What about film?

Does film have any life left in it?

My first impulse is to say no. Digital is not only on par but absolutely amazing in the detail it can capture. I take my hat off to the thousands of code writers who brought digital imaging to where it is today. So quickly too. I am currently shooting with a Nikon D300 which replaced my top of the line Nikon D1x. The difference is astonishing. My D1x was troublesome, inconsistent and constantly disappointed me. Since I sell cameras, I get a chance to check them out and I liked the D2x, D200 and D80. I tried buying a used D2x online and was the victim of fraud. $2300.00 down the drain and my desire for a new body was on hold while I recovered from that hit. The Nikon D3 and D300 came out and I got a chance to play with them both. Man I wanted a D3 bad! Could not swallow the price tag and for me, having the top of the line has always been so important to me. Just because! I decided to go with the D300 and I am so happy with it. It's actually a better camera for where I'm at now because of its size and I have to admit having that little built in flash is really handy. OK enough for now about my camera. Film. What does it offer? I have heard so much about how film has more tonal quality and detail. That it's still unmatched in resolution. There is an advantage film has in that it can record from pure black to pure white without points along the curve that drop out. Digital sensors often have failure points. However this is unimportant a huge amount of the time.

What remains important about film?

The look! Images captured on film look different from those on digital. What film brings to the table these days is it is another media artists can express themselves on. In wanting to communicate in a way that sets you apart from the crowd, those who embrace film are like portrait painters who continued to work after photographers started taking over their business. There were subjects who wanted their likeness rendered in a different way. There still are. Then there is the classic experience of photography. In Woody Allen's last movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the story includes a part where Cristina takes up photography using a digital camera. The artists she has hooked up with tell her to ditch the digital. Get a 'real' camera. Use film. Get into a darkroom. I have spent many hours in a darkroom. I'm glad for the experience. I felt akin to a long line of photographers from the famous to the friends in college I worked beside. It's a special place to be. Standing there in the smell of chemistry and a softly glowing orange light. Taking away the nostalgia though, Photoshop has provided me with more pleasure, fine tuning my images than anything I've ever gotten done in a darkroom.

I hope film doesn't go away or become so expensive it will become scarce. It is still the only media where what was seen was truly captured and is there for anyone to see, just by holding that negative and slide up to the sun. For the few days after the 'big one' (I live in L.A.) until the electricity comes back on, I'll be able to look at my pictures to pass the time. Oh yeah…I better make prints of my favorite digital pix too.