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what are the reasons we shoot film today?


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So lovely.

 

I'm sure digital could reproduce this. But you've got that negative you see. You can keep it in a shoebox or a bank's safe deposit box, or your wallet. For years, and it's still there. I use film not because I find value in some of my images, but because I hope my great-grand-children might.

 

(Good thing you two get along; looks like he has some reach on you...)

 

:D

s-a

Hi S-A,

"I'm sure digital could reproduce this" yes but with "smooth" edges because of pixels :mad: , not the case of grain of film :)

 

Nice portraits Steve

 

As I said above , I do not want to see "edges of faces" cut in the manner of "surgery scalpel" but "soft" edges (what we see

in reality with his eyes) , that's why I do not like the digital photos including b&w M Monochrom .

And I'm not talking about the synthesis image side in some b&w pictures :mad:

I leave now my 2 M digital cameras in my Billingh. bag at home and I only use my M7.

Recently I bought a MP analog for this reason.

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/2918720-post3886.html

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/2917752-post3864.html

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/2917754-post3865.html

Best

Henry

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The initial reason I started to use film was to use a Leica - full frame digital Leica's were (and are) just too expensive.  Now, I actually prefer the process of black and white film compared to a digital camera.  I'm considering making the jump to processing color myself as well - There is just something Portra can do that digital can't.  I am late to the game I suppose as I didn't grow up shooting film myself, so developing and wet printing is extremely enjoyable and dare I say...fun!  And, as I don't do this for a living, I feel thats kind of the point.  I hope that I'm never in a position where I would need to sell my M2. 

 

13002371365_60375bba29_z.jpgAAA032-2.jpg by jkjod, on Flickr

 

15756954757_3d6db4ac23_z.jpgScan-141203-0001-13.jpg by jkjod, on Flickr

 

15942029542_bd8abba743_z.jpgScan-141203-0001-6.jpg by jkjod, on Flickr

 

16212034528_c5785ab2b7_z.jpgScan-150129-0001-16.jpg by jkjod, on Flickr

 

16541423685_25b788a8a9_z.jpgScan-2015-02-15-0001-3.jpg by jkjod, on Flickr

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Hmmmm, not sure it smells better Henry. :D

I have recollections of being entombed in an old C41 dip and dunk production line for hours a a time, with the regular nitrogen purge noises etc. Smells? Nope it doesn't.

But it IS fun, even after all these years, almost magical. Still.

Gary

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I am thinking of adding an M7 to my MA to make it all complete. Perhaps sell the M9 and buy the latest digilux it is impressive and fast for family snapshots

Steve, I do not use my M8 and M9 and I keep them , except for work or when I need to shoot immediately.

The rest of the time I take the time to compose and frame the shot with my MP or M7 :)

For me the M9 reminds me a lot of Kodak Portra film specially the 400

The Digilux could be the solution in your case.

Best

Henry

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I find the M9 very close to Kodachrome 25 in its colors, which is one reason why I have been reluctant to give it up. But it does seem to be a lot of money, even used, for digital when I can take it and turn into the latest digilux, which is great, and an M7 for those times I want to be quick with film. Not sure adding an M4 to the MA makes a lot of sense in terms of giving me choices. First world problems to have, I know, but it is nevertheless fun to ponder. The world, including mine, doesn't exactly spin on this decision. :-)

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I agree with Steve that the M9 sensor resembles slide film more than portra. The skin tone rendition of the M9 gives this away. If the camera resembled portra with its rendition of skin tones, i probably would have kept it around and not sold it.

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Hi Adam and Steve , if you are two to say , so you're right gentlemen !

However , I forgot to tell you that this is the red color that makes me say that

M8 (after correction LR sometimes) and M9 give colors that remind me a lot film.

Best

Henry

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The initial reason I started to use film was to use a Leica - full frame digital Leica's were (and are) just too expensive. Now, I actually prefer the process of black and white film compared to a digital camera. I'm considering making the jump to processing color myself as well - There is just something Portra can do that digital can't. I am late to the game I suppose as I didn't grow up shooting film myself, so developing and wet printing is extremely enjoyable and dare I say...fun! And, as I don't do this for a living, I feel thats kind of the point. I hope that I'm never in a position where I would need to sell my M2.

 

13002371365_60375bba29_z.jpgAAA032-2.jpg by jkjod, on Flickr

 

15756954757_3d6db4ac23_z.jpgScan-141203-0001-13.jpg by jkjod, on Flickr

 

15942029542_bd8abba743_z.jpgScan-141203-0001-6.jpg by jkjod, on Flickr

 

16212034528_c5785ab2b7_z.jpgScan-150129-0001-16.jpg by jkjod, on Flickr

 

16541423685_25b788a8a9_z.jpgScan-2015-02-15-0001-3.jpg by jkjod, on Flickr

What did you use to scan?

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Guest Benqui

It is difficult to describe but I like this kind of  uncertainty what will be on my film after I took the photo. I love to be in the darkroom for my b/w photos. Alone the look on the photo paper  when you see how your photo develops is worth to go analog. When I am in holidays with my family I also go the digital way and it is very nice to see the photos on the computer the same day. Sometimes I ask myself, is it really worth to shoot photos analog? But in many cases these digital photos look too perfect to me. And when I look at my portra photos, I like this kind of "old school" look much more. To come to an end the more I take photos the more I prefer the analog way.

best regards

 

Marc

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What did you use to scan?

I have a Plustek 7600i.  

 

I use Vuescan to run the Plustek and only run 1 scan at 3600dpi. I also turn all other options off, save as 16 bit greyscale Tiff DNG and import the true negative file into Lightroom and use Lightroom to invert the tone curve and get a final image. After some trial and error I think this produces the best results, for me.  I’ve tried multiple exposures, locking in black points and exposure levels, and scanning at higher dpi…Those all make the little Plustek take forever to scan and in the end I don’t see a big enough difference in the results to justify it.  

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I feel like the way to move forward with MY OWN photography is to look backward.

 

The advancement of digital photography has no end in sight.  I have heard of wedding/event photographers generating photo albums for their events by dissecting their high quality video stream of the event and extracting digital frames, which apparently have pretty decent resolution.  This isn't "photography" as I would define it.    I also see a future in which digital photo RAW files will be able to be manipulated to such a great extent that any aperture or focal point can be changed.   Thisi cool, for sure, and potentially very useful.  But it isn't the type of "photography" in which I am interested.  

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What are the reasons we shoot film today ?

Hi All, in keeping with what said Marc and Adam  :) , quotation:

 

"Making the full transition from digital to film

 

1. Film helps me focus more on my personal projects

 

2. Film helps me focus on my photography, not gear

 

3. I don’t have to worry about post-processing

 

4. I take fewer photographs and am more selective

 

5. Film isn’t going away anytime soon

 

6. I never run out of batteries/my camera is always on"

 

Best

Henry

 

You'll  find following in this link :

http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/04/22/why-digital-is-dead-for-me-in-street-photography/

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What are the reasons we shoot film today ?

Hi All, in keeping with what said Marc and Adam  :) , quotation:

 

"Making the full transition from digital to film

 

1. Film helps me focus more on my personal projects

 

2. Film helps me focus on my photography, not gear

 

3. I don’t have to worry about post-processing

 

4. I take fewer photographs and am more selective

 

5. Film isn’t going away anytime soon

 

6. I never run out of batteries/my camera is always on"

 

Best

Henry

 

You'll  find following in this link :

http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/04/22/why-digital-is-dead-for-me-in-street-photography/

 

Henry - I don't want to sound harsh toward anyone that I have never in person, but the person whom you have quoted should be quoting you, you shouldn't be quoting him...

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  • 2 weeks later...

continuation :)

 

http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/01/10/10-reasons-why-you-should-shoot-street-photography-with-film/

 

Interesting link contribution of opinion of many photographers

 

another info :

some owners of M240 completely move to analog by exchanging his M240 against MP or M6

http://www.summilux.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=71216

and currently we have 4 sales of M240 on our forum

Best

Henry

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Hi Adam and Gary, I do not know E. Kim but what he says makes sense to me

and is what I'm doing now , which is why I quoted.

 

Gary , if more battery , there are still two shutter speeds 1/60 and 1/125 that work  :)

Best

Henry

Henry - I have watched nearly all of Eric's youtube videos and interviews.  As I have said, I think he is interesting.  But not for the knowledge I gain about photography or even for any inspiration but rather for the insights that he brings to us from other photographers.  He is a good interviewer!  

For self-teaching and general information regarding film photography, I find this series of videos on youtube very informative and interesting.   I commend it to other people trying to get up the learning curve and looking to get outside of their box.

 

This link is to one episode that focusing on the different types of natural light and how to deal with it WITHOUT a flash and in particular with a film camera.

 

I found this video particularly interesting b/c of the wide variety of film cameras that were discussed and used.

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