[ChrisPlatt]

FWIW most modern black and white photo chemistry commonly used is quite safe.
Further several major manufacturers offer odorless and reduced toxicity lines.

Chris

[monochrome]

I'm not convinced that chemical printing is safe.

My opinion, only.

I'm not doing any more of it.

LiOn batteries aren't safe either - it's just that the danger is an event rather than a process. Of course, electricity isn't really safe for you or me or the atmosphere so we should all just punt meters and go back to SV's.

[6BQ5]

I shoot film for a lot of the same reasons already given : the gear, the look and feel, the discipline, etc. There's also the feeling of ownership and individuality. Shooting film gives me a small space that is uniquely my own. I am completely in control from the film I choose, the settings, the developing ... all the way up to the final image. Call me a control freak but having this much ownership of the process is thrilling, comforting, and empowering!

Oh, yes, and there is the scent of film. People talk about the darkroom vapors but for me it was always the smell of fresh film. I love opening film canisters and smelling the VOCs coming off of the film.

[stevebrot]

...but for me it was always the smell of fresh film. I love opening film canisters and smelling the VOCs coming off of the film.

Just thinking about it brings on positive associations


Steve

[monochrome]

That puts a whole different spin on New Car Smell.

[MD Optofonik]

It's physical, non-ephemeral, nature.

[k0og]

Film is old... I'm old... I can relate to it

[Venturi]

Different media for different purposes.

Film allows me, or creates incentives for me, to be more purposeful in my photography. Regardless of cost, it is physically more difficult to throw away a physical negative than it is a digital one. Film is tangible and visible as soon as it touches your hand, whereas in order to view the digital image you have to "load it up" into the computer and let it be rendered onto a screen.

Some will/would argue that film prevails only by its nostalgic/sentimental/romantic characteristics. They're right. That's true of all the artistic media that have remained in use for the past few thousand years. I suppose it's possible that one day The Louvre will display "Digital Masterpieces of the 21st Century". Perhaps. Stranger things have happened.

[ChrisPlatt]

I love opening film canisters and smelling the VOCs coming off of the film.

And I thought it was only me...

Chris

[SyncGuy]

Why i shoot film?

Because i'm human and my diet don't just consist of chicken or meat only...
Need....variety.....

[baro-nite]

So I'm finding out the cost-benefit of film isn't quite as bad as people think... but digital is good for training and learning, you can make tons of mistakes. I do think as I grow as a photographer I'll probably shoot on film a higher percentage of my time.

I've been going over my photo library recently (reorganizing, culling), and I've realized that my recent experience shooting a few rolls of film has me looking at images differently. Shooting film imposes a discipline that shooting digital doesn't, at least for me. Film gives me a much stronger feeling of making every shot count, and wanting to get it right in camera. I think my return to film is going to make me a better photographer.

Digital capture and processing are wonderful tools. But there is a trap for the undisciplined photographer. Exposure bracket, focus bracket, stitch; fix it all up in post. The tools can end up driving the process. One can all too easily lose sight of the fact that the goal is to create an image.

[Nuff]

I like the look of the photos. No digital can match it, even if it's super grainy 35mm photo.
My hasselblad 501c is my favourite camera. Followed by Pentax MX and iPhone if I need to post something on ebay. My K5 sat in a corner for more than a year. I will be selling it soon.
I can't wait to get my hands on Leica M3 (it will be my xmas present), after handling one, it's as good as hasselblad.

I have noticed that my photography has improved drastically since I switched to film. I stopped thinking about sharpness and megapixels and the final image is what matters.
Also I mainly take photos when I travel and my camera spends a lot less time in front of me and I can enjoy my travels/holidays a lot more.

[edmundrt]

For me, it has a lot to do with the sheer variety that film offers. With digital you can have only one sensor - with film I can have a box of 20 different sensors, and choose which one I'd like at the beginning of the day. And not just the variety of the film itself - these days, the inexpensive nature of Pentax film equipment offers the amateur enthusiast an array of kit we could never dream to afford if it were digital.

But in the end it comes down, as people have said, to that tactile nature of film. The smell when you pop open the canister, the slap of a solid focal-plane shutter and the crank of the winding lever, the negatives and slides and the own unique visual character of each film. Using any well-engineered precision instrument, from cars to bikes to cameras - it's just a personal, mechanical, metallic pleasure.

[Jamey777]

@nuff not that you can't shoot film with plastic cameras, but there is something about holding brass, glass, and leather and taking the shot...

[ChrisPlatt]

I agree with many of the previous posts in this thread regarding the advantages of film.
There are a few more reasons I continue to use film almost exclusively .

I don't like the complexity of operating the many buttons, dials, displays, menus etc. of DSLRs.
No two cameras are laid out the same. There's a steep learning curve whenever you go from model to model, even within brands.

The problem for me began with 35mm film SLRs in the 1980's when they began to incorporate too much electronics.
Japanese engineers have a penchant for adding unnecessary features merely because a capability exists on the chip they're using.
Why does my DVD player have a drawer open button on the remote control? If only I had a trained monkey to change the disc while I sit in my easy chair...

OTOH I can pick up nearly any 1960's - 1980's 35mm SLR, from any manufacturer and quickly be making images with it.
I have complete creative control with just a few controls, all in standardized locations. 100+ page manual not required.

Further I'm glad I can't preview my images, and have to wait until my roll of film is processed to see them.
If I had that ability I know I'd use it incessantly, like everyone else does. Come on, admit it.
IMO delayed gratification can be a good thing. Today's society should try it sometime.

I really enjoy developing my own negatives and wet printing them in a darkroom. This makes me feel like an artist, craftsman, alchemist, and magician.
Sitting at a PC and successfully editing a file with Photoshop etc. just doesn't give me the same sort of satisfaction.

I could go on and on, but end of rant.

Chris