically better in every respect than my film stuff, no question. That applies to both BW and colour, though BW is closer and colour digital is streets ahead. YMMV of course.

If there was a digital rangefinder I liked then I would get one, and use it pretty much all of the time. I don't use my film SLRs any more at all now that I have the DSLR.
 
Why film?
It’s the medium I choose for its unique intrinsic aesthetic characteristics as well as the enjoyment I get from working with it in regards to its physical properties.

For how long?
Until I tire of photography
 
Rangefinders attract some very intelligent and articulate users..... a lot of great responses, a very enjoyable thread... very interesting read... I learned a lot.

IMO, this is what forums are great for.... its nice to understand what attracts us "last men standing" to the film media.
 
With a DSLR I chimped a lot. When I started using film rangefinders - and paying for film, development, and scanning - I returned to a more careful style which I have continued applying with the R-D1. I still prefer the feel of my barnacks and if film costs were a non-issue, I would use them so much more. Seeing results immediately can make photography - not the photographed - a focus of too much attention.
 
funbear said:
Rangefinders attract some very intelligent and articulate users..... a lot of great responses, a very enjoyable thread... very interesting read... I learned a lot.

IMO, this is what forums are great for.... its nice to understand what attracts us "last men standing" to the film media.
Click to expand...

It has been a great thread. I've been waiting with watering mouth, for the continued motivations to choose film. Alike, I've enjoyed hearing the digital side. My days of shooting primarily slrs and primarily digital are both numbered.
But the absolutely best argument for going to film are some of the breathtakingly warm and deep photographs I've seen that spring forth from silver and salt !
I'm a fan.😀
 
back alley said:
more fun for you...i believe that.

darkroom was a love/hate thing for me so not as much fun for me.

one of the things that i miss most about smoking cigars is all the ritual involved, choosing a good cigar (in my price range), getting out my cutter and stick matches and the long time it took to enjoy and smoke the thing. i get that about film too.
Click to expand...

Some of us enjoy and embrace ritual, my friend.

Once again, it's about *light*.
 
Digital is like listening to music recorded in a studio.
Film is like listening to music live.

Same singer different takes.

Most days, i prefer the live version....... and of course film too.

Just my 2 Aussie cents
 
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