Will you ever go back to shooting film?

[Stujomo]

Don't forget if you shoot Tmax 100 develop it in Xtol and scan with a decent scanner you can enjoy 20+mp of full frame quality. The new Ektar 100 is pretty good too and there is always that dreadful Fuji Velvia for good resolution when shooting color.
--
Stuart...

http://www.sjmphotography.co.nr/

http://sjmphotography.wordpress.com/

 

[ocrampix]

Just wondering if people will ever go back to shooting film?

There is nothing compared to this little workhorse here.

No faulty pixels, no Auto ISO mess, no out-of-focus pictures, no dust bunnies, no faulty memory cards ... simply perfect.
I'm working on an adapter now to use my SB-800 on that camera:

I have a lot of darkroom equipment and wonder if I should sell it or hang on to it. FishHawk

Sell or give it to a museum.

Marco
--
http://www.flickr.com/front_curtain

 

[Don89]

Here we go again...

I shoot both Digital and Film. Mostly medium format film. Scanning a medium format film gives me a 300MB file or so. Heck of a lot more detail than digital.

Use what is required/desired and don't worry. Except...

Unless you manage your digital files and convert your files to new formats and technologies you will never be able to reprint or even access your pics in the future.

Do you think jpeg and whatever raw files you have now will even exist in the future?? It will be like looking for an 8 inch floppy drive to access your data.

The negatives I have... I can easily print from a 75 year old negative while a 75 year old jpeg??? unlikely.

 

[SSISteve]

Digital just offers so much more these days. Most folks who still shoot film probable scan their negative and work on it in the computer instead of the darkroom. My dad has a very nice darkroom but has abandoned it since he went digital and got an Epson R2400 printer. I would think it would be time to sell if you can.

Steve

'If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.'

 

[AmySpeed]

I doubt it, but I still have my equipment.

 

[Stujomo]

You can only print your negs because the equipment is still around to print them. At the rate people throw away equipment in 50 years it may be hard to find something to print those negs.

At some point labs may well order machines that are digital only and the old equipment will likely get thrown away just like those 8 inch floppy drives. I honestly doubt that film will prove to be much more future proof than digital. Remember most people have not been shooting digital for even ten years.

What ever we shoot its going to take effort to get the images printed in 75 years. The scanners we have today likely won't work the hardrives full of jpegs or RAWs likely won't work or cant be read.

An enlarger is a very simple piece of equipment compared to hardrives and computers and not difficult to keep working even if the light source has to be swapped to some kind super LED but enlarging paper could be a problem.

At least we could still project chromes...

Here we go again...

I shoot both Digital and Film. Mostly medium format film. Scanning a medium format film gives me a 300MB file or so. Heck of a lot more detail than digital.

Use what is required/desired and don't worry. Except...

Unless you manage your digital files and convert your files to new formats and technologies you will never be able to reprint or even access your pics in the future.

Do you think jpeg and whatever raw files you have now will even exist in the future?? It will be like looking for an 8 inch floppy drive to access your data.

The negatives I have... I can easily print from a 75 year old negative while a 75 year old jpeg??? unlikely.

--
Stuart...

http://www.sjmphotography.co.nr/

http://sjmphotography.wordpress.com/

 

[rhlpetrus]

Nor the wet darkroom ...

No way, I don't miss the cost at all.

--
Renato.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhlpedrosa/
OnExposure member
http://www.onexposure.net/

Good shooting and good luck
(after Ed Murrow)

 

[GAGphotog]

Oh, no, no, never. I've even sold all my film gear. What would be the point--I LOVE my digital cameras and the results!
--
GG

 

[chuxter]

--
Charlie Davis
Nikon 5700, Sony R1, Nikon D50, Nikon D300
HomePage: http://www.1derful.info

"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."
-Samuel Adams, 1776

 

[Gene J. Paull]

Short story - no. Long story - shot film (FE2, Portra 160vc) on a recent trip to Blackwater Falls, WV. Negatives developed, scanned them myself on Coolscan V, did NOT view at 100%, then sent them off to Mpix for prints. Prints came back, white spots, scratches, and dust devils all over the place. Got into fight with Mpix, they told me view 100% pixels - I did, got sick.

When I upgraded to a new Macbook, could no longer use Nikonscan, so I purchased Vuescan. I don't think it has the equivalent of ICE (dust and scratch remover). The scans return a lot of detail, but too many scratches, blobs, etc. It could have been the negative developer as there are plenty of scratch lines when viewed at 100%.

End of long story. I can't deal with the scanning idiosyncrasies, so I'll move to 100% digital. Current dSLR is a D80 - I'm considering both D7000 and D300s. Any comments would be welcomed.

It is with great sadness that I finally retire the FE2, which, for me, was the perfect camera.
--
Gene in Deep South Texas
http://www.pbase.com/lahuasteca/

 

[gipper51]

Here we go again...

Unless you manage your digital files and convert your files to new formats and technologies you will never be able to reprint or even access your pics in the future.

Do you think jpeg and whatever raw files you have now will even exist in the future?? It will be like looking for an 8 inch floppy drive to access your data.

This debate is common, but the analogy is flawed. Data is not media! Just because you can't find an 8" floppy drive doesn't mean the data is obsolete, it means the media is outdated. Keep your files backed up regularly on common media types and digital data should be future proof for a long, long time.

As popular as the JPG format has been for the last 10+ years it will be a LONG time before computers will lack the code to read JPG files. I'm sure in due time another format will replace JPG as the standard, but JPG will be around and readable for a good while. RAWs on the other hand...

--
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[CLOSED ACCOUNT]

No...

KEV
--
http://kvincentphotography.ca/stackedimages
http://kvincentphotography.ca/designerflorals
http://kvincentphotography.ca/macro

 

[capanikon]

I've always shot both film and digital, both for fun and as my profession.

I like 'em both.

I really enjoy the interface and aesthetics of the 1980s 35mm SLRs. DSLRs have always been lacking in this regard.

 

[Don89]

Flaw ---> Lets say you have hundreds of 8 inch floppies, but nothing with which to read them - your media and data are in trouble. The point is in 75 years - if you have not kept up and converted your "Data" and "Media" you have an worthless 8 inch floppy media/data and lost memories...

This can and will be an issue in the future.

Surprised you know what an 8 inch floppy disk is actually... They were around before the 5.25 floppies then the smaller ones that are now disappearing as well. JPG will not be around in 75 years... CD Rom, DVD, Blue Ray all gone.

What are you doing with all your Betamax tapes? Worthless I guess.

What will you do with all your JPG/RAWs/Films... Prediction: 75 years from now - issues printing or even using a jpg/raw in its current form. No one will know what to do with such archaic pre-technology stuff. Nikon and Canon will be a former companies no one will remember..

At least the negative/slide does not need to be "converted" from 75 years ago. The same will not be for JPG and Raws.

 

[gipper51]

Flaw ---> Lets say you have hundreds of 8 inch floppies, but nothing with which to read them - your media and data are in trouble. The point is in 75 years - if you have not kept up and converted your "Data" and "Media" you have an worthless 8 inch floppy media/data and lost memories...

We all know diigtial is changing rapidly. Keeping your media and data current is just something we all have to live with. If you don't do it, it's your own fault. If you wanna play the digital game, keep up with it. If you just dump all your data to a hard drive and throw it in a closet for 30 years, don't expect much.

And for what it's worth, archiving ANY photographic system for 75+ years is no easy task. Only the most astudious of non-pros who implement a professional archiving system will be able to find ALL of their negatives this far out. And who guarantees you won't lose some to heat/moisture issues or just misplace them, or have a house fire, tornado, etc.? There are lots of "what if's. I keep two external hard drives in different locations, the chances of losing my data to disasters are slim. I've got well over 200GB of digital photo data, if that were all still on film and I had to store / catalog it all...no thank you. And yes, in 75 years I would probably be pulling my hair out trying to find the canister with Christmas 2010 photos.

This can and will be an issue in the future.

Only if you don't future proof your data. I fully agree reading RAW formats down the road will be a problem. Because of this I've been saving an original JPG from all my RAWs as a safeguard. It takes up space but space is cheap. Sorry, but I don't buy the 'obsolete JPG' theory for a minute. JPG will be replaced at some point, that's a given. But when that time comes there will be LOTS of software for doing the JPG conversion to the new format. Again, if you are lazy and don't convert your JPGS till 20 years later, shame on you. A little preparation now can go a long way.

--
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http://www.pbase.com/gipper51/architectural
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[Stujomo]

Well at the moment we still have the equipment to print the negs but in another 75 years that equipment could well be long gone just like 8 inch floppy drives and likely CD drives. The negs can't do anything by themselves without a scanner or an enlarger or some other way to get those negs onto paper we won't be making any prints from them. Copying them with the latest camera in 75 years could be a great option though.

At least the negative/slide does not need to be "converted" from 75 years ago. The same will not be for JPG and Raws.

--
Stuart...

http://www.sjmphotography.co.nr/

http://sjmphotography.wordpress.com/

 

[puttin]

I just bought an Olympus Trip off Ebay just to try something different as I have not shot film for years.

It really does make you think about your photograph before you decide to take it.

I said the same thing awhile back on dp and got alot of a##holes making smart a## remarks. I still shoot film sometimes just to enjoy my old gear again.

Getting my first 2 rolls developed and printed this week so time will tell if I carry on with the experiment.....lol.

Tim.......

http://timdobbsphotography.tumblr.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timdobbsphotography/
http://www.timdobbs.co.uk/

 

[Bill Force]

I never stopped, still have and use occasionally 12 different 35mm film cameras. Of course I digitize the film into manageable digital files.
--

' You don't have to have the best of everything to get the best out of what you do have'.

 

[O5iris]

I have never left!

Film is beautiful and a joy to use, I will forever love working with it and my darkroom.
I love digital too but each medium has its own advantages/allure.

Cheers
Nuno B.

 

[jdoman]

After using digital exclusively for about six years, I have gone back. But, I still use both. Here is a sample film image:



Currently, I process the film and then scan it. Best of both worlds!

Jon