When I was young, or at least “much younger then todaaaay”, people asked themselves the very same question… but in a quite different way. It was more like: “why would I pay more money to get less quality?”. Well, what happened since is that digital cameras improved, prices dropped, almost everybody has got a computer at home and got himself equipped at least with a compact digital camera.
No problem so far. Digital won the war. The resolution is so high that most professionals use this technology. So why does this “Digital or film” question still exist? It looks like there is still a small community of film camera users. I was actually not even shocked by this news. After all, you can find mumbo-jumbos everywhere, why not in photography? I was more astonished when I found out that this community is still quite active though… and it even seems to be growing! You can see guys doing “their coming out” on you tube to tell the whole world that they decided to definitely quit digital shooting in order to live an exclusive film photographer life. Wow!
With this come back of film (or analogic) photography, I thought it might be interesting to see why do some “mad dudes” use this archaic technology again, especially at a time when even phones are able to shoot several Megapixels’ pictures. I recently saw an article on internet titled “will Nokia kill the cameras” or something in this spirit. Obviously, there are still people buying cameras: compact ones but also bigger gears like reflex. So, nice dramatic title, but… hmm looks like it is not only about having a loads of pixels, is it?! Because if pixels are the point: film cameras have a bloody loads of them!
Before sharing with you the experience I had buying and using a film camera again, two weeks after having purchased a compact digital one (that I am of course still using), let’s see the result of an opinion gathering of both camps’ points. It looks like what makes people choose one technology or the other is sharply linked to the respective process.
Film process chain:
- loading the film in the camera
- the film has a smell (like it or leave it but it’s a fact)
- settings up the camera and manual focusing
- caring about your shots (as their amount is very limited)
- developing (some people love to lock themselves in a dark room…)
- getting a physical items (the negatives) and having to take care about them.
Optional :
- scanning the negatives
- digitally retouch the pictures
- show your pictures to your friends or share them online
Digital process chain:
- charge your batteries
- load a memory card
- shoot
- shoot
- ehh… shoot ?
- yeah ! shoot !!!
- upload your pictures in your computer
- select the ones you wanna keep and delete the ones you wanna trash
- digitally retouch your pictures (I have the feeling this part is not really optional for digital cameras owners anymore…)
Optional :
- share your pictures online
- in more rare cases : get some of them printed out
I am not really sure that image quality is still a decisive factor to "keep" with film shooting.
So, yes, valid points on both sides. The digital big advantage is quite obvious: the ease of use. A digital camera is just very comfortable to use. You can take hundreds of shots and just keep the ones you like. You can see the result of these shots immediately and also improve them via your computer’s softwares. And some of these cameras are very affordable. Can the life be any better?
NO IT CAN’T.
or maybe… maybe it depends… maybe it depends on what you are looking for…
1.
“I want a camera to keep souvenirs of my holidays”: buy a compact digital camera
“… but I want good quality”: the new compact products are amazing, no joke, some of them even shoot raw, and if you don’t know what raw means, believe me, a compact digital camera is what you need.
2.
“I am a professional”: so why do you ask me? you know better than me! LOL For professionals also, digital looks like the way to go. The pro reflex cameras will be THE tool for most of them, if not, they can have a look to the digital Medium Format cameras. (how do you add a dribbling smiley on Blogger ? ;-)
“That’s it ?” you’re going to ask, ”Two-zero? End of the game?”. Well, digital cameras are quite a success, there are reasons for it… what did you expect?
…ok, there is actually a third category of people. You can call these people photography amateurs or enthusiasts. And for a lot of them, digital is also the way to go because nowadays’ gears will allow them to get beautiful pictures, in a really good definition.
...BUT (of course there is a but… no "but", no reason to write this article) if what matters for you the most is TAKING PICTURES, this very moment, or if you want to get great antic cameras for a decent price, or if like me you want both of the previous points AND have a chance to shoot medium format without having to rob a bank, THEN you might start to have a look to second hands film camera to find your new shooting bro.
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