I hear film singing... do you?

<p>In another thread, Marc Williams wrote</p>

 

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<p><em>My new M7 comes today. I've missed it dearly. I found a new lab and can't wait to try it. I am sick to death of warming my bum in front of a computer and chimping every shot on the M8. I realized that I needed to return to what made my wedding photography unique for my clients ... it was the way one thinks and reacts with a rangefinder camera, specifically a film M ... not that the camera makes the photographer ... but it DID change when I moved away from using film Ms. So, in the end it is MY evaluation of what works for me ... or not.</em></p>

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<p>This really struck me because in the last week I've put my M8 in the closet and have been running around with the M2 and Noctilux shooting film. I started doing this for no reason I could clearly identify, but then I read <a href="http://menuez.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/the-zen-of-film-vs-digital-gratification/">this</a> .<a href="http://menuez.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/the-zen-of-film-vs-digital-gratification/" target="_blank"></a></p>

<p>Anyone else airing out the film bodies these days?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>You bet.</p>

<p>http://tokyocamerastyle.com/</p>

 

<p>I love film(s). Hate scanning.</p>

<p>I bought an M8.2 to replace the tedium and mess and expense of film and darkroom. Takes the same sort of images as the M7, with some nice convenient features that film can't provide. I couldn't disagree more with the origanal post. To each his own, but the car has definitely replaced the horse.</p>

<p>I don't want to get into a film vs. digital discussion - I love them both. However, I did just go on a trip to Boston, and shot two full days with my M4-P and an old Agfa folder. I had a total blast! And, the results are certainly on par with what I'd have brought home with my D700.<br>

<br /> So, yes, I am airing out those film bodies...<br /> <br /> Reed</p>

<p>Same here. Out of curiosity I loaded my M2 and went out with a handleld meter and had a blast. Not giving up the M8, but it reminded me how to use the M8 as intended with less chimping. I'll be going back and forth more often now.</p>

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<p>I couldn't disagree more with the origanal post. To each his own, but the car has definitely replaced the horse.</p>

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<p>I think it's more like fast food has replaced home made bread. What a loss for those who go with the convenience.</p>

<p>in b&w, digital still can't compete with film (though it's getting close)<br>

of course film has other disavantages... it's up to each of us to decide</p>

<p>To be clear, I don't think the M8 is going to stay in the closet for long, nor am I at all interested in film "versus" digital debates.</p>

<p>I am interested in whether people are using both, and what their motivations and experiences are.</p>

<p>My reasons for using both these days are best summed up here:</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/columns/joshroot/filmtown/</p>

<p>"I am interested in whether people are using both, and what their motivations and experiences are."</p>

<p>I'm using film in the SL and digital with the DMR. I use the film just so I can use the SL, and the DMR for image quality. I also have both horses and trucks (no cars).</p>

<p>Just got back from a trip to NY and shot about 12 GB w/M8 and a dozen rolls with M7. I'd usually start out with the M7 in the earlier part of the day, then switch to M8 when I got the itch to see some results. Shooting with a film cam feels like dropping coins in a bank that you're going to slowly withdraw later. When I started scanning some negs last night, the images at first seemed to have a look from a time past, but in the end photos from either camera are great in their own way and I think it widens my scope and enjoyment to shoot both. With the usual time delay for seeing pics from film I'm much more likely to forget having shot a particular scene at all... it's kind of surreal and cool that way.</p>

I got a digital behemoth (Nikon D700) only to use it very intensively for two months. Then, I dusted off my Nikon film

bodies and put film in my M-cameras. It's fun!

<p>I really enjoyed reading Bob's linked article and that's not the first article I've read lately about a longtime pro photog pining for the things that were given up with film photogrpahy in exchange for digital convenience / necessity.</p>

<p>I'm not a full time pro, but have been at this for quite a few years now. I have been, and I'm sure always will be, a staid practitioner and advocate of analogue B&W film photography. At least for as long as film lasts and is available and I'm not too worried at this point. Nevertheless, either as a hedge against the future, or just to have some smattering of current technology in my repertoire, I do carry a Canon G10 around with me alongside my Leica M6 or Nikon FE2 and have been using it more and more lately. Not because I prefer it's convenience and 'auto everything' demeanor, and not because I prefer the instant gratification of the LCD. I use it (when I do) only because I feel like I should. Go figure.</p>

<p>Now, as I read the article linked by the OP, I can put my finger on what it is that keeps me shooting film. Yeah, it's a pain to handle and process and often heartbreaking when I thought I had the shot only to find out days later that I didn't, but film is REAL. When I pull out the G10, I find myself basically firing mindlessly away at everything that looks like it might even have the opportunity for a photograph, rather than thinking about whether there's actually one there. To me, that alone devalues every image I make with that camera and even the passable ones seem to me to be fleeting and disposable. To replace the G10 with a more substantial DSLR seems like it would only serve to compound the problem. There's no risk in tripping the shutter on a digital camera. There's no real reason to think, or make a conscious decision whether or not to go for that shot. It's a complete freebie. I have room on my card for 1200 more just like it and if I need more room then that, I'll just delete a couple hundered images and be ready to start firing away again.</p>

<p>I have on my wall, one image that was made on film, then scanned and inkjet printed and I love it. It's one of my favorite images. I no longer have the negative and only have one little low res file that came from the lab that processed the film. I will never be able to see what that image could have been, rendered in pure silver, directly from a negative on fiber based paper. And yeah, there's a difference! The hard reality that this one "digital" image will never see reproduction in it's truest and most beautiful form, is what keeps me true to film and the processes that go with it.</p>

<p>I realize that my post is fast turning into a digital v. film fire starter, and I have no intention to do that. I really do understand that there are many legitimate reasons to shoot and practice digital photography, not the least of which may be a client - upon whom you depend for a paycheck - demanding it.</p>

<p>Fortunately for me, and I think for a lot of readers here as well, I'm not dependent on the whims of clients, or on staying competitive in a competitive market. I'm in it for me. I have time. I can do it the way I want and for me, that means staying true to film and using digital only when it truly is the best tool for the job. Like posting a picture of something for sale on the internet.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Both are good and just widen the pallate available. Medium Format rocks as well w/film, but then, I also love using the GRD2, really a RF at heart.</p>

<p>I only use film if I'm using medium or large format equipment. Otherwise, I use an M8 and get far better results than I ever got from 35mm film. I really can't relate to people who have a "blast" using equipment - I just don't care about the equipment use experience. Cameras are tools to me, in about the same category as a wrench. I'm after the end result, an interesting image - the camera is a tool to get that image. In fact, I'd love to have a way to eliminate using a camera completely and somehow get the image I'm seeing onto a recording medium directly from my brain.</p>

<p>I also can't relate to the people who claim, that digital makes them take too many photographs...really? If that's true, then it's not a technology problem, but a lack of self discipline in selecting and interacting with subject matter. I don't take any more photographs with the M8 than I did using film. Every subject is considered as an individual image and evaluated as to how to make an interesting image prior to ever using the camera. This even includes spontaneous shooting like street photography where the exposure is preset and the lens is set at a hyperfocal distance. All planned in advance so all I have to do is frame and press the shutter.</p><div></div>

<p>I get nostalgic for film sometimes. I was just on a two-week trip shooting a project with my M8's. The whole time I was wishing I was shooting film, for various reasons. I still have my film bodies and plan to use them more.<br>

But when I got home I made some 12x18in prints from the M8, and I was looking at some of my M6 prints with Tri-x, and it's an interesting comparison. While I like the grain and texture of film, the M8 files were way cleaner, but without being clinical or *too* perfect as digital sometimes can be. So now I'm kind of glad I shot digital on my trip...</p>

<p> I never did put my M's away...even the first M3 I bought way back when. My photography seems to have evolved over the past decade as a two pronged compulsion, one the accurate documentation of wildlife (digital) and the other film photography. I will never let go of my darkroom, which has been and continues to be a great source of satisfaction when the urge for working with film hits me, but one can't discount the advantages of digital when it comes to wildlife.</p>

<p>"the car has definitely replaced the horse"<br>

Meataphor for metaphor do you mean "the take-away food has replaced the delicious meal" cos it's faster?</p>

<p>I love the way film scans. M6 + Summicron 90/2/</p>

<p><a title="M6+Motor-6-C by Alex Es, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/3009511797_10f11bc03e_b.jpg" alt="M6+Motor-6-C" width="1024" height="667" /></a></p>

<p>I especially love this scan from Fuji ISO 800 film. (Actually shot with a Canon EF + 85/1.2L. Shhhh....)</p>

<p><a title="Canon EF + 85/1.2L by Alex Es, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3396/3440958534_bce150b10f_b.jpg" alt="Canon EF + 85/1.2L" width="1024" height="675" /></a></p>

<p>I`m currently shooting a lot digital but also desperately looking for a LS-9000 <em>at a reasonable price</em>. Lately I`m lacking free time, digital is as fast and convenient that I`m starting to be forced to hang my film cameras... I need to mix both worlds and the only way is to shoot film and scan to have some digital files for fast production. Film is not singing me, it`s shouting me!<br />BTW, <i>please Nikon send a container full of this machines to B&H, loaded with working software for Mac...</i></p>

<p>I keep using my Nikon d90 daily but I find myself using my trusty MP more and more - also daily:)</p>

<p>This from a book I saw recently: "...simply click and keep clicking.. The more photos I take, the more chance I have of taking a few that really captivate me." I suppose that could apply to film as well as digital, but the implication is that it really doesn't matter with digital, just eliminate what you don't like or sort it all out on the computer later on. With film, you do have to take more care -- or it will cost you.<br>

Each to their own, but I do like using certain equipment over others. Digital is handy and suitable for all kinds of purposes, but for me, pictures shot on film -- especially transparencies -- have real satisfaction. </p>

<p>I shoot film all the time. Especially with travel, until a FF camera the size of a M6 system is developed, there's no substitute. I use the 110-degree VC 15 a lot, and those shots make me money. I have the e-6 souped in strips, quickly pick 10 to scan, load 'em up and I'm done.<br>

Digital is great, but is just another format to me, not a replacement.</p>