Hey, Doc!

[Mickey Richaud]

Ran across this item about film photography in this morning's newsfeed:

6 Remarkable Examples of the Power of Film Photography (NSFW)

If you love film photography, this article is for you. We have six awesome examples of what you can do with an analog camera. Enjoy!

www.thephoblographer.com

 

[waltesefalcon]

I'm fascinated by pinhole photography and was about to make one and experiment with it when life got in the way. Now I'm inspired to go ahead and do it over my Christmas break.

 

[Basil]

Thanks for posting that, Mickey. I've got my old Canon T-70 loaded and have been shooting random stuff with it. It's amazing that it still works after all these years.

Taken with T-70 circa 1985 in Nova Scotia. Scanned from negatives.

Man painting the harbor

Gulls on a rock

Old mill.

 

[NutmegCT]

Great article - thanks for posting. I think my first camera was a shoebox with a pinhole.

Have to admit I chuckled when I saw under one of the photos: "Made without Photoshop".

 

[DrEntropy]

Thanks for that, Mickey! You know I'm a devote of film, having grown up with it as the primary imaging medium, making a reasonable living with it as a professional in earlier times. Very pleased to see it hasn't disappeared totally. At the very least, folks pursuing interest in the craft of imaging should at least try using emulsion materials as a learning experience, an appreciation of the history of photography. The "camera obscura" nature of the pinhole camera in particular.

while I've recently (after a sabbatical of nearly thirty years!) rekindled my enthusiasm for the craft with a digital SLR and lenses, I still have a true love of film and its inherent qualities and differences. The Boss's image of that mill is a superb example. Digital is sometimes "too crisp" the way it renders a shot, only with software can it emulate film. Recently I've pulled a couple of my old Nikons out of mothballs and some of the new images taken with 'em scroll across the Media slideshow here. I'll likely stick with black-and-white films for now, a kind of therapy to be able not only to shoot images but also control the processing. But the DSLR will take over for more "normal" photos, record stuff and events. GregW is right in stating digital has come to the point it's on par or surpassing film for image quality overall. But sometimes that's not the over-riding consideration for the photographer.

 

[NutmegCT]

"Digital is sometimes "too crisp" the way it renders a shot, only with software can it emulate film. "

Do I see a glimmer of the "digital vs vinyl" music debate?

 

[DrEntropy]

About any of the "digital vs. analog" comparisons are subjective. Personally, each has its place, dependent on viewer/listener.

This shot of Our Ethel is with film, it would take some real messing around to duplicate it with a DSLR:

 

[pdplot]

Panatomic X, Tri-X, Agfa, Ricoh, Yashicamat, Canonet (I had one of those), Rolleiflex, Rolleicord, Hasselblad, Synchro Brownie Reflex (my first camera), Solar Enlarger, and I still have the Time-Life photo series hard cover books. Due to the cost of film processing, you didn't waste a shot in those days. Today? It's spray and pray.

 

[DrEntropy]

Due to the cost of film processing, you didn't waste a shot in those days. Today? It's spray and pray.

Ummm... Nikon F-3 HP, MD-4 with the capability of eight frames a second. Plenty of one or two second "bursts" yielded shots not otherwise attainable in the days of film. Just took longer to see results.

 

[Basil]

Ummm... Nikon F-3 HP, MD-4 with the capability of eight frames a second. Plenty of one or two second "bursts" yielded shots not otherwise attainable in the days of film. Just took longer to see results.

That's pretty respectable for those days!

 

[DrEntropy]

The F-3/MD-4 and an FE/MD-11 with a four-frame-second were my last film cameras. Great combo for action work.