Digital vs Film Cameras.....

[Killswitch]

Ok, I just got a pretty neat little digital camera for christmas. A Fuji Fine Pix 2650.
Ive been into photography for years but have never upgraded from my 30 year old Minolta slr 35mm.
This thing seems pretty neat to say the least.
It can even shoot like a damned video camera...no sound though.
I know some of you have digital 35mm cameras....what kind and do you dig it or what?

K.S.

 

[JerseyBoy]

I find no difference...

Film: boxes and boxes of photos that you plan one day to organize

Digital: folders and folders of photos that you plan one day to organize

 

[bknight2602]

Re: I find no difference...

Film: boxes and boxes of photos that you plan one day to organize

Digital: folders and folders of photos that you plan one day to organize

And clutter up your hard drive with gigabytes of pics.

 

[modest mouse]

Killswitch,

I own the exact same camera. I've loved it. No problems and the newest generation memory saves on batteries.

FYI, Amazon has been running a special on Fuji memory if you are looking to purchase some.

 

[Killswitch]

Sheesh....I'm so tired of hearing everyone complain about file size this and megabytes that........Has anyone here or anyone you know actually ever filled a hard drive?
I have 5000 jpegs on my hd right now, and at least 50 programs of one type, size or another, plenty of mpegs and mp3's, and an 8 gig hd....
I still have 6 gigs of free space.
I know a lot of you have at least 20 gig Hard drives too.

 

[JerseyBoy]

wait till you start dloading DVD rips...anywhere from 400-1200 meg per depending on quality

chomp chomp chomp

 

[Killswitch]

Killswitch,

I own the exact same camera. I've loved it. No problems and the newest generation memory saves on batteries.

FYI, Amazon has been running a special on Fuji memory if you are looking to purchase some.

Awsome M and M....It came with the 16mb card, and I would like to get at least a 64 and maybe another 16 or 32 as a backup for vacations and stuff.
I also want to get the either nicad or the better metal hydride rechargeable batteries......
Awsome.....it seemed like a hot model at the store from what my wife said.

 

[superlittlegirl]

I have a Canon Elph s110 digital, and I love it so much! I use it primarily for close-range self portrait photography, but it takes very nice pictures at a distance as well. I usually shoot tripod mount, on self-timer. It has a few very nice features that you'd find on a manual reflex camera, such as the ability to change aperture width and length of exposure. It also takes film with sound, but I haven't used that feature very much. I just discovered the joys of multiple batteries and bigger memory cards, so it's becoming really fun.

I don't concern myself overly much with pixels, I think mine is a 2.0, which is not huge, but I still always have to size the images down to meet requirements for uploading and such, so the extra pixelage would likely be a waste for me. I dunno. Maybe I'm not clearly understanding what the pixel rating is about.

 

[Spinaroonie]

Sounds like you're doing fine.

The big point...

Ever wanna make somethign bigger?

With a film camera you can do it infinitely.

With a digital it'll look like crap.

 

[Killswitch]

SLG....from what I have found out....pixle ratings ( mine is 2.0 also...thats 2 million pixles) are all about what you are going to do with the image.....in other words....if you want to actually output them to paper.....2 million is great for 5x7's, and a lot of 8x10's.....anything larger you would need a higher pixle rating.....plus......it seems that the quality setting is important too for what you are going to do with the image......if you are mostly using the pics to upload to your computer and or email....try the lowest setting....might be... .3......the file sizes are much smaller....640 x 480, and around 130 kb....as opposed to say the highest setting of 2mf or 2mn which is 1600 x 1200 and 400 to 700 kb.
The lower settings for you if you are not actually printing these to paper, would be fine and you may not have to downsize them at all.
Try some sample shots of yourself at different settings...see what happens to the quality ( nothing I presume) and see what you think.

Im still learning this myself so I may not be correct, but it seems to be the case.

 

[ksmybuttons]

My husband brought some pictures up from the basement tonight and we were talking of the exact same thing.

When my inlaws died, we spend a couple of days going through tubs and tubs of pictures. It was fun and a great way to memorialize them. The family remembered the good times. We each took groups of pictures home with us.

Every once in a while it is fun to get a stack of pictures out and leave them hanging around for a few days.

I rarely look at the ones from the digital camera and, in fact, have not printed a one.

I wonder what it will be like when I die. Will my son go through my hard drives which I will have stored in the basement intact? That is truly a scary thought! I had better dump the porn quick!

 

[Killswitch]

Sounds like you're doing fine.

The big point...

Ever wanna make somethign bigger?

With a film camera you can do it infinitely.

With a digital it'll look like crap.

Infinity is a little bit of an exaggeration spin......the pics get grainy at certain sizes....most start to show it at 11x14.....Especially in 35mm....thats why pro shooters use a 2x2 or larger format negative.....

 

[superlittlegirl]

Ah. Point taken. I guess I'm literally not thinking big enough. This might bear some examination.

Sounds like you're doing fine.

The big point...

Ever wanna make somethign bigger?

With a film camera you can do it infinitely.

With a digital it'll look like crap.

 

[Spinaroonie]

Infinity is a little bit of an exaggeration spin......the pics get grainy at certain sizes....most start to show it at 11x14.....Especially in 35mm....thats why pro shooters use a 2x2 or larger format negative.....

Right right.

But expanding from film or a print is going to be better than expanding from a pixel.

Of course, some digital cameras take laaaaaaaaaaaaaaarge pics.

 

[Texan]

Infinity is a little bit of an exaggeration spin......the pics get grainy at certain sizes....most start to show it at 11x14.....Especially in 35mm....thats why pro shooters use a 2x2 or larger format negative.....

let me clarify a couple of things.

with film as opposed to digital, pictures do get a bit grainy as they are enlarged IF they are taken on a non-chromatic film. Non-chromatic films are like KodaColor, whereas chromatic films are KodaChrome. The chromatic films are what slides are made from. Also, the speed (ASA/ISO) of the film makes a BIG difference in how much a negative can be enlarged without becoming grainy. The slower the film (ie. 64ASA) the less grainy when enlarged. High speed films like those used to stop action, become grainy with very little enlargement. (There are some darkroom processes like "pushing" the exposure and development times that can help to minimize this.)

Larger film formats, like 2 1/4" X 2 1/4" (70mm X 70mm) are often used to help enlargements without graininess, but 35mm is just fine when the right film is used along with the right exposures and development processes. I put myself through college and grad school shooting 2 1/4" format. I have also shot a good bit of 4" X 5" format film. I love shooting large format, but it also has its drawbacks.

I'm getting to long with this post. I still shoot 35mm, but I have, and shoot several digital cameras also. With digital, the higher the pixel rating, the better you can enlarge the picture. It's a simple relationship. A few other factors also enter into how well a digital pic will enlarge. If you are using "optical" zoom, that will not affect how well the pic enlarges, BUT if you are using "digital" zoom, the pic will become grainy very quickly as you enlarge the pic. Also, the lower the level of light in the picture, the more quickly the picture will look grainy when enlarged.

I hope this helps a bit.

Oh yeah, I happily do volunteer photography for nekkid women.

 

[Killswitch]

Thats true stuff texan....but most people are shooting with multi speed stuff and or a min of 100 iso.
I have shot a lot of 64, and even a decent amount of 25......but light becomes a huge issue.......
The fact of the matter is that most digital images wont be in print form......but yeah...if you wanted to ever enlarge a digi image larger than 8x10...Id look at getting a 4 to 6 million pixle cam.
Im still confused by the optical vs digital zoom issues....Ive read about it but need to read more.....

Good post tex

 

[Killswitch]

oh another thing....I worked at the largest photo lab in the country at one time and I was totally amazed at the lack of quality in their processing.....
Most photo techs these days would know how to push, or pull a negative if you gave them a million dollars......the best way to develop stuff is do it thy self.

 

[Texan]

Kill, I spent a number of years making a living with my cameras and in darkrooms. I think the most fun I had (but low pay) was working for newspapers. I used to take indoor basketball B&W's with available light, with 400ASA film, but I pushed it 2 stops to 1600ASA. The negs were thin, but the prints were good and I could stop the ball in mid-flight.

I have a small darkroom in my house, but I haven't used it (for processing) in about three years. That corresponds to the amount of time I've more heavily into digital pics.

For storage, I use 100 meg ZIP disks. I have a CD-RW, but I find that I put too many pics on the same CD. I prefer to cataloge them a bit on different ZIP disks. I have absolutely NO pics on my hard drive. If you value the pics, NEVER store them on a hard drive.

 

[Killswitch]

Kill, I spent a number of years making a living with my cameras and in darkrooms. I think the most fun I had (but low pay) was working for newspapers. I used to take indoor basketball B&W's with available light, with 400ASA film, but I pushed it 2 stops to 1600ASA. The negs were thin, but the prints were good and I could stop the ball in mid-flight.

I have a small darkroom in my house, but I haven't used it (for processing) in about three years. That corresponds to the amount of time I've more heavily into digital pics.

For storage, I use 100 meg ZIP disks. I have a CD-RW, but I find that I put too many pics on the same CD. I prefer to cataloge them a bit on different ZIP disks. I have absolutely NO pics on my hard drive. If you value the pics, NEVER store them on a hard drive.

More good advice.....right on.

 

[Shingen]

This is a great thread. I've learned more here than from the dopie salesguy at Circuit City.

 

[superlittlegirl]

I agree! I have, too!

This is a great thread. I've learned more here than from the dopie salesguy at Circuit City.

 

[Shingen]

Speaking of taking photographs, I'd love to photograph you SLG. You're very pretty.

 

[Killswitch]

SLG....do you use a macro setting for your close up self portraits? or do you just shoot away and then crop them in later.....look into the macro settings in your manual....they may help you keep the file sizes down even more and give you a better shot too.

 

[Arc da Rat]

My own personal camera is a Olympus D-340R. Its an auto-focus, but it takes some really good pictures.

My dad has a 35mm & I also have an auto-focus camera around the house. But I don't remember what kind they are.

The one thing I really like about Digi Cams is that I can use the exsisting light in my room & tweek the pic in the computer afterwords.

My co-worker borrowed my Olympus from my for his Honeymoon trip & was so impressed with it. He & his wife bought an Olympus cam. He has a newer model than mine & I think it has manual focus option on it too.

 

[Myrrdin]

I use a fuji digital camera. It's small enough to clip on my belt . It shoots 1200 pixels by 1000. And with a 64 mb memory card will take all the snaps I would want to take in any day.

I've used a nikon coolpix 5700. That shoots 2400 by 1900 and in high quality mode a single image file is too large to store on a floppy.I haven't seen any thing developed larger than eight by six yet. But they look pretty crisp in that size.
But the advantage of digital is that you can preview, manipulate or crop your work first and then only have the best ones printed to paper.
For those that are worried about battery life, it's possible to get a current converter that plugs into the car dashboard cigarette lighter