I've found a new love of photography with film.?

Question

my professor says film is the foundation and once you master that digital comes easy. I've also fallen in love with the dark room, even though it can be time consuming. What do you think?

Answer 1

I think your professor is correct. It helps to understand the basics first before you get to the more advanced stuff. One of the most important things you learn with film is control. With digital you can burn through 40 pictures trying to get the shot right, only to delete them. Film forces you to think about what results you are looking for, and how the lighting and shadows will look once the shutter is released. Also you can get yourself one very sophisticated film camera for far less money then a mediocre digital.

Look for a camera manufacture that allows you to switch camera bodies, but still use the same accessories. This will save you lots of money in the long run.

As far as darkrooms go, I have been a long time B&W photographer and I develop all my photos. I find I get much better results then any lab can produce. You also will learn what dodging & burning really mean, besides different buttons on the Photoshop tool list

Answer 2

Your professor is a dork, living in the past. Film hasn't been the standard for quite some time now. Everything basic in photography can be done as a trivial matter with digital photography, with little or no skill involved. For 90% to 99% of people, this is the ideal situation for photography. Things that would be waaaay too complex to master easily for most people with film, ten years ago, are TRIVIAL to do with digital photography and software on the computer. Any idiot could do them and take fantastic pictures. The learning curve is rather short. It is not a stretch to say that the average person with a good digital camera and the right software could learn to do in a few weeks what a film photographer used to spend YEARS learning to do.

If anything the situation is reversed. Want to master film photography? Start with digital. Hell, I think nothing of snapping off a hundred shots or so and instantly comparing various techniques and settings for how they effect the result. Under the circumstances, a beginning photographer gets a handle on the basics in a far shorter period of time and in a much more direct fashion. Hell, you can sit there with a RAW image photo and see instantly the difference various settings make. You cans see INSTANTLY how various filters might have effected your shot, how changing the settings changes the outcome, etc.

However, digital is limited. It cannot do all the things that film can do. But those things are all advanced. You don't learn them or work with them without a firm foundation in the basics. Digital can give you that in a short time and this transfers over to film with minor changes.

If you want to master film.....start with digital.

Answer 3

If you enjoy dark room work, by all means stick with film. You're doing this as a hobby, right? So if you enjoy it, keep doing it. And if you plan on shooting with black and white exclusively, there's another reason to stick with film - b&w film still has a slight edge in image quality vs. digital.
But a lot can be said for digital, too. For example, digital will significantly speed up your learning curve. You can instantly review your shots and change (exposure) settings, your point of view, etc. to tweak the shot - instantly learning from every 'mistake'. And digital is a lot cheaper. You pay a premium up front but you'll never have to worry about film and development costs.
The idea that film is a good foundation for digital is just bs. Sure it's a good foundation, but it has zilch added value. Proper composition, the zone system, the circle of confusion, etc. applies to film and digital in the exact same way, and it can be mastered just as well with a digital SLR. Only cheaper. And faster. The principles of darkroom work - pushing your film, dodging/ burning, etc. also all applies to digital. At least, the theory of it does - you'll have to relearn all the actual skills with Photoshop. Like I said, there are reasons to shoot with a film camera, but this isn't one of them.

Answer 4

Film has its allure. I shoot a mixture of 35mm, 120mm (6x6, 6x7) and digital. Medium format can't be matched by digital cameras under $10,000 right now. Print film has more latitude than digital or slide film, so it can produce different results.
Craftmanship in a darkroom can take a lifetime to master and each successful step forward is rewarding.
Enjoying the craft is always right.

Answer 5

Well, if you like it, then go for it. But digital is WAY better for the environment. With traditional photography, you're putting alot of silver and chemicals into the environment. It is also cheaper in the long run because you needn't buy film and supplies. Memory cards last a long time. The only things that need continual replacing are
paper and inkjets for the printer.

Answer 6

I think you are on the right track and there is a lot involved. After film you will find some of the newer stuff (digital is limited in the lower price range) Manage the camera first, the lab 2nd and go on from there.
Here's a brief history (jack of all trades - master of none).
I began with B&W 120 and 620 cameras and then to 35mm.
I learned the B&W processing, printing and enlarging.
Then came color, slow (ASA 100 to 400) .
(8mm and Super 8mm movies) then video 8mm then VHS.
I had fun, took loads of pictures (threw out thousands).
The computer will do wonderous things and takes a lot of the lab work to the next level (no mess, chemicals, editing, cropping,enlarging and printing).
Bottom line - In the closet I have 3 camera cases.
A 35mm SLR with lenses, filters, flash unit and a roll of 1600 ASA high speed film loaded.
A VHS-C video camera with viewer (NTSC) system.
An 8mm Video camera (PAL) system.
I large Tripod, digital camera, and a Pentax 35mm auto.
I recorded all of my movies (8mm) on tape, all of my slides (35mm) on tape, threw out cases of photos.
THEN found out I had not copied the movies correctly, not copied the slides properly and no longer can make copies of the snapshots (I threw out).
Good Luck, enjoy and Be very, very extra careful. [I could cry but it wouldn't help].

Answer 7

Some people still work on their car. I loved working in the darkroom but that was a long time ago and now use a digital camera and a program for my darkroom. If you are doing color work, it is ever so much easier with the computer.

Norm