froyd
Mentor
Jeepers! My previous post dd not look so long when I typed it in. Sorry!
I think I confused matters by mentioning specific camera models. That's something I can ponder later, once I decide which way to go...but it seems that the overwhelming majority here feels that scanning would not be a good way to go in my circumstances.
I think I confused matters by mentioning specific camera models. That's something I can ponder later, once I decide which way to go...but it seems that the overwhelming majority here feels that scanning would not be a good way to go in my circumstances.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Can't really say what's going to make it for you. Here's a succinct synopsis of what I find wandering in a similar marsh of weeds. BTW, remember that these are my opinions ... based on having worked with film cameras to 99% until 2002, then almost entirely digital cameras until 2011, and now working with a mix of both.
- Film + Scanner to Lightroom and digital printing works well. It is time consuming and expensive. I particularly like working it with 6x6 format film, but 35mm, 24x24mm, and Minox submini all give me a giggle. I haven't bothered to do any color film work in a very long while, should probably give some a try. But most of what I love in film is more easily approached with B&W film where the constraints of the recording medium, and its so apparent defects, affect the visual language so strongly.
- Digital capture with anything modern (2006 and later DSLR, M8, whatever, some exceptions to cameras as far back as 2004) produces on average the same or better quality than the best of 35mm film (the top end rivals medium format film on technical quality), ups your output by a factor of ten at zero additional cost, and is far more manipulable in image processing. Doing it well is very nearly as time consuming as doing the film and scanner routine, but in different ways as you are almost inevitably working with 10x the number of exposures to begin with and have to do some editing at very least on all of them even to just see what you have.
I love both. This weekend I've been carrying two cameras (very rare for me): the Olympus Pen E-PL1 fitted with Skink pinhole and the Voigtländer Perkeo II. I made 28 exposures with the Pen, I'm now well into the editing process. I've made 9 exposure with the Perkeo ... gotta finish the roll, process it, scan it, and start editing yet.
When i started to "simplify" my gear from the pro-grade DSLR system that I now longer wanted (because I stopped doing the work that I needed a pro-grade DSLR system for...), things got more complicated. What I've ended up with ...
- a small host of 6x6 film cameras : three folders and an SWC
- a little FourThirds SLR kit with three lenses
- a little Nikon F kit with four lenses
- a little Micro-FourThirds kit
- a couple of Robots
- my favorite old 35mm compacts
- my still evergreen Minox EC, C, IIIS
- a big bunch of Leica M-bayonet lenses (10)
- four M-bayonet bodies, 2 digital and 2 film
- a Polaroid SX-70
- a flatbed scanner and two film scanners
- a compact fixed lens APS-C digital camera
All do a different thing for me.
If I were to pare it all down to just two bodies and a set of lenses, the reality is that I'd get more great photos out of keeping the Ricoh GXR and Leica M9 with three lenses (and pinhole kit) than out of all the rest put together. (I'd keep the Hassy SWC too, I'll not sell that one again.) But I'd miss the others, and luckily the need to pare things down to that point doesn't exist.
So pick and choose, find something you like, buy it and get on with making photos. But don't worry about that decision being final. It's all just equipment. You can buy it and sell it, keep fettling down to what really works for you, for as long as you want.
If you bond with a particular camera and find you don't use anything else, well, then sell everything else. That's simplification.
G
- Film + Scanner to Lightroom and digital printing works well. It is time consuming and expensive. I particularly like working it with 6x6 format film, but 35mm, 24x24mm, and Minox submini all give me a giggle. I haven't bothered to do any color film work in a very long while, should probably give some a try. But most of what I love in film is more easily approached with B&W film where the constraints of the recording medium, and its so apparent defects, affect the visual language so strongly.
- Digital capture with anything modern (2006 and later DSLR, M8, whatever, some exceptions to cameras as far back as 2004) produces on average the same or better quality than the best of 35mm film (the top end rivals medium format film on technical quality), ups your output by a factor of ten at zero additional cost, and is far more manipulable in image processing. Doing it well is very nearly as time consuming as doing the film and scanner routine, but in different ways as you are almost inevitably working with 10x the number of exposures to begin with and have to do some editing at very least on all of them even to just see what you have.
I love both. This weekend I've been carrying two cameras (very rare for me): the Olympus Pen E-PL1 fitted with Skink pinhole and the Voigtländer Perkeo II. I made 28 exposures with the Pen, I'm now well into the editing process. I've made 9 exposure with the Perkeo ... gotta finish the roll, process it, scan it, and start editing yet.
When i started to "simplify" my gear from the pro-grade DSLR system that I now longer wanted (because I stopped doing the work that I needed a pro-grade DSLR system for...), things got more complicated. What I've ended up with ...
- a small host of 6x6 film cameras : three folders and an SWC
- a little FourThirds SLR kit with three lenses
- a little Nikon F kit with four lenses
- a little Micro-FourThirds kit
- a couple of Robots
- my favorite old 35mm compacts
- my still evergreen Minox EC, C, IIIS
- a big bunch of Leica M-bayonet lenses (10)
- four M-bayonet bodies, 2 digital and 2 film
- a Polaroid SX-70
- a flatbed scanner and two film scanners
- a compact fixed lens APS-C digital camera
All do a different thing for me.
If I were to pare it all down to just two bodies and a set of lenses, the reality is that I'd get more great photos out of keeping the Ricoh GXR and Leica M9 with three lenses (and pinhole kit) than out of all the rest put together. (I'd keep the Hassy SWC too, I'll not sell that one again.) But I'd miss the others, and luckily the need to pare things down to that point doesn't exist.
So pick and choose, find something you like, buy it and get on with making photos. But don't worry about that decision being final. It's all just equipment. You can buy it and sell it, keep fettling down to what really works for you, for as long as you want.
If you bond with a particular camera and find you don't use anything else, well, then sell everything else. That's simplification.
G
froyd
Mentor
Thank Godfrey, as you point out, there are advantages to both approaches. That's why I'm having a hard tome deciding....so for the time being I'll play ostrich and bury my head in the sand.
Today Raid posted about Sam Club stopping film processing, and my Costco store is one of the few remaining that still handles film, so I'm sure the end is near for $4.99 process and scan. But as my wife pointed out last night as she patiently listened to what she calls my "metaphysical dilemmas", the end is not here yet. And when it comes there'll be options, perhaps many more so than are available today (Plustek 120 at $1000? M9s at $3000? ...maybe even an Epson R-D2 )
I'll enjoy my current workflow a little longer and see what happens when my source of cheap scans goes away or decreases its quality.
Thanks to all for letting me unburden my mind!
Today Raid posted about Sam Club stopping film processing, and my Costco store is one of the few remaining that still handles film, so I'm sure the end is near for $4.99 process and scan. But as my wife pointed out last night as she patiently listened to what she calls my "metaphysical dilemmas", the end is not here yet. And when it comes there'll be options, perhaps many more so than are available today (Plustek 120 at $1000? M9s at $3000? ...maybe even an Epson R-D2
)I'll enjoy my current workflow a little longer and see what happens when my source of cheap scans goes away or decreases its quality.
Thanks to all for letting me unburden my mind!
PatrickT
New Rangefinder User
Here's the thing with buying used gear (M8, M6, etc). You can purchase it, try it and sell it again for roughly the same price as you paid for it (minus the cost of shipping). So long as you're smart about the price you pay for them and the price at which you sell your current gear, there's really no harm in trying some of these options out.
If you buy a used M8 now and decide in 3 months that you don't like it, you more than likely won't lose much (if any) money on it.
Since you're still going to have cameras that will let you fill the film side of things, I'd try a digital camera. I shoot both...digital (Canon 6D + X100) and film (6x6 - 6x9). In my experience...scanning is a real pain in the ass, especially for 35mm, to the point where I have given up on it as not being worth it. If I really want the 35mm film look, I can mimic it pretty easily using my DSLR or X100 if I want to. However, the benefits of medium format are worth it (detail, depth of field, etc).
Aside from the M8, you might consider a Fuji X-Pro1 (if you're not stuck on rangefinder focusing). It's a fantastic camera with many of the same benefits that a digital Leica gets you.
Just food for thought. If it were me (and it was a while ago)...I'd ditch the Contax and Leica and get something digital. It will save you time and you might enjoy it just as well. And if you don't, you can always sell it again.
If you buy a used M8 now and decide in 3 months that you don't like it, you more than likely won't lose much (if any) money on it.
Since you're still going to have cameras that will let you fill the film side of things, I'd try a digital camera. I shoot both...digital (Canon 6D + X100) and film (6x6 - 6x9). In my experience...scanning is a real pain in the ass, especially for 35mm, to the point where I have given up on it as not being worth it. If I really want the 35mm film look, I can mimic it pretty easily using my DSLR or X100 if I want to. However, the benefits of medium format are worth it (detail, depth of field, etc).
Aside from the M8, you might consider a Fuji X-Pro1 (if you're not stuck on rangefinder focusing). It's a fantastic camera with many of the same benefits that a digital Leica gets you.
Just food for thought. If it were me (and it was a while ago)...I'd ditch the Contax and Leica and get something digital. It will save you time and you might enjoy it just as well. And if you don't, you can always sell it again.
froyd
Mentor
Patrick - great advice, but... I have sticky fingers! Whatever enters my house never leaves!
- The Nikon was gonna go when the Bessa arrive...never happened. What? Give away my first camera?
- The Leica was going to replace the Contax, but how could I even consider to sell those splendid lenses?
- The Leica annoyed me to to no end when it arrived and made long for the old Bessa...but now we are best pals and I would not kick an old friend out the door.
And so it goes... this time I'll purge first and buy later, that way I won't be tempted to hang on to "my precious".