Film vs. Digital

Several of my friends keep asking me whether I prefer shooting film or shooting digital. The answer is, of course, "Yes."  Both formats have their strengths and weaknesses.

Digital has a higher up-front cost (especially these days, as film camera prices are falling), and you are potentially very limited in how much you can enlarge a digital image. But it has instant gratification, and modifying the image is much easier than with film work.

Film has a lower barrier to entry, but the costs add up more and more over the long term. Unlike SD cards, you can't delete images off of your film and shoot again. And images which don't turn out are very difficult to coax anything from.  But the sense of satisfaction from a good shot is magnified.

I've found that I shoot differently with my digital cameras than I do with my film cameras. I'm more willing to take risks when shooting digitally, because I'll know right away if the risk paid off.

But there's something oddly and wonderfully tangible about film.  Fragile as it is, it's harder to destroy than a digital file over the long term. Depending on how I have backed the digital image up, of course.

Not only that, but I've found that I have more fun shooting film. I'm not sure what's so different. Maybe it's the gambler in me delighting in taking a risk. What if it doesn't turn out? What if I'm unsatisfied with the results?

And, of course, some film cameras are just more fun to use. I'm finding more and more that the Polaroid Land Camera 210 is one of the most fun cameras I have ever used. Part of that is the instant gratification factor, it's true - but that camera is weirdly magical. It's just too bulky to be my everyday camera.

By contrast, my Optio M40 is lightweight and easy to carry. It takes good pictures. But ... I don't take any great joy in its use. It's strictly a tool with a limited set of uses (mostly for when I need a camera in my hand NOWNOWNOW, which doesn't happen often). I like having more control over my photos.

It's weird that I feel like I have more control with an old Polaroid than I do with a newer digital camera, but that's how it is.