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Do you long for the film camera days, would you go back to film?
- Thread starter Frankie J
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Craig Gillette
Forum Pro
Even the best days of relatively inexpensive, fast and competent, quality developing infrastructure, isn't enough to draw me in. Even if matching needles was kind of fun, little windows in the finder to see aperture, the thrill of opening a box or envelope to see the results. Naw, I'm happier now.
CameraCarl
Veteran Member
No and no.
Howard V
Veteran Member
I wouldn’t go back to film. Last time in around 2008 it cost me $1 per frame to buy film, and have it processed by mail and shipped back. It took almost a week. Yes, I really liked that Minolta X700 camera with Minolta Rokkor 50/1.8, but not enough to stay with film. From 10 MP upward, my digital cameras outperformed film.
Frankie J, if you like dials, clicked aperture rings and retro build style, check out Fujifilm's X-T series - especially the X-T4. It embodies a lot of what people like about film cameras. You could even turn the LCD inward and resist the urge to review your images until getting home and waiting a few days. ;-)
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Don't miss it a bit. Film processing was expensive, good gear was very expensive and limited. The better modern cameras have plenty of dials and buttons that let you control exactly what you want to control. Clicky dials feel nice, sure, but I can easily do without them. I have no nostalgia whatsoever for film cameras.
georgehakim
Senior Member
Even though I had my own nice dark room and enjoyed the process, there is no going back. Also no going back to the limitations of taking pictures using film. I enjoy the no limit on how many pictures I can take, the ability to use wide range of ISO, etc. I also enjoy the developing possibilities with software like Photoshop than what I had in the darkroom. However, I still have friends who for some reason miss the film days.
Most of my photos are of birds. You will need to look high and low to find a photograher that woud like to go back shooting film.
To wit, because I am lazy I shoot on single so I mostly take 20 to 100 or so photos a day , around 4-5 times a week. This is a VERY low count for a birder. Work out the cost per year shooting on film.
(however many of those film cameras were a lot of fun to play with ..)
To wit, because I am lazy I shoot on single so I mostly take 20 to 100 or so photos a day , around 4-5 times a week. This is a VERY low count for a birder. Work out the cost per year shooting on film.
(however many of those film cameras were a lot of fun to play with ..)
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atom14
Veteran Member
In the "early" digital days I would scoff at the higher resolution/detail you could get from film. - But not Annie Moore!
atom14.
KENTGA
Veteran Member
NO!!!!!!
Plankowner110
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Exactly, Boris22! When I was young in the 1960s and 70s I shot a LOT of Kodak Tri-X with my Minolta SRT-101 and my Nikon F and did all the processing and printing myself. Being much older now, I haven't the stamina nor patience for hours in the darkroom. Heck, I don't even like messing with computer processing!
felix from the suburbs
Senior Member
I have been digital only since 2006 when I bought my first DSLR (Sony Alpha 100} The only thing I miss about film is fussing around in my home darkroom. I enjoyed the whole process and still have my enlarger, contact printer, trays, tongs and everything else stored in boxes in our basement. Can't bring myself to get rid of any of it - so my heirs will have to do it when I relocate to that darkroom in the great beyond.
G
GMann1
Guest
We still have film, and we still have labs. But the majority of film shooters have their own labs.
yardcoyote
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I'd go back to film in a second, assuming the budget and the infrastructure. Not only would I revive my SLRs, but I would get that TLR I always wanted too.
I don't think I would replace my digital cameras, though-- I would practice both kinds of photography side by side.
I don't think I would replace my digital cameras, though-- I would practice both kinds of photography side by side.
I would not go back but I may use both perhaps one day ie digital and film.
A few weeks ago I went to the exhibition in Birmingham THE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW 2024. I was actually horrified at many of the prints in terms of quality. Certainly some of mine were better print quality because many were too sharp crinkle digital looking.
I found a fantastic portrait print that stood out a mile for print quality. It was lovely.
I left it and carried on looking around the exhibition. I must have saw near a thousand prints perhaps well certainly more than a few hundred. I decided to find the portrait shot again and tell the guy at the stall there that his print was the best quality print in the whole of the show. It took an age to find it again.
"that print is the best quality print in the whole of the show " I said to him.
" that was taken on film" was his reply.
Regards
A few weeks ago I went to the exhibition in Birmingham THE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW 2024. I was actually horrified at many of the prints in terms of quality. Certainly some of mine were better print quality because many were too sharp crinkle digital looking.
I found a fantastic portrait print that stood out a mile for print quality. It was lovely.
I left it and carried on looking around the exhibition. I must have saw near a thousand prints perhaps well certainly more than a few hundred. I decided to find the portrait shot again and tell the guy at the stall there that his print was the best quality print in the whole of the show. It took an age to find it again.
"that print is the best quality print in the whole of the show " I said to him.
" that was taken on film" was his reply.
Regards
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