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07-11-2014, 06:42 AM - 1 Like   #1
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Why do you still do film?

I was looking at what it would cost to jump into a nikon full frame or the fuji x systems to replace what I have in pentax glass / film cameras. The reason I did that was after home developing 9 rolls of c-41 I was wondering if it was worth it. (the answer of course is, yes, for me as proven by the photos of my family which is the only reason I do this)

In any case, that got me to thinking, why do I do film?

It boils down to this for me....

1) I shoot almost everything I can wide open. I am sick to death of iphone depth of field for 98% of the photos I see of families, kids etc. Full frame FA77 is a completely different look than my F 50 1.7 on aps-c.

2) I hate post-production. I just want it scanned, and other than tweaking the brightness because the scanner guessed wrong, or editing out huge dust specs I don't do anything to the film. It looks phenomenal. (scanning on a pakon) Film gives me the contrast and punchiness I always tried to get on digital by screwing around in post.

3) Real optical huge viewfinder. I have an LX and MZ-S and love it. I worry about the future with all these EVFs.

4) Tri-X. Even if I change how I do things, I will always have at least an LX and a 50mm :-)

At the end of the day I am getting the shots I want now, and am very happy. I have to do home dev to keep costs down but that is fine. I figure I can do this at least a few more years before I get too ansy or sick of doing home dev.

Jamey


Last edited by Jamey777; 07-11-2014 at 06:43 AM. Reason: typo
07-11-2014, 07:30 AM   #2
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I just started shooting film again because I wanted to try medium format and didn't want to spend $10k kitting up. Bought a Pentax 6x7. We'll see if the bug holds
07-11-2014, 07:43 AM   #3
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Well Fuji is still aps-c so you still are not going to get the full frame look. Also, if you want that large viewfinder look then you'd have to spring for an x-t1. A substantial amount of money.

If you are desperate for the full frame look, ie, narrow depth of field, your cheapest option is an old 2nd hand Canon 5d. No better high iso performance than a Pentax K5 though.
07-11-2014, 07:56 AM   #4
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Man, you guys...LOL.
I still shoot film because I love to! I like the look, printed film shots just look better to me than the same with digital. I'm rather old fashioned when it comes to post; other than resize or fix dust spots I haven't learned it because I prefer to get it right in the camera first. Film helps me do this. I prefer optical viewfinders and yes, the forever DOF with cell cameras is stupid. No creativity there a-tall.

I've recently discovered medium format too; Mamiya M645 although if I fine a Pentax...

07-11-2014, 07:56 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by howieb101 Quote
Well Fuji is still aps-c so you still are not going to get the full frame look. Also, if you want that large viewfinder look then you'd have to spring for an x-t1. A substantial amount of money.

If you are desperate for the full frame look, ie, narrow depth of field, your cheapest option is an old 2nd hand Canon 5d. No better high iso performance than a Pentax K5 though.
howie, I have thought through those trade offs.... it would be like 3000-3500 to go FF nikon or Fuji system... but the fuji at least does have the 1.2 which will end up being close to the same bokeh as my 77 1.8 on FF.

honestly (yes this is the wrong forum >) if pentax would be so kind as to come out with a FF Kmount I would switch off color and only do BW in film (< correct forum). don't want to derail the purpose of the thread :-)

---------- Post added 07-11-14 at 10:59 AM ----------

medium format is a real reason for film... I am very tempted to expand into the TLR world at some point. pentax 6x7 sounds awesome but I like the portability of 35mm pentax so a TLR or a Folder would be the way to keep the kit small. I am not a RF fan so TLR would be it. but then I have to scan it on a flat bed... ugh :-)
07-11-2014, 08:04 AM - 1 Like   #6
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It's not actually about the film for me. Film or SD card I don't honestly care because I just end up telling the lab to scan and digitize my film shots anyway. It's about the pleasure of using the old cameras. I love them, the way they feel in my hands. Using my SPII's or my KX's is fun and it forces me to slow down a little, think more about my shooting. Everything is full manual, there's only so many settings. It's a bit different mindset for me than when I shoot digital. I'm not a spray shooter anyway but I'm even more deliberate when I have an old camera in my hand.

I do shoot for fun with my DSLR's and my M43 camera but mostly it's all about work lately. For me the costs of using film severely limits how much of it I can use. So sometimes using film it's a treat for me basically. It's "me" time. It's something I do simply because I really enjoy it and I still can once in a while. But I could never use it professionally or even all the time personally. It would just not be financially possible for me to.
07-11-2014, 08:18 AM   #7
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I shoot B&W film because it's fun and I really like the look. Simple.

07-11-2014, 08:23 AM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by magkelly Quote
It's not actually about the film for me. Film or SD card I don't honestly care because I just end up telling the lab to scan and digitize my film shots anyway. It's about the pleasure of using the old cameras. I love them, the way they feel in my hands. Using my SPII's or my KX's is fun and it forces me to slow down a little, think more about my shooting. Everything is full manual, there's only so many settings. It's a bit different mindset for me than when I shoot digital. I'm not a spray shooter anyway but I'm even more deliberate when I have an old camera in my hand.

I do shoot for fun with my DSLR's and my M43 camera but mostly it's all about work lately. For me the costs of using film severely limits how much of it I can use. So sometimes using film it's a treat for me basically. It's "me" time. It's something I do simply because I really enjoy it and I still can once in a while. But I could never use it professionally or even all the time personally. It would just not be financially possible for me to.
magkelly, i also love the fun of film cameras.... the winder is just great
07-11-2014, 09:41 AM   #9
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It is fun.

Also better gear choices at a low price. My 35mm rangefinders and SLRs handle better than any of my digital gear and have better viewfinders (accept for the FSU rangefinders ) and provide access to the larger-than-APS-C format. Likewise, medium and large format film is a fraction of the cost of digital.


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07-11-2014, 09:50 AM   #10
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Because it's super fun ! Film cameras are amazing.

I can't get film colors with digital, has it's own look I guess and I love it.
I'm only shooting film these days.
07-11-2014, 09:54 AM   #11
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I've been shooting a bit of film because I love the look of it (and always find myself trying to emulate it in digital). I started shooting manual SLR's last year then picked up a TLR early this year and recently got an AF SLR for my three amigos. Problem for me is with having started out for years with digital that I find it pretty much impossible to get over how cheap and lazy I am. I won't do my own developing (not that it seems to save that much money anyway) so I have rolls in my cameras that take many months to burn through because I want to make each shot count for how expensive it is. Even with how sparsely I am shooting film, I find that it scratches the itch for film when I am feeling it and helps me to wait patiently for digi FF.
07-11-2014, 10:02 AM - 2 Likes   #12
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Because I still haven't figured out how to load Ektar in my digital SLR!
Oh, and for under $500, I can shoot a camera with a 55mm x 70mm "sensor, and get 45 megapixel files Oh, and the "sensor" is interchangeable.
07-11-2014, 10:30 AM - 1 Like   #13
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The reasons I shoot film are:

I love the feel & function of film cameras, particularly mechanical film cameras. The tactility of a mechanical camera with manual focus is not only a pleasure, but also allows a degree of control not available with full auto-exposure auto-focus cameras, whether film or digital.

I love the anticipation of getting my photos back from the lab. Delayed gratification is underrated in this day & age. Unfortunately, I cannot do my own developing because where I live disposal of the chemicals would add exponentially to the costs. But if I were able to do my own developing again, that would certainly be another reason. Real darkroom work is pure magic. That said, I do scan my own film.

Film looks distinctly different from digital, even when digitized, and different films digitized also have their own distinct looks. Digital technology has given film a new lease of life through scanning, giving us the best of both worlds. You'll never get any of the film vs digital rubbish from me. I also shoot with a Nikon D-700 using manual focus Nikkors & Zeiss ZFs, and it's amazing.

With film, broadly speaking, you're not limited to a single format. 135 film is full-frame (or half-frame) and 120 film (or 220) is any number of formats. Amazingly, some company is making 620 film, and even Super-8 movie film is still available! Almost any film camera ever made can still be used & enjoyed. And let's not forget large-format.

If you shoot film these days, people will start giving you their old film cameras. For a gearhead like me, it's like a dream come true.

The only downside of shooting film and lots of it is that it requires a bit of real estate for storage & some work organizing. That's not a very big downside.
07-11-2014, 10:59 AM - 1 Like   #14
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Because film opens up a whole new category for GAS*





*Gear Acquisition Syndrome
07-11-2014, 11:05 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jamey777 Quote
2) I hate post-production. I just want it scanned, and other than tweaking the brightness because the scanner guessed wrong, or editing out huge dust specs I don't do anything to the film. It looks phenomenal.
This is a big one for me. It looks better with little or no tweaking (aside from cropping, etc.). I like both these photos but, to my eye, the film one on the right wins it (K1000, Lomo 800):


Plus, the cameras are just fun to shoot. And you can't be the thrill of getting film back from the developer.
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