Is film making a comeback or is digital just boring

[pixmedic]

rangefinder? roll film? pfffff. boring.
wet plate or nothing.

 

[Emegra]

"Hate? More like weariness. And then there's the bizarre sense of entitlement(and pique) that anyone could possibly disagree with your "declaration." We all like our toys--that much is settled. Let's leave it there. "

Ok "hate" wasn't a good choice of word I agree, "rage" may have been better,
I was only expressing an opinion, nowhere did I give a sense of entitlement that everyone should agree with me, you invented that, if it made you wearie you could have ignored it but clearly couldn't resist the temptation to draw attention to your all knowing all important self,
I wasn't suggesting anyone throw away their digital cameras and go back to film it's certainly not something I intend to do, I was only trying to make the point that these old film cameras can still have a place and be fun to use if that enrages you (which it clearly does) then I suggest you get help
Lets leave it there.

 

[jcdeboever]

I got into photography about 6 years ago that started with a D3300. I was having difficulty and got a mentor. He was frustrated with me and loaned me his Nikon F with no meter. I then bought a XT2 because it worked similar to a Nikon F. Today I shoot more film than digital because I like the process and can afford it. I still suck at photography but I have been having a lot of fun. Shoot with whatever you want, have fun, and don't take yourself to seriously. There is something very satisfying with all manual control as it forces you to slow down.

Film is not on a comeback, it just isn't completely dead yet. If it weren't for social media, I doubt film would be where it is at today... almost dead. As far as this thread, make some popcorn... at the end of the day, photography is the same. It doesn't matter if it's on digital or emulsion.

 

[jcdeboever]

Straight out of camera... this sucks but I was having fun. Severely expired, poorly kept film. Curly, brittle, and a pain in the ass to deal with but man that frustration is exhilarating! I don't think I could have duplicated this with digital in camera..

 

[Emegra]

Hi jc
Like you I don't consider myself particularly good at photography but I enjoy it nonetheless in all it's forms and I try to be as good as I can be , I agree film will never replace digital now it's an old technology, but I still think it has a place and it allows us to use these old cameras with all their quirks and restrictions and the point I was trying to make (not very well apparently) was in doing so could make us better photographers. I'll concede I might be wrong but even if I am they're a lot of fun to use

 

[zombiesniper]

The reason I think you're getting pushback are the whole negative attitude your post has along with these two comments.

The reason I bought it was because I want to go back to basics I don't want auto focus, aperture priority, shutter priority, evaluative metering, Ai servo, blink detection or any other fancy function, available to us on even the most basic digital cameras, I want to learn photography, I want to understand the science
This camera will help me do that and I don't believe I'm alone,

All of the things you mentioned can be turned off. Pretty simple, just don't use them.

modern digital cameras are amazing, they take all the hard work out of photography but they're boring Canon, Nikon, Sony They're all much of a muchness and they're dumbing down photography,

This is a poorly worded statement. If you actually think you can only learn more with a film camera then you're kidding yourself.
Or are you suggesting merely because I drive an older car with manual window cranks and a manual transmission I can magically learn operate windows or drive better?

Ok "hate" wasn't a good choice of word I agree, "rage" may have been better,

At no point have I seen "rage" in this thread. If you perceive it as rage that's a you problem, not ours.

 

[Emegra]

"All of the things you mentioned can be turned off. Pretty simple, just don't use them."
Ok fair point but they can easily be switched on again right ?

"This is a poorly worded statement. If you actually think you can only learn more with a film camera then you're kidding yourself.
Or are you suggesting merely because I drive an older car with manual window cranks and a manual transmission I can magically learn operate windows or drive better?"
Where did I say it's the ONLY way to learn, are you saying people who restore old vintage cars do it to be better drivers ?

"At no point have I seen "rage" in this thread. If you perceive it as rage that's a you problem, not ours."

Ok so what would you call it ? and incidentally who's the "ours" in this context is there some wee club on this forum I don't know about ? can I join ?

 

[smoke665]

I was only expressing an opinion, nowhere did I give a sense of entitlement that everyone should agree with me

It's very likely you did it unintentionally, in the excitement of your new purchase, but without so much as even taking the first shot you summarily dismissed digital users, even suggesting that they were "dumbed down" somehow, and film was superior. This is the part that riles many and whether intentional or not has that same old elitist attitude that the film vs digital debates ultimately descend into. It's not the tools that distinguish the art, it's the artist.

Your dismisal of digital in addition to other things already brought up, discounts the fact that when you convert 35mm film to pixel resolution you only get somewhere between 4-16 MP, well below even a modern APS-C sensor. What about noise vs grain? Ever compared a high ISO digital to a high ISO film. I routinely shoot at ISOs up to 12,800 and the K1MII has just shy of 1 million ISO while the new K3III is reported to have 1.6 million ISO. What about dynamic range? Even Kodak claims the dynamic range on most film is around 12 stops at most, while digital is hitting 15 stops and above. What about shake reduction? I'm hand holding at slow shutter speeds unheard of with a film camera thanks to the marvel of digital that gives me 5 axis shake reduction of up to 5 stops. I bring up these points to illustrate that generalized comparisons are never good, especially in a group of experienced people. It's fairly certain that you'll be called to task on it.

Rather than naively making generalizations that lack merit, I think you'll find that we all like to read aboout the experiences of others with new processes, equipment, etc, because like you we all want to learn. Tell us about the camera, tell us about the journey, speak on "your" experiences.

 

[zombiesniper]

Ok fair point but they can easily be switched on again right ?

Yes it can...your point? My point was people don't need to waste money to learn "the basics" or "the science" of photography. The capability to learn complete manual is already there. Additionally the settings can be turned back on when the user is ready to explore more.

Where did I say it's the ONLY way to learn, are you saying people who restore old vintage cars do it to be better drivers ?

Kind of implied it here. The car restoration is normally for the love of the car. You didn't make that distinction. You just crapped on modern cameras without any real additional context.

modern digital cameras are amazing, they take all the hard work out of photography but they're boring

Ok so what would you call it ? and incidentally who's the "ours" in this context is there some wee club on this forum I don't know about ? can I join ?

I would call it people that don't agree with you. Nothing more. Your perception may be different. If you think this is rage....you may want to get off of the internet.

The ours I spoke of was the collective internet. We are not responsible for your perception of things or to coddle to your perception of things. That's solely for you to manage.

 

[Emegra]

It's very likely you did it unintentionally, in the excitement of your new purchase, but without so much as even taking the first shot you summarily dismissed digital users, even suggesting that they were "dumbed down" somehow, and film was superior. This is the part that riles many and whether intentional or not has that same old elitist attitude that the film vs digital debates ultimately descend into. It's not the tools that distinguish the art, it's the artist.

Ok hopefully to put this to bed, I did not dismiss digital users for god sake read what I said I'm a digital user myself and have no intention of moving away from it and I never said one was superior over the other and even if I did why should it incur such venom, we're all photography enthusiasts are we not isn't film a part of that ?

If I suggested digital users were dumbed down (which I didn't intend to do ) then I have to include myself in that , I'm not an elitist I just love photography in all it's forms digital & film alike which is why I joined this forum I wasn't aware there was a war between the 2 when I put up the post and if that's what this forum is about I'll see this thread out and leave because quite frankly I've had enough of this shite

 

[Emegra]

Ok hopefully this is an end to this thread
I have only one request, can someone please tell me how I delete my account I've been through all the settings and I can't figure it out.
Maybe I'm missing the obvious I don't know but any help would be appreciated

 

[480sparky]

You can't delete it. Mods and Admin can't either. It's just the way the forum software is made.

 

[Emegra]

Ok thanks Sparky

 

[smoke665]

, I did not dismiss digital users

Such is the downside of forum discussions which is why I gave you the benefit of the doubt that the message you "implied" was unintentional.

I never said one was superior over the other and even if I did why should it incur such venom,

Again same as above, your comment strongly implied. As to venom, I think you're mistaking disagreement with venom. This is a photography forum where discussions on all things photography take place, you'll find those who agree with you, those who disagree with you and those who have strong opinions on subjects, film vs digital being one of those. Even impling one is better than the other is like waving a red flag in front of a bull, someone is going to charge you. So now you know, unless you have thick skin and are willing to debate the subject without getting your feelings hurt, it's one of those subject best avoided, because the comments here so far are mild compared to some of the heated discussions I've seen on here.

Hopefully you'll reconsider deleting your account and give us your thoughts and examples of images taken with the Kiev.

 

[Emegra]

Smoke I appreciate you used the term "unintentional" it didn't go unnoticed, then you go on and accuse me of being thin skinned, another straw man accusation,
You don't know me if you did you would never accuse me of that, my feelings are not hurt Smoke I've dealt with bigger bullies in my life than this forum has to offer .
I have no problem with people disagreeing with me, I actually quite like a healthy argument, what I don't like is being accused of saying things I didn't say do you ?,
almost every word I posted has been misconstrued and taken out of context by sad pathetic individuals with a burning need to draw attention to themselves.

I can accept I maybe didn't word my post well my mastery of the English language maybe isn't all it could be but I meant nobody any insult or disrespect and I have not once had the benefit of the doubt from anyone.

Sadly I can't reconsider deleting my account Smoke because it seems I can't delete my account so you're stuck with me

Sorry guys