<strong>A case for conventional film process and cameras</strong><br>
Digital anyone? SURE you bet! Convenience, instant results and superb image quality gain popular acceptance. New film cameras are nearly non-existent. Film is going the way of the horse & buggy. Now is the time to take a practical evaluation and seek to preserve the process.<br>
Let’s start by stating a simple truism … less is more. More widgets and exotic features, more things to go awry. I have film cameras that are fully operational from the 1940s, 50s & 60s. Try to convince me, the plastic bodied, all electronic Super Pixel SPII will be a working tool in even a third of that time. Simple truth … a large percent of electronics support peters out in 5 years or less.<br>
Then there is the economics, high mega-pixel cameras cost in the thousands of dollars. With film being ignored by the masses, you can purchase a pre-owned pro-oriented film camera for a few hundred dollars. Go on the internet and check out the availability and abundance of truly fine precision machinery, for yourself.<br>
KEH Camera "A great source for pre-owned cameras / Nikon F to F4, some with warranty … $350.00 or thereabouts<br>
Rolleiflex & Mamiya TLRs … $250.00<br>
4 x 5 Large format … $250 and up … even a premier brand Linhof<br>
Heck, savor the elegance of an old Kodak’s made in West Germany in the 50s and 60s or the solid feel and panache of a legendary LEICA.<br>
With the proliferation of all electronic cameras the availability of certain batteries, particularly propriety single model designs can be uncertain, obsolete batteries are death your older equipment.<br>
With electronics come rapid innovation and the likelihood in time, the storage media may not be supported. Consider 8 tracks, reel to reel tapes, VHS, BETA and conventional recordings 45s & 78s to name a few examples. The earliest photos date from the first quarter of the 19<sup>th</sup> century, will the digital image of Granddad even exist?<br>
Film still has greater bang for the buck, superb resolution, greater latitude and a depth rarely reached via the digital process. Film has permanence that does not change with technology advances; a photo of Lincoln is as viable today as it was 150 years back. How much history will be lost as the technology for some digital images can no longer be supported?<br>
Early motion pictures are the classic preservation of our past; the likes of Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin would be a vague memory. Film images and digital scans, while not identical to full digital, they do allow some of the convenience of digital manipulation and allow the processes to co-exist.<br>
Dust off that old reliable Canon, Nikon and Leica and run a few rolls of Kodak and Fuji and savor this old magical process.<br>
Any still use their old Nikon Film Cameras
in Nikon
Posted
<p>Film & Film Cameras <br>
<strong>A case for conventional film process and cameras</strong><br>
Digital anyone? SURE you bet! Convenience, instant results and superb image quality gain popular acceptance. New film cameras are nearly non-existent. Film is going the way of the horse & buggy. Now is the time to take a practical evaluation and seek to preserve the process.<br>
Let’s start by stating a simple truism … less is more. More widgets and exotic features, more things to go awry. I have film cameras that are fully operational from the 1940s, 50s & 60s. Try to convince me, the plastic bodied, all electronic Super Pixel SPII will be a working tool in even a third of that time. Simple truth … a large percent of electronics support peters out in 5 years or less.<br>
Then there is the economics, high mega-pixel cameras cost in the thousands of dollars. With film being ignored by the masses, you can purchase a pre-owned pro-oriented film camera for a few hundred dollars. Go on the internet and check out the availability and abundance of truly fine precision machinery, for yourself.<br>
KEH Camera "A great source for pre-owned cameras / Nikon F to F4, some with warranty … $350.00 or thereabouts<br>
Rolleiflex & Mamiya TLRs … $250.00<br>
4 x 5 Large format … $250 and up … even a premier brand Linhof<br>
Heck, savor the elegance of an old Kodak’s made in West Germany in the 50s and 60s or the solid feel and panache of a legendary LEICA.<br>
With the proliferation of all electronic cameras the availability of certain batteries, particularly propriety single model designs can be uncertain, obsolete batteries are death your older equipment.<br>
With electronics come rapid innovation and the likelihood in time, the storage media may not be supported. Consider 8 tracks, reel to reel tapes, VHS, BETA and conventional recordings 45s & 78s to name a few examples. The earliest photos date from the first quarter of the 19<sup>th</sup> century, will the digital image of Granddad even exist?<br>
Film still has greater bang for the buck, superb resolution, greater latitude and a depth rarely reached via the digital process. Film has permanence that does not change with technology advances; a photo of Lincoln is as viable today as it was 150 years back. How much history will be lost as the technology for some digital images can no longer be supported?<br>
Early motion pictures are the classic preservation of our past; the likes of Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin would be a vague memory. Film images and digital scans, while not identical to full digital, they do allow some of the convenience of digital manipulation and allow the processes to co-exist.<br>
Dust off that old reliable Canon, Nikon and Leica and run a few rolls of Kodak and Fuji and savor this old magical process.<br>
KEEP FILM ALIVE …<br>
Ray Shine</p>