Film as a learning tool...

[BlueMeanieTSi]

I was going to say before i messed up on my phone Lomography say their sales of film are up 100% on last year

Kodak have been reporting that sales have been up in the last few years too. (From what I understood, the film and chemical division of Kodak has always been doing fine - it's the other divisions that are suffering.)

Haven't heard anything about Fuji, but I suspect they are doing just fine too. (Although they did just recently announce a global price increase, which will take effect in August...)

I work for Fuji, the price increase is because they closed all but I believe one film plant and scaled back production. The medical film business has been keeping that side alive through the digital age but less and less Dr offices are requiring film so nobody prints.

 

[Arpeggio9]

Shooting film has been a great learning tool for me because the process is helping me see the picture inside my head before I press the shutter and afterwards. I used to shoot digital and having that instant feedback did not help me with visualization as much as film process does. It's really taken my photo thinking to a whole new level and I am liking it a lot. As time goes by, I am shooting less and less, but with better and more substantial results because of that visualization. 6 months ago, I would have never imagined that I would be able to shoot without a light meter. I blame film for that ... It helps me with that "being in the moment" kind of thing.

 

[cepwin]

I like the log sheet idea....I'll have to find the discipline to do it. Yes, I've heard that visualizing the shot is important...the people who are good do that from what I understand. Sounds like another thing to focus on when I"m experimenting with film.

 

[spacefuzz]

Hmm I havnt seen film making a come back in the landscape / art fair community I am plugged into. I still see people using 4x5 or 8x10 film setups....but usually its setup right next to their digital camera.

I will be including some film shots in my next show not because I think its better....but its a very effective marketing device and people seem to like hearing I still use film.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

its a very effective marketing device and people seem to like hearing I still use film.

LOL same here. My business cards say FILM PHOTOGRAPHER on them and it's spiked up business since I changed it to that. :\

 

[Josh66]

I think people assume that you know what you're doing if you use film.

Film is "hard" to the people that grew up without ever using it.

 

[gsgary]

I think people assume that you know what you're doing if you use film.

Film is "hard" to the people that grew up without ever using it.

Dont Best Bye do a pro film kit ?

 

[Compaq]

A good-looking rangefinder goes well with the ladies

True story...

 

[gsgary]

A good-looking rangefinder goes well with the ladies

True story...

Nikon SP or Lieca would do the trick

 

[cepwin]

I watched several videos on B/W development....looks pretty strait forward...no more complicated than baking bread. Some of them were doing the work in a bathroom or kitchen..and yes, poured the developer down the drain?! Yes, I remember printing B/W images...pretty cool. As far as a camera..the FG is old enough that it won't do too much for me. One thing that looked fun was the stuff on the lomography site (lomography.com) Simple cameras designed to give you interesting results. It is inspired by the lomo cameras produced for mass distribution in the old soviet union.

 

[Josh66]

..and yes, poured the developer down the drain?!

I think most film chemicals are pretty harmless these days. There's probably worse stuff under your kitchen sink.

The only one I would really worry about is the fixer, just because of the silver in it. There are several ways to reclaim the silver before dumping it though.

 

[mila_olivera]

Even if you're 'just learning photography' it'll be awesome for you to use film. It could truly make you completely fall in love with photography. Film is beautiful and genuine.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

You trying to be a hipster with that film idea

 

[Ysarex]

..and yes, poured the developer down the drain?!

I think most film chemicals are pretty harmless these days. There's probably worse stuff under your kitchen sink.

The only one I would really worry about is the fixer, just because of the silver in it. There are several ways to reclaim the silver before dumping it though.

Wow! Frightening. Read it: Amazon.com: Overexposure: Health Hazards in Photography (9780960711864): Monona Rossol, Susan D. Shaw: Books

Joe

 

[AaronLLockhart]

For a person "just learning photography", I think film is an utter waste of time,effort,and money.

This cannot be a serious statement. You can get a great quality film SLR for less than a tenth of the cost for digitAl equipment. I just rounded $1000 in my digital setup last week when my new items arrived from amazon. I have $50.00 in my film equipment, and I own 3 film cameras.

So, please explain to me how this is such a "complete waste of money."

If anything, the limited amount of exposures will teach him to take his time and make every shot count. There is a difference between spray and pray, and what most people do with a dSLR. People now are putting 10-20k actuations on their equipment in a year, and only 10% of those actuations produced imagery that the photographer kept or turned out decent. The rest are just wasted actuations.

After calculating the cost of my equipment, printing costs, and equipment maintenance and replacement, I have determined that it costs me approximately $0.07 every single time I click the shutter on my D5k. That body is not going to last forever, so I need to make sure that each $0.07 shot that I take is worth the money. If its not, I might as well walk around town throwing 7 cents in the street every few minutes. If I took 150 photos with a 10% result, I just threw $10.00 out the window during my session.

After I got into shooting film, I have found myself returning with only 30 or so images, but they are all keepers.

Film is a GREAT tool to learn photography on. In fact, I encourage it.