BS thread...

[Chas]

This thread is a tribute to the forum, to this newbie. Respectful, thought-provoking, amusing, informative ..... could it be that film-photographers are involved ? .. Only kidding. I must say I'm enjoying the lurking around this forum I've been doing the past week or so, it's time to get more involved.

This is only my second post here. I'm finally switching to digital SLR after 30 years of film (SLR and 4X5) and about 8 years of P&S digital. But when I hold my old Takumars in my hand and work the rings, it still makes me smile. I gave all my darkroom equipment to the local school ........ I live in southern CA where there are no basements so there was no going back anyway.

Charles.

 

[nealjpage]

This thread is a tribute to the forum, to this newbie. Respectful, thought-provoking, amusing, informative ..... could it be that film-photographers are involved ? .. Only kidding. I must say I'm enjoying the lurking around this forum I've been doing the past week or so, it's time to get more involved.

This is only my second post here. I'm finally switching to digital SLR after 30 years of film (SLR and 4X5) and about 8 years of P&S digital. But when I hold my old Takumars in my hand and work the rings, it still makes me smile. I gave all my darkroom equipment to the local school ........ I live in southern CA where there are no basements so there was no going back anyway.

Charles.

Well, if you're looking for charity to give your 4x5 to, let me know. I think I'm a worthy cause

 

[THORHAMMER]

sorry to be the one to tell you but there isnt any shiny new technology !!
photoshop has been around for 20 years, and the technology in our digital cameras (CCD ) was developed in the 70's and kodak brought it to us in the 90's .
There are simply different ways to take pictures, Some are more effecient than others, if film is more effecient for you than you are good !

I wouldnt go as far as to say one is better then another, only one might be more suited for your needs.

If photoshop is becoming a stumbling block for you since everyone else uses it, then realize its a tool for 99% of the other shooters out there, and learn it, its not that hard and the way it works is intuitive to someone who learned film.

the cameras you love to use were "shiny and new" to the generations of shooters before you...

Use whatever you can kick butt with.... thats my motto..

 

[blackdoglab]

Use whatever you can kick butt with.... thats my motto..

do what you like and like what you do.

 

[RacePhoto]

I think we should move all threads pertaining to film into the Alternative section.

I think I agree.

Film is fun and it's interesting and entertaining to play with antiquated technology now and then, but if people are going to keep writing messages, searching for validation for their stubbornness and inability to change with the times, they should expect to take a little flak in the process.

Film isn't dead, it's just mortally wounded and going to perish slowly and painfully. It has some advantages in exposure latitude, astronomy and some other uses and a whole book of disadvantages.

June 2007

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - It was the end of an era this morning when explosives were used to implode Building 9 at Eastman Kodak Company's campus in Rochester.

The 487,000 square foot Building 23 is set to be razed in similar fashion tomorrow morning.


Photographic paper was made for decades in Building 9, a facility no longer needed after Kodak's shift to digital products.

What's the possibility that people will still be using film, making scans and editing the photos, and in the future there will be prints only as an exercise in historic photo techniques?

Not that it will be the end to film, but could be the end to printing on photographic paper will die first.

Meanwhile, there's nothing wrong with taking film photos and using digital technology to scan, edit and print them.

For the audio folks, notice that you don't see your latest "albums" released on reel to reel, cassette, 8 track or vinyl any longer? The technology has been replaced with something more durable, versatile, compact and less costly.

It's just a natural progression of improvements over the old ways. I still have reel to reel recorders and some tube amps. But I'm using digital now for field and location recordings because I can carry a MiniDisc that produces better results and runs on batteries, in my vest pocket! :thumbup:

Same goes for digital vs film photography. Jet planes vs prop planes. Automobiles vs horses. Computers vs typewriters. Ball point pens vs quills and inkwells.

I still shoot some film, but most is going out of date in the bag. (or has in the Frig.) Best part is that I can afford some really top notch cameras that are being cast aside.

With that, I agree with the opinion that film discussions should be moved to Alternative.

Yes I still have about five working Beta decks. But I'm not going to claim they can beat digital video at anything.

 

[jstuedle]

I too have been a shooter for longer than most here are old. And I switched to digital when Nikon brought out the D1 in '99. I find myself wanting to go back to film, in sort of a half hearted way. I'm getting back into MF and going to scan the negs. I still have the darkroom stuff in storage, could set it up to do "real" B&W, something that digital is still not quite there with yet. (IMHO) But we will have to see. I think film will be an alternative process soon enough, just not quite yet. Let's not push it, it will find the door all by itself. When we see all digital single use cameras (the technology is there and cost effective already) replace all the film singles, then the writing is on the wall.

 

[nealjpage]

For the audio folks, notice that you don't see your latest "albums" released on reel to reel, cassette, 8 track or vinyl any longer? The technology has been replaced with something more durable, versatile, compact and less costly.

Hey! I still buy most of my new albums on LP. Lots of smaller, independent bands put their music out on LP for folks like me. Perhsps it's because of guys like me that the film companies still cling to life, too. I dunno.

 

[terri]

For the audio folks, notice that you don't see your latest "albums" released on reel to reel, cassette, 8 track or vinyl any longer? The technology has been replaced with something more durable, versatile, compact and less costly.

Funny, I got a beautiful vinyl of Supergrass' last record. Popped it on my turntable and turned it up loud. Sounded great!

 

[nealjpage]

Funny, I got a beautiful vinyl of Supergrass' last record. Popped it on my turntable and turned it up loud. Sounded great!

:hug::Film AND vinyl???? I'm not the only one??? Good choice of your new album, by the way.

 

[terri]

:hug::Film AND vinyl???? I'm not the only one??? Good choice of your new album, by the way.

You're only as alone as the advertisers for, and manufacturers of, products with planned obsolescence make you feel.

Oh, and SG rawk. :thumbup: Seeing them live is amazing!

 

[RacePhoto]

Funny, I got a beautiful vinyl of Supergrass' last record. Popped it on my turntable and turned it up loud. Sounded great!

Last time I moved, I took an old BSR turntable and handed it to one of the movers. (along with an A/C, microwave and some other stuff) STUPID ME! It was the one I kept for playing 78s with the special cartridge that was wider and tracked without flapping back and forth. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb!

Some of my records are so old, that they aren't vinyl, they are one sided black "stuff" (designed for wind up players), some are cardboard, and a few have to have a Reko-Cut studio turntable to be played because they are giant size transcriptions. I still like the sound of my digital and CDs better.

At least most of you understand my sense of humor. I wasn't trying to rip film users, just pointing out that hanging on to old technology and claiming there's something special about it, isn't new.

ps I have a couple of good turntables, but the last time I used one, was to record an album to CD. :hugs: I copied some of my favorite cassettes to CDs. Which now that I listen, is stupid. They still sound like lowfi cassettes.

Oh wait a minute this is a photo forum. Yes I have plans to shoot some film this year, for a specific purpose where it's still better than digital.

Most photos that most of us have printed now are not done on photo paper anymore, but on die transfer, laser or other technology printers. Even the people shooting film are already getting something other than photographs on photo paper.

 

[blackdoglab]

Film is fun and it's interesting and entertaining to play with antiquated technology now and then, but if people are going to keep writing messages, searching for validation for their stubbornness and inability to change with the times, they should expect to take a little flak in the process.

someone's going to get hit over the head with a crown graphic.

Maybe it's time we end this thread. If you are so engrossed by the digital medium, then post your comments in the digital section. A good chunk of us still shoot only film and love it. Film isn't necessarily about sharpness or resolution, but about the process. I feel no need that I need to "change with the times" when I'm happy with what I'm doing. Personally, I don't give a d&mn about megapixels, sensors, resolution, or even sharpness. Hell, I even shoot with toy cameras because (1) they're fun and (2) THEY'RE FUN!!!!!!!

I get so tired of these "which is better" debates because they prove to be utterly pointless and end up with everyone in an annoyingly idiotic mish mash of frustration, elitism, and snobbery. Neither is better than the other, they're just tools. If you want to shoot film , do it. If digital floats your boat, shoot it. Either way, there's no reason to be critical of one or the other person for their choice.

Let's just agree to disagree in these matters and get on with it. If you like to shoot digital, post in those threads. If you shoot film, post in the film threads. As for alternative processes, even a digital file can be used to create large negatives for contact printing, so maybe digital could be considered an alternative process as well.

 

[terri]

As for alternative processes, even a digital file can be used to create large negatives for contact printing, so maybe digital could be considered an alternative process as well.

Dan Burkholder wrote the book on that, years ago. You can shoot film or digital to get an inverted file and have a transparency suitable for large format contact printing. Exciting news for lots of platinum printers.

That's why I really enjoy the bromoil printmaking process....you get to start with any negative you want in the darkroom. Most alt processes are contact printing and software programs are a welcome tool.

When I get around to trying some, I'll have to have my 4x5 in hand first. Just another excuse to get my hands on that Tachihara I lust for.

 

[Alpha]

As someone who's been a DJ for the last 7 years, I can tell you that all the radio hits come out on vinyl...and then some.

 

[windrivermaiden]

2. Anything you can get with film, you can do in photoshop

Not make anything as beautiful as gum dichromate prints....at least not yet. (or most analog processes for that matter)I've seen some attempts but they fall short of the real thing. far, far, far short. There is a depth to a gum print that just can not be immatated with a skinny little piece of paper that can be run through a printer, and reproduced a zillion times exactly with the press of a button. Not that I don't use digital for work....in its place it is the obvious choice. But for me it is the difference between a quick sketch for a magazine illustration and the Mona Lisa...not even close.

Ok... I confess, I'm grumpy right now...every show that I've entered recently has stuck my gum prints in with the digital manipulation....ACH! As if!

Then, I get these people who come up and ask me what "filter" I use in photoshop...

I dont like competing for the dollar market share with my one of a kind works against something that is akin to a mass production. The masses will chose what ever looks good with their sofa and they can toss if they change the drapes.:x Hard to put my babies out there knowing they could go home with such people.