why film photography?

[thomas30]

Hi, there. Changing is the nature. In my View, within few years there will be no name of film photography. Although film photography has some advantages. But, when we compare it with digital photography then we find digital photography is better than it.

Advantages of Digital photography:

1.Digital camera is equipped with memory card which can store more than 2TB information
2.It facilitates us to transfer our photos on computer and use the same memory from scratch
3.Digital camera helps you to edit your picture as you want.
4.Digital Photography is very cheap in comparison to film photography etc.

edit
OK...

Strike 3 & 4 from the list, to start. Film can be edited too, and I would not say that it costs more. Digital bodies are much more expensive than their 35mm counterparts, and they don't last as long either - so it will need replaced sooner. When you factor in the cost of memory cards, external drives for storage/back-up, etc - the digital costs start adding up.

#1 & 2 - Getting film onto the computer is not hard to do, if you wish to do so. And being able to take thousands of pictures in one day is not an advantage to me.


Personal opinion, of course.

One of the most cited reasons why 'digital is better' is that you can mindlessly snap away, filling multiple memory cards in one outing. Hopefully it's not just me, but that doesn't seem like something to strive for.

buddy thanks for enhancing my post. really appreciate your opinion.

 

[iinanking]

Digital has come a long way in quality, but there are certain effects digital cannot replace without it looking like a standard photo editor filter. FStoppers recently posted a documentary on Sally Mann's work.

Her process, and the texture/dreamy feel it gives her work really can't be replaced by digital. She even at one point outright says that it's the mistakes she makes in her process that makes the photo so great at times. Great documentary. You should check it out.

http://fstoppers.com/art-or-pornography-the-life-and-work-of-sally-mann

 

[Professional]

Well, at the end all what i found out is that whether digital or film if i can't use any to what it should be and enjoy it then none will do the job and none is the right tool for me, i started film last year to see if it has something different than digital, well, it has, but also digital has something different that film can't do as well, we have to accept the fact that photography started by people who noticed the light and then later invented the film to keep what they saw and then digital came after as revolution, who knows how will digital be after 10 years from now, before 10 years digital was not that all important as now, and i used film since last year and i feel it didn't make me any different than shooting with digital, and that issue of film will slow me done is not true, let's say it is not a matter for me because i was slowed down with digital even before i start film shooting.

the end of story is, digital will keep developing and move on, film is dying slowly unless the manufacturers not the photographers deciding to keep invention of film, imagine if all film manufacturers decided suddenly to stop producing film then what are you photographers can do? I just hope they don't stop producing film so i can keep shooting film since last year, otherwise i will feel regret i started film so late when i will end up to not using it due to discontinuity.

 

[michaelphotobro]

lately I've been missing film. I started out in film and cried when digital started picking up momentum. recently I rented a Nikon FM2, put some Fuji pro slide film in and started shooting. What I noticed most was that I immediately slowed down. I was careful and focused on every shoot. I was thinking! I spent more time composing and looking at the subject than I ever did with my DSLR. I plan to cross process the chrome scan and tweak in Light Room. I had so much fun shooting that I plan to purchase a film camera in coming months. I hope that film is not discontinued.

 

[1holegrouper]

I think saying film will disappear as a medium is like saying painting will disappear in lieu of graphic art

 

[sandersjessica]

My uncle loves taking photographs and he tries to bring the same out of his two sons. First he gave them digital camera. He said that because in a digital camera, you don’t waste rolls so he gave them digital. Then he gave them film camera and lomography camera. Since then I haven’t seen the teenagers using digital camera even once. I guess there is something to film camera.

 

[SunnyHours]

IMO taking photos using digital camera is simple and you can see the efect right away (passing over the minimal cost of it). While using analog camera requires some knowledge and experience

The skill set required is somewhat the same whether you shoot in digital or film. An image is properly composed, properly lit, properly exposed, etc in the same manner no matter what. As far as shooting is concerned a good digital photographer can be as good shooting film and vice versa.

The only thing that really changes is the PP. In one case it is done on a computer and, in the other, in a darkroom.

Ultimately, neither is better, it is mostly a question of preference. There is good and bad on both sides.

In a way it is the same debate as the vinyl vs CD one. Some people prefer one and some prefer the other. And then there's people like me who enjoy CDs because all of a sudden I can hear things that never came thru on the vinyl but I also enjoy the warmth of the sound on vinyl.

I want to add that, I recently started shooting film...very recently and even if I haven't seen the results yet, I think it's an important part of photography and I believe it'll make me a better photographer. I pay much more attention to my settings, I choose more carefully my subjects and I usually take composition more into account with film than I would in Digital...

With Digital I tend to shoot first and ask questions later...which I don't think is the right way to do things...I'm almost thinking of going film only because of that...

 

[Gromit801]

A lot of good points. Here's mine.

1. I have dents in my old SRT-201 (still works fine) that would have destroyed a digital camera.
2. If the battery in any of my three film bodies dies, I can still shoot photos.
3. If my computer crashes, hard drives crash.... I have my film or prints right there to look at. Priced out a data retrieval for a crashed drive?
4. If my electricity goes out, I can still examine my prints (face it, most digital users do not make prints).
5. Film, is an art form.

 

[wwwphil]

Just about sums it up.

 

[doro]

First of all, film photography limits you to 36 frames (in some cases in fewer), which forces you to think twice before pushing the shutter button. When taking photos with film cameras, everyone is starting to do what they most often forget, when they are shooting digital: to look at the frame and try to figure out what is the best way to photograph it.

When I take photos with my dslr, sometimes I take 10 or even 20 photos of the same object. I don't think which perspective and which settings are the best. I just use all the settings, having in mind that 20 pictures is better than one. This is absolutely wrong and film photography reminds me every time of it.

Second, as some have mentioned it above me, film photography gives a slightly different nuance to the colors. It makes everything somehow dreamy and I like the effect a lot.

 

[Arpeggio9]

Number one reason I like shooting film is the end result I get with it. To me, film photographs just look very pleasing and organic and it's well worth the effort and price involved with developing and buying film. In addition to that, I just enjoy the process of shooting which naturally tends to put me in a creative zone that I really like. I also like the fact that most of the time I really don't feel the need to change the photos in any way except to fix some of the scanner or camera dust blemishes that show up after scanning, and it's mostly a 3 minute deal for each photo. I have 70-200 zoom lens, 50 mm one, 84' Yashica fx3 super 2000 body, and I just feel content and at ease with what I have camera equipment wise. I wanna get the film scanner and learn how to develop my film, but till then, I just take the roll to a local photo lab and I'm all set.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

What makes film photography irreplaceable by digital one? Why so many people admit that digital photos are not that good?

In my opinion, digital tools have taken all of the 'art' out of photography. Its no longer about craftsmanship, patience, surprise, skill, talent, and magic. Its about the new hazy filter, or vintage preset from the popular Photoshop Action design company. You no longer have to think about it, because your camera and computer do so much thinking for you. All you have to do is look at a screen and click... click.... click... click. Add a Photoshop action here, or a Lightroom preset there, and just like that, your image looks just like the photo from the next guy.

But when I set up my manual camera, and meter the light, and take the shot, and develop my film, and enlarge my print, and go through all the steps of chemistry - that photo is mine. There isn't a single photoshop action that will allow you to produce that exact same image. You might get close - you might produce something better, or worse - but that image was made with my hands, and its mine.

I don't necessarily think that one genre is better than the other, but they are certainly different. It doesn't matter how fast the data transfer rate is on your memory card, or how many ways you can change an image with an action or preset, nothing will ever replace the feeling you get when you put the paper in the developer and watch that image appear. Its magic.

 

[TMuhammad]

Personally, I don't like how digital users can take a picture and photoshop it to perfection. Magazines TOTALLY overuse it. But I get it, you want to produce the very best photo possible. But wouldn't it be easier to just take a good photo(which is the entire point of practicing photography). And besides, that shutter click and hand-wind sound like heaven to me.

 

[orlovphoto]

film is real - digital is 01010010111101010101010111010110100101101001101010010101010000011110101010101010 bull****

 

[Crollo]

Come on guys, can we seriously just post film pros instead of only posting digital cons? Jesus.
If all you're going to do is post digital cons you're going to have to post film cons too, otherwise you're just being biased and idiotic.