Pretty good article on the seemingly old film vs digital discussion

[Michael Lloyd]

The results didn't surprise me. I see them every scan

I got the link from Frank Doorhof's G+ page. He still shoots and develops film

http://petapixel.com/2014/12/18/comp...-film-digital/

The link to the right about Amanda Marie Ellison is interesting and a little disturbing. But it's real life...

Frank's page: https://plus.google.com/+FrankDoorho...ts/gHm7M6SnzpU

[Tin Can]

Thanks for posting it.

I read that last year and it was great to re-view it.

[Ray Heath]

Probably depends more on who you believe and what you personally accept.

I don't understand why, if film is believed to be superior, people shoot and process film then scan it. Surely film is designed to be contact printed or enlarged optically. Why go backwards in perceived quality by going digital part way through.

[Michael Lloyd]

Probably depends more on who you believe and what you personally accept.

I don't understand why, if film is believed to be superior, people shoot and process film then scan it. Surely film is designed to be contact printed or enlarged optically. Why go backwards in perceived quality by going digital part way through.

This is the POV that I can't get my head around. By far, the most frequent manifestation of this POV is on the web, which is most assuredly a digital medium. It is impossible to display an analog image on a forum or website. Even a print has to be scanned (converted to digital) to be displayed on a computer. The process of converting a print to digital affects it (and not in a good way imho).

I can tell you why I scan. I don't have a choice. Trust me, scanning is a pain in the neck (or elsewhere). If I didn't have to I wouldn't. Dealing with clogging and the other problems that come with inkjet printers is also a pain in the neck. Digital is expedient but it's not enjoyable.

I don't have a wet darkroom. I have the "stuff" to have a wet darkroom but I don't have a place to use it. I would prefer to analog print. That's not going to happen anytime soon.

[mdarnton]

I don't understand why, if film is believed to be superior, people shoot and process film then scan it. Surely film is designed to be contact printed or enlarged optically. Why go backwards in perceived quality by going digital part way through.

Surely the single factor of optical quality is not the only reason to do something one way or another!

For me it's not about quality but about a working method that yields different results, for me. I shoot portraits, and people act totally differently in front of an 8x10 view camera from how they act in front of a tiny digital Nikon, and I work differently when I plan on shooting only two shots and making them work. I'm not saying my Nikon couldn't do the same thing, but it's a matter of the work flow leading to the results, naturally--a holistic process that is giving me better results.

[invisibleflash]

It is amazing...35mm digital = / or bests 6x7 film! To outdo 35mm digital you have to go to 4x5. What a testimony to digital, isn't it. I just wish they would come out with an affordable FF 6mp back for my SWC for $2500.

[Kirk Gittings]

What people really need to do is go out and find a way to look at outstanding work in the various media, inkjet, silver, pt/pd, alternative, so that they can understand the potential. You will never grow holding on to preconceptions based on ignorance of the potential of different processes.

Sandy

[Lenny Eiger]

designed to be contact printed or enlarged optically. Why go backwards in perceived quality by going digital part way through.

In my opinion, darkroom prints can't come close to the quality of an inkjet print. The other option I like very much is alt process... I'm almost up and running... So, for me the question would be -- why would I make a lesser print by going in the darkroom?

How many times are we going to go around and around with this?

[bob carnie]

Wow Lenny

then you have never seen a great silver gelatin print.

In my opinion, darkroom prints can't come close to the quality of an inkjet print. The other option I like very much is alt process... I'm almost up and running... So, for me the question would be -- why would I make a lesser print by going in the darkroom?

How many times are we going to go around and around with this?

[Sal Santamaura]

...How many times are we going to go around and around with this?

There is no limit on that number except when the Large Format Photography Forum ceases to exist. Unless, of course, the Usage Guidelines are expanded to prohibit such discussion.

Not that I'm suggesting such an expansion of prohibited subjects.