another film vs digital topic

tranceplant · Jun 28, 2005

Ok,

well here is the deal. I am not an expert but when ever I look at pictures I know right away if it's from a digital camera or a film camera. well let's say a good 80% of the time. For some reason I normaly dislike the pictures taken from a digital camera. On the other hand, I love pictures coming out from film. I am not sure why! This is generaly speaking of course

I wanted to know if I am the only one with this opinion?

terri · Jun 28, 2005

Well, sometimes it's more obvious than others.

Some folks are quite talented with B&W digital conversions, but they usually they look inferior to film - and I'm a big B&W fan, so those are easier to pick off.

My preference to film is just enjoying the B&W process from start to finish, including working in the darkroom and smelling the fixer. :lol:

I like all that hands-on stuff. Just depends on the type of photography you do, really. Digital makes sense for a lot of people, and the color quality is there in DSLRs.

catweh00 · Jun 29, 2005

Wow, if you can really tell the difference between a digital SLR photo compared to a negative/print film photo, blown up to 13x19, thats incredible.

That tops every judge we've had at Cincinnati's Tristate Photographic Society's competitions. None of the pros who have judged us can tell the difference, not with today's dSLRs, especially cameras like the d2x and MarkII ds.

I think regular P/S digicams show evidence, but I disagree with you about digital cameras in general. Im not trying to say--"{Jump the film ship to digital" or anything like that. I shoot both digital (nikon d70) and slide film 35mm (nikon f4) and I cannot tell the difference.

Even when working at high ISOs, I can't tell the difference. I doubt that anyone can with a good digital SLR as well. Have you ever viewed a dSLR pic compared to print film pic?

Craig

santino · Jun 29, 2005

the truth is, use medium format film or large format film (who wanna compare them to digital

?)

no, I prefer film, like terri already said, I love the whole thing from pressing the release button to enlarging the prints. when it comes to b&w film is def. superior.

DaphneOracle · Jun 29, 2005

One of the photo mags just ran an article comparing film to a 16 mp dSLR. While the digital was excellant, film still won out narrowly. I suspect that at the margins the difference might be almost non-detectable, however I think I can feel a difference (whatever that means???).

Bryant

Big Mike · Jun 29, 2005

Did you know that just about every photo place makes their color negative prints on a digital machine? That means that when you take in your film to get prints made, it's actually scanned and printed from a digital file.

A read an article in Pop Photo where they compared ISO 100 film to the Canon 1Ds mark II. The camera had better resolution and color but I think the film had better latitude. I think they concluded that the camera won out...but just barely.

tranceplant · Jun 29, 2005

terri said:
Well, sometimes it's more obvious than others. Some folks are quite talented with B&W digital conversions, but they usually they look inferior to film - and I'm a big B&W fan, so those are easier to pick off.

My preference to film is just enjoying the B&W process from start to finish, including working in the darkroom and smelling the fixer. I like all that hands-on stuff. Just depends on the type of photography you do, really. Digital makes sense for a lot of people, and the color quality is there in DSLRs.

wow thx terri, I am starting basic photography classes in july at concordia university. and we will cover all these topics from darkroom to camera usage. I am just doing it for the fun of it... I just want to learn how to make those awesome B&W pictures and process them myself in the darkroom. I got a nikon n80 and ill add some dif. lenses during the way. I am thinking about getting a nikon d70 but for some reason digital cameras are not doing it for me... i am a total noob to all this photography so maybe I am wrong(with some of your comments maybe I am not so wrong after all)! I guess I will have to see by myself - ''live and learn'' eh?

terri · Jun 29, 2005

I am thinking about getting a nikon d70 but for some reason digital cameras are not doing it for me... i am a total noob to all this photography so maybe I am wrong(with some of your comments maybe I am not so wrong after all)! I guess I will have to see by myself - ''live and learn'' eh?

The d70 has a great reputation, but if you feel in your gut that digital *isn't doing it* for you - why spend the money? As a self-described "noob to photography", you owe it to yourself to save your money until you figure out what it is you REALLY enjoy. And it sounds like you're doing exactly that, with your upcoming classes. :thumbup: You may become so smitten with darkroom work that a digital camera would gather dust and you'd wish you had that $$ in your pocket for other things.

And your comment above seems to allude to your feeling different towards digital photography, when it happens to be all the rage these days - to the point you're thinking you "must be wrong". Don't let that fear of being in the minority sway what you're feeling inside. Stick to your guns - dare to think against popular opinion, especially when it doesn't mirror your own thoughts.

Enjoy that n80 while you learn the darkroom. Who knows, you may discover you DO prefer digital photography and get that d70 someday - or you may end up wanting to progress to medium format! :lol:

Just give yourself time to figure out what you want from photography, before buying equipment you're ambivalent about.

Good luck!

tranceplant · Jun 29, 2005

^ yeah I think I will just start with my n80 for now and eventualy try out some new lenses along the way. If i feel the need to buy a digital camera when I have more experience, ill do it, but for now i'll stick with what I had in mind in the first place. film camera and the darkroom. :thumbup:

thx again for you great comments terri and everyone else, merci

ksmattfish · Jun 29, 2005

tranceplant said:
^ yeah I think I will just start with my n80 for now and eventualy try out some new lenses along the way. If i feel the need to buy a digital camera when I have more experience, ill do it, but for now i'll stick with what I had in mind in the first place. film camera and the darkroom. :thumbup:

Shoot what you like.

I'm a big film geek who recently got a DSLR. I think prints from digital and film often do look slightly different. Digital can have these bight white voids in the highlights, and seems more prone to chromatic aberations. But in the hands of folks who really know what they are doing I've mistaken digital images for film. I've had people looking at my color prints (from film) ask if they were digital because the colors were so saturated (slow film and a polarizer). A BW medium format film shot I took is being used for a band's CD cover, and when they sent the image file (a straight high res scan from the neg) the guys printing the covers thought it was some sort of digital collage. They've never ever seen the wonder of medium format film and Rolleiflex!

You might consider an older camera. There is a wonderful connection between film and a mostly mechanical camera. You can get a great 35mm SLR from the 70s or 80s for a lot cheaper than a new AF whiz bang, and save your money for film, processing, and printing. What about a TLR? Inexpensive and medium format!