worth it?

<p>this is an akward question, ive recenly gotten ahold of a canon 2000 film camera and if you know this camera, its pretty much automatic, and i wont be processing my own pictures. but i wanted to confine myself to film for a while, and a certain project. the question is, is does film really have a better quality than digi(so ive heard) and is it even worth putting the digital away for a while if im not going to expierence anything different but spending on money to get my pictures developed</p>

<p>John, this is a big question, and this text box looks so small<g>. I would say you really need a film scanner if you're going to get the most out of film. Otherwise, you probably will get better prints from digital images.</p>

<p>not trying to be a jerk, but why not spend a few bucks on film and processing to find out for yourself,</p>

<p>In order to experience something different, you have to get away from the supermarket type film. Superia is a nice enough film but really it's not going to give you much of a different experience save for the paying to get it developed. If you're going to do this, I would suggest you look into:<br>

1) Shooting slide film. A good slide on a light table looks jaw droppingly awesome<br>

2) Shooting black and white & developing yourself. That's great fun and really cheap to do, especially if you use bulk rolls of film and develop yourself. Not hard to get started developing and you don't need a darkroom.<br>

3) Try some professional film like the Kodak Portra range. They can look fantastic, quite a different look to digital.<br>

4) Scanning yourself - this is where the Superia comes into it's own - you can recover highlights much more effectively than with digital, I've found.</p>

<p>Otherwise you might as well stick to digital because mindlessly shoving cheap film through won't be a thrilling experience</p>

<p>It's hard to say if you will like film photography or not. Very different then digital from the process of capture to the print. But give it a try and see if it takes hold. Probably the least satisfying method is having your pictures processed for you at a mini lab. However like anything of worth it runs into some spending to acquire the necessary equipment and it takes time to develop a system that will work for you. I cannot speak for everyone but I think the average hobbyist is probably working in a darkroom and/or using a film scanner. Good luck.</p>

<p>Film is not "better" than digital. Digital is not "better" than film. Both have a distinct look and feel to them, and it's up to you to decide which you prefer. If you really want to see the difference between film and digital, there are a few films which accentuate the positives of film.</p>

<p><strong>Color Negative Films--</strong> These films can be processed at any minilab, but a pro lab will deliver better results</p>

<ul>

<li>Kodak Ektar 100: Fine-grained, high-saturation. Kodak's newest offering, and the newest film introduced for several years. </li>

<li>Kodak Portra 400NC: A 400-speed film with low saturation. Good for portraiture and contrasty scenes. </li>

<li>Kodak Portra 400VC: A 400-speed film with moderate saturation. Good for outdoor portraiture, or nature photography. </li>

<li>Kodak Portra 800: Good when you need an extra boost in speed. </li>

</ul>

<p><strong><br /> </strong><br>

<strong>Slide Films</strong> --These cannot be processed in a minilab, and need a lab that handles E-6 processing, unless otherwise noted.</p>

 

<ul>

<li>Fuji Velvia 50: A fine-grained, very high saturation slide film. One of the most popular slide films out there. Good for landscapes, bad for portraits. </li>

<li>Kodak Kodachrome 64: One of the sharpest films on the market. Delivers good skintones and reds. This film has been discontinued, so pick a roll up while you can. Also note that this film uses the K-14 process, and can only be processed by Dwayne's Photo in KS. </li>

<li>Kodak Elite Chrome 100: A good all-around slide film. Moderate saturation, good contrast, fine grain. It also has a slight warming effect to compensate for overcast conditions. </li>

<li>Fuji Provia 400X: Your best option for high-speed slide film. This film has surprisingly fine grain for a 400 speed film, and people have "push-processed" it up to E.I. 3200. </li>

</ul>

<p>I just hope this hasn't confused you more than you were before.</p>

<p>Nick</p>

 

<p>well thanx alot guys. im looking into what it takes to develope your own film, to me it just sounds like the expierence would be a more personal attatchment to my photos, i dont know. but thanx again</p>

<p>I have several film cameras and I love to use them. But, I find that the problem with shooting film these days is that very, very few labs do optical enlarging any more.</p>

<p>Sure, you can take your film to Costco or Walmart and have it developed and scanned onto a CD. But that scanning process is usually not of extremely high quality, so many people looked at the scanned image and judge film to be lousy. Its not the film. Its the 6Mpixel scan (if you're lucky) that they provide.</p>

<p>If you find a lab that will do printing with an enlarger, rather than a scanner, you'll pay an arm and a leg. Really high quality scanning is expensive, too.</p>

<p>Paul Noble</p>