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What do you want from your leisure activities?
For a long time I’ve been trying to figure out why I picked up film photography again. This morning I realized, it was burn out. When you can capture so many images so easily and so cheaply, after awhile it becomes meaningless. I’m not a professional photographer. What I do isn’t about product. I’m an amateur, it’s a hobby, I’m in it for the experience. And the ideal experience isn’t one you can replicate quickly, over and over again, so that you can become satiated/bored/fed up more efficiently. The ideal experience is one you can stretch out, enjoy, savor. Digital photography doesn’t lend itself to this sort of thing. Film photography does.
With digital, the whole thing is over in seconds. Compose, click, view, onto the next shot. Sometimes you may look at the review screen for a few extra seconds. Maybe to make exposure/composition adjustments. With film, you don't get the instant replay, the chance for a do-over. And if you bracket to cover your arse, it comes at a price, in actual money for the extra film and the processing. So you have to bring a bit more skill to the activity. When you take a shot, you rely on the characteristics of the camera, meter and the film you are using. You make a decision based on your experience with the materials and the light. After you click the shutter, you have to trust in your abilities because it could be hours, days, weeks or longer before you find out if you got it right. There is a lot of lovely anticipation. If your backlog of unprocessed film stretches to months, it can take on the flavor of digging up buried treasure.
There is also the elegance of film cameras. Relative to digital cameras, they are incredibly simple. For the same price as an entry-level digital SLR body, you can go to the used market and find some of the best cameras ever made. I got a Nikon F3 HP for less than the cost of a Nikon D3500. In ten years, the F3 will still be a masterpiece of design and engineering. The D3500 will have long gone to scrap and the landfill.
I enjoy beautiful things. I like things that are simple. I think it is a good thing to slow down.
With digital, the whole thing is over in seconds. Compose, click, view, onto the next shot. Sometimes you may look at the review screen for a few extra seconds. Maybe to make exposure/composition adjustments. With film, you don't get the instant replay, the chance for a do-over. And if you bracket to cover your arse, it comes at a price, in actual money for the extra film and the processing. So you have to bring a bit more skill to the activity. When you take a shot, you rely on the characteristics of the camera, meter and the film you are using. You make a decision based on your experience with the materials and the light. After you click the shutter, you have to trust in your abilities because it could be hours, days, weeks or longer before you find out if you got it right. There is a lot of lovely anticipation. If your backlog of unprocessed film stretches to months, it can take on the flavor of digging up buried treasure.
There is also the elegance of film cameras. Relative to digital cameras, they are incredibly simple. For the same price as an entry-level digital SLR body, you can go to the used market and find some of the best cameras ever made. I got a Nikon F3 HP for less than the cost of a Nikon D3500. In ten years, the F3 will still be a masterpiece of design and engineering. The D3500 will have long gone to scrap and the landfill.
I enjoy beautiful things. I like things that are simple. I think it is a good thing to slow down.