andit Posted March 8, 2009 Share #1 Posted March 8, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi guys, Does anyone realize that there is an entire generation out there who have never used silver halide - exposed a film, brought it to processing and eagerly awaited the prints/slides? It is frightening to think how quickly this has happened. I suppose it is much the same as the march of the compact disk in music terms - I often have to laugh when I hear youngsters refer to those big black CD's. Andreas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 8, 2009 Posted March 8, 2009 Hi andit, Take a look here Digital Generation. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jeannieism Posted March 8, 2009 Share #2 Posted March 8, 2009 Agreed. I learned how to work the camera in high school using my dad's old Mamiya ZM. And I was quickly thrust into the digital world in college. Comparing my digital photos and my self-developed photos, it seems like there is a lack of care and substance that my self-developed photos contained. Too bad those aren't Leica photos or I would've posted them here. EDIT: by the way, I am what you call a "youngster". Reading your observation here, I might just go out and get a roll of film and try the hands on approach again. Just for a day Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugat Posted March 8, 2009 Share #3 Posted March 8, 2009 The real consequence is the distribution channels. 99% of photos taken never make it to the print. Hence their effective resolution is that of the computer, HD screen or projector--today 2 megapixels. The next generation of displays (4k or roughly 4000x2000) will be 8 megapixel and last another 20 or so years. From that point of view a 8-12 MP camera is a safe bet for the next quartercentury. The remaining 1% already have their zillionMP and double it every two years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marquinius Posted March 8, 2009 Share #4 Posted March 8, 2009 Andreas, A philosophical thread, you started! Without doubt, changes like that are following each other faster and faster. BUT ... I think that also new things come to life and other ways of showing what you see, feel or think. The problem, IMHO, is that we (myself as well) try to hold on to something and deep in our hearts feel that our way is best. With a grin: think of yourself and how you never got to use scrolls and quills and how stories were only printed in Latin In another 100 years print/screen/whatever will have developed into something entirely different. What stays is the wonderment of color and composition and the wish to share. A thought: M17 camera ... super HD, 3D, with feel around plus smells. And they will be talking about this new thingy that will enable thought processing. Marco Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andit Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share #5 Posted March 8, 2009 Hi Jeannie, I was not trying to be disrespectful when I referred to youngsters. The younger generations today have so much more to deal with than what we had to. Life is moving so fast nowadays that it is difficult to keep track - plus there is so much peer pressure brought about by the media (television, film, internet and print). What I meant was that so many people today don't have the back-to-basics experience anymore - to learn in the pure form of the sense. You described the feeling that you get out of the images that you took, developed and printed yourself. This is exactly what I mean, digital does not offer this to such a degree. That is why I enjoy the M8 - it put's you back in charge to create the image that you want: it forces you to work slower again and think about what you are trying to convey in the image. Enjoy running that film through a camera. Andreas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted March 8, 2009 Share #6 Posted March 8, 2009 Andreas - My wet darkroom has been dark and dry for years. Perhaps I'll take it apart. Yes, younger people have not had the film experience and probably never will. Similarly, most younger people have not had the pleasures of analogue audio, though LPs are making a minor comeback (They never went away completely, I'm glad to say, and turntables and phono cartrdiges have continued to improve). More upsetting than that is that too many people think that MP3 is what music really sounds like. I still have some film in my fridge, and about 6 linear meters of LPs on my shelves. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overgaard Posted March 8, 2009 Share #7 Posted March 8, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Well, it's evolution. There's also builders who've never tried to assemble wood without screws The basic understanding that went out with digital is the fact that photography is made with light and not electronics. Many are surprised to see a real slide film or negative film and learn how it worked. As with music the "original" and analog connection may - amongst other things in this evolution - be replaced with digital tweaking. Like it's being done with music and in PS and in lens correction software. I think it's good. But I think it's better if one has basic understanding as to where and how a subject came about. Few painters liked photography back when but I think we are all happy that Leica is not a producer of painting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chf Posted March 8, 2009 Share #8 Posted March 8, 2009 I am definitly a child of the digital generation - and happy about it! As a child I got an old R from my mother to play around with and always liked taking pictures - but I hated the long hours with my father in the darkroom, or the waiting for developed prints. By then I had normally already lost interested in the pictures I had taken. Then we got our first digital camera. My parents never used it much (and for a good reason: today's cell phones take better pictures) but I loved it - especially the instant gratification of seeing what you just did (and being able to correct it if necessary). Of course by then it was a decision for convenience giving up quality, but that gap is getting smaller and smaller. (As it is in the audio sector as well, I might add.) The best reason to still use film is nostalgia (and that's not necessarily a bad thing). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thawley Posted March 8, 2009 Share #9 Posted March 8, 2009 “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning.” ~ Louis L'Amour Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfgang Esslinger Posted March 8, 2009 Share #10 Posted March 8, 2009 I always hated developing film which is one reason why I have been taking mostly slides for the past 30 years. And I still hate to wait for my slides several days. I don't think the "digital generation" is missing anything. I was reminded of this major change again last weekend. In Frankfurt (D) a major shopping mall opened last week and Saturn, part of the biggest media retailer group in D, moved from its old building into it. They increased floor space significantly but cut down space for film: now you get only 3-4 types of the most common films. They kicked out all black and white and no longer have any ISO 400 slide film. So now I finally have to get this stuff somewhere online. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
4season Posted March 8, 2009 Share #11 Posted March 8, 2009 Does anyone realize that there is an entire generation out there who have never used silver halide - exposed a film, brought it to processing and eagerly awaited the prints/slides? It is frightening to think how quickly this has happened. I suppose it is much the same as the march of the compact disk in music terms - I often have to laugh when I hear youngsters refer to those big black CD's. What's a CD, and does the iTunes Music Store sell them? Kidding!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPerson Posted March 8, 2009 Share #12 Posted March 8, 2009 Well I'm doing my bit. I have to say my 10 year old is fascinated by it all. Over the Easter holidays I am taking him in the darkroom to let him make his first prints. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeannieism Posted March 8, 2009 Share #13 Posted March 8, 2009 Hi Jeannie, I was not trying to be disrespectful when I referred to youngsters. The younger generations today have so much more to deal with than what we had to. Life is moving so fast nowadays that it is difficult to keep track - plus there is so much peer pressure brought about by the media (television, film, internet and print). What I meant was that so many people today don't have the back-to-basics experience anymore - to learn in the pure form of the sense. You described the feeling that you get out of the images that you took, developed and printed yourself. This is exactly what I mean, digital does not offer this to such a degree. That is why I enjoy the M8 - it put's you back in charge to create the image that you want: it forces you to work slower again and think about what you are trying to convey in the image. Enjoy running that film through a camera. Andreas Actually, I wasn't offended at all. I was agreeing with everything you were saying, and I don't mind being called a "youngster". I guess I didn't make myself clear. What I meant to say was, having experienced both film and digital in my "learning years", I prefer film. I know many people prefer the digital experience because of the instant gratification. But it is the waiting process, having complete control of the outcome of my photo, and being surprised by certain shots - those are the things that give me great pleasure. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MPerson - When my dad made a darkroom out of my bathroom, I wanted to keep that red light screwed in forever. My mom thought it was a little creepy however. It was the best bonding memory I have with my dad. I am sure you and your son will have a wonderful time developing photos! By the way, the first photo he took looks stunning. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted March 9, 2009 Share #14 Posted March 9, 2009 Many of you will have seen Richard Nicholson Photography - 'Last One Out, Please Turn On the Light', a photo excursion to some of London's last remaining professional darkrooms. If you haven't, it's worth a look. At least one of the darkrooms depicted was dismantled after the photo was made. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgio Posted March 9, 2009 Share #15 Posted March 9, 2009 It's the same generation that shoots 500 pics over the weekend and trash until they've found the good shot. The generation that does'nt know the difference between 5.6 and 22 and mail their 6mb files over the net to their mother in law. Sometimes I think back about the good times when I worked with my Kowa 6 and lateron the Pentax 6x7. It was a different way of working. Geo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugat Posted March 9, 2009 Share #16 Posted March 9, 2009 Darkroom is dead. Long live Lightroom! Also don't miss formerly incurable diseases, war and poverty, victorian morality, discrimination based on sex& race , exploitation, children labor... For those who denigrate modernity and everything it brings, there are still nice corners of the globe to spend their days, darkrooms included : Darfur, Afghanistan, Cuba... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clook Posted March 9, 2009 Share #17 Posted March 9, 2009 About 3 months ago I resurrected my Nikon F90X and loaded up a roll of Fuji Velvia with the intention of reviving an interest in film. I really wanted to get back into it. Or so I thought! I've taken a total of 6 shots with it and probably thousands of shots between my M8 and Nikon DSLR's over the same period. No-one can say I haven't tried, but in my experiment with myself digital wins! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venkman Posted March 9, 2009 Share #18 Posted March 9, 2009 It's the same generation that shoots 500 pics over the weekend and trash until they've found the good shot. The generation that does'nt know the difference between 5.6 and 22 and mail their 6mb files over the net to their mother in law. And that is bad? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted March 9, 2009 Share #19 Posted March 9, 2009 Many of you will have seen Richard Nicholson Photography - 'Last One Out, Please Turn On the Light', a photo excursion to some of London's last remaining professional darkrooms. If you haven't, it's worth a look. At least one of the darkrooms depicted was dismantled after the photo was made. Thanks for that link! What an unholy mess some of these printers make of their workspace! It looks like the file-system in my computer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitz Posted March 9, 2009 Share #20 Posted March 9, 2009 I'm from the generation who knows nothing about wet plates. Technology does move on. Next we'll learn that they don't teach students how to use slide rulers in high school anymore. And that the PDP 11 analog computer is no longer repairable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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