[rollei_list] Re: [OT] film vs digital

They are very much different but, IMHO, not as different as, for example oils versus acrylic paint, and certainly either of these compared to watercolour. At the end of whatever process one has chosen, film - develop - enlarge - develop print. Digital to print, digital to print via some sort of manipulation software or a scanned film hybrid to digital print a photographic print is the result. Some people refer to prints from digital as "plastic" I assume they refer to the lack of grain (???) in fact for me it has taken "photographic realism" to a higher plane.
I processed my own film all my photographic life. I have had a darkroom in my house most of the last 45 years. I still take photographs on film for fun - but for me the whole enlarge and develop process - which is a technical skill I felt I was still improving even after so long - particularly "mastering" the tiny dynamic range and extreme contrast of Cibachrome - was hard work and very time consuming. (Incidentally anybody thinking digital has a restricted dynamic range should try enlarging a Kodachrome slide onto Ciba).
I now print entirely from the computer and if I am interrupted it is no longer an inconvenience/catastrophe. If your main objective is to consistently produce good prints my experience tells me digital is the best way. The downside is cost. My Canon EOS 1Ds mk2 was very much more expensive than my Rolleiflex so you need to have been a real film eater for digital to be a choice based on economy rather than results. 
Frank

On 23 Jul, 2007, at 02:57, ERoustom wrote:
My first two days in my darkroom have me gleefully puzzled. There is so much to learn, and it will be a while before I'm comfortably making the all those connections from behind the lens to in front of the fix bath. It makes scanning negatives seem easy and fast. Peter's simile is so apt. Gaining skill, intellectual, physical and technical, and truly learning to be patient is what film photography (that goes the full cycle from click to print) is all about. It's a medium, and a discipline. My thinking about how I use my camera(s) what films I choose, has changed completely since the darkroom (and my underdeveloped film) humbled me this weekend. Maybe film and digital shouldn't be compared. It's clear to me now that they do different things, and demand different approaches. 

Elias

On Jul 21, 2007, at 3:06 PM, J Patric Dahlén wrote:



 Peter Nebergall wrote:
Comparing film to digital is like comparing the NY Philharmonic to a state
> of the art rock synthesizer. One is cheaper, faster, and more convenient; 
> the other is high art.

Very well said, Peter!
I own a digital compact camera, but I don't like to use it to take photos of my loved ones... Instead I use it for fast documentation and when I need photos of something to show on the internet/send with email...
There are more feelings involved when I use my cameras for film, and work in the darkroom. Then I feel creative. I can always digitalize film/prints when I want or need to. Digital has it's place, of course, even for me. 

/Patric

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