Film is making me happy

[benny_spinoza]

The previous "film is making me depressed" thread was fun to read, and of course morphed somewhat into digital vs film.

But hey, why not extoll the virtues of film. What I love about negative film is the large range in scene brightness that can be

recorded. Attached is a low resolution jpeg of the Bourne house in Grass Valley, CA. (Called the Bourne "cottage".

Because if you were literally sitting on a gold mine like the Bourne family, you too would call such a grand house

a "cottage".) I wished I had recorded the scene brightness range. The sun was glaring on the stones of the house, and

there was deep shade on the grass due to the large trees. This was shot on Kodak Portra 160VC, and I guessed at the

exposure using sunny 16 rule. Taken hand-held with Hassy with 80mm lens, and scanned on Nikon 9000 scanner using

NikonScan. I really like using Digital DEE from Applied Science Fiction that is bundled with NikonScan. Now, certainly you

experts out there can improve on what I did. But without much work, I easily brought out the shadow detail and the highlight

detail in the stones. (Now, before you get started, I'm told that high end digital cameras and backs can capture as much

scene brightness range as color negative film when shot in RAW.) But hey, the cool thing about film is that for a few bucks

a roll and a decent camera (and a good scanner), one can indeed get some nice results from difficult subjects.

 

Please share examples you have of what film can do.<div></div>

[ronald_moravec1]

HDR would have done a better job and you would have not to have processed and scanned film.

 

But since you have a film scan, go back and rescan it twice, once for the bright leaves and once for the shadows and join them up as you would HDR and two digi files.

 

The Lights Right Studio-- digital darkroom tab- blended images. See how to do it on a nice video.

 

I have to agree, film is nice, but I have gotten lazy.

[jim_norman4]

Ronald,

Every tried HDR on a breezy day?

[benny_spinoza]

And here is another example, taken inside a museum lighted by flourescent light. It was vey bright outside. (NorthStar

mining museum, Grass Valley.) Again, using digital DEE on the Nikon 9000, I easily brought out the detail of the trees, etc.,

on the outside, and yet kept the information on the inside lighted by flourescent light. (My daughter is blurred because I shot

at a slow shutter speed. I rested my camera on some furniture.)

[benny_spinoza]

Dang...I meant to upload this one.<div></div>

[stephen_delear]

Hum some fun with film as of two days ago.<div></div>

[stephen_delear]

And this one<div></div>

[stephen_delear]

And one more shapes picture.<div></div>

[christopher_m]

I like the fact that I would need a huge Nikon D80 to take as good of pictures as my Bessa-R with some Velvia or Kodachrome.

<p>

You can't do time exposure with <a href=" exposure</a> or <a href=" as well with digital.

<p>

I also how I take more time to think about my shots, since they are limited. Something about black and white in digital does have the same artistic value. This is <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28882854@N00/2766528487/sizes/l/">one of my favorites.</a>

[andrew_gale]

Went on a four day vacation, shot at least fifteen rolls, spend tomorrow in the darkroom, film is making me happy.

[gladys_lara1]

I am a film ONLY photographer, because it makes happy!<div></div>

[gladys_lara1]

Here is another one, because it makes me happy!<div></div>

[larrydressler]

I am a Film Only photographer because you just can't fake real grain in Digital<div></div>

[randrew1]

Here's a picture that I would never capture on a good digital camera. The only way that I know of to get there is to wade in waist deep water through a tunnel as as it goes under a 150 ft high rail road embankment.

 

http://homepage.mac.com/randrews4/.Pictures/Waterfalls/040903LtlMlCrBlwRRUprFlsW.jpg<div></div>

[akochanowski]

film is good.

[akochanowski]

attachment<div></div>

[benny_spinoza]

Andy,

 

The color on that car looks great. How did you scan 160nc. Did you add saturation?

[akochanowski]

I scan on a KM Dimage 5400 II. I don't think I added any saturation, there was strong light and a metallic paint job on that car.

[silverscape]

Thank you, Benny! This was a BADLY needed topic! :) <p>

 

I posted these pictures on another forum earlier, so I hope it's not considered cross-posting. But these are from my

Argus C-44 and Kodak Gold 200 film. I took these about a week ago: <p>

 

<img src="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/church_august_7_2008_small.jpg"> <p>

 

<img src="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/meyers_road_august_7_2008_small.jpg"> <p>

 

<img src="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/sunflower_selective_focus_aug_7_200.jpg"><p>

 

Film definitely makes me happy. I love using manual film cameras that are WAY older than me and still work great!

I like using a real, all-metal camera. I love how the shutter <i>snaps</i> resolutely when you fire it, leaving no doubt

that you have just burned a frame of film and created a real, <i>permanent</i> photograph. No wimpy beep of a

digital camera. And I like how film gives much warmer colors with better tones. <p>

 

Yeah, let's talk about film in the <b>FILM</b> forum!

[jim_devlin]

I have to second Les's comment - there are few things quite so satisfying than shooting the optimum ISO film in a

good camera at the correct settings, with little room for error, and getting the exact image that you intended to. It's

a high.

 

Oh, and picking up a slide and viewing it - a real and tangible object that I can hold in my hand - makes me happy.

[antony_glaser]

I enjoy collecting Cameras, and building up on their respective accessories. Reading old reviews and

Photography magazines are often, my source of then consumer advice, and like a time machine, I alter my

technological aspirations and realisations, by up grading on designs and varying SLR functions - especially the

appreciation of differing metering types, and power sources. Average / Centre Weighted, Cds or Silicon etc. I

have been impressed with the M42 Pentax Spotmatic and have fast forward to the Nikon FM. Sandwiched between the

two has been the birth Mother of the compact SLR, the Olympus OM1, and the giant Nikkormat FT2, as the High

Priest of the Analogue System. Auto Exposure is a step too far, it foregoes the shutter dial, and I am cheated

that glorious user feel, that is akin to Manual control. For me Film, is about mechanical soundness and the love

of design of those 1970's Cameras. Built to last . Thanks

[benny_spinoza]

And another example of how easy it is to capture shadow and highlight detail in color negative film. No chimping at histograms. Just shoot, and then move on to the next thing. Kodak 400VC, 35mm film, el cheapo Nikon 50mm f1.8 D lens on el expensive Nikon F6.

[benny_spinoza]

Sorry. That ain't Colma. (Colma, CA, is where a bunch of cemeteries are.) The name escapes me, but the pic was shot in Marshall Gold Discovery part off of route 49 where Sutter mill was. The city nearby starts with a "C". Can't seem to remember it right now. Anyway... I digress. Film is good.

[s_j_goffredi]

For me part of the joy of photography is taking the picture and knowing its my skill that achieves the end result and not a computer, but also, the sheer joy of holding a great print in my hands always wins over looking at a computer screen.

I recently showed an album of photos of a trip I had just returned from to a friend and they couldn't stop commenting on how great it was to look at real pictures!

I don't have anything against digital per say, just that I prefer real pictures :)

[marc_bergman1]

"holding a great print in my hands always wins over looking at a computer screen. "

 

One day I hope that we will be able to make prints of digital images. Wouldn't it be great to hook up some device, let's call it a printer, to our computers and make a representation of what we see on the monitor?

 

We could even use color inks. If the manufactures would use pigment inks the prints would last a long time. Some people call me a dreamer but I think it could happen in my lifetime.