Originally posted by yusuf How much full frame advantage does shooting film has?
or do you think thank advantage is nullified in processing film (development, scanning, low resolution, grains etc).
Just wondering
I assume you are talking about 35mm? If so, I would suggest that it has the same advantage it always had as well as the same disadvantages. The small negative has always presented a challenge from the perspective of grain and what is required of the optics. That was balanced nicely by the compact kit, the large number of exposures per roll, and ease of use. The 35mm format was and still is sort of a sweet spot where usability converged with image quality, DOF control, and flexible kit.
Regarding your individual points:
- Development can be bad, but so can the image processors in a dSLR. The difference is that one lasts the life of the camera. The two are analogous.
- Scanning...You can get as much quality as you are willing to pay for. In the end, you still may not be able to match a high resolution digital sensor. Best case with my kit is theoretically equal to about 24 megapixels.
- Grain...It is my understanding that it is supposed to be there, sort of like brush strokes on a painting. That being said, the finest grain films require a microscope to see the actual film grain. In practice, grain (or the interference patterns associated with grain) are usually a part of any film image. Move up to medium format (120 roll film) and grain essentially disappears.
- Low resolution? The better films coupled with decent optics are capable of some pretty incredible resolution. Again, a high end FF dSLR will do better, assuming, of course that you are talking 35mm. Move up to medium or large format and film holds its own quite nicely from a monetary value perspective.
That last point is the telling one. The part about monetary value perspective. If you want a little larger format, enjoy a flexible, compact, and lightweight kit and like the general film experience, it is pretty have to beat a good 35mm film SLR. This is especially true if you want to keep your monetary investment to a minimum.
There is, of course, the issue that film photography is sort of like a malignant disease. I got back into it with a single roll of 35mm film in a film camera that I had owned since the early 1980s. Within two years I had a dozen cameras (including a large format view camera) and two scanners and had spent enough to buy a used FF dSLR.
Steve