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- Eric Tearle
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things move on, film is out digital is in. who now uses a slide rule instead of an electronic calculator? Who still uses clockwork watches now instead of self winding or battery ones?
Only Luddites do
To me, digital is part of the dumbing down of the whole world. It's easier and more convenient. Just like MP3s and iTunes.
It's very good at what it does, but what it does isn't for me.
Steve.
Exactly. Did Giotto, Michelangelo, Picasso, Henry Moore (or indeed Cartier-Bresson or Ansel Adams) choose their artistic medium based on convenience?
I love digital because it is instant and I take more photos of a better standard then I ever shot with film. I sent my film to AG on Monday. It will have arrived Tuesday. It still isn't in their lab yet. For an impatient person this is excruciating...
I can shoot in gloomy places handheld which I could never manage with film. Auto white balance means being able to shoot under all sorts of weird lighting.
Film is the slightly itchy pure wool jumper you keep for sentimental reasons. It's warm but after a while you remember why you switched to acrylic
I shoot digital because it's the same as shooting film was for me 30+ years ago.
In those days I did my own B+W developing and printing. I could come home, develop a roll of film, and see what I'd shot that day. I took slide film to a pro lab which turned it round overnight.
No longer having those facilities shooting film involves sending it away and waiting days to see what I've got. I've given it a try but it's a PITA - I've a roll still sitting waiting to be processed that I finished off in May because it's too much hassle.
With digital I can have a print, yes a print , in my hand within minutes of walking through the door with the camera. What's more it can be a colour or a monochrome print which has been processed to my satisfaction in less time than I could ever get a wet print right.
Far from dumbing down photography it's expanded it. You can shoot more, experiment more, see the results faster and as a result progress more easily.
The majority of people who look at photographs don't care if they were made on film or digitally, Only photo geeks give a toss how photographs were made. The medium is not the message, the picture is...
You make some very valid points here but as I said further up the thread....none of them matter... film is great, digital is great, whatever floats your boat. This is a pointless thread that just inflames stupid fanboy reactions, just get out there, take pictures with whatever you enjoy, get them developed/processed however you feel fit and make prints of the ones you like most...simples. So lets stop this futile and stupid point scoring and get out there and make some images.
Film?? FILM?? I'll tell you about film Mr Donut - you are not the Messiah, you're just a very naughty boy!!
Why not just use both...
You make some very valid points here but as I said further up the thread....none of them matter... film is great, digital is great, whatever floats your boat. This is a pointless thread that just inflames stupid fanboy reactions, just get out there, take pictures with whatever you enjoy, get them developed/processed however you feel fit and make prints of the ones you like most...simples.
The weird thing for me is that I LOVE modern technology. I love my iphone, read books on kindle 99% of the time, shop online etc etc etc. but I shoot pretty much exclusively film.
How do you know this if you haven't tried film? Steve.
Who drives old cars instead of shiny new ones, who collects old china instead buying a new set from Asda, who uses film cameras instead of digital?....those people who like to, who enjoy it, those people who realise that there is another way, a way that doesn't give instant gratification that isn't me, me, me and now, now, now. Those people who feel that photography is about thought and taking your time and getting the shot not firing off 100 shots and getting 1 keeper...thats who....
And you really shouldn't use Luddites as an insult. They were people who realised that the new inventions would mean their livelihood was taken away and they wouldn't be able to feed their families not that they hated new inventions because they were new.
Who reads books? People who want to learn the meaning of things before they spout off gibberish, you should try it sometime.
Andy
Far, far better than I could have done, particularly the bit about the Luddites.
This is the biggest concentration of f&c folk I've seen outside the f&c section since I joined! It's like a Saga tour
This is the biggest concentration of f&c folk I've seen outside the f&c section since I joined! It's like a Saga tour
Genuinely laughed out loud.
The think I dislike about the concept of film is having so many different types and having to either use many bodies or waste film. On a single day you could shoot b&w landscape and low light wildlife. Thats 3 rolls so start with if you wish to use the best film for the job surely?
There's a simple solution to that. Get a minolta dynax 9. It has mid roll rewind so you can rewind with the leader out. Pop in another film. Shoot some stuff on that then pop the other back in and wind it to where you left off.
Some colour films convert to mono nicely so that would save waste again.
I wouldn't use film at all for low light wildlife. It's a short journey into madness
Film has its place but its limited and with time will become more so. Ive necer really used it but its interesting but very time consuming
The think I dislike about the concept of film is having so many different types and having to either use many bodies or waste film. On a single day you could shoot b&w landscape and low light wildlife. Thats 3 rolls so start with if you wish to use the best film for the job surely?
Something is itching at me to try large format, and I really would like an Ebony 4x5, was this >< close to buying one. The mess, cost and lack of instant gratification puts me off, but I do love the images from large format film.
Film has its place but its limited and with time will become more so. Ive necer really used it but its interesting but very time consuming
I mean this in the most sincere way and I merely intend to open an honest discussion with this question: how can you know that film is 'limited' if you haven't used it?
On medium format cameras you can swap film backs mid-roll (the film magazines are detachable like lenses), so you only need to carry one body.