The experience of taking photos
As most amateur photographers have probably done, I have been contemplating switching from film-based cameras to digital-based cameras. The reasons for doing so are pretty obvious - no more waiting for film to be processed before seeing your results. No fees to buy or develop film. No longer being frustrated when lighting conditions change and you have the wrong speed film loaded.
For a while I was waiting for an affordable digital camera that didn't have a FOV crop factor. I like to shoot very wide landscapes, and I frequently take shots in the 17-20mm range. If I bought a camera with a FOV crop factor around 1.6x, I'd have to buy an 11mm lens to approach the 17mm that I shoot at. Purchasing a good one would be extremely expensive, not to mention that I would likely not need it once digital cameras with full-frame sensors become more prevalent. In other words, it would be an expensive temporary purchase that I would want to sell (for a significant loss) later.
A lot of that changed once Canon released the 5D. Granted, it's still a pretty expensive camera. But it's one that, if I save up for, I can afford. So, I went into the camera store and started trying it out. But something kept nagging at me.
I already own a budget 4 megapixel digital camera that I've been taking pictures with for about half a year. And I love the fact that I can take pictures without worrying about "wasting film", and see the results immediately. But I mostly just take casual pictures with it. Not because the camera isn't up to more serious shots, but because I really don't like examining my pictures on a computer. It simply isn't very fun. I can't hold a digital picture. And something about that just makes it seem uninteresting to me. I don't get the same satisfaction out of taking a nice picture with a digital camera that I do with a film camera, simply because I can't hold the resulting picture in my hand.
Sure, I could buy a photo printer to print out my own pictures, but once you factor in the cost of buying a really good one and buying ink and high quality photo paper, it's not necessarily any cheaper than film. Or I could upload the picture to an online photo site and order a print, but that's not exactly faster than dropping off film at a processing store.
OK, so those are kind of flimsy reasons, and I could probably deal with it. But yet I'm still hesitant to do it. Why? I think it's because the whole experience of shooting pictures digitally is just different from film. Digital is too transient and abstract. Your picture is a collection of bits on a flash card or a hard drive. You can only see them using a computer or some other electronic device. If you don't have any electronic devices around to view the picture, does it even exist? Digital just doesn't feel real to me.
For professional photographers, I understand that this is a pretty silly idea. Digital has blatantly obvious benefits and cost savings that cannot be ignored for the professional. But I don't take pictures in order to make money and sustain a living. I take pictures for fun. For the experience. So it matters to me how I feel when I take pictures. And for now, taking pictures with film, taking them to a film lab for processing, and then looking at the processed filmand/or print in my hand is part of what I enjoy about photography.
For a while I was waiting for an affordable digital camera that didn't have a FOV crop factor. I like to shoot very wide landscapes, and I frequently take shots in the 17-20mm range. If I bought a camera with a FOV crop factor around 1.6x, I'd have to buy an 11mm lens to approach the 17mm that I shoot at. Purchasing a good one would be extremely expensive, not to mention that I would likely not need it once digital cameras with full-frame sensors become more prevalent. In other words, it would be an expensive temporary purchase that I would want to sell (for a significant loss) later.
A lot of that changed once Canon released the 5D. Granted, it's still a pretty expensive camera. But it's one that, if I save up for, I can afford. So, I went into the camera store and started trying it out. But something kept nagging at me.
I already own a budget 4 megapixel digital camera that I've been taking pictures with for about half a year. And I love the fact that I can take pictures without worrying about "wasting film", and see the results immediately. But I mostly just take casual pictures with it. Not because the camera isn't up to more serious shots, but because I really don't like examining my pictures on a computer. It simply isn't very fun. I can't hold a digital picture. And something about that just makes it seem uninteresting to me. I don't get the same satisfaction out of taking a nice picture with a digital camera that I do with a film camera, simply because I can't hold the resulting picture in my hand.
Sure, I could buy a photo printer to print out my own pictures, but once you factor in the cost of buying a really good one and buying ink and high quality photo paper, it's not necessarily any cheaper than film. Or I could upload the picture to an online photo site and order a print, but that's not exactly faster than dropping off film at a processing store.
OK, so those are kind of flimsy reasons, and I could probably deal with it. But yet I'm still hesitant to do it. Why? I think it's because the whole experience of shooting pictures digitally is just different from film. Digital is too transient and abstract. Your picture is a collection of bits on a flash card or a hard drive. You can only see them using a computer or some other electronic device. If you don't have any electronic devices around to view the picture, does it even exist? Digital just doesn't feel real to me.
For professional photographers, I understand that this is a pretty silly idea. Digital has blatantly obvious benefits and cost savings that cannot be ignored for the professional. But I don't take pictures in order to make money and sustain a living. I take pictures for fun. For the experience. So it matters to me how I feel when I take pictures. And for now, taking pictures with film, taking them to a film lab for processing, and then looking at the processed filmand/or print in my hand is part of what I enjoy about photography.
posted by Chris at 9:18 PM
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