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Archive 2016 · Could you go back to film?

freetime101
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Could you go back to film?

Hi All,

It's been a while since I read a good film vs digital debate, but here are the usual topics:

Image quality - is film still better? With DLSR's now giving up to 14 stops of DR and 50MP I'm not so sure...

Roll size, remember you only got 24/36 shots per film, then there is down time while reloading. So the 1DxII at full tilt would give you 3 seconds of shooting before needing a refill...

Backup/security - no such thing as dual card slots with film, and only one negative for the archive

No chimping - you had to wait until the film was developed to see if the shot worked

Limited editing options - imagine a world without lightroom!

Cost - film is now more expensive then ever, plus the processing fees...

Given the above, could you go back to it? Anybody still using film for professional work?

Dec 19, 2016 at 10:45 AM

dhphoto
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Could you go back to film?

Not, no, never, nada, nein, under no circumstances

I will never ever shoot another frame of film and have been glad to rid myself of this unreliable limited ancient medium forever.

I lost too many jobs because of the foibles of the wet process ever to use it again.

In fact if digital wasn't around I'd have retired years ago (I did, then I came back because digital is so brilliant)

Dec 19, 2016 at 11:03 AM

Zenon Char
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Could you go back to film?

Nope. Never again. I learned the zone system, shot with a 4 by 5 field camera and spent endless hours in the darkroom developing that and 35mm B&W film. I even picked up an old vacuum cleaner and built my own vacuum table to keep my paper flat as I dodged and burned under the enlarger. Colour film was just too expensive to practise on so when I travelled and shot very conservatively. Minolta's Program setting was pretty good. I just never messed around with DOF, etc. Digital took me to while new levels of photography.

It was a great experience and I'm glad I went through it. Maybe if I was 20 years younger I might try it for fun but I prefer instant feedback and the digital darkroom these days.

Dec 19, 2016 at 11:06 AM

petr vokurek
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Could you go back to film?

Not a chance. I shot film for a lot of years professionally and then held onto it for personal use (bw only). While I still love the results from film+ darkroom fiber base prints I really do not miss the misery that leads to those results. I spent countless days in the darkroom only to produce 5-8 prints that I was half happy with. Those then had to be washed and then taped on sheets of glass to flatten them perfectly. I really do not have the time anymore. I still have the darkroom set up and I could go there any day but I hate to even think of it. And with the results from modern dslr´s + inkjet prints on art fibre papers there´s not much to miss anymore, really.

Dec 19, 2016 at 11:23 AM

hotdog12
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Could you go back to film?

Oh, hell no! Sorry, but when I first picked up my first 1D back around 2000 or 2001, I know film's ship had sailed. Just scanning in my old negatives and slides is a misery. The grain, scratches, contrast, processing, environmental issues and much, much more proves today's digital cameras are light years superior to film. Mind, you, 4X5 was pretty sweet, but I remember processing and printing all day long just to produce a single acceptable print.

The image quality and flexibility of the high-end digital cameras, plus the huge improvements in the optics, make 35mm film look ludicrous.

Dec 19, 2016 at 11:36 AM

dhphoto
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Could you go back to film?

hotdog12 wrote:
Oh, hell no! Sorry, but when I first picked up my first 1D back around 2000 or 2001, I know film's ship had sailed.

Although I started my digital dslr life with a 10D it was looking at 100% crops of 5D RAW files that convinced me my 5x4 kits, RB67 and Hasselblad outfits and all my 35mm film cameras were history.

I loved that moment, I remember it well, it was 2005. It was like being reborn after 25 years of being a pro, it really was. I could do SO MUCH by myself now and not rely on labs and retouchers.

Dec 19, 2016 at 11:42 AM

gdanmitchell
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Could you go back to film?

.

Edited on Jan 03, 2017 at 11:33 AM · View previous versions

Dec 19, 2016 at 11:46 AM

Ubuhle
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Could you go back to film?

Just the other day I was explain to a freind's family the B&W film development and printing process from years ago. While there was a certain "magic" in watching a print emerge in the developer tank, I was glad to be rid of it! Digital opens up photography in a way that I could never have imagined with film.
The only film that tempted me was shooting Polaroid Type 55 film on a large format camera. However, Polaroid discontinued that product and thus removed my desire. I will wait for digital large format sensors in the next 20 years (mirrorless of course).

Dec 19, 2016 at 11:47 AM

dhphoto
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Could you go back to film?

It's an obvious comment but try and imagine we have had digital for 20 years and somebody invents film.

You have to work in the dark to load slides or spools. You can't change it's ISO without some awkwardness and anything over 1600 ISO (or less) is going to cost you for quality.

You can't have instant review except polaroid, you cannot change colour temperature after the shot, you are subject to processing and batch variation plus you have to pay for development or do it yourself, plus the quality is nowhere near what you already had with digital. Your film goes out of date and needs careful storage. No histogram. You can get a hair in the gate and not even know (till it's too late)

Somehow I doubt it would catch on

Edited on Dec 19, 2016 at 12:00 PM · View previous versions

Dec 19, 2016 at 11:59 AM

RustyBug
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Could you go back to film?

The only thing that makes me long for the film days ... No Batteries

Going remote ... film may still have its place, although a pack of batteries vs. Rolls of film is debatable, too.

Dec 19, 2016 at 11:59 AM

M. Best
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Could you go back to film?

Maybe for fun, I'd have a bunch of disposable ones for my wedding but no, I have 0 interest in going back to film.

Dec 19, 2016 at 12:01 PM

dhphoto
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Could you go back to film?

RustyBug wrote:
The only thing that makes me long for the film days ... No Batteries

Going remote ... film may still have its place, although a pack of batteries vs. Rolls of film is debatable, too.

If you are using a meter (except a Weston) you still need batteries

I also forgot - 36 exposures at most so the 10fps brigade wouldn't last long

Dec 19, 2016 at 12:01 PM

Zenon Char
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Could you go back to film?

Ubuhle wrote:
Just the other day I was explain to a freind's family the B&W film development and printing process from years ago. While there was a certain "magic" in watching a print emerge in the developer tank, I was glad to be rid of it! Digital opens up photography in a way that I could never have imagined with film.
The only film that tempted me was shooting Polaroid Type 55 film on a large format camera. However, Polaroid discontinued that product and thus removed my desire. I will wait for digital large format sensors in the next 20 years (mirrorless...Show more →

Yes there was a magic with the print emerging. That would be the only thing I miss.

Dec 19, 2016 at 12:04 PM

molson
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Could you go back to film?

Between the hassle of scanning, and the near-impossibility of finding a competent processing lab, I could never go back to using film. In fact, I have about a dozen rolls of exposed slide film sitting in the freezer that I never bothered to get processed - I should probably just toss them.

Dec 19, 2016 at 12:04 PM

Jeff Nolten
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Could you go back to film?

Can't go back, they stopped making Kodachrome. And to be limited to ISO 64 again?? I did one trip with Kodachrome 200 and I couldn't see the subject for the grain. Everyone is so obsessed with DR, whats the DR of film? Only 36 shots to a roll of film? What, now I have to pay to get it processed and wait a week? Should I go on?

I was convinced about digital with my 10D and by the time I got my original 5D I was stuck to digital like a limpet. Shooting with a film camera would be like displaying your pictures with a projector on the wall.

RustyBug wrote:
The only thing that makes me long for the film days ... No Batteries...

My Pentax Spotmatic from the 70s had its own type of battery and my Canon Elan IIE from the 90s had a larger, non-rechargeable battery. What fun it was to try to find batteries in a foreign port. My dad's Leica from the late 40s didn't use batteries and neither did his Westinghouse light meter which still works. Guess I could go back to that. Don't think so.

Edited on Dec 19, 2016 at 12:26 PM · View previous versions

Dec 19, 2016 at 12:15 PM

Coltrane
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Could you go back to film?

Absolutely not!

Dec 19, 2016 at 12:26 PM

DonM2
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Could you go back to film?

Might as well ask if one would ever go back to glass plate negatives! Oh, the good old days!

---- DonM2

Dec 19, 2016 at 12:39 PM

dtolios
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Could you go back to film?

I thought I could, but shooting maaaaybe 1-2 rolls a year doesn't even qualify as "shooting for fun".
Voted being a full-on convert.

Dec 19, 2016 at 12:45 PM

Tapeman
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Could you go back to film?

I shoot film all the time in my horse & buggy.

Dec 19, 2016 at 12:53 PM

wlpelzmann
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Could you go back to film?

Unthinkable!!! I thought I'd be shooting and scanning medium format film for quite some time, but after getting a Coolpix for a trip to Europe in 1999, I shot a total of 3 rolls of film! Digital made photography fun again.

Dec 19, 2016 at 01:05 PM

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