Does Anybody Use Film Cameras Anymore?

Smoke

Senior Member
When I was buying my new D5200, I mentioned to the sales rep that I am finally getting out of the "Film Camera" era. He looked at me and said not to quit using that camera (Nikon N50) because "you can do a lot of things with film that you can't do with digital". So my questions are: What can I do differently with film and would you buy a better lense for that camera at a cheap price and keep using it also?
 

Eye-level

Banned
Maybe like spending all day trying to find some good film. Then spending a ton of money for it. Then spending all day shooting pictures. Then spending another day waiting for the film to processed after you spent all day driving to another town to find someone to process the film. Then spending a ton of money to process it.

Only to find out you didn't have it loaded properly so you actually didn't make a single snap and the film is ruined because they tried to process it for you but there was nothing to process.

Um yes film is pretty cool but I think that guy is sadly misinforming you and I know because I have shot a few hundred rolls of film the past few years. :)
 
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Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
You should have asked him what he can do with film that he thinks can't be done with digital... I'd like to hear that... :eek:
That makes two of us.

I've worked in a dark room before. I've mixed chemicals and developed negatives; I've burned and dodged and enlarged and printed and you name it. Yes there's a lot you can learn from all that manual processing, it does make photography far more... I don't know the word I'm looking for... more visceral I suppose. But in my opinion, Behind-the-Counter dude is bordering on delusional. What did we "give up" by going to digital over film? A lot of effort and expense and smelly chemicals.

Ask Behind-the-Counter dude to remove an annoying pole jutting out from behind a subjects head as if it was never there on a 35mm negative. What takes hours or days to do in a darkroom, you now do in minutes if not seconds, behind your PC.
 

Dave_W

The Dude
I still use my film camera, in fact I use my old F-1 all the time. Besides being the worlds most expensive paper-weight, it also does a fine job gathering up dust on my bookshelf. Which is more than I can say for my N90 and N80's. They rarely see the light of day. :p
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
What you can do in digital post processing is amazing compared to what was possible in the old darkroom days. And I know what I'm talking about.

Of course you could dodge and burn, but what about contrast control? There was no way you could change the contrast and saturation of just one part of the picture, change colour temperature on the fly, sharpen, blur, etc. I don't see where the advantage of film lies, really, I'm much happier to be spending some time in front of my iMac than I was in the dark.

​Of course, just my opinion.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
PP is no big deal you all...most film is scanned and turned into digital files nowadays.

Which is exactly the point... If you're gonna scan and then post process from that point forward, why bother with the expense and tme delay getting to the digital scan of a film negative...
 

Phillydog1958

Senior Member
Maybe like spending all day trying to find some good film. Then spending a ton of money for it. The spending all day shooting pictures. Then spending another day waiting for the film to processed after you spent all day driving to another town to find someone to process the film. Then spending a ton of money to process it.

Only to find out you didn't have it loaded properly so you actually didn't make a single snap and the film is ruined because they tried to process it for you but there was nothing to process.

Um yes film is pretty cool but I think that guy is sadly misinforming you and I know because I have shot a few hundred rolls of film the past few years. :)


OMG . . . I had an old Canon AE-1, which I loved, but I remember taking shots to find that none came out. That's painful. It makes you want to say, "Forget this hobby. I'm done!" I am soooo thankful for digital.
 
I started off in the darkroom with Black and White and was one of the few that progressed to color film developing and printing. I still have some 16X20 color prints that I developed and printed at home. I progress to managing over 100 One hour labs and then on to owning 2 labs. Would I ever go back to shooting Film? !@#$%!@# no

Digital is so much better in all ways. The quality of my D5100 is IMO better than my Mamiya 645 could ever be. That and I don't get contact Dermatitis sitting at the computer.
 

jcottone45

Senior Member
Double exposures is about the only thing I can think of presently that can be done on my old FE but would need to tae 2 separate photos digitally & then use software to combine them.
 

Smoke

Senior Member
So what everyone is saying is that I should sell my N50? OR, I could get a 200 or 300mm lens really cheap I bet......
 
Have you checked Ebay prices for the Nikon N50? They run $15 to $20. I have an entire drawer of old film cameras. going to build a new set of built in shelves in my den and one of the shelves will be to display the old cameras.
 

Watch72

Senior Member
I shoot film. Anything there that cannot be done with digital? - I guess not.
It is a lot more of a hassle and but if you enjoy it, then why not?
The thing with film is the wait to see the result.
To some who are used to DSLR - without instant feedback can be a uncomfortable to say the least.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
How i miss my film cameras,the ability to not notice a small error in the picture until the prints or slides come back,the happy hours spent in the dark room printing black and white,then the even longer hours printing colour,a wedding order for 20 prints with retouching needed on all 20 prints.Life was so much better then i now have to sit in front of my computer in the front room Tv on at the same time if i want and no complaints from the wife that ime never there.

All joking aside the film era was a great time and ime happy to have the now useless knowledge of darkroom workings,would i go back well that would be no,would i buy a F3 or F4 as a paper weight and example of design and engineering maybe if it was cheap enough.

mike
 

Bill4282

Senior Member
I started out in '69 in 'Nam with a Petri SLR which I paid $300. Sold it used for $50 three years later. Spent a fortune on film and developing. Gee, I miss the good old days lol
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I shoot film. Anything there that cannot be done with digital? - I guess not.

Some manual film cameras could still take a photo using certain settings even if the battery was dead. I had a Minolta with that ability. Try that with a digital camera!
 
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