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Film Cameras

Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

e6filmuser
 
Posts: 12

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Tue Dec 02, 2008 2:36 pm


softix wrote:if we get 100 films , we only can capture 100 pictures only..


Anyone that incompetent would not do much better with digital!

For every 100 films I get at least 3,600 pictures. Of those, around 1,000 are at least good.

snapperphil
 
Posts: 1

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:53 pm


Film is still alive and kicking!! Period!
Many of thetop fashion houses STILL prefer film over digital for their fashion images. Film has much more depth than digital will ever have.
For UK suppliers try the likes of Silverprint, 7 day shop, retro photographic etc or even ebay (there is tons of film for sale on ebay).
Kodak are cutting back on their range but still provide a great range of films from 35 mm to large format. Fuji is very strong producing some of the best colour emulsions available on the planet, Ilford are holding on to their corner of the black and white market having established emulsions like FP4, HP5 etc. Ilford's popular films are available in most formats frm 35mm, through medium format right up to ultra large formats.
Even the 'old' panchromatic emulsions (those used in the fifties) are making a comeback purely for their qualities.

For processing, I d&p my own black and white but colour work (negs & slides) go to either lab35, the darkroom or colab / onevision.

My advice? Get it on! Get that film loaded and have FUN!

It is true that with digital you dont have the worry of the cost of processing etc but in a way that i sone way digital has cut its own throat - its too easy to delete images.
There is one other thing we all forget. The thrill of having to wait for the film to be developed to see the image you have made (or not).

1 roll of 135/36 will give you 36 shots - NOT 1 or 2. Out of those 36 you should be looking at about ten good shots.

A famous photographer wrote:
"The machine gun approach to photography is not conducive to quality imagery"

Slow down, take a bit more time and get a worthwhile image in the bag!

madlights
 
Posts: 914

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Tue Dec 16, 2008 4:17 am


Tonight: got out my old film cameras. I took 3 rolls of just snaps to get the "feel" again. It felt a bit weird, having to actually do something like set Fstops and focus and figure GN/distance :D . I'd forgotten how hard it was to focus manually on moving people. I know these shots will be awful...but made a person feel like they were...it's hard to explain. It felt really good. Will feel even better when I'm able to get out and shoot. There's a place here develops color negatives for 2.99. I'm getting a changing bag for B+W and try and use my scanner's negative adapter. There is just something different about film at least for me.. don't know if it's more human, or more singular or what about it. I'm not knocking digital...still will shoot it. It's handy, it's cheap after the equipment is bought. Seen some great digital stuff, here and elsewhere. But with film, when you sort of plan a shot and think about it, and wait to see how it turns out, and 'sometimes' it does...well all you people know what I mean, and I'd forgotten that about film.

jrhudson
 
Posts: 63

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Sat Dec 27, 2008 6:17 am


Having pangs from departing with a great film camera, Nikon's Nikkormat, I bought a replacement last week. I shot a roll of Ektrachrome and took the same pic's with my digital Nikon D40x, haven't got them back yet though. I placed a lot of film images taken with my original Nikkormat here. Had fantastic success with it. Personally, I am interested in purchasing a Mamyia 7ii (120/220 6x7 film camera) after doing quite a bit of research. For an advanced amateur budget, it appears digital has not surpassed medium and large-format film yet in quality. I am not abandoning digital, quite the contrary, but there is apparantly still a place for film, though probably not at the 35mm level which appears to have been outdone by digital for convenience, quality, and cost.

An Ansel Adams quote: "I eagerly await new concepts and processes. I believe that the electronic image will be the next major advance. Such systems will have their own inherent and inescapable structural characteristics, and the artist and functional practioner will again strive to comprehend and control them"- Ansel Adams, March 1981, "The Negative", Introduction, page xiii. He was the master landscape photographer of our time.

J. R.

jayavant
 
Posts: 1

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:44 am


living and working abroad and without a darkroom for most of the 90's and 00's i resorted to digital for a while, but now i am back in a relatively stable location i gave all the digi-gear away and returned to film. mostly i shoot large format, but carry a rolleiflex as well. film is growing these days in asia. go into a secondhand camera shop in japan or korea and it is packed with young people looking especially at medium format gear.

e6filmuser
 
Posts: 12

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:29 pm


tonymcgartland wrote: I look forward to taking some nice photographs and using the post office again to snail mail my stuff off to Peak Imaging!


This suggests that you are in the UK. If so, your friend is 7dayshop.com for cheap film, batteries, etc., free of VAT.

agripix
 
Posts: 50

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:10 pm


"Everything old is new again"
I have been, and am, a film user. From Minox and 110 through 126, 127, 620, 120, and 4x5. Plus Polaroid. I notice more and more folks
asking me about film, about developing, about darkroom ... there is definitely a resurgence of interest -
'retro' is trendy. But people have now realized that photography can exist at many levels, happily. Like
being on the water. Kayak, sailboat, power boat, cruiser - to each his own enjoyment. The sailor will tell
you that working the wind is TRUE 'boating'. The power boater will disagree. The kayaker will say he is
'in touch' with the elements. And so, with photography.

Spend a few minutes watching and listening to John Sexton - one of the masters of his profession, at the
Kodak (free) webcast site http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/pressCe ... path=13644
and he will explain about the 'thrill' of film and the darkroom, even after all these years.

I get my kicks at many levels - one of them being that of making an old, basic camera give me a decent image.
Is it the love of the mechanical, the uncertainty, the surprise ... I can't really say. But like the kayaker, it does
make me feel more in touch with the 'elements'. I feel more as if I'm involved in 'creating' something.

The Wright Brothers could not have flown to the moon. But did John Armstrong get a bigger kick from landing
on the moon, than Orville or Wilbur when their machine maintained flight?

And by the way, apart from the improved versions of films being sold by the 'bigs' like Ilford, Kodak and Fuji,
there are a myriad smaller producers still in business. Kodak has just announced that the outstanding Ektar
(recently released in 35mm) will now be released in 120 size rolls. Add that to the likes of Delta Pro, T-Max
and Neopan, plus 'independents', and the 'world is your oyster', still.

Use film. Use lots of film.

Yes, there is somebody out here. Lots of somebodys. :-)

somert8
 
Posts: 28

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Sun Mar 29, 2009 7:54 pm


Me too
Last edited by somert8 on Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

ajuett
 
Posts: 28

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Mon Mar 30, 2009 4:23 pm


I'm another returning film user so count me in! My digital body has been sold, I was even using old M series lenses on my Pentax dSLR. The print quality and dynamic range is better on film.
Pentax

nelu_goia
 
Posts: 16
Location: Calgary

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:49 pm


To all film lovers,
Guys, I have to confess that I switched to digital very late, in 2005, just because I hated digital cameras for their poor quality.
Since then I`ve learned a lot about photo processing and especially about Photoshop and now I have no regrets. I owe a Canon 5D Mark II and I love it because I can do whatever I want to do with it.
Never again would I allow a photo-lab operator to decide about my photos. This is the essence of the digital photography: be your own master.
I still like to look at my film photos but I am aware that they are nowhere close to the ones I take today with my digital camera.
Enjoy shooting, be that on film or digital. The only thing which matters is the final product, which is the photo. Once taken and printed on a paper, can you tell the difference between digital and film?
I dare anybody to do that…
Nelu

jypsee
 
Posts: 1247

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:32 am


I can do anything I like with my film now that I scan the negatives and then print them. Photoshop can fix film digital scans just like it can with the output from a digital camera. Most of the time I don't do much more than I would in any darkroom: fix contrast and exposure if necessary. And, I can see the difference in film and digital, especially printed. So, if you want to be a digital only person, knock yourself out. I like both, but I prefer analog to digital as I prefer reference to signifier. In print, especially:
Image
Leicaflex SL
Image
K10D
Image
5D

Mary in SW Florida, USA

nelu_goia wrote:To all film lovers,
Guys, I have to confess that I switched to digital very late, in 2005, just because I hated digital cameras for their poor quality.
Since then I`ve learned a lot about photo processing and especially about Photoshop and now I have no regrets. I owe a Canon 5D Mark II and I love it because I can do whatever I want to do with it.
Never again would I allow a photo-lab operator to decide about my photos. This is the essence of the digital photography: be your own master.
I still like to look at my film photos but I am aware that they are nowhere close to the ones I take today with my digital camera.
Enjoy shooting, be that on film or digital. The only thing which matters is the final product, which is the photo. Once taken and printed on a paper, can you tell the difference between digital and film?
I dare anybody to do that…
Nelu

blaised
 
Posts: 22

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:41 pm


I like film and I like digital. Film has an attraction about it that digital does not. But for an outing or quick convenience, digital is handy.

annoos
 
Posts: 1

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:12 pm


thank.................................yo

strbender
 
Posts: 2

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:19 pm


At the moment I only own film cameras :shock: Trying to justify spending the $$$ for a FF Digital that would be equal to my current film camera (Nikon F100) just doesn't make sense to me. Would I love to own the D3 or D3x? Probably. Would I be happy with what I have and maybe adding a 6X7 or LF system? I will continue to do my own developing and scanning and be very happy. Not to mention I could have a killer camera collection and a few grand left to travel. :D

captain_superlekker
 
Posts: 159

Re: Returning to film - is there anybody out there?

Post Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:01 pm


Yay! Film! Looks like there are many of us!

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