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what are the reasons we shoot film today?


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What should we do otherwise, as gorgeous older Leica film cameras do not accept any memory cards?;)

By the way, after film development and scanning the following work steps still remain the same.

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I have grown a love of using film cameras of late because I enjoy the process of using them, the feel of the metal and plastic parts, the clunk of the moving pieces, the tactile feel in general and that it forces me to slow, making the action of taking photos more of an almost substance than merely *click* *click* *click*

 

Oh, and the wait for the results (Im not self processing yet)

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I shoot film because I'm a hoary, stubborn old man with no imagination. I'm smart enough to realize I'm not smart enough to manage the fabulous technology the world offers today so I continue to plod along with my miserable high ASA performance and my child and nature-endangering chemicals.

 

Leica sees me as easy pickings so they humor me with an archaic line of over-priced cameras that I've bought. Cameras that will never, ever produce a decent HDR photograph, and often lack even the colors of the rainbow.

 

I'll be out of your way soon enough, thanks for giving me a little room to work here before I shoot and breathe my last. You're too kind. Thanks Leica for helping me delude myself about my abilities. Maybe I'll take up painting.

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All of the above and some.

Because I still find it magic to transform light into shaped matter. It allows me to behold the reflection of something I've seen without an electronic prothesis.

Besides, it doesn't make sense to me to run after ever more technology "for better pictures" (I already wasted too much time on that) when I'm unable to match what has been created without it. Film photography is a craft that has not lost its validity, even if other processes exists. I like to be part of carrying on a heritage.

 

Alexander

 

P.S.: Btw, I dislike the term "shoot", since what we do is letting light in to expose a sensitve surface. I know, language conventions don't necessarily go with logic. I just feel that the aggressive term is detrimental to the process I wish to achieve.

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As with the others, I enjoy the process as much as the results. Manual film camera use and darkroom work are a relaxing break from the tedium of working on computers, which is what design engineering became after we left slide rules and drawing boards behind (which were also more satisfying). Much the same reasons I do woodworking (acoustic musical instruments and furniture).

The Leica M9 at least uses the front-end of my preferred process.

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I would probably be a pure digital shooter if:

 

1) I didn't have a store of film in my freezer and development chemicals on hand; and

2) there was a digital solution to using my old film bodies with a digital capture device.

 

So, these days it is mostly film for those quiet contemplative moments,or when I want to feel the heft and mechanical precision of a "real" camera (my personal perspective) in my hands, and digital for everything else. Sort of like enjoying the leisurely country roads in my sports car with the top down, or cruising along the highway in a cushy modern car.

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....and I should have commented on the title of this thread. It's not a case of 'still' using film. That's rather like asking why someone still makes fresh coffee or why someone still rides a horse, or still uses a pen etc., etc.

 

Digital is a different medium.

 

Exactly, I started burning film again over Christmas after buying an M6. I had been a digital only photographer prior to that and since the only digital images I have taken have been with a phone. The M8 and X100 will be going up for sale soon.

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Its a modern classic Matt but I know it will just sit on the shelf and not get used, I might as well sell it and free up some cash.

 

This last weekend was a case in point, I had my car on show over in Poole and elected to shot 2 rolls of film in the M6 and for some quick shots to share on the net I used mrs NJH's Nokia 1020. The images from the phone are on Pistonheads and Facebook, the film images will be more for my personal enjoyment and any arty or particularly interesting ones may eventually end up on flickr. As one only needs at most 2 Mp for the internet sharing, phones like the 1020 are indistinguishably good from any other digital image taking device. Some of the images here:

The what are you racing this year thread - PistonHeads

 

The full quality out of the phone produces images similar to enthusiast camera systems from several years ago.

 

A better question is why does anyone who isn't taking photographs for professional purposes bother wasting money on new digital cameras.

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People don't "still use" film. They use film. And they use film (and/or digital) as a conscious choice between two different media which have different aesthetics.

 

What would you ask a young photography student who grew up on digital and yet now prefers to primarily use film? (Personally, I've never heard anyone asking someone who uses digital as their preference as to why they are "still using digital.")

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It is a more tactile, engaging experience than digital.

 

.....

 

I enjoy the tactile pleasure of a manual camera. I enjoy the process of loading, winding on, assessing the light, focussing, composing, releasing the shutter at the right moment, winding on... Every step is enjoyable.

 

I enjoy the wait, and the result.

 

....

 

I enjoy life.

 

Yes, adding film back into my photography does provide that. But digital has an important place too.

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Because film smells better.

 

What a great thread and a very true comment. Occasionally I find myself sneaking a sniff of a freshly opened film canister :)

 

I just thoroughly enjoy not having to artificially add grain and, in the case of the wonderful Cinestill film, to experience things like unpredictable red halos and green hues.

 

Once I was in mainland China and asked a couple of young ladies if I could capture them in a pose ~ they had such a puzzled look when I didn't have an "instant" image to show them how they looked:

 

Two+Girls+in+Dalian+Low+Res.jpg

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