Film vs Digital
Film is ace, digital is ace. Here’s why I like both:
Film
- Loads of dynamic range
- Photos “look good” without any fiddling
- Small bodies available
- Loads of sexy lenses to play around with
- Manual film bodies look “old” and don’t scare people away * Get a whole new look by buying a different type of film (much cheaper than a new DSLR/sensor)
- Retro and cool; RESPECT!
- Awesome viewfinders
Digital
- Cheap for amateurs: buy a body and lens and you need not pay for film or processing costs
- Shoot lots, shoot often
- No more frantic lunchbreaks dropping film off for processing
- Instant review, histograms, highlight detection, etc.
- Date/time and camera settings available for review
- Photoshopping
- Auto-focus (okay, so we have AF film bodies, but my review is about old school film bodies)
There are surely a whole pile more things too. But I have to admit that I increasingly consider that the size and brightness of a viewfinder is one of the most important things going; DSLRs are getting better (especially 35FF bodies), but there still isn’t anything that matches an OM-4. Another must-have is dynamic range: film provides it, highlights, shadows, mid-tones. Beautiful.
Of course in the DSLR camp we have fast auto-focus which is really great for candid shots (pity that the body is so damn big and obvious).
I just don’t know which camp I want to be in!
Tags: Photography