Digital or Film...

[taabru45]

There are a lot of sweet deals on non digital cameras around...In the thrift store I saw a Nikon with a couple of nice lenses camera bag etc. manual focus and a smaller body than the usual older 35s....$89.....even the lens would have been a lot more a few years ago...
I just got a Pentax m30 with autofocus and 55-80 lens, which would also work on Pentax digital....$45....
...and a Pentax older semi pro film camera with auto focus lens 18-55 and 55-200mm lenses....$150...and the lenses work flawlessly with the lighter and smaller M30....and will work with Pentax digital SLRs too...
One day I expect to pick up a K10d or something close to it for a couple of hundred dollars, and I'll have a couple of nice lens ready to go....
How many of you guys still use film.....or is it really in the ....antiquities file.....buy the way...film is around $4 roll and processing and prints run 35 cents each....I know digital is easy with the large cards available...but are we becoming lazy because of ease? i.e. I have a pretty good digital camera but I still have fond memories with film....and scout out a better shot with film cause it is a bit more costly...Steffan

 

[GAD]

I used to shoot a lot of film.

In 1998 I bought a Kodak DC120 digital camera to "see what it's all about". It was not ready for prime time.

Today I shoot a Canon full frame 1Ds Mark II.

I'll never go back. Unless the zombies come and we lose power forever. Then I'll pull my minolta from the closet.

 

[killdeer43]

I have 6 Nikon (film) bodies w/ multiple accessories for those particular cameras, plus over 20,000 slides from more than 40 years of shooting. I was probably the last of the holdouts to cross the line to digital. I was known as Mr. Analog because I was still doing slide presentations while everyone else was doing Power Point.

Since I made the switch, I've shot thousands of exposures and paid ZERO dollars for film and/or processing. I'm doing Power Point now and I'm flat out loving it. It's just so much easier to work with and organize photos and the storage capabilities are amazing.
Believe me, I could go on.....

Looking back, I was reluctant to give up my vinyl, my 7 1/2" reel-to-reel Sony, bad-mouthing cassettes, and then CDs came along and I had to do it all over again...... :shock:

The times they are a-changing. Embrace the technology.

I won't use film again, but that's just me and my dos centavos. 8)

Joe

 

[GardMan]

When I got into digital in late 2003, I sold my 3 Pentax 35 mm bodies (MX, SuperProgram, and ME super), 2 autowinders, and 7-8 lenses (spanning the range from 28 to 500 mm f.l.) for <$500. Sure wish I had all those lenses back! I haven't jumped into DSLR yet, but am contemplating one of the "mirrorless" systems from Olympus or Panasonic before our trip to the ranch this year...

 

[hideglue]

I shoot digital, but that's only for convenience & application. DSLR, like 35mm, to me anyway, is great for some things and not others.
DSLR is as good as yesteryears film for typical action, sports, birding, family & fun shots. Plus the control you have in digital post-work over the whim of a film lab's developing process.

But for landscape, large gallery work and such, it's film. And it has nothing to do with the medium, but everything to do with format. Large format.
As far as I know there is no 4X5 digital.

And yeah, this topic could easily go on...

 

[killdeer43]

The digital evolution/revolution is great in so many respects;
but I have to add that the downside to digital and the ease of operation is that folks aren't learning about basic photography anymore.
They just shoot without any understanding of shutter speed, aperture, exposure time, focal length, etc., etc.
And forget about darkroom experience.

And that's really too bad. Personally, I like to know how things work. :wink:

I'm just sayin',
Joe

 

[silverfox103]

Steffan, don't do it! Could I interest you in a 8 track player?

I had 6 professional NIkon Cameras, I couldn't give them away. I ended up lumping them all together and selling them on ebay for $100 and I was happy. I offered them to my local school, which has a photography class. They didn't want them.

Believe me, there is a reason they're in the thrift shop.

Tom

 

[taabru45]

I pretty much bought the Pentax auto for the lens which can be used on Digital pentax Slrs.......guess I'll be doing some cl cleaning.....Steffan

 

[killdeer43]

Believe me, there is a reason they're in the thrift shop.
Tom

Tom, you have a way with words and a keen eye for the obvious! :wink:
What you said is truly the old bottom line.

Joe

 

[hideglue]

The digital evolution/revolution is great in so many respects;
but I have to add that the downside to digital and the ease of operation is that folks aren't learning about basic photography anymore.
They just shoot without any understanding of shutter speed, aperture, exposure time, focal length, etc., etc.
And forget about darkroom experience.

And that's really too bad. Personally, I like to know how things work. :wink:

I agree to a point. But mostly disagree. What better feedback to "Why do my photos look like dung?" than the instant playback of digital?
Yeah, looking at the screen after every shot can be a distraction from actually taking pictures, but rather than jotting meticulous notes and waiting for the roll's prints to return, an interested student can adjust & learn much quicker & practically on-the-fly.

Besides I've seen photos from some who know all about photography's numerics, but have little to actually show in their work.

 

[dapmdave]

I thought that it was getting a bit difficult to buy film. Not so??

Dave

 

[killdeer43]

I thought that it was getting a bit difficult to buy film. Not so??

Dave

Beats me, I haven't bought any in 3 years.
I have some leftovers....somewhere! :wink:

Joe

 

[hideglue]

I thought that it was getting a bit difficult to buy film. Not so??

Dave

Not so.

 

[silverfox103]

Believe me, there is a reason they're in the thrift shop.
Tom

Tom, you have a way with words and a keen eye for the obvious! :wink:
What you said is truly the old bottom line.

Joe

That's partially true, I can see it when it's someone else; but when it's my turn, I am capable of doing some dumb stuff and be clueless!

Tom C.

 

[kevin the bass man]

I used to use polaroid cameras alot. instant prints were awesome (and cheap until digital cameras became mainstream). had a semi-primitive digital camera back in 2004 or 2005 that had one of the early memory cards- held roughly 27-35 pictures, just like a 35 mm. the camera had a mini video display to help you take pics, but what showed up in the window wasnt what came out when you took the pic. still had to use the little viewfinder window to take a pic. it was more of a novelty than anything else since you had to still bring a film camera with you if you wanted more than ~30 pics. then they stopped making polaroid film and digital cameras came way down in price. so I succumbed (was forced) to get a digital camera. still have a pack of polaroid film somewhere. its all discolored and sepia toned. great for making those 70's-esque photos.

 

[Ian]

Yep it's digital stuff here for photo's of the kids and stuff like that. Sold my Nikon's ages back, only SLR I kept was my 1936 Leica 3b, but that's only cos it's a nice thing to have and doesnt take up much space. Vinyl vs Cd is nother whole thing, catch is that vinyl sounds way better....

Cheers, Ian

 

[taabru45]

Those damn cds mess up my needle, and I still can't get the songs playing....plus they are hard to center with those larger holes..... :? Steffan

 

[killdeer43]

Those damn cds mess up my needle, and I still can't get the songs playing....plus they are hard to center with those larger holes..... :? Steffan

You obviously need to pick up the turntable-adaptor kit, if you can still find a turntable, that is! :lol:

Joe

 

[fronobulax]

And that's really too bad. Personally, I like to know how things work. :wink:

I'm just sayin',
Joe

I have a friend who served as a United States Naval Officer. One of his "quirks" was that he insisted on knowing how to do things "the old ways". He knew, for example, how the analog range finder worked and was probably the only person on his ship who would even have a chance at aiming and firing the main battery if the radar and digital system failed. He also could use a sextant and plot navigation courses using nothing but the sextant, maps and "drawing tools". However he freely admitted that all the knowledge was useless unless one of the science fiction plots (see this, for example) that postulate a technology roll back to the mid-1600's or earlier actually occurred in his universe and lifetime.

That said, I do think for some people and applications, knowing how things work is overrated and does not necessarily provide an advantage. I do not know how a manual transmission works, for example, but the absence of the knowledge doesn't effect my ability to drive effectively with one.

Back to photography, there are definitely a whole lot of people who will never care what is happening so long as what they see in the viewfinder (or equivalent) is what is captured to the camera's memory. Their sense of composition does not need to understand about shutter speeds, f-stops, depth of field and so on.

 

[fronobulax]

Those damn cds mess up my needle, and I still can't get the songs playing....plus they are hard to center with those larger holes..... :? Steffan

You obviously need to pick up the turntable-adaptor kit, if you can still find a turntable, that is! :lol:

Joe

Here you go, although they will probably not be useful if none of your amplification chain is digital.