[rollei_list] Re: [OT] film vs digital

  • From: Frank Dernie <Frank.Dernie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:00:09 +0100

Grain is indeed a feature of film, and can either add character or ruin a photograph, depending on intentions.


"Traditional" photography is in no way more fine art than digital photography. Daguerrotypes are not more fine art than silver/gelatin either. The art is in the result, not the medium. A great picture is great, regardless of the medium and a grotty little picture from a mobile phone or digicam is as uninteresting as similar dross from an instamatic (or Rolleiflex if the photograph is poor).

This risks getting like the old "photography is not art because it isn't difficult enough" argument we used to get from painters.
Frank


On 23 Jul, 2007, at 11:55, Carlos Manuel Freaza wrote:

Grain is superb for the image texture if the grain is
not exaggerated and according the image composition,
it contributes for the image character.
Traditional photography is fine arts.

All the best
Carlos
--- Frank Dernie <Frank.Dernie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
escribió:

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



_________________________________________________________________
Trött på att pendla? - Sök jobb där du bor!
http://
jobb.msn.monster.se/

---
Rollei List

- Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

- Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with 'subscribe'
in the subject field OR by logging into
www.freelists.org

- Unsubscribe at
rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging
into
www.freelists.org

- Online, searchable archives are available at
//www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list


---
Rollei List

- Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

- Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with 'subscribe'
in the subject field OR by logging into
www.freelists.org

- Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with
'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging
into
www.freelists.org

- Online, searchable archives are available at
//www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list


---
Rollei List

- Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

- Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with 'subscribe'
in the subject field OR by logging into
www.freelists.org

- Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with
'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging
into www.freelists.org

- Online, searchable archives are available at
//www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list





      __________________________________________________
Preguntá. Respondé. Descubrí.
Todo lo que querías saber, y lo que ni imaginabas,
está en Yahoo! Respuestas (Beta).
¡Probalo ya!
http://www.yahoo.com.ar/respuestas

---
Rollei List

- Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

- Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe'
in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org

- Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org

- Online, searchable archives are available at
//www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list


---
Rollei List

- Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

- Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe'
in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org

- Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org

- Online, searchable archives are available at
//www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list

Other related posts: