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Enough with the "film is dead" threads


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Has anyone seen any film negatives from 1889-1950 lately? Nope, because the film base was cellulose nitrate, which deteriorated over time (or worse, self combusted.) Fortunately the prints survived.

 

Although nobody ever accused a CD of self combustion, CDs do deteriorate and they are easily destroyed by heat. Hard drives can be destroyed with a magnet. Formats and storage media will change. Example: Kodak's FinePix standard is already kaput.

 

Until someone invents a permanent, long term storage method for digital images (probably won't happen), I'll keep shooting b&w film and color digital side by side.

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<<Until someone invents a permanent, long term storage method for digital images (probably won't happen), I'll keep shooting b&w film and color digital side by side.>>

 

So then you're saying you feel your color work is expendable but your B&W work is worth saving?

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<i>A TV interviewer stops a heavily-laden middle-aged housewife in the street.<br><br>

Interviewer</i>: Excuse me, madam, we're conducting a survey on "Who manages the household". Could you answer a few questions?<br><br>

<i>Housewife (putting down shopping bags)</i>: If you're quick, only me husband's waitin' for his tea.<br><br>

<i>Interviewer</i>: Ah, you're married then?<br><br>

<i>Housewife</i>: Didn't I just say so?<br><br>

<i>Interviewer</i>: Yes, yes indeed. May I ask, madam, who makes the really important decisions in your household?<br><br>

<i>Housewife</i>: Well, now, that'd be me husband.<br><br>

<i>Interviewer</i>: I see. What sort of decisions do you make, then?<br><br>

<i>Housewife</i>: Well, now, there's the shoppin' . . . then there's what house we live in, what school the kiddies should go to, where we'll go for vacation, that sort o' thing.<br><br>

<i>Interviewer</i>: I see . . . actually, those seem quite important decisions to me. So, tell me, what are the really important decisions your husband makes?<br><br>

<i>Housewife</i>: Ah, now, he decides how many more years film'll be available, whether Leica should make a digital back for the M, that sort o' thing."<br><br>

<i>Interviewer</i>: Good grief! He's not in the dental profession, by any chance, is he?<br><br>

<i>Housewife</i>: Lor' bless ye, no, sir. Sure, he wouldn't hurt a fly.

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Jay, you replied, "So then you're saying you feel your color work is expendable but your B&W work is worth saving?"

 

No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm back to shooting film b&w along side digital color because properly processed b&w negatives and prints will probably last 200 years or more, just sitting in a box in the closet. Digital images will require constant maintenance and conversion to new storage formats, thus will probably be lost over time.

 

I'm not an HCB. All I do is take portraits of my family. I recently inherited family photos from the 1860's. I want my photos to last that long, too. That's all I'm after.

 

Digital is vastly superior to film when it comes to the ease and convenience of the process itself. With my D1x, Photoshop, and Epson 1280, I can make 12x18 prints that are stunning. And for all practical purposes, the quality is about the same as a film print.

 

These digitally produced prints will probably last no longer than a color print made by film processes. Maybe even less. But there's little I can do about it. So I shoot b&w, too, using film cameras.

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