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anybody shooting more film than digital?

Paratom

Well-known member
Is anybody here using film as the main medium for photography?

Does using film help to heal GAS?
 

MartinN

Well-known member
GAS is not serious. FGAS and FAS are serious complications with GAS. I pay at least 1$ every time I press the button and that bothers me....
 

jonoslack

Active member
Is anybody here using film as the main medium for photography?

Does using film help to heal GAS?
unfortunately, quite the opposite, it adds a whole new level of GAS added to which the price of consumables, and the time factor (in the end you'll want it on the computer, which either means lots of time or more money!)

Fun though.
all the best
 

MartinN

Well-known member
Yes, photographing with film is FUN but I get worried about the price increase on consumables and the diminishing product availability. Buying film gear is also part of the fun because it is quite affordable.

My film processing labs have increased their margins on processing fees and they run the machines just a few days a week.

Fuji is the only company remaining that is at least a little committed to producing supplies. Who could do a decent reversal film anymore than they ? I think we are going to loose the reversal films first, and then perhaps also eventually colorneg. But all this is what I hope a bad dream, and I hope that I can continue using film for decent prices.

Lets see, and until the bitter end I will continue clicking away my money ...
 

Paratom

Well-known member
I was kind of expecting that kind of answers ;)

I will do it anyway and start using film again more often.

The good thing is I still have some film cameras in my posession to cover at least 4 formats ;) (35mm, 6x6, 6x4,5 and 5x7)

But seriously I am getting more and more tired of the megapixel race and techno-equipment discussions. I know I do often take part in such discussions and I also jump from one model to the next and often think I need the latest and greatest. In the end 80% of the purchases are sold again not more than 12-24 months later. (With some exceptions like most part of my Leica equipment)
Overall I am not enjoying the gear as much as I did 10 or 15 years ago.
I also often do really like the look of film - when I see film images posted.
Tom
 

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
I really enjoy shooting film for the look and dynamic range of film. I mostly use my Leica M2 and C41 film. I take my film to one-hour developing and then scan it myself. I do occasionally use my Mamiya II, but that entails sending my film away for developing. I'm not interested in getting into developing myself, at this point. I love shooting film, but I'm no longer interested in new film gear. Some day, I may get a film Leica with a meter again, but I have no GAS for any other lenses.
 

leif e

New member
I think maybe I´ve recovered slightly from my GAS. At the moment I don´t own anything digital and it doesn´t bother me the least. Really.
I do love the F2, FM2 and ai lenses, though. Will probably find a cheapish D300 in a while (after at least six D200s, two D700s, a couple of M8s and two X100s and more have come and gone. :eek:). And should I find the money for an M4 ...
Oh, forget it.

Film IS more challenging and gratifying. That´s probably my only point.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
A good thing shooting film is that there are hardly any new cameras developed, and the market is full of stellar quality film gear for moderate prices. And even then, buying another body is of limited interest. My F6 won't give me more image quality than my F80.

However, I agree that there's FAS. I open my fridge to get some eggs and find the egg rack filled with HP5. Who on earth brought those in there, I wonder :ROTFL:
 

GregMO

Member
I started in digital, but shoot film almost entirely now. The majority of my shooting is at night with long exposures & I prefer film's non-linear response to an exposure & highlights along with the ability to pull development.
I didn't grow up with a camera so walking about taking photos has never interested me. My volume is very low and I usually only shoot when I have a "shot" planned. I also prefer that with film, the creative process starts by selecting the emulsion. I shoot 617 and 5x7 the most with 4x5 format/ ratio being 3rd for compositions.
After drum scanning, the time consuming part of it all is editing in Photoshop due to the large files, but that comes with the territory.
I did pick up an 8x10 a few months ago for specific b&w images, but outside of that, I don't see the need to add more equipment. One nice with LF film unlike digital is I don't worry about what cameras are coming out next.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
At the moment I don´t own anything digital and it doesn´t bother me the least. Really.
Wow! I'm impressed Leif. Personally, I don't know anyone who doesn't own a digital camera and only shoots film.

I still enjoy shooting film (mostly MF) and using the film gear I own, but it happens less and less often.

If I absolutely had to choose, film or digital....it would be digital, without question.

But I am VERY glad I don't have to choose either/or.

In any case....I will never part with my film cameras. They are just too darn beautiful.

Gary

 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
I find myself shooting a disturbingly large amount of film these days with my XPan, G617, RZ, Rollei 6008 integral II and 503CXi systems. Am I shooting more than with digital? No. To be honest, processing is ok locally but printing 120 film gets expensive quickly! That said, I guess that if I costed out my MF digital per shot it's probably incredibly cheap by comparison even at $20/roll by the time I've got it processed and printed.

I love shooting film. I hate scanning and spotting it though. I'm rebuilding my dream analogue systems again and enjoy shooting with them but it also has resulted in two new medium / large format scanners and a lot of digital pre and post processing time.

Other than the XPan though I don't find myself shooting 35mm. I figure that if I'm going to bother then I may as well go large. If it weren't for the demise of quick/ready loads I'd probably be shooting 4x5 again.

The great thing these days is the incredible latitude of films like Portra 400. Outstanding and almost impossible to screw up unless you seriously neglegently under expose it.
 

MartinN

Well-known member
Well, the cost of shooting film could indeed be cheaper when compared to MF digital but shooting a few hundred shots a day is probably not so sensible for the average MF film shooter.

Yes, I too find the ease of shooting color negative really pleasing but if I nowdays would get chrome film as cheap or cheaper I would probably insist on using it because of the INCREDIBLE grainlessness AND color saturation.

I try to keep my backdoor open so there is a path to digital available in the future if analog is totally gone. By that I mean I use and have bought cameras that can be fitted with digital backs like Mamiya AFD and RZ and even LF can be equipped with sliding backs.

That said, I have some cameras that will probably be totally worthless when film is gone if that happens.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Sorry, what I meant was that shooting film at $20/roll IS cheaper than the MF digital if I worked it out on a personal basis. It just feels expensive when I drop $80 on four films that I got printed, albeit hand printed, as 5x7 prints.

I am an addict to the smell and texture and visceral nature of shooting film. As you say, you really do end up shooting less and more considered shooting too with film when it costs you $$ per frame.
 

baudolino

Active member
I am slowly getting in the direction of shooting b&w film again, for a bit of a change. My new/old Mamiya 6 is has been waiting in the bag while I have been slowly building a darkroom, for a minimum expense (Magnifax 4 with Multigrade and condenser heads, Apo Schneider 90, bulbs from ebay...). Now need to shoot some pictures; maybe will start during my vacation in a warm place next week. Plan to process film at home, in Rodinal as always, then learn to print on multigrade paper. I only decided to start with film again as my 16 year old son has been shooting film and printing at school for the past 6 months and he's quite good at it. Positive effects of competition, I guess...
 

Elderly

Well-known member
I have a loft full of monochrome enlargers including a magic quality cold cathode De Vere, I know I'm NEVER going to use them EVER again but I can't bring myself to dispose of them. I shot film for about 40 years but I could never go back, I just wish that I had the patience and skills that I employed in the darkroom now that I'm faced with these newfangled computer things which I'm really not comfortable with (that's my excuse for being primarily a JPEG shooter :).
I still have some quality film cameras (Linhof, Robot, etc) which I want to possess but once again unless the power finally runs out, they won't get used.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
I make a sharp distinction between shooting film and making prints in a wet darkroom.

I will hopefully be shooting film, now and then, for many years to come.

However, I will never go back to making prints in a wet darkroom. I might develop my own roll film again, but the "digital darkroom" (ie scanning my film and making inkjet prints...which I do VERY often) is the only way for me. I still have a couple of very fine B&W enlargers in storage, but like Elderly above, I just can't bring myself to sell them...even though I don't expect to use them. But unlike Elderly...I definitely plan to keep using my film cameras, just not as often as I did 20 years ago.

Gary
 
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