Thoughts on film versus digital photography

Digital vs. Film

 

What do you do after you take the picture?

I used to only view my photos on my computer screen when I started shooting digital. For a long long time, I did not print any photos. This was mainly for convenience. Shooting film after a long break and getting photos printed reminded me how much I enjoy printed photos as opposed to viewing them on a monitor. I am not sure of the exact reason, but for me it just is that way. After that, I started to print my digital photos as well, and it is just much better. If you shoot digital and never print any photos, give it a try, I think you will enjoy it much much more!
 

The thought process when composing a shot

Shooting film can sometimes be refreshing. Even though film is pretty cheap these days, there is only a certain number of frames you can shoot before you run out of film. Of course, this is true for digital as well, but the number of frames is usually a lot higher. This, combined with the fact that you spend money for developing the film and printing means that every frame costs something on film, and doesn’t “cost anything” on digital. (Yes, the cost of the camera itself, storage space for digital pictures, these are costs, but they are never per-picture costs.) In the end many people tend to think more about one shot on film than they do in digital because it is somehow more valuable. I think that the percent of my pictures I really liked was much higher when I shot film. Shooting a film camera once in a while can be very good, helping to concentrate just on making better pictures.
 

Experimentation

Digital cameras are great for experimentation. You have instant feedback on what you are doing and this is great for learning. When should you use flash, when not? Just try it out! With film, this is terrible, you have to be really dedicated, take test shots and notes, and then wait at least a few days for your prints. Plus, it costs you money to experiment with film, with digital it costs nothing. If you are interested in learning more about photography, get a digital camera, go out there and try stuff out. It is better than getting any book and reading about photography.
 

The chemical process vs the digital process

I find film cameras very interesting for the fact that the image itself is produced without using any electronics. Yes, I know, even in a manual camera at least the metering system has some electronics inside it. But in the end, you press the shutter, the mirror moves up, diaphram is closed, shutter is opened and closed, and presto, you have an exposed negative. That part of it is just an optical process combined with a chemical one. And the quality of that process is just starting to be challenged with the DSLR’s of today.