FADU Defector

[marcaeon]

Well I'm not really defecting but thought I would pop along here as well. I shoot 5x4, 120 and erm, some of that noughts and zero stuff. Based in the UK.

[photobymike]

Sometimes 120 is better than 4x5 ...it is hand holdable and and depending on hardware it can be sharper pictures. There is more than the camera that you use involved in taking a picture. Its the philosophy and the type of picture you want to capture. Think a minute how you use a 4x5 camera and a 120 camera versus a digital camera. The 4x5 camera or larger requires more thought before you take a photograph. Film is more expensive and there is a certain technique and procedure you have to do before and after the capture. Digital capture... well no film cost so taking pictures by the thousand and sorting them out later is the norm.... sure its cheaper and easier. For some types of photography this is the best kind of camera. From my experience in the photography i do film photography as a journey that involves investment in time and money that to me makes it an art.

Example..... i was shooting birds in Fort Desoto Park. There was a gaggle of photographers from a seminar on bird pictures. They all had digital and very long lenses shooting a group birds. They were so close with shutters whirring that they did not see the bigger picture. A curious Reddish Egret (quite rare) landed behind them. They were all on the tummies trying for the perfect closeup when not more than 50 feet them this Egret landed .... since i was the only one standing not with the crowd, i got some great pictures over there heads of this fine bird with my trusty Nikon F100 w/80 to 400 zoomy with Velvia. Well the point of the story is my picture taking resources were limited to 10 exposures left on the roll. My vision was over all what was happing because of the way i was thinking and photoing at the time.... i did not have my eye in the viewfinder or "chimping" of the last picture i took. The film pictures i have taken are full of memories relating to the journey..... i have 30 thousand digital pictures on my harddrive with some pictures i have not even seen...... So neither one is better than the other just different.... Also working in the darkroom is therapeutic nice and quiet except with the water flowing in the wash tank and soft music in the background as you work on your current masterpiece. I also have negatives from 47 years ago when i was in high school ... i wonder where your digital pictures will be 40 years from now..... On a CD LOL LOL some CDs only last 10 years before they deteriorate to be un readable... what will the technology be like in the future to read these discs... by the way the best disks for archival is kodak gold CDs and DVDs... expensive very expensive...

sorry just my rant for the day

[Alan Gales]

Welcome to the forum. You will find most of us (including me) shoot various film formats plus digital.



Oh, Mike, I bought some of those gold archival discs from my local pro shop. The salesman told me that they last something like 300 years so I told him if they didn't I would be back to complain. He replied that would be no problem because he would be there! :D