simonclivehughes
Active member
Okay, here's the quandary I'm in:
At this point, my photography is totally digital, and has been since around 2000. I love digital! Problem is, I still feel drawn to shooting film. Or more correctly perhaps, I really miss the feel of a Leica rangefinder body. I've had a couple of film Leica's over the years and there's something undefinable about holding and using one that I guess I still miss.
I know, I know, the obvious answer that many of you are thinking is "Get the M8". Well, I did that, I had two of them. And while they were nice and I do miss occasionally them, they just weren't everything I thought a digital M should be. But that's not really what I'm talking about.
My current craving revolves around having a smallish body with a 35 or 40 mm lens to be used almost exclusively for black and white work. I'm toying with the idea of picking up an older M body or possibly a new Bessa and an appropriate lens. That would take care of the camera side of the equation.
The other issue of course, is the development of the film. I'm absolutely not set up to do this myself anymore, nor do I really want to. So part of the feedback I'm looking for, if you may be in the same position as I am, is what do you do about getting your black-and-white film developed and scanned.
With the ever shrinking resources available for film-based photographers, I wonder whether this is really a viable option anymore. Is it relatively easy to get film developed with simple contact sheets these days? What about the type of scanning available "across the counter", does it really produce results that are good enough, or is scanning something I need to do myself? And if the answer to that is yes, what do you recommend for a scanner these days?
I've had film scanners before, but this was years ago, and I'm sure things have improved, and hopefully prices have come down. Frankly, if the cost of a good scanner is beyond a certain level, I'm just going to stick with digital.
The other option for me at this point is to wait for the DP2 to become available. I already have the DP1 and I find it a fabulous camera, especially for black-and-white work. And, while I love DP1's wide-angle, the DP2 promises the focal length that I'm interested in, as well as a better aperture range than the DP1 for more expressive compositions.
The DP2 also alleviates all of the above problems in regards to using film, and it will give me the immediacy that I've come to expect with digital.
Is anybody else out there having the same kinds of thoughts and questions?
Cheers,
At this point, my photography is totally digital, and has been since around 2000. I love digital! Problem is, I still feel drawn to shooting film. Or more correctly perhaps, I really miss the feel of a Leica rangefinder body. I've had a couple of film Leica's over the years and there's something undefinable about holding and using one that I guess I still miss.
I know, I know, the obvious answer that many of you are thinking is "Get the M8". Well, I did that, I had two of them. And while they were nice and I do miss occasionally them, they just weren't everything I thought a digital M should be. But that's not really what I'm talking about.
My current craving revolves around having a smallish body with a 35 or 40 mm lens to be used almost exclusively for black and white work. I'm toying with the idea of picking up an older M body or possibly a new Bessa and an appropriate lens. That would take care of the camera side of the equation.
The other issue of course, is the development of the film. I'm absolutely not set up to do this myself anymore, nor do I really want to. So part of the feedback I'm looking for, if you may be in the same position as I am, is what do you do about getting your black-and-white film developed and scanned.
With the ever shrinking resources available for film-based photographers, I wonder whether this is really a viable option anymore. Is it relatively easy to get film developed with simple contact sheets these days? What about the type of scanning available "across the counter", does it really produce results that are good enough, or is scanning something I need to do myself? And if the answer to that is yes, what do you recommend for a scanner these days?
I've had film scanners before, but this was years ago, and I'm sure things have improved, and hopefully prices have come down. Frankly, if the cost of a good scanner is beyond a certain level, I'm just going to stick with digital.
The other option for me at this point is to wait for the DP2 to become available. I already have the DP1 and I find it a fabulous camera, especially for black-and-white work. And, while I love DP1's wide-angle, the DP2 promises the focal length that I'm interested in, as well as a better aperture range than the DP1 for more expressive compositions.
The DP2 also alleviates all of the above problems in regards to using film, and it will give me the immediacy that I've come to expect with digital.
Is anybody else out there having the same kinds of thoughts and questions?
Cheers,