How do you feel once you move from film to digital?

B

bene

Established
Local time
7:40 PM
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
Messages
162
Asking M film users who have moved on to digital. Do you feel any change in your style?
some say they take more risk shooting more creatively..

I moved from digital (sony) to film (M7) hoping to Digital (M9)

The thing is I feel that film is too much trouble and cost. I feel less joy from photography now... But it is more challenging and it made me better.

I plan to keep the film but used more sparingly.
 
I did not shoot film with an M, rather Nikon F3s and Contax G2s and now shoot digital with a Nikon D90 I bought a year ago.

At first I shot about the same, now I shoot 3-4 times more frames. At $15.00 for a 36 exposure roll of Velvia, it cost so much I had to economize. This past year I had approximately 6500 shutter actuations, or about $2,700 worth of film. I'm never looking back to film. I would love a digital G2, since I still love rangefinder cameras for some uses and would never pay the cost of an M9 and Leica lenses.
 
Digital brought me back to using an M after years of non use!

Digital brought me back to using an M after years of non use!

In the late 1990,s medium format was giving me more of what I really wanted , but the bulk and feel of the cameras made me really miss using my M6. The M8 changed everything for me, in essence a true God send. I am now getting better results than even with my medium format stuff, with the added luxury of much much greater productivity by light years! It also made me realize just how fine those Leica lenses really are! For ten years they sat in my closet until the M8! That should not happen to such fine lenses, and the M digital made my dream come true! I will bet many on this forum had a similar experience that I did!
 
I did the same, almost. After playing with my D700 for some two or three months, I went back to my meterless Leicas with a vengeance. Why? No idea, there's nothing wrong (or better) in my digital snaps... But using my M3 and my M4-2 felt more challenging and satisfying, for some reason.
 
Can't deal with digital. Digital is not bad, but the work flow, I just don't like it. Left the digital stuff in the dry cabinet and got a Medium Format.
 
I shot both M6 and M8 and I feel ... how do I feel ... it is the same typ of camera ... I feel fine.
 
Good!:)

I have decided that I have taken my last film picture. It is not practical anymore. Digital got all the advantages. Not the least; cost.
 
I may not be much help here, as an M8 user I moved into film and noticed I get more joy from photography and get better results with fewer frames. As for change in style I am less attached to the shot I've just taken and no time is wasted looking at and enlarging the shot to check if I got it and how good it is.
 
I feel exactly the same as eleskin. Used to cart around the 'blad for the serious stuff, the M6 for street. Now with the M8 I can do both. You really do get the best of both worlds, 'medium format quality' [11x14] with out the hassle of lugging a tripod around.
The digital workflow I find is much more productive for me, less time in the darkroom = more time shooting. I do, once in a while miss the darkroom [I still can't get b/w from an ink jet yet as I would from my darkroom]. But, I still hold on to my 'blad just for b/w.
As far as color, I am very happy with the M8, for quality and convenience.
 
Still got a foot in both camps. I seem glued to the Leicas, beautiful lenses, quiet camera
easy perfect focus.

Darkroom is messy, but I will clean it soon. Been developing film for a few months now after a few years with only a roll or so a month.
 
I've stuck with film because I prefer the cameras, I prefer the workflow and I prefer the cheaper cost of it all. I shoot a fair bit but I could run film through my M6 for close to 20 years before I've spent the cost of the M9.
I'm lucky enough to have a pro lab on the way to work so having my film developed is no inconvenience - in fact it's a pleasure because I get to chat with the friendly people at the lab.
I do love the M9 and would get it if I could afford it. But it wouldn't take away from my film shooting!
As to style, I do tend to shoot a few more frames with digital, which takes up more time in post processing. It's easy to say "just shoot as many frames as you would film" but I just can't help myself.
What I like most about digital and why I would like to have an M9 is being able to adjust white balance for different lighting conditions, and change ISO on the fly.
 
Last edited:
M4-2, Bronica SQ, 5DmrkI, and 6x9 folder; enjoy shooting with each and every one, sometimes individually and other times I'll use 2 or 3 of them during a single shoot just depends on what I'm going or how I'm feeling when I pack my camera bag.
 
Your answer depends on a lot of factors. The answer will be different depending if the person is a professional, and also dependent on economic considerations as well as personal likes and dislikes.

Seems a lot of people use both film and digital. I enjoy digital for its speed and convenience, and since I am not a professional,so I don't spend 20 or 30K on a digital Leica system. I have the Olympus E-syatem. I also dislike the digital workflow, the hours needed to sit at the computer more than I do now. I use the Olympus OM system and shoot film. I enjoy the film process, from start to finish and when I get a really nice result as an end result, I feel like "I" accomplished something because I had to think more than I would if I just fired away digitally and "fixed things" post shooting. But that's just me.
 
George S. said:
I also dislike the digital workflow, the hours needed to sit at the computer more than I do now. I use the Olympus OM system and shoot film. I enjoy the film process, from start to finish and when I get a really nice result as an end result, I feel like "I" accomplished something because I had to think more than I would if I just fired away digitally and "fixed things" post shooting. But that's just me.
Click to expand...

Then why not just shoot digital the same way you shoot film? Not only will you drastically cut down on the time required for post processing you'll also get better results.

In fact one should be "more" carefully when shooting digital given it has les D/R then Black & White or Color print film
Example 12bit capture
2048 brightest Stop
1024 next brightest stop
512 next stop
256 next stop
Underexposing by just one stop can result in throwing away 50% of the data that the sensor is capable of capturing.
 
Last edited:
I shot with a Bronica RF645, Leica M6 and MP, Canon F1, Epson RD1 and Olympus E1 concurrently a couple of years back. Decided that film was too much like hard work (life was a lot busier then) and picked up an M8 to replace my Bronica, M6 and MP. Couldn't get to like the M8, so sold it and got a Canon 5D. Have now got another Bronica and I am shooting film again with it and the Canon F1. I have also just picked up a Canon A1. I'm doing both film and digital about equally and use what I feel like using, but tend to use film for B&W almost exclusively. As to change of style - I probably shoot a bit more with digital than with film, but not excessively so. When I used the M8, most of the images ended up as colour - seemed a shame to waste it :) The same is true with my other digital stuff. I do wish I had kept my M6 or my MP though.
 
George S. said:
Your answer depends on a lot of factors. The answer will be different depending if the person is a professional, and also dependent on economic considerations as well as personal likes and dislikes.

Seems a lot of people use both film and digital. I enjoy digital for its speed and convenience, and since I am not a professional,so I don't spend 20 or 30K on a digital Leica system. I have the Olympus E-syatem. I also dislike the digital workflow, the hours needed to sit at the computer more than I do now. I use the Olympus OM system and shoot film. I enjoy the film process, from start to finish and when I get a really nice result as an end result, I feel like "I" accomplished something because I had to think more than I would if I just fired away digitally and "fixed things" post shooting. But that's just me.
Click to expand...

100% agreed on that, it is not the quality of digital that I don't like. It is the sitting behind the computer part that I don't like.
 
bene said:
Asking M film users who have moved on to digital. Do you feel any change in your style?
some say they take more risk shooting more creatively..

I moved from digital (sony) to film (M7) hoping to Digital (M9)

The thing is I feel that film is too much trouble and cost. I feel less joy from photography now... But it is more challenging and it made me better.

I plan to keep the film but used more sparingly.
Click to expand...

My feelings were like what you describe in some respects but I went from film to digital and then about 2 years ago got serious about digital after starting with a Sony that I regarded as a bit of a curiosity. I now own a Panasonic L1 (Leica Digilux 3 rebadged) and a Nikon D200 DSLR. The Pany makes a reasonable substitute for an M camera and is much cheaper than an M9 - which is not to say that I would not like to own one. I most certainly would.

I have argued this case extensively in another thread http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=82358 pointing out that (for me) digital has helped me a lot. In this respect perhaps I differ from you. It has freed me to experiment with new styles, something that was never open to me with film. I will not repeat all those arguments here, suffice it to say thatI really believe that my photography has improved.

Some are critical of digital on the grounds that people "spray and pray" with their shots. But this is not my style. I count every shot carefully and think about it. Certainly I take more images than with film (there is no marginal cost of doing so of course) but perhaps because I learned on film I still am careful about each exposure.

Digital clearly is not for everyone and there are people on this forum who adore film. That's fine. But for me its empowered me to try and to do things I just could not do before.

Having said this I still have my film Leicas. I love them and cannot bring myself to sell them. I do use them from time to time but they are no longer my everyday weapon of choice.
 
Last edited:
B/W Film Photography including processing and printing is one complete art form, and I don't see me "moving" from that to digital/pp/inkjet. They are different things.

You don't "move" from oil printing to film photography, or sculpting to 3DCG modeling. Well, one might change or add the photography or 3D modeling to the expertise as a pro or as a hobby, but it's not because photo or 3D are quicker, easier, or more productive than painting or sculpting. They are just different, and if you switch or add a profession or a hobby, you'll benefit from the technique, knowledge, and experience of the other expertise/hobby you are used to.

That's my take on film vs digital saga. B/W film photography is my hobby, color film photography is my second hobby with less seriousness, digital photography is not. Of course I might start digital color photography as a new hobby in the future, but then it's a new hobby. I'm just not into it right now.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top