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Archive 2016 · Could you go back to film?

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

DonM2 wrote:
Might as well ask if one would ever go back to glass plate negatives! Oh, the good old days!

---- DonM2

Isn't that from the era when no one smiled when getting photographed? "A Million Ways To Die In The West"

Dec 19, 2016 at 01:10 PM

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

My first camera was a Minolta SRT-II of some sort. I loved the process of developing my film and making prints in the dark room. Watching the images emerge was a huge part of the fun for me. I didn't develop color film, though, only black and white. I doubt I am coordinated enough to load up the spools for developing in the dark anymore, but for fun, I could be coerced into trying it again. Just not for everything. That ship has sailed.

Dec 19, 2016 at 01:16 PM

DonM2
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · Could you go back to film?

Zenon Char ---

Ha, ha! There was no way you could hold a particular facial expression for the MINUTES a photo exposure took in those days!

Great quote, by the way: 'Million Ways To Die In The West'.

--- DonM2

Dec 19, 2016 at 01:21 PM

Zenon Char
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · Could you go back to film?

I like Seth. I don't know where he comes up with all that stuff.

Dec 19, 2016 at 01:22 PM

gdanmitchell
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · Could you go back to film?

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

Dec 19, 2016 at 01:26 PM

freetime101
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Could you go back to film?

Wow this is interesting, very heavily one sided!

I expected a bit more love for film, but only on the fun side - I'd be highly surprised if anybody is still using it professionally (especially not a photographer who has an internet connection

)

I personally fancy dabbling with film for the romance, but really can't be bothered with the hassle and expense of it all - especially when I'd more than likely end up with a worse image compared to what I could have achieved with digital.

I thought there may be a bit of a whimsical reminisce of the old days, but with the acknowledgement that film's days are over, but it seems you are all glad to see the back of it?

Edit: I didn't see this thread had spilled onto page two! It seems there is still a little bit of love for film

Dec 19, 2016 at 01:27 PM

OregonSun
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · Could you go back to film?

The plethora of digital enthusiast responses is not surprising given this is a gear board whose members are largely obsessed with the newest/latest tech

I went back about 2 years ago, mostly for landscapes but also love shooting city/street on film. My film camera is a Pentax 67. I digitize using my 7D ii and a macro lens and use a digital processing/printing workflow. I shoot digital when I need autofocus (birds, mostly) or don't want to carry the weight.

Here's why I still love film:

6x7 and larger sensor sizes give DOF and field of view/perspective for a given focal length that will always be unavailable to FF and MF digital sensors.

Black and white film still looks better to me than converted digital files (unless maybe if I could afford a Leica monochrome).

Every shot counts, so I pay attention and choose carefully. This has vastly improved my seeing ability and understanding of light/exposure etc.

GAS is much less costly for old film gear, I have about $1500 into my Pentax 67 system, including 45mm, 55mm, 75mm shift, 90mm, 165mm, and 200mm. I spend about $1000 a year on film/processing. So in two years I've spent about the same as a 5D series body at launch price.

And of course, only film will survive the zombie apocalypse

Heron

Dec 19, 2016 at 01:34 PM

jharter
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · Could you go back to film?

I miss my darkroom. I switched to digital just 2-3 years ago but had been using an 8x10 camera and I could enlarge 8x10 negatives. I love the aesthetics of darkroom work and the deliberative process of composing a photograph on a field camera. But, it is a chore and time consuming. I was toting around 75 lbs of gear when traveling (a 50 lb pelican case with film holders), a second Pelican case with camera and lenses, a tripod, and a separate bag with boxes of film. So I could not travel easily. Changing film in the holders took at least an hour every night and I hated using a changing tent.

I am now a convert to digital. But I respect those that keep up the craft of large format film and darkroom work. The look and feel of the prints is different. I love the dynamic range of digital but digital has a tendency to be too retouched, too cartoonish all the while people carp about bokeh and rendering as if they have amnesia for the film days.

Dec 19, 2016 at 01:36 PM

Sir_Loin
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · Could you go back to film?

It seems like I'm in the extreme minority here, but I fondly look back at a time years ago when in my youth I persuaded my parents to let me convert the downstairs toilet in to a darkroom (it had no windows!). I used to love nothing more than going out with my Canon A1 and coming back to develop my rolls of B&W film, print off some contact prints and then spend hours making the perfect set of prints up to 12x16 with my Durst enlarger, Nikon enlarging lens (which I still have!) and developing the prints in those 3 trays of chemicals that I can still smell. I used to develop colour slide film as that was quite easy as well. I miss all that, but digital has completely revolutionised photography with its speed and convenience. I wouldn't go back to film, but I would love to do all that one more time!

Dec 19, 2016 at 03:23 PM

Milan Hutera
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · Could you go back to film?

I never shot film.... besides, I think it's an absolute waste of time unless you're shooting medium or large format. And that gets expensive.

Some years ago I toyed with an idea to shoot 6x6 on the old TLR Lubitel camera. But I have so little time to shoot personal stuff, I'd much rather have the quickest, most flexible result than to be stuck with undeveloped film that no one will scan around here anymore.

Dec 19, 2016 at 03:44 PM

jj_glos
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p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · Could you go back to film?

I like shooting film every now and then. I used to shoot it a a fair amount (a few rolls a month) when I only had DSLR bodies but since I got the Fuji X-T1 I have shot film a lot less (Canon A-E1 Program). So I think a lot of it was maybe around the feel/experience using that older style of body. I don't develop my own, but really enjoyed opening up the envelope after getting the prints back.

I wouldn't choose to go back to film only, but I'd keep shooting if it was the only option.

Dec 19, 2016 at 03:54 PM

gdanmitchell
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p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · Could you go back to film?

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Edited on Jan 03, 2017 at 11:36 AM · View previous versions

Dec 19, 2016 at 04:46 PM

jcolwell
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p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · Could you go back to film?

I shot film with 4x5, 69, 67, 645, and 35mm cameras. I averaged 30 to 40 rolls of 35mm per month, and probably a half-dozen rolls of 120 (I mostly used a 612 back on the 4x5).

Would I go back? What's film ?

Dec 19, 2016 at 05:33 PM

PhotoMaximum
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p.2 #14 · p.2 #14 · Could you go back to film?

If you asked this same question on the LF forum you would get a totally different response. Lots of guys there using all kinds of larger format cameras with current, old and really, really old lenses while deploying all kinds of film/paper negs/darkroom/silver/toning techniques. Some of these guys are amazing artists. Just a different journey of course.

What is astounding with modern digital is how little printing happens in the current day. Fewer prints, on average, get printed each and every year. Instead of printing we now engage in lusting over the latest megabiggergiantpixel camera bodies while shrinking 99% of produced images down to a tiny 1000 pixel file that we can navel gaze at on online forums. OK, I am exaggerating a little, but...

Dec 19, 2016 at 05:46 PM

OregonSun
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p.2 #15 · p.2 #15 · Could you go back to film?

gdanmitchell wrote:
Ahem. You missed the part about how many of us have been photographers for a very long time, and how we used film for years or even decades and once had very fond feelings toward it. (I photographed on 35mm and medium format for years.)

There are, no doubt, some people here who are simple "obsessed with the newest/latest tech," but there are quite a few who are obsessed with photography. (If you are around photography discussions long enough, you'll find an equivalent number who are "obsessed with the oldest tech!")

Dan

Relax Dan, no criticism or disrespect meant, just a light hearted observation on the general tenor of this board. Didn't you see the smily face?

Heron

Dec 19, 2016 at 05:52 PM

Daniel Smith
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p.2 #16 · p.2 #16 · Could you go back to film?

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

Non issue here. No computer needed with all the associated costs.

5x7 to 12x20 sheet film works well. Even small 4x5 is the choice of many who love how it renders their world. Some work with 20x24 inch film.

You shoot less, waste less time and end up with more keepers. Really cuts down the time one spends in front of a computer screen.

Nothing quite like a fine contact print from a negative large enough to see easily.

Friends shoot wet plate and get excellent work.

One very good thing about film is that I can do the whole process without electricity if I have to. And yes, I have had to a few times. From processing to final print all without any electric service or running water.

Dec 19, 2016 at 06:44 PM

Paul Mo
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p.2 #17 · p.2 #17 · Could you go back to film?

I owned the works Simmons Omega D's, D5 XL's, LPL's.

The investment needed to get back in isn't worth the returns and the environmental cost.

I see more than a few people cashing in on pretentiousness by marketing weddings shot on film - playing that angle.

Dec 19, 2016 at 06:57 PM

gdanmitchell
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p.2 #18 · p.2 #18 · Could you go back to film?

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Edited on Jan 03, 2017 at 11:36 AM · View previous versions

Dec 19, 2016 at 07:22 PM

Scott Stoness
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p.2 #19 · p.2 #19 · Could you go back to film?

I spent my teenage years playing with chemicals in the dark and being much more accepting of weak compositions/poor exposures and no high ISO performance. About the only advantage I can think about is that the costs (time and money) made it such that you only took 1 picture and worked very hard at the one because I could not afford to experiment much. It was fun in its time but not for me anymore.

Dec 19, 2016 at 07:24 PM

Scott Stoness
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p.2 #20 · p.2 #20 · Could you go back to film?

Sir_Loin wrote:
It seems like I'm in the extreme minority here, but I fondly look back at a time years ago when in my youth I persuaded my parents to let me convert the downstairs toilet in to a darkroom (it had no windows!). I used to love nothing more than going out with my Canon A1 and coming back to develop my rolls of B&W film, print off some contact prints and then spend hours making the perfect set of prints up to 12x16 with my Durst enlarger, Nikon enlarging lens (which I still have!) and developing the prints in those...Show more →

Me too but no girlfriend until I was out of my teens - the price of geekdom

Edited on Dec 20, 2016 at 10:20 AM · View previous versions

Dec 19, 2016 at 07:26 PM

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