When photographing do you prefer a film camera or digital?

Question

Do you like black and white photography or Color?

Answer 1

I used film cameras (advanced amature SLRs) for 35 years. About a year and a half I bought a Canon 20d. My film camera (a Canon Elan) has gathered dust for a year now. I found that the digital was as sharp as the film with the same lenses. What I like about the digital most is that I can take all the pictures I want for no additional cost (neglecting the cost of a printer, which most computer users already have, and the cost of software like Photoshop elements ($100) and a memory card) I can take over 200 high resolution pictures on one card and without depleting the battery. With digital, you can see what your picture looks like immediately and re-shoot if needed. I find that the more pictures I take, the more 'good' pictures I end up with. My experience is with Canon, but Nikon makes good stuff too.

Answer 2

The last guy really hit the nail right on the head. Everyone seems to be so obsessed about convenience and in the process they have forgotten about quality. That is not to say that I don't agree that digital technology has its place in the photographic industry, indeed it does have a place in some photographic niches.
In regards to these 12 and 13mp cameras coming close to the quality of 120 film, I still get significantly better images if I make a high res scan of my negatives. I would also like to know what mathematical algorithyms they are using to equate a 12mp Nikon image to say a fine grain film shot with a Hasselblad using a carl zeis lens? I used a D2xs at work and I compared one of the the raw files to a shot that I photographed at home with my Hasselblad 503 and scanned with a high res scanner. The results as far as tonality and detail were concerned shows that the scanned film is just hands down better, of course a lot of this has to do with the resolving power of a lens. Perhaps when they say that a 12mp camera is equivalent to 120 film maybe the film was shot with a Holga. By the way I don't mean to disgrace the name of Nikon, I love their products and shoot with a F3hp myself. As for this conspiracty theory about profit margins, there is some truth to it, contact Charles(chuck) Delucca at Nikon USA, he is the project manager for digital SLR's, he can shed some light for you.

Answer 3

Now that it's so freaking hard to get reliable and consistant film processing, I like digital better. Besides taking back control of MY images, it is so much cheaper than shooting film - once you get over the intial investment.

And for those times I want black and white, I can either remove all color in Photoshop or set the camera to shoot black and white at an extremely high resolution. B&W is better for some subjects. I like having a color image to work with, though, because I can always convert it to B&W and see how I like it both ways. I get a kick out of leaving only one or maybe two colors in an otherwise B&W image, also. You can't do that with film......

Answer 4

I loved film until I added up how much I was burning in one month between film, development and chemicals and I found out it added up to about 1/3rd of the cost of a nice digital. I made the switch and did not turn back.

There is one thing I really miss about film: the texture of black and white film. My digital color pictures come out exactly as I want them without even having to try too hard. Black and white is a complete different story, it takes a lot of tweaking and I never get it "right."

To make things worse, my last hope for going back to film is now out of the table. Leica introduced the M8, which completely destroyed my dream of grabbing an M6 or M7 just to shoot B&W. Then to rub salt into the wound Leica also started selling lenses for the Nikon mount, which means I can use these with my Nikon D50.

Answer 5

Having used both film cameras and digital cameras extensively, I prefer digital cameras. As far as my preference for black and white photography or color, I prefer color. Just a personal preference.

Answer 6

Digital.

But preference by others will depend on the use for the pictures. Film is still better for large blowups of pictures, but I don't do that type of photography. I post images on my blog and send them to friends via e-mail or project them with my home thetre projector. I don't print at all, or only occasionally and as a small 6x4 print.

I've done both film and digital and have both, but haven't used the film cameras for 4 or 5 years now.

I've done both B&W and colour. For mood there is a place for B&W, but its a colour world so most of the time I prefer colour.

Answer 7

Digital all the way. You can actually get better pics with it...a full framed 13+ mp camera is just like shooting 120mm film. And even better...when i go backpacking, i know carry 20 pds of camera gear instead of 30 pds of camera gear and another 20 pds in film! That and digital is so much easier to archive and portfolios are alll that much easier to personalize to the persons taste..not to mention cheap enough to hand out a digitized port. to a ton of studios than having one or two hardcopy!

Answer 8

film. You just can't get a crisp picture with a digital camera yet.
i just recently took a trip to DC and me and my friend had the two different cameras My pictures came out 100 times better. She is asking for copies of mine.

Answer 9

Depends on the final version of the photo. If its just to share among friends via email, then digital for sure, Also if the final print is to be no bigger than about 4x6. For prints larger than 4x6, then film is best. As far as B&W vs. color, its what turns you on artistically.

Answer 10

B&W film and Digital for the rest. B&W film seem to provide a better texture to the shot.