digital users...what would entice you back to film?

[Jamie Pillers]

Not 35mm anymore. Digital offers too many benefits and the downsides, if any, are too minor to be bothered with. Being able to shift ISO at any moment, B&W or color, no expensive and time-consuming trips to the lab (or darkroom), and (maybe most important for me) instant feedback on errors of judgement.

Medium format may still hold a bit of sway with me, but not for any real practical reason. Just one last emotional connection to film, so it might as well be a big negative that I get out of it.

[FrankS]

I've never given up hope for you, Joe.

[Godfrey]

Originally Posted by Jamie Pillers

Not 35mm anymore. Digital offers too many benefits and the downsides, if any, are too minor to be bothered with. Being able to shift ISO at any moment, B&W or color, no expensive and time-consuming trips to the lab (or darkroom), and (maybe most important for me) instant feedback on errors of judgement.

Medium format may still hold a bit of sway with me, but not for any real practical reason. Just one last emotional connection to film, so it might as well be a big negative that I get out of it.

It's interesting ... When I first started shooting seriously with digital (2002), I sold all my 35mm gear and bought medium format gear. Shot with both for a year. When I bought my first 6Mpixel DSLR, I knew I could get the quality I wanted out of that and it obsoleted the medium format gear.

What I mostly like working with in film nowadays is 35mm (out of nostalgia probably) and ultraminiature formats, like Minox 8x11, which returns unique aesthetic qualities that I like a lot.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by JSU

In Coastal Texas this time of the year the tap water is running just above 85 degrees F. I typically lightly wipe my film to remove excess Photo Flo, but yesterday the emulsion was wiping from the film base (of the leader) of the Efke KB-25 I had just developed and washed. Rather than lose my images, I just wound the film back onto the reel and dried it (cool air) as is. Fortunately the images survived, but it has taken me about an hour per image to clean-up with a spot healing brush and cloning tool to deal with the dust in the emulsion which can't be blown off. Eventually it will be Spot Tone for the prints.

Well, I should have known better, live and learn.

BTW, development & fixing was done @ 75 degrees F.

I've heard that the emulsion of Efke needs to be treated very carefully.

I hang HP5+ on a film clip and drag my Jobo squeegee down it with some force and have yet to leave a mark. I would imagine that if I ever get some Efke I may have to re-think this process!

[Keith]

Originally Posted by FrankS

I've never given up hope for you, Joe.

I wouldn't be getting your hopes up Frank!

[jky]

Originally Posted by back alley

as much as i have embraced digital...my mind wanders occasionally to thoughts of a black m4...a hefty m5 or that lovely finder in the bessa r4...

could i ever use film again?...a thought that pops in at times...

a well crafted film camera might do it...
a panoramic camera might do it...

not sure what else might do it...

what about you other digital users?
anything tempting you at the moment?

Medium format
Rolleiflex 2.8 + a very good friend that will process and scan for me.

[ElectroWNED]

If I had the ability to stay in one place long enough, I'd buy developing and printing equipment that would allow me to move back to film.

As it is, I simply move around too much, and the cost and inconvenience of having film developed and placed onto a CD are simply too great.

I'd love to be able to shoot medium format and develop and make huge prints...

[sepiareverb]

Having spent the last few days in the darkroom printing after a serious consideration of the M-Monochrom I'm sticking with film for B&W. I've been all digital for color for a few years now, but I don't think I could give up the darkroom, or the look of a good B&W wet print - that is something I'd miss...

But for color I can't imagine going back. The control one has over the process is so much more complete than it ever was with film & wet prints. And while I know it could be the same with digital B&W the surface and depth of a B&W fiber print trumps what an inkjet spits out. If there was only RC B&W paper I would absolutely feel differently.

[Contarama]

I never left in the first place.

[ReeRay]

Originally Posted by Phantomas

rangefinder and MF. Once I can buy an EXCELLENT digital rangefinder and a hassy for cheap I'm ditchin' film completely. Well, maybe except for occasional foolin around.

That's exactly where I am. I love rangefinders and medium format but simply cannot afford the digital versions. So film it is. That's not to say that film is a compromise though. In have a vast complement of digital gear but I find it's immediacy counter productive. The slow and deliberate use of film, coupled with it's costings, puts a greater demand on me and is invariably beneficial. Try as I might, I just cannot introduce this discipline into my digital approach.

Another issue is time. Being retired I have lots of it. Filling the day becomes a real issue in retirement. Digital shooting does not fill the day. A days film shooting and subsequent developing, printing and scanning keeps me gainfully employed for several days.

[loquax ludens]

I have a digital camera (X-Pro 1) and I like it quite a lot. But I'm in love with film and darkroom printing. Using my digital camera just doesn't satisfy me the way that using my film cameras do. I'm fixing up a Fujimoto CP-31 right now so I can make RA-4 prints from my color negatives.

[Nikon Bob]

Sadly, not much would get me back to shooting film again.

Bob

[gavinlg]

Originally Posted by Keith

I really don't see the need to be committed to one medium only when there are two available that both have such definitive strengths.

Yep!
Perfectly said.

[jsrockit]

Originally Posted by boomguy57

Film takes more work, and separates the men from the boys, so to speak.

Wow really? Are we talking technical stuff or what really counts, the image? Film isn't that hard to use.

[Godfrey]

Originally Posted by boomguy57

... Film takes more work, and separates the men from the boys, so to speak. You have to know a bit more, and have a bit more dedication than the average camera-phone diehard. ...

That's an awfully confrontational statement.

I'd shorten it to just "Film takes more work." and add "I like the way the photos I make with it look." rather than load up my opinion with so much aggression. :-)

[Phil_F_NM]

It would probably take me getting a little bit more annoyed at my M9 and at Leica's service.
I think I'll be posting it for sale quite soon as a matter of fact.

Phil Forrest

[semordnilap]

Originally Posted by Nikon Bob

Sadly, not much would get me back to shooting film again.

Bob

Yep... Same here. Too many advantages to shooting digital, and I never really enjoyed the darkroom. I find that whenever I do shoot film, I don't really do much of anything with it–scanning is either terrible and time-consuming (home) or expensive.

[LTN]

Originally Posted by Godfrey

What "entices" me to use the film cameras is to work with film's specific image capture and rendering qualities. Same thing that entices me to use the digital cameras ... they are simply two different recording mediums and both produce superb, beautiful results when exploited.

Done well, both mediums are equally expressive and worth using. They are simply different.

Well said!

[Lund]

What did get me back to shooting film was that no matter how much gear I bought for my digital cameras it was never enough or right. Didn't feel right or look right.

With film an old Zenit E gave me results that was just what I wanted.

[shadowfox]

Originally Posted by semordnilap

Yep... Same here. Too many advantages to shooting digital, and I never really enjoyed the darkroom. I find that whenever I do shoot film, I don't really do much of anything with it–scanning is either terrible and time-consuming (home) or expensive.

Don't stop at scanning.
Print your favorites big and hang it on your walls.

It makes a difference when you see your work hanging vs on the screen.

[kshapero]

Originally Posted by mabelsound

Winning the lottery and quitting my job.

Why? Good film cameras can be bought for pennies.

[Phil_F_NM]

This morning enticed me back.

Phil Forrest

[GaryLH]

I recently came back to film around 2 years ago... I mainly use digital for color and film for BW. I really like the tonal quality I can get out of a negative compared to a digital... I develop my own and scan.. I don't do wet darkroom any longer, more to do with health problems then anything else. Mainly using medium format these days.

Gary

[crispy12]

Cost of film and developing! Buying 20-30 rolls of film for a holiday is expensive and takes up heaps of space in my bag compared to a single SD card (or two?)

I keep dreaming of digital film inserts (http://re35.net/) but sadly I think it'll never happen due to economic reasons

[loquax ludens]

I can't really see the point of a product like the fictional re35. The main reason for using film is because it is film, not because you can use it in your "vintage analog" camera. If you want to shoot digital, then use a digital camera.