Film vs. Digitalia

As a photographer who straddles the digital divide, I'll lend my voice to the state of the technology vs. art debate.

Let's start by saying that film is not dead! There is something very pleasing about the natural grain, and variety of grain that different emulsions can achieve. Also the satisfaction of getting physically involved, controlling light, materials, chemicals, and temperature can't be duplicated sitting in front of a computer monitor. And the pure magic that the photographer experiences when immersing a sheet of photographic paper in the developer and watching an image appear continues to thrill even an old pro. It is kind of like being a kid with his first chemistry set.

There are a lot of areas where digital excels beyond traditional techniques. The ability to do away with the darkroom. Masking accurately, color correction, repair and restoration to name a few. And the ammount of information that a high-end digital image can contain is swiftly approaching film. As the high-end comes close to emulating film, it won't be long until this filters down to the consumer level. Take a look at digital SLRs. Just a year or two ago, these cameras belonged to the pro, with pricetags up around the stratosphere. Six thousand dollars bought you an SLR body from Nikon or Canon with a resolution that point and shoots are rapidly approaching today. The current crop of Digital SLRs include models like the Canon 10D that are well under $2000 and fit entirely into their EOS line of bodies, so your lens investment is safe.

One of the problems, however, with the consumer digital SLRs is that the CCD (the chip that collects the image data) is smaller than a 35mm film frame. This causes a clipping of image data with generally a ration of 1:1.6. The effect of this is that your 28mm lens is equal to a 44mm lens in terms of field of view. But the higher end professional cameras are dealing with this with larger CCDs and that technology is filtering down to the consumer level. Look for the next generation of consumer SLRs to have a 1:1.3 ratio and 1:1 will not be far behind. Also look for prices of SLR bodies to come below the $1000 price point.

For more information on digital cameras the site the pros go to for reviews is Digital Photography Review.