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what are the reasons we shoot film today?


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Firstly, digital is great. So this is not a film vs digital debate for me.

 

Until 2013 I had not shot film since 2001. I bought this old M6 because I cannot afford a digital M. Wow! What a blast! I have learned more about photography because of film than I would have otherwise. While owning an X100 I take out the M6 90% of the time. In fact if I didn't have the M6 I wouldn't be going out to photograph that much.

 

Another fun aspect for me is the various film types available. It's so fun to change between Tri-X and Portra and Neopan....etc.

 

Lastly I simply love Leica M lenses. Holding one in my hand is pure magic. I realize these lenses are film and digital but Leica lenses are technical marvels to me. Fun!

 

Good shooting!

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I would like a film Leica M6 or MP - funny thing though is that few people really dare to auction these cameras - most of them (that I saw) were for sale for 1000+ or start auctioning at a ridiculous price.

 

That said, I "shot" a nice Busch Pressman D 4x5 for almost no money to re-start my analog adventure :)

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For me among the reasons are photos such as the ones below, from the '40s. The b/w is simply stunning. The colour one (next post) I believe must be a Kodachrome. Sorry Mod's if I posted pics here, but to me they are the reason to continue shooting film (as long as I find labs processing them...).

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The Kodachrome

 

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

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For me among the reasons are photos such as the ones below, from the '40s. The b/w is simply stunning. The colour one (next post) I believe must be a Kodachrome. Sorry Mod's if I posted pics here, but to me they are the reason to continue shooting film (as long as I find labs processing them...).

 

Myshkine,

 

Stunning indeed. Do you have negatives for the B&W shot? If so is there an emulsion identifier in the edge markings?

 

Thanks,

s-a

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Myshkine,

 

Stunning indeed. Do you have negatives for the B&W shot? If so is there an emulsion identifier in the edge markings?

 

Thanks,

s-a

 

Unfortunately not. Actually the photo is taken from the internet. I agree it would be interesting to know the emulsion type.

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For me among the reasons are photos such as the ones below, from the '40s. The b/w is simply stunning. The colour one (next post) I believe must be a Kodachrome. Sorry Mod's if I posted pics here, but to me they are the reason to continue shooting film (as long as I find labs processing them...).

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Actually, this great image looks familiar but I cannot attach the author to it now — which, no to be totally OT, could also help to find a clue about the emulsion. Would you mind to indicate the source, ideally the author? (This, btw, is generally good practice, I think.)

 

Alexander

 

p.s.: Just found that Stanley Kubrick took the pic in 1946 and prints were made available in 2011 by the Museum of the City of New York (now under cc licence?). So, if someone in NY wants to quickly ask there what film Stan was using back then? ;)

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Add to that, a beautiful dress.

 

I was lucky enough to see an exhibition of Stanley Kubrick's still images on one of my visits to Venice, shown in the Palazzo delle arti, delle scienze e letteratura.

 

I am wondering if I saw that image then because it seems familiar. He worked with a Leica 111f and his images were great. He had a fabulous eye for composition and moment.

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Simply for most of the reasons already espoused by others in this thread and in particular Doc Henry's points. Its an odd thing but I find that I am enjoying photoshop much more now when handling the scans I get back from the lab then I managed when processing DNGs from the M8. Wasted far to many hours in the past fiddling with white balance and tone trying to get colours I liked or constantly tweaking the clarity slider etc. on B&W images, argggghh digital outside of the incredible Fuji-X jpegs was just pure frustration for me.

 

It also needs to be said that the film M bodies are just so much sexier than the digital ones :D

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The Kodachrome

 

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You see this is a great example of what I meant about digital and fiddling with colour, if you took a digital version of that photograph and it came up in photoshop with colours similar to that one (probably a horrid lurid version) then one would feel compelled to fiddle with it and try and get 'correct' colour whatever that is. As it is the colour and especially its tonality in that Kodachrome is perfect to my eye, it is what it is, it looks like an old Kodachrome and we can take it and love it or not as is without any desire to make it into something else.

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My wife says the reason I enjoy shooting with film is that in the time between posting the film off for processing and getting it back I can convince myself I am a wonderful photographer. Until, that is, the film comes back and my obvious shortcomings are exposed. With digital the disappointment is instant.

 

The real reason, as has been expressed by others, is simply the pleasure of using the collection of old film cameras that I possess. I have a ridiculous number of them but they are not shelf queens - they all get an airing from time to time. Currently I'm using my Leicaflex SL with the 60mm f2.8 Macro-Elmarit. Even allowing for the fact that the viewfinder is not at its best due to desilvering of the prism, it's still wonderfully easy to focus and the shutter noise is a joy.

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