There's never been a better time than now to shoot film.

[contaxgary]

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This is the best time, because I am rediscovering photography after getting digitally lost for many years.

 

I went back to film for B&W and now I have fallen in love with Ektar 100. I hated the scratches and spotting Costo development, so started doing my own C-41. Now the negatives are spotless and the colors are wonderful.

 

Medium format is another thing altogether. My Mamiya 7ii and Bronica Etrsi and RF645 produce quality that I could not possibly afford in the digital world.

 

I'm having fun again.

[gberger]

"Digital Photography is like shaved legs on a man - very smooth and clean but there is something acutely disconcerting about it."

[stephen.w]

I came across this great post on another forum:

 

"When my older son was 13 he started taking lessons with one of the top classical saxophone professors in the US. The professor asked me which digital camera I used, and I told him I used film. When he asked in a slightly incredulous way why I used film, I asked him what kind of MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) saxophone controller he played.

 

He took my point."

 

This guy thinks film is dead - Page 5 - APUG

[earleygallery]

Purely anecdotal but I'm finding that people often comment on my photos as having 'something different' about them which they prefer (compared to other photos of the same event).

 

Given that mine are almost always the only film photos, I would suggest that it's the difference between the mediums that people notice without necessarily realising it.

 

I'm not saying they're better, just that the different medium sets them apart and makes them noticed, given that most people are now seeing digital imagery most of the time.

[Steve Ash]

My wife still considers me to be crazy when I use film - which I use more and more. But when we returned from holiday she prefered the shots taken on film:eek:

 

Steve

[Charlie Johnson]

I bought an M6 a few months ago and am really enjoying using it. Despite having 2 5D2s and some L lenses for my other business I am picking up the Leica for all my own stuff.

 

Has anyone noticed the prices of film gear is going up? I was looking at some MF cameras in Clock Cameras in Brighton and they admitted that there has been a run on MF equipment.

 

I am getting my Dev and scans done at Photo Express Film Processing & Developing UK for £4 with files at 2000 x 3000.

 

I am not sure if film is making a comeback or not but I am loving the look, again. The cost of developing is not prohibitive. However, there is a large hole in the market for a fast quality scanner though.

[cidereye]

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My wife still considers me to be crazy when I use film - which I use more and more. But when we returned from holiday she prefered the shots taken on film:eek:

 

Steve

My wife was the same, until she dropped her digital compact (again! - The 3rd one! Argh) and I refused to buy her a new one or lend her mine. I instead bought her a new/unused Nikon F65 for a mere £15 on eBay and "loan" her my cheaper Nikkor glass.

 

Result is she now loves it and is more than happy to go off on her own when we are out so she can take her time and shoot film. We also now have more in common too especially when we are on holiday. So film, for me, has been better than marriage counselling.

[rob_x2004]

so started doing my own C-41..

 

Where are you buying your chemicals?

[plasticman]

Where are you buying your chemicals?

 

I was just gonna ask that of cidereye:

 

So film, for me, has been better than marriage counselling.

[rob_x2004]

At the moment it would cost me about sixteen bucks a fim out of my bank account to c41. Now if you added my time.....

[Theodor Heinrichsohn]

I have started using Kodak Ektar 100 in my Leica Ms and R9 as well as Ektar 100 120 roll film in my Hasselblad 203FE and 903SWC.

B&W is SPUR DSX (Agfa Copex Rapid) 35mm and 120 rollfilm with special developers by SPUR, and SPUR Orthopan UR (Adox CMS 20). DSX is about ISO 50 for 35mm and 25 for 120. UR is ISO 10-12 ..

Both b&W films developed at home and printed (classical system) or scanned at one of several professional labs in the area where I live.

Results with both films depend on special developers developed by SPUR and are at least equal to and superior to Tech Pan in the case of Orthopan UR.

Teddy

[tonycamco]

i know your right .

 

i have nikon d40 nice camera . but it has too many buttons and knobs .

i also have a nikon fm 10 film only one button thats why i like film !!!

im saving up for m7 or m6!!

[NZDavid]

Looks different, yes. No shaved legs. That certain je ne sais quoi!

 

My wife also enjoys looking at slides after trips away. Digi is fast on screen, but nothing beats a big screen.

 

The longer people keep using film, the longer it will remain.

[lieberdavid]

Hi Everyone,

 

I wish I could agree that there has never been a better time to shoot film.

 

Since the arrival of digital photography it seems to me that the situation for film photographers like me has been getting worse.

 

While there are other problems as well, from my point of view the chief problems are these: 1. gettting my photographs ready to be viewed is much more time consuming, because previously I just took the slides/negatives and had the lab do it. Now I spend a lot of time in front of a computer, scanning and doing photoshop work that I do not particularly enjoy. 2. Because I am doing a lot of scanning, the quality of my final output has declined, because the scanner fails to pick up a lot of the information in the slides or negatives. 3. It is getting harder and much more expensive now to find good processing for slides at least for me living in Thailand.

 

I wish mightily that digital photography had never been invented.

 

Cheers!

David

[koray]

Last year I got rid of my DLSR and various manual lenses that I was using with it. Just to buy myself a Leica M6 (plus several lenses through the year). After one year, I shot about 20 rolls of film, about 60% are keepers (lost ones are mostly for testing my new lenses), plus I am slowly recovering from "multiple-shot-syndrome" a habit from my digital times. 20 rolls of film cost me about £120 including film, development and scanning. I think this is less than the cost of depreciation for an expensive DSLR. Moreover it saved me a lot of time since I would be (1) taking 5 times more photos within the same time span, and (2) chimping and portraying anti-social behavior... :-)

 

Oh and now I think more before taking photos and I think I started getting better at it, once again! And the results from Summicrons 35-50 and Elmarit-M 90 are spectacular! They even appreciated in value, how about that?

 

I've got about 600ft of bulk B&W film in my fridge, so I've got several more years to go. I hope film will still be there when I am done with my stock.

 

K.

[chrism]

I'm not a pro photographer, and my time with my cameras is simply for my own pleasure (and occasionally the pleasure of others). From this point of view, there is no argument to be made against film - it takes more time and allows me more pleasure! I also get to combine many different things I enjoy - the mechanics of taking the picture, the chemistry of developing the film (very similar to the joy of cooking), the computer skills of scanning, post-processing and printing (generally more relief when the printer co-operates), and then showing the prints to people who appreciate them. Now and then it all comes together in a pleasant kind of way, as in this portrait.

 

Chris

[Nikkor AIS]

Great shot Chris, that is keeper for sure. I really like how you expressed your thoughts. It's the whole process encluding sharing the prints/images with people. Very cool.

 

 

Gregory

[PeterD]

It IS a good time for film photography, except that (B&W) film is becoming more difficult to find easily.

 

For some years I have been using C-41 (chromagenics) such as BW400CN, but even these are getting difficult to find. Whereas three or four years ago I could walk into any high street pharmacy/chemists and pick up a roll of Tri-X or BW400CN or Agfa or ...many have gone and fewer and fewer shops sell them, let alone process them. Yes you can buy off the internet, but if you are away from home and need extra film quickly...

 

No two ways about it, it is a good time, BUT.

 

Peter

[pico]

[...]

The longer people keep using film, the longer it will remain.

 

"I knew the record would stand until it was broken." -- Yogi Berra

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[pgk]

Much as I think that I would like to agree with the OP's comments, in reality I cannot. I've tried shooting film again but despite some real appeals, I actually now really do prefer a digital workflow. Over the years I have spent countless hours in darkrooms and whilst I do miss the magicality of a B&W print appearing before my eyes, I really do not miss being in darkrooms, nor the smell of chemicals or much else about them really. And whilst sitting in front of a monitor for hours on end is also pretty boring, at least I can get up and make a cup of coffee rather more easily!

 

I do miss the tactile, mechanical beauty of using film Ms and even some film SLRs but this simply isn't enough to enthuse me to shoot film again. Sadly in some ways, the digital workflow has captured me and I see no way of returning to film even if it is a good time to shoot it.

 

The amount of care taken in shooting images has little to do with whether they are film based or digital. Its about discipline and commitment to producing an end result which is satisfying. This can be just as exacting with a digital workflow as with film.