Film need NOT be dead - it's up to you!

[Thunderhawk]

TMouse?.....

[james23p]

Well I use both and enjoy both. When I want to slow down and just take a few shots I take one of my MF Nikon's most of the time I use my FE2 or FM3a and occasionally I use my 25 year old EM. I enjoy the look of slide film back light on a light box or projected. Sometimes I like to slow down and really enjoy the pace of film vs the on demand society we live in that created digital. For those who remember there were Fotomat's with then an amazing 1 day turnaround, then it was dealt a death blow by 1 hour processing and the little Fotomat booths slowly died off. I sometimes miss the slower pace and driving up to buy my film never leaving the car, but I too have embraced new technology.

When I am doing my parties and weddings that I do a few of each year I use my D80 with my D50 as a backup. Financially and for a piece of mind digital is for me the way to go in this world of photography. Now I did have one wedding where the client wanted nothing but BW and insisted on using film so I obliged I have to say I was on edge until the prints came back a few days later.

As far as keeping film up I just bought 15 rolls of Kodak EliteChrome 100 and 15 rolls of Kodak gold 100 as they were on sale and good date of 11/2008. I also have several rolls of Kodachrome64, Fujichrome Astia 100 and Velvia 50 in the fridge and will add some Ilford BW this week when B&H reopens.

Remembering the place called Fotomat! I think they have some online software under the name of Fotomat but without the little buiding and the girl behind the window its not the same. Butler NJ had the little building in the old A&P shopping center for years next to the Blimpie shop I have not been home in years I wonder if they have torn it down it was still there in the 90's.

Jim

[heartseye]

Originally Posted by Thunderhawk

TMouse?.....

OOPS! THawk, that should have been.....got so wrapped up in the mouse thing that I had a senior moment.....Bob

[jimiw]

I know that I cant save film but Im gonna do all I can to help. To me the artistry in photography is lost in digital. I mean my 12 year old grandson can take and produce great images from a lousy shot from a digital point and shoot. All he does is go into PSP and he can fix most anything and that makes me feel like you dont have to be a good photographer just good at photo editing. I have a Kodak point and shoot and if I take a bad shot I just think thats ok my grandson can fix it and he does but with film I feel you have to learn the basics and expand from there to get great shots and not rely on a computer program to make your shot great. Im 56 years old and Im going back to school to learn all about photo editing, Its not that I want to its because I feel that digital is the future and I want to stay in to photography even though I feel digital isnt any where close to what you had to be when you shot film. Just my opinion. Jimi

[blumesan]

Jimi, I shot only film for 65 years before just recently adding digital to my arsenal. No disrespect to your grandson, but a lousy shot is a lousy shot whether taken on film or digital. There is a limit to the amount of post processing repair work that can be done, and it can be done with either scanned film or digital image straight from the camera. As for learning the basics, it is really essential in order to get good results from either medium.

[photojazz54]

Wow, Jim you bring back memories of those good days. I have inherited almost 300 rolls (120mm, 35mm B&W, Color, Slide) due to the US Army closing our local MWR photolab...Thanks Army...

[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by jimiw

I know that I cant save film but Im gonna do all I can to help. To me the artistry in photography is lost in digital.

Jimi, I tend to agree with your sentiments myself. I don't think I can ever get the detail from a 35mm film that I get from say a Canon 5D, but I do miss the magic of film. It's not the same thing loading up another gigabyte or several of images via the CF reader. I do try and work in a 'film' manner with digital (i.e. - make every shot count) but it's so easy to just click away knowing that there'll be a pretty good chance of a keeper. It's almost like the old adage of give a monkey a typewriter and infinite time and they'll write Hamlet - ok not quite the same, but you get my drift .

[jimiw]

Please dont misunderstand me I do believe that digital does have its place but I also feel it takes alot away from learning the basics as so many wont bother to learn them because they dont have to. As long as they can fix their images in a photo editor. Ive read else where on this site that now because of digital almost anybody can or at least think they can be a photographer, just point and shoot. To me photography is an art and to be good you must learn the basics and expand from there. Thanks All, Jimi

[Thunderhawk]

Originally Posted by heartseye

OOPS! THawk, that should have been.....got so wrapped up in the mouse thing that I had a senior moment.....Bob

Don`t sweat it, I have senior moments every day (I will be 51 in jan o8

Kinda cool to see the looks on the 4 wheelers faces when I do tho

I`m with you all the way in this jimi !

[jimiw]

Thanks Thunderhawk Jimi

[Bloo Dog]

Film could experience a resurgence if the manufacturers could eliminate the trip to the lab and make instant color transparency film. That development and less expensive high-quality film scanners would do the trick for me.

[heartseye]

Bloo....there was an instant slide film made by Polaroid.....results were poorish, but given what you could DO with it, it enjoyed some success.....Bob

[Bloo Dog]

I think that it's still made, but its application isn't for mainstream use, IMO. Results are generally poor, but I agree that some interesting effects often result from the process.

I enjoy making 4x5 Polaroid transfers, but at over sixty bucks per box (new) and the unpredictability of buying an outdated case of of the stuff is enough to turn me off. I used to shoot a lot of Polaroid fifteen years ago, but those days are gone as are most of my commercial jobs, so the cost of polaroid is prohibitive.

I think that those who actually print their digital images can see how film can fill the voids that exist in digital.

[me2]

This is a very interesting discussion.

For me film is dead. I'm declaring it dead for me right now, forever, because about once a month I get the romantic idea that I should just go back to shooting film. And its time I got that silly notion out of my head.

I have a Canon film EOS Elan sitting right here. I needed a pocketable P&S to go with an SLR when I just can't carry an SLR. I was thinking of buying a Pentax 90WR locally for $25.

I bought a 40D body for less than $1000. Its on its way to me as I write this.

Locally it would cost me 25 cents a shot for 35mm film, processing and scanning onto a CDROM. And none of these are really high end services, just run of the mill.

It will take 4000 shots for the 40D to pay for itself in film costs alone. I'll shoot that in a year, meaning it will pay for itself in a year. Pretty hard to argue with the economics.

Then there are the other reasons - getting an instant view of the shot, having adjustable ISO, higher fps without a winder, better AF, faster image turn around, better white balance, better post processing, etc. and digital is a no brainer.

One of the reasons I am writing this is to remind myself of all this. I wanted really good IQ in a compact camera. I bought a G9 instead of the 90WR. I am quite sure the 35mm images from the 90WR would give the G9 a run for the money, but when you factor in everything else, the G9 wins, even if it is $350 more out the gate.

Money aside, I know that digital cameras have made photography easy. I bought my first SLR 20 years ago - a Pentax ME Super. Its way, way easier to "get the shot" with the modern cameras, but that doesn't mean it takes less talent to get the great shots. Great shots are still about composition, light, post processing, etc. That hasn't changed at all. As a matter of fact, don't look now, but I think the level of what we though was a good photograph has gone up. It may be harder now to get a great shot than it ever was. Yes I know about Ansel Adams !

One thing about digital shooting is that its much better for the environment. 4000 shots/ 36 per roll is 111 rolls of film that aren't going to go into the landfill someday. Not to mention 111 film canisters and cartridges or the chemicals to process the film.

Anyway... this will be the last time I debate digital versus film in my mind. For me film is dead. Anyone want to buy a good Canon EOS Elan ?

[me2]

To me the artistry in photography is lost in digital. I mean my 12 year old grandson can take and produce great images from a lousy shot from a digital point and shoot. All he does is go into PSP and he can fix most anything and that makes me feel like you dont have to be a good photographer just good at photo editing. I have a Kodak point and shoot and if I take a bad shot I just think thats ok my grandson can fix it and he does but with film I feel you have to learn the basics and expand from there to get great shots and not rely on a computer program to make your shot great. Im 56 years old and Im going back to school to learn all about photo editing, Its not that I want to its because I feel that digital is the future and I want to stay in to photography even though I feel digital isnt any where close to what you had to be when you shot film.

You can argue that this process (photography getting simpler) has been going on for at least the last 100 years. When was the last time you used a pinhole camera and flash powder ? I bet it took a lot of "artistry" to determine the right amount of flashpowered and where to position it to get a good exposure.

It is true that we have way, way more latitude to correct things now. So what was photography before we had this latitude ? There was way more emphasis on exposure, due to the primitive cameras we had. Don't believe me ? Go look at the controls on the ME Super I started with.

With the way things are now, a lot more emphasis is put on composition and color and processing, which I think is a lot more artistic than getting the exposure correct.

And one other thing... before we go talking about how much post processing can be done to save a digital shot, lets not forget the most or all of the film or film processing done for us at the film labs incorporated "efforts" to make sure the customer was happy with the end result. I am speaking of using film with wide exposure latitudes, auto exposure compensation during development, etc. So just because the 12 year old boy can fix a botched digital shot doesn't mean that someone wasn't fixing them for us before as well.

I got a bit of an eye opener when I first got my D50. With the 35mm EOS, properly exposed images with kind of a given. Sure I had some with poorly lit faces, etc, but generally they turned out pretty good exposure wise. That wasn't the case with the D50. Only after using it for a while did I get used to its exposure sensitivity and pay more attention to where I was metering and what I was doing. If you ask me, the D50 took more skill to get a great image than did the EOS.

Anyway... most of this is irrelevant. Digital imaging is here and its here to stay. I/we can wax poetic all day long about the good(bad?) ole film days, meanwhile people are snapping digital images like crazy. Its time I do the same.

[blumesan]

I am sure there were great cries of lamentation and predictions of dire consequences when the internal combustion engine replaced the horse. That's progress. In spite of that there are still many around today that derive great pleasure from riding a horse.

Like the thread title says: "It's up to you"

[Thunderhawk]

Originally Posted by blumesan

I am sure there were great cries of lamentation and predictions of dire consequences when the internal combustion engine replaced the horse. That's progress. In spite of that there are still many around today that derive great pleasure from riding a horse.

Like the thread title says: "It's up to you"

Yeah! I like horses too!
And I grill with charcoal as well!