Measurebator Confessions.

[mdmc]

Ok, I admit it! I do a lot more compairng and measuring than I do shooting.
One of the reasons why is that not too long ago I was led to believe that digital imaging had a long way to go to catch up to film.
Two years ago I went on a vacation with my bro.
I had bought an olympus 38-170 zoom stylus For about $200.
When we got to our destination we went to Wal-Mart the first day and he was interested in digital cameras. He bought a fujifilm s 2000 3.3 mp camera. I gave it my reccomendation because it had a 6x optical zoom and was less than $275. I jokingly asked him how many mp my film camera had , he shrugged his shoulders , then I said "all of them" .
Well my bro is an artist in a computer programers body! Needless to say his pics wre much better than mine, exept in low light situations where I knew when to turn the flash off, or where I used a polarizer on my '70s vintage slr.
What I have learned since then can be summed up in a few Quotes That I think are from The Luminos Landscape site. Based on photos from a cannon D 30 "The D 30 images are better than 35mm film". Please understand that this is not the exact quote, but basically how I remember it. And also understand, as I recall there were Qualifications to the sentiment.
Later on, on the same site the author describes his gravitating to the 11 mp cannon camera from the Pentax 6x7 Medium format camera. As I recall he felt that the images from the digital cam were equal to or better than the 6x7 film images, and a lot easier to produce.
This is exrtermely interesting to me because the first photo rag I bought was the Dec '91 shutterbug magazine all about medium format. This before I even ever used an slr, and somehow I knew from that mag that I wanted a pentax 6x7.
I have properly exposed and had developed exactly one roll of film. Kodak 100 vsw slide film. At a park of a tree in fall colors. There was a jogger on the film that was slightly over an 8th of an inch tall in one frame. The detail was so eye poping that I thought I could have known what time it was if the watch he was wearing was facing me! Wow!
That was In '96 I think.
I don't know what my piont is exactly, but I think that digital has easily surpassed 35mm film, however if you want to experiennce super quality on a budget try a used mf camera.
I see that complete pentax 6x7 cameras with lens and ttl prism finders are going for less than $600. It may be a great alternative to spending $5000-$8000 on a high end digital cam.
Mark.
P.S
This is not a good example of quality from the fujifilm s2000, but it's a neat snap, and a pic I shot.
Mark.

[srobb]

I believe all of this is very subjective and dependant on the individual photographer. Myself, I use film, especially for b&w. I have had many folks that shoot digital tell me that is one reason they keep their old film cameras; they feel film is still much better than digital in that area.

I have borrowed a digital camera before and shot some with it. I liked the results, but after looking at all the extra stuff that seems to be a necessity with a digital camera, I decided I could use all that money for my film and developing and not have to spend it all at once. As Rick stated in another thread, if I do anything towards a different platform, it will be to go either medium, or large, format.

There simply is no right or wrong here. If digital was so great and better than film, then I would think you would see all the pros doing it. Unfortunately, there are still a number of them that shoot only film.

[mdmc]

srobb, thanks for replying. They keep trying to make digital images more film like. I suppose theres a reason for that.
The the truth I think is that digital ain't bad, and I dont think you can upload a film image 5 minuetes after shooting it.
For medium and large format checkout KEH, Complete Pentax 6x7 outfits for less than $600.
Even 35mm has strengths and advantages over digital. It'll be here for a long time.
Mark.

[srobb]

Digital has it's advantages, mark, that's for sure. Maybe if I was a photographer that shot on assignment where I had a deadline to meet, it would be very nice to download/upload in a matter of minutes. It does not bother me, though, to run my film 1 hour at WalMart, or send it off and get it back with in a week or so. Hopefully, I may get to the point where I can develop my own b&w at home.

[adina]

I believe all of this is very subjective and dependant on the individual photographer. Myself, I use film, especially for b&w. I have had many folks that shoot digital tell me that is one reason they keep their old film cameras; they feel film is still much better than digital in that area.


There simply is no right or wrong here. If digital was so great and better than film, then I would think you would see all the pros doing it. Unfortunately, there are still a number of them that shoot only film.

I think your first sentence sums it up best. Both in your first paragraph and your last.