Just for fun!

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barsbyart

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Paul Barsby
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A bit tongue in cheek this one. Just fun really.

OK, I shoot FILM but have recently bought my first digital (as it's the best tool for a specific purpose).

I can see the advantages of being able to review your shot on site BUT I'm wondering if this could be a 'double-edged sword'...? :thinking:

I know people used to say that the film was the cheapest item of equipment and although that's true as an item cost the overall cost of 'consumables' (film and d+p) always mounts up so I honed my skills to get it right first time as much as possible (although I would bracket exposure +/- in tricky conditions). I could be fairly confident that 1 click equalled 1 pic.

But with the digi I've been 'machine-gunning' and deleting. OK it's a new toy so there's bound to be some of that at first.

What I'm wondering is this - Does shooting digi lead to a different mind-set? Rather than making sure everything's right before clicking is there a temptation to click and click and click until the image is right?

When shooting any given subject how many times do YOU click and how many do you keep or delete? Remember this is just for fun - it's the odd way my mind works. :lol:
 
I probably click 500 times and delete 499 times :lol:

Best was when I put the camera in the top of the bag and left it with a friend while I went for some cups of tea, I saw the kid looking in the bag and when I got home I had a couple of hundred of the inside of the lens cap, my friend said she wondered what the clicking noise was! thats another 200 or so to add to my deleteds
 
lol i took 247 pics at the ship and liked only 9 of them lol
 
You are were definitely already in the correct mindset for what you/we all should be aiming for - get it correct in camera first.

Checking to see if the image is correct is an excellent feature to have on your camera but can definitely get in the way if there's a quick fire situation & you don't have time to chimp away - could cost you the shot & that's definitely a bad thing.

My main camera (before my switch to the dark side- mwaaa haaaaa haaaa! :p ) was a 1D that did not have a zoom on preview function so I had to quickly get used to not chimping at all as it was near enough useless to do so.
(Great question btw :thumbs:)
 
I'm still in the film mindset - I like to get it right 1st time. I can go out on a full days shoot and come back with less than 100 shots, where some people will come home with 5K+.
 
Sounds like another to add to the army of film users who demand a film section on this forum..!
I am just about to start using film again, for the very reasons you are saying. It is easy to fire off lots and hope for a few. However, if you use film, you need to think more. I need that discipline again. I want to set up a camera (I am going with a medium format, so big and slow to use compared to a digital slr), look, think, meter, focus, and them maybe take a picture.....

I took a video camera on my honeymoon to Egypt. While I wandered round the amazing sights on our one day trip to the pyramids, I was busily videoing my feet as the camera hung down from its strap, until the battery went dead, 2 hours later. It has to be the most exciting video ever made....
 
steveinspain said:
I took a video camera on my honeymoon to Egypt. While I wandered round the amazing sights on our one day trip to the pyramids, I was busily videoing my feet as the camera hung down from its strap, until the battery went dead, 2 hours later. It has to be the most exciting video ever made....
Click to expand...

lmao classic
 
Sad bit is, I have watched it several times - being married is real fun, y'know...
 
Well the first 2 were on Auto, the wind blew for the first one so it was blurred, but the second one was at least a picture :lol:
May be an idea if I went back to auto, I might get better results :thinking:
 
I have started to bracket shots on my 400d, i shoot normal, +1 and -1 using continuous shooting mode. seems a good idea with digital?
 
I try and get it right in camera first, but knowing I can keep shooting with no worries is good too as it encourages me to experiment with different angles. Also shooting wildlife I suppose would have it's benefits using digital, I was out before and spotted a squirrel so I've got about 75 photos over a few minutes of it running up and down a tree. Of those, about 3 or 4 are actually good, which I probably wouldn't have got if I'd not been shooting as many as I did, since the rest have branches in the fore ground etc.

Also I do bracket a lot of my landscape shots. Means that it takes 3 times the number of photos, however it has proved useful when I've metered for the sky by accident or when I've decided to try and make a HDR photo afterwards. In my experience I often get in and think "damn, I wish I'd taken a few more shots doing XYZ instead" so since it costs nothing and only takes a few seconds I do take more.

Rob
 
steveinspain said:
Sounds like another to add to the army of film users who demand a film section on this forum..!
Click to expand...

eh.....where are they all and why aren't they posting in the film uprising thread...eh

I dunno, I think its unrealistic to expect to get the right shot first time everytime film or digital.
But by the same token its unrealistic to expect to make much of an improvement in that area shooting 500 shots of the same damn thing and still not getting the shot they want.
Peeps generally are lazy, its a strong person that shoots digital all manual all the time win lose or draw, unless you restrict them physically and force them to make every shot count, theres no incentive to improve.
 
Good point Joxby !
A question to those of you who shoot film - why ?
What does it give you that digital doesn't ?
 
as someone who had never done photography before I bought my 400D, I have found that being able to click away all day, playing with different settings, and being able to see where I am going wrong at the time, has made my learning curve steeper than it ever would have been if I had picked up a film camera and given that a go.

If I had picked up a film camera, with zero knowledge, I cant even imagine how long it would take me to finally be able to confidently take a good photo. Years? Take 24 photos, get them developed, 2 days later find out if they are any good, and by that time you have forgotten what settings you used. Taking a shot and seeing immediately if it works or not is such a huge advantage to a beginner.

I have reached the point now though that I dont want to take 30 pictures in order to get it 1 I like. I want to achieve 1 shot - 1 pic, and thats my mindset. But because Im not very good, wheres the harm in rattling off 10 more just in case. Thats how I see it.
 
You raise a very good point, full auto - the instant review feature of digi is an EXCELLENT tool when learning to use a camera.
I remember my father being the opposite of this - he would take 3 years to expose 1 roll of film and then another 6 months to get it developed! Everyone had feet or heads chopped off or if they had heads they had lamposts or icecream vans growing out of them! He could never remember where the pics were taken! lol Thing is - when you are proficient and confident will you continue to use digi or maybe consider switching to film (35mm, medium or large format)?

steveinspain - I like using my Bronica ETRSi for the reasons you mention and because it's just so 'mechanical' and basic.
What does film give you that digi can't? Hmmm... well different films do have different characteristics - grain shape and size for instance and there's much enjoyment to be had playing around when developing. Mostly tho' it's quality - I read that it would take 16.1Mp capture to 'equal' the quality of 35mm Velvia. I shoot Velvia and neg film (for latitude) and scan at high res which gives me a file size of 20-50Mb which I print out at 1440dpi

Also, some of my mechanical cameras are 25 (30?) years old and still going!
On the downside of film there's all those chemicals which stain your clothes and are bad for the environment! I wonder what the environmental effect of chemicals is compared with the dumping of (nearly) used-up batteries from digi users? Anyone aware of any studies?

joxby - a film uprising thread? lol Could be good to have a film forum but I don't want to start a Film vs Digi rangewar - ultimately I don't care how an image was captured or what's been done to it in pp - it's the image that counts.

Remember - this thread just for fun but it has raised some interesting points,no?
 
barsbyart said:
Thing is - when you are proficient and confident will you continue to use digi or maybe consider switching to film (35mm, medium or large format)?
Click to expand...


Im a geek at heart, so the digital editing, processing and printing all appeals to me, so I cant see myself switching completely.

Although my dad does have a really impressive looking Bronica (in fact I think its a ETRSi) that I would like to know how to use......

1 thing at a time ;)
 
full auto said:
Im a geek at heart, so the digital editing, processing and printing all appeals to me, so I cant see myself switching completely.

Although my dad does have a really impressive looking Bronica (in fact I think its a ETRSi) that I would like to know how to use......

1 thing at a time ;)
Click to expand...

I capture on film (mainly) but do use Photoshop and print digitally so best of both worlds! :lol:

Re the Bronica - ask him nicely. It's a joy to use.
 
barsbyart said:
joxby - a film uprising thread? lol Could be good to have a film forum but I don't want to start a Film vs Digi rangewar - ultimately I don't care how an image was captured or what's been done to it in pp - it's the image that counts.

Remember - this thread just for fun but it has raised some interesting points,no?
Click to expand...

Theres no war, I shoot digital aswell as film and so do others.
Photos of both formats would still be posted in their respective subs regardless of their format I would think.
I guess its an interest gauger, if you dont voice your approval, or dissapproval, that would fall into the not fussed catagory.
If there isn't sufficient interest in a film sub, it won't happen.
But if you are a filmy and you would like a seperate sub, make it count.
If not then, fair enough, dont think anybody wants a dead sub with 2 or 3 bangin on about chemicals and crap on their own:lol:
 
joxby said:
But if you are a filmy and you would like a seperate sub, make it count.
Click to expand...

OK have added my name to the list.

Where I used to live (only 4 years ago) the Uni did full and part-time courses in photography and these were primarily film based. For instance the part-time HNC (first year) was 1 night per week shooting/dev/printing film plus 1 Saturday morning in 4 on digi manipulation. Students of photog still need somewhere to seek help/inspiration with FILM.
 
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