Missing the past....maybe...

[Saralonde]

I was dragged into the digital world after years of film. I didn't like the first digital cameras at all. Once I got my first dslr, I was hooked immediately. The chance to be more creative by taking a series of shots in ways I might not have done before because of cost, far outweighs any anticipation I might have felt. Plus all the things Inkista mentioned, I'm rarely nostagic for film.

[douglas]

For many years I did all my own B&W processing...and I don't miss it at all . I can remember so often watching the print come up in the developer, thinking this looks good, only to find in day light ,that it needed more/less exposure, more/ less dodging etc, And how long did that all take? Of course one can still take a lot of time "processing" digital pictures, but I agree that getting the picture right without PP is the greatest thrill. An interesting post and comments, thank you Shootoften. Douglas

[jiminyClickit]

shootoften,

More years will give you perspective. Things I don't miss, way more than film cameras:

- Outhouses (especially traumatic in Winter, and Spring when they were pumped out)
- Hand pumps indoors for entire water usage (no city service, well only)
- Three TV channels, total
- Polio
- "Spare the rod, spoil the child" mentality
- Brick roads (better than gravel)
- Weekly allowance of 50 cents US
- No seatbelts, airbags, street lighting
- No computer, no FM radio, no cassette tape player/recorder (or video, or CD's, MP3's, DVD's, etc)
- Crank telephones, on a party line (several people shared a line, each with a code number of rings)
- "Duck and Cover" drills in grade school (in case of atomic bomb blast in the vicinity)

[Lebowski]

Why not also pine over the passing of the Collodion wet plate process? For every technology, I'm guessing there is an even older one.

What amazes me is how much more "democratic" and egalitarian photography has become thanks to digital. Sites like this one, and strobist and Flickr connect hobbyists so well. Experimental lighting used to require light meters, experience, tons of film, perhaps special polaroid camera backs and so on. Now it's $30 for cheap radio triggers...

Others used to devote real-estate to darkrooms and chemicals. Now even apartment-dwellers just need a laptop and Gimp/Photoshop/what have you.

Also, just because you shoot digital doesn't mean you can't get out an old camera and shoot film just for fun. Heck, put some 100 iso B&W in it and walk around for a day. The constraints might make you learn something fun...

[jiminyClickit]

Lebowski,

After a few months here, I thought it might be worth it to require new members to get and use a disposable camera with B&W film, and submit 10 of those photos as a "rite of passage," or as a fine way to instill some early appreciation for the skill that is photography.

[corry]

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

Lebowski,

After a few months here, I thought it might be worth it to require new members to get and use a disposable camera with B&W film, and submit 10 of those photos as a "rite of passage," or as a fine way to instill some early appreciation for the skill that is photography.

sounds like a fun assignment, can you still buy regular b/w film? i am sure i could find my old camera somewhere around this house.......i've actually never purchased a disposable camera..i can get one with b/w film? cool.

[Lebowski]

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

Lebowski,

After a few months here, I thought it might be worth it to require new members to get and use a disposable camera with B&W film, and submit 10 of those photos as a "rite of passage," or as a fine way to instill some early appreciation for the skill that is photography.

I really like that idea... Could make for a fun weekly assignment sometime (or if not a true film camera, at least a "keep your DLSR in full auto and B&W, no post-processing, etc..."

I'm not sure if it was here or elsewhere on the net, but I saw a blog post with an exercise: basically take the cheapest point-and-shoot you own, stick it in full auto and go take 30 pictures. The goal was to loosen up a little bit, if I recall, and see how composition can sometimes just be "found."

[Lebowski]

Originally Posted by corry

sounds like a fun assignment, can you still buy regular b/w film? i am sure i could find my old camera somewhere around this house.......i've actually never purchased a disposable camera..i can get one with b/w film? cool.

I don't know about a B&W disposable, but for film you might want to check a photo store near a University. I know in my town those supposedly have the widest range of film (since some classes still require film, and since students might be more into experimenting with photography than the average suburbanite).

Bummer this is out of stock (and probably gone for good).

[Major_Small]

B&W disposables are terrible. It's not even B&W film they're loaded with. It's color film pretending to be B&W.

B&W film is still widely available though. I actually still have most of a bulk roll of it in a loader sitting in the other room.

I think darkroom experience is more important than shooting with film, Just turn off your camera's review, and shoot in B&W, and you're getting all there is to get out of shooting with B&W film. The real difference is in processing the film and printing in a darkroom.

[virtuoso]

corry,

Dollar Stores in New York have B&W disposables sometimes. Even with terrible quality, composition and choices of subject and framing would become very important.