By way of reply to what Bob wrote:
:-D
Howard wrote:
Oh no not this old argument again! My memory suggests that all these
points have been argued over and over before.
I went digital because:
I was traveling by air a lot and it is easier to get a DSLR through
secuity that a film body and film......
I'm not a trained darkroom technician.
Not trained because you haven't worked in one. Thats like saying I'm
a salesman and not a brain surgeon because I didn't go to medical school.
**Huh? You've lost me there...
I don't want to spend zillions of hours in a messy smelly darkroom.
They're not smelly. Or I'm accustomed to the smell.....
**All darkrooms suffer from fumes of one kind or another, despite the
description on the labels! And despite ventilation.
I can produce much better prints - and more and cheaper- with digital
than I ever could with film AND with far less effort.
I can afford to be generous with the actual taking of pictures at
virtually no cost to myself.
The cameras cost cancel each other. Film cost a few $$$ while the
digital media is reusable. I wonder where you get your ink for the
photo printer thats makes digital prints cheaper.
**Colour prints at home? Time processing, test stripping, then repeating
it all again? The saving is I only print what I want to print and not
the ones that aren't what I want. Got boxes full of prints / slides
you've paid for but didn't work out quite as you wanted? Nobody, but
nobody can get perfection in photography.
My local Costco lab charges the same for film based prints and digital
prints. So the only cost advantage is no film. Oh yeah, then there is
the cost of the photo printer. And the paper, a wash since you need
paper in the darkroom too. And the computer to process the images
with, oh yeah, the photo software.
**Mmm true, but then since I use a computer and a printer for other
things as well, I'd have them anyway. Software? GIMP comes free...
Far less effort - - - You have the effort of printing in the darkroom
or the effort of sitting in front of the computer and staring at the
display.
**But my computer use is intermittent, when I choose to do it. Not
everyone has or wants a darkroom or has the facilities for one. I've
still got one. But I prefer the monitor.
And I do like being able to check I've got what I want rather than
wait until I've got the negatives / slides / prints available.
Oh yeah, I can get my prints in about an hour from more places than I
can buy Bass Ale.
**Bass ale? Not where I live sunshine! It's mainly Larkins and
Wresterham brewery and other nice beers.
Oh yes, and not everyone lives with a 1 hour photo processor on the door
step. My nearest is the pharmacy (2 days) or a 30 minute drive there
minimum plus parking and walking (I'm lazy!) And I can just imagine it -
Hi Gang let's start over again the photos didn't come out! (The labs do
mess up sometimes!)
When I was shooting with my trusty Olympus OM-1 setup and using the
same film for a few years I pretty much knew what I was going to see
on paper because I knew my OM-1 and I knew the film. The same was
true when I switched to the Canon EOS system. After a short learning
curve I knew what I was going to see on paper because I knew the
camera and film. The other thing with film is I took the time,
sometimes just a second ot two, to think about and compose the shot.
So while I may have shot a roll of 36 I was comfortable that I would
get the usable shots I wanted. With digital I can think about how a
Meteor Gray Metallic Porsche 911 GT3 RS would look with my call
letter license plates on it while holding the button on the DSLR and
shooting 179 or so shots knowing I'll probably get what what I want..
But what %age of the 36 shots were great and not just usable? My
experience was not many, but then I'm probably not a good photographer...
In fact I still think and consider before I press the shutter as I'd
still rather get it right first time, especially when I'm photographing
200+ kids in one go. Or when I'm out with my wife who doesn't rate
photography quite as much as I do!
But at least I spot the eyes closed syndrome or the clenched teeth and
retake - not so easy with film (I often had to call back some kids for
retakes.)
But if someone wants to use film then that's fine by me. It doesn't
matter.
I've still got my film gear. I plan on using it (especially B&W) more
when I've retired, whenever that will be.
Either way I doubt if anyone will keep more than a fraction of my
photos when I've kicked the bucket!
Same here......
Bob
Bob - if you drink Bass Ale do you live perchance in the U.K? Maybe we
should meet up for a beer or two, or three, or.....
Howard
