OT: Does anyone still use film?

bioyuki · Oct 23, 2002

I saw more high end digital cameras today then I have in a while.

At a photoshoot for the school a guy was using a D100 with a D1X as a backup. At my water polo game the newspaper guys were using D1Xs and D1Hs and a yearbook guy had a D100. Some other random photographer was using a 1D. I stopped by the Pond where people were watching the Angels game and I saw another photojournalist type using a 1D. After seeing all these cameras it makes me wonder, does anyone really use film anymore?

All the studios I've been too use digital as well as all the photojournalists and sports photographers.

Tommy Martin · Oct 23, 2002

I shot a wedding last weekend with film.

I don't expect to use it again for a while though.

--
Tommy

Jwpynn10 · Oct 23, 2002

I still use my F90X ...film is still better for printing ..especially I can use ISO 25 for Full Portrait enlargement...

--
Cheers,
jwpynn
--------------------------------------------
http://www.pbase.com/jwpynn

Ben Herrmann · Oct 23, 2002

I still shoot Fuji Provia and other higher end films with my Nikon F5 and F100. Coupled with Charles Campbell's chromazone method of metering [using the spot meter and assigning exposure values to different colors], the resultant shots are awesome, exceptionally saturated, and worthy of national geographic entries. Digital is obviously here and now, and will eventually take up the future, but slides will be around for quite awhile. Check out the Chromazone website at:

http://www.photonaturalist.com/index.asp

Once you master this system, you will find it difficult to give up this method of metering, along with the phenomenal images you are capable of. I know...I got into this over a year ago and never looked back.

Ben Herrmann

Pete Biro · Oct 23, 2002

Film? What's that?

Dasher · Oct 23, 2002

I use a Nikon N80 -- shot thousands of shots so far this year. Don't own a digital yet. Soon though.

Roddynal · Oct 23, 2002

Pros are certainly embracing digital in a big way. I was at the local camera store a few weeks ago where a pro was trying to unload his Hasselbalds so that he could go digital. He had a hard time convincing the store to buy his stuff.

I'm still shooting film, but I guess that figures since I'm not a pro.

--
Richard D.
http://members.aol.com/richdong

Leif Olstrup · Oct 23, 2002

I think film will still be the choise, when you don't have dayly access to an AC socket in the wall. A while ago someone on this forum was asksing what to do to keep power on his D100 on his next six week trip into the Amazonas jungle. The answer of course was, that he should not bring the D100 but a mechanical camera and film on the trip. They still use film at National Geographic.

Harald Schillhammer · Oct 24, 2002

That's one of the reasons (electricity) why I still use my FM2 on my expeditions to the tropics.

Another issue: Some 10 years ago I took an unvoluntary swim in a peat-swamp forest stream. Fortunately, the local people couldn't understand the curses that left my mouth. Don't want to imagine if this happened with my D1X in my bag (although it claims to be water-proof to a certain extent).

Someone once told me that you can drink coffee out of the FM2, then let it dry and continue photographing (no more metering of course).
--
Harry

D1X
Nikon 50/1.8
Sigma 17-35/2.8-3.5
Sigma 70-200/2.8 EX APO HSM
Highland Park (24 years old)

XG1 · Oct 24, 2002

I'm still using film. Mostly because of prices though. I tried a G1. The end result was fine after post processing. The problem was the handling. Slow AF and such. My grandkids were gone by the time I got it focused! Also I miss the selection of lenses available with an slr. I use an N65; have the negatives developed at WalMart ($1.76) and scan. Since I'm retired and have the time it's no problem for me.

--
N65; Nikkor 50:1.4 afd; Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G AF-S
HP S-20 Scanner; G1; SLIK U9000 Tri

XG1
http://www.pbase.com/image/5519292

Penni B · Oct 24, 2002

I still use a lot of film - wedding and portraits in medium format, and some 35mm. I'm still on the learning curve for digital and my results with film are quicker and easier to deliver to clients.

I just shot a set of portraits on digital and find I'm spending a lot of extra time getting workflow, color space, white balance, and especially the printing sorted out. Hopefully this will get easier as time goes on.

Herman Roote · Oct 24, 2002

I haven't used film for a year, my F100 is still sitting in the window where I do my shopping, can't seem to sell it, people look at it and play with it, been sitting there for over 3 months.

The only guys I know that are stuck with film, are ready to retire, stuck in the old ways, scared to make the big move to DLSRs, I know a guy that shoots all nature stuff, birds etc, for Outdoor Sports Magazine, he will not, or tells me he's not ready for the move, he scans all his negs.

my $0.02
--
Hermy

joao salvador · Oct 24, 2002

The large number of shots I make in my D100 is helping me to get years of shooting experience in just a few months.

Now, the game of aperture/shutter speed/metering is becoming more and more instictive and because of the instant review I can correct mistakes and learn immediately what I was doing wrong, instead of waiting a few hours or days for the results.

As a result I am getting my best ever film pictures from my FM3A and Minolta Dynax 7. These two cameras will remain in inventory for a long time to come - in fact, I think each one is the greatest tech achievement in its own type - Nikon FM3A in manual SLR and Minolta in autofocus.

Inversely, as good as it is, my D100 will be obsolete in one year or so and I will no doubt upgrade it while it still keeps a good second hand value, because IMHO digital (at this level) still has a long way to go to catch up with good film photography.

João Salvador

Alan Scholl · Oct 24, 2002

Hi,

I still use my N80 along with my D100. Whenever I go out hunting shots I ususally load up my N80 with Ektachrome. On a model shoot, I use Kodak T400CN (Monochromatic) along with the D100. For trips, I use my pocket Olympus Stylus80, less cumbersome and I worry less about theft.

Alan
--
Nikon D100 & N80
Nikkor 16fisheye 18-35ED 28-80/3.5G 50/1.8D 60micro 70-300G
Nikon SB-27 SB-80DX
Olympus C-2500L Stylus80
http://www.digitalphoto.ag

Jamie W · Oct 24, 2002

--
Jamie W.
Canon D60
Film? What do you mean, film?

Don Roedner · Oct 24, 2002

I was in one of the bigger pro photography supply places in Boston a few weeks back. The sales guy I was chatting with said they hadn't sold an F5 there in over a year. They still get the odd F100 sale - maybe a couple each quarter - but nothing like years previous. Nearly everyone, he suggested, has moved onto DSLRs.

As for me, I haven't made the move to DSLR yet. I have the Coolpix 990, and generally take it in the camera bag. I like digital for all convenience, flexibility and cost-related reasons cited in this forum. But for my taste, the DSLR platform is still too limited relative to the long-established film SLR, and I don't shoot enough (2 - 3 rolls/week) to make the pure economics of switching compelling right now.

donr

Kathy_in_MD · Oct 24, 2002

Interesting question.

I have a 880, 5700, d1x and now the d100. Of course, I have Nikon film bodies (N90 and a N70).

I am having a ball with the digital stuff - it is like learning the darkroom techniques all over again - without the rotten eggs (if you nose what I means). The digital era has invigorated my photography.

However, I have yet to see a digital shot that is as crisp and contrasty as can be produced by my simple T4 with Kodak Gold.

I still use film for those "special" events and subjects. I don't think that digital has taken over the world yet - one day, but not yet. I know a bunch of shooters that still use just film - including the folks at NG. But, a lot of those same shooters are "playing" with the digital stuff.

f8 and be there
-=Kathy=-

michaeladawson · Oct 24, 2002

No, nobody. I haven't been able to find film in any stores for over a year now ;-)

Seriously... Film is not dead. The examples you cite are businesses where digital has distinct advantages. Their are many other users of film cameras to keep the industry rolling for quite some time. Anyone who can't operate a VCR (and that's a long standing joke) is not going to be able to figure out a digital camera.

Those of us in the digital world have a skewed perspective of the advantages and ease of use of digital. However, I would also agree that film use will be at a low level a few decades from now. Eventually, it will be relegated to use by artists and hobbyists. But I think that is still a ways off.

Mike

Baywing · Oct 24, 2002

I still use quite a bit of film, 35mm, 645, 4x5 and 8x10. I am shooting more digital in addition to, not instead of, film. Most all the pros I run into are still shooting 35mm film, these are magazine shooters who shoot slides and then scan them. The DSLR's don't quite meet their needs yet. Most of the higher end magazines still want film also. No, film is long from dead for pro use, but the average family guy is digital. Ask a young-type which way is clockwise and you'll see a confused look. In a few years, ask the average youngster what film is and they'll probably say it's what's on your teeth in the morning.

art van deleigh · Oct 24, 2002

i do! i actually went the other way. i had a g1 when i first got interested in photography. but i quickly grew tired of having to adjust colors and levels. especially after returning from trips with couple hundred pics. i got rid of the g1 and got a olympus 2100 which i still use for snapshots and playing around. but i got a nikon film slr and shoot slide film for the important scenerys and wildlife and such. the response is terrific and i'd rather browse my slides on a viewer and have the really good ones professionally printed than work on them myself on the pc. i work all day on a computer so the last thing i want is to spend hours working on pics at home. but mainly i prefer the look of detailed landscapes on good slide film rather than digital. i cant explain why technically, i just do. besides, the cost of a dslr is way prohibitive right now. this is just one of my hobbies after all. i know many people who shun computers that still shoot film. i'm talking regular folks now. i dont know any professionals. we who only shoot a couple rolls of film a month or only on special occasions cant really justify dropping a couple grand on a dslr.

OT: Does anyone still use film?

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