Film vs. Digital

I walked in today with my Fuji X100 (after repairs.. Thanks Fuji Malaysia for the excellent service!), and a colleague approached me asking on my opinion of a new camera she wanted to get. She was eying on a Sony Nex model and couldn't choose between a 3N or 5N. Price difference is around RM600-RM700. So I told her that since both had the same sensor and image quality, why not get the 3N, since it has less external controls that can confuse her.

Then she (and other colleagues) saw my X100 and got excited and wanted to play with it for a while. At first they were skeptical that I, an amateur photographer would go for a less known camera brand that doesn't have much products.

So one question popped up was, "since you like photography so much, why don't you invest in a full frame camera?"

I said,"But I have a full frame camera. I have a few of them. One is in my drawer.."

O_o confused face popped out.. Why would this guy keep a full frame camera.. In his drawer at the office?!?

And so I pulled my full frame out....



Laughter all thru the room...

"No lah.. this is not full frame.."

Excuse me... Do you even know what full frame means??

Since the early 21st century, people has forgotten how photography has evolved from one medium to another. Nowadays its all the hype of pixels and lens, creative filters and clean images in low light.

The term "full frame" is the equivalent size of a digital camera sensor to a 35mm film..

Thus, that makes my Olympus XA a full frame by definition, as it uses 35mm film as it's photographic medium.

Photography by modern day standards are much different from those barely 15 years ago. Today, a good camera body equates to better resolution, bigger sensor size, really good ISO (up to 25,600), high dynamic range and numerous good features like fast auto-focus, fast shutter speeds and frame to frame shots (10 frames per second), etc. But to get all this, people will have to spend thousands to get the best photographic experience. I've had the boss of Fish-Eye Studios come to my house (on leisure) with RM30,000 worth of gear on his shoulders (D3s with a 24-70 f2.8 lens).

Back in the heyday, It was all about the film. You can have the worse camera body imaginable, but can produce excellent photos with the right film. And here's the best part; all 35mm film are full frame.

That's why even with a crappy toy camera, you can produce good images. It may not be tack sharp, or too contrasty, or whatever, but it does have a feel that is very difficult to copy by digital.

Why digital has taken the world by storm is simple; its because of convenience. People can snap photos, review, and if they don't like it, they can snap it again and again. With film, unfortunately, you would have to finish the roll, send it in for developing, and can only review once its done.

I've followed a friend in 2002 to take photos of wildlife at a nature reserve once. There was a swarm of butterflies which he wanted to photograph. So he set up his tripod, camera, and fired away with different settings. He finished 1 roll of film on those butterflies. At the end of the day only 1 photo was to his standard, which he had to develop first.

Then it comes the issue of transferring that image. People now like to keep digital copies of their images as (again) it is more convenient. So people scan them. Of course you can get a 24 megapixel image from a film scan, but that can only be made by professional scanners which costs thousands, and takes a lot of time. I have a crappy 5 megapixel scanner to do that job, and while its not perfect, it gets the job done.


This image was taken by an Olympus Mju-ii. The only downfall of this image was my crappy scanner..

But does this mean film is dead? For me, hell no.. There is something about film that I love, the feel, the depth, the emotion, that digital cannot give. But would I give up digital? Well, no, since to become a good photographer one must practice A LOT, and that's where digital comes in.




Although once in a while I do enjoy taking photo with film. I have more film cameras than I do digital with me currently. I have This old Pentax body with an array of lenses, an Olympus XA, a Minox 35, an Olympus Mju-ii, and even soviet era cameras like the Lubitel 166 and Kiev 4. Film lets you approach photography in a calm, patient way, as you will have to choose the correct setting, compose, then shoot. While photography is about capturing the moment, you must also learn how to enjoy the moment when you peer down that viewfinder to take the shot as well.