Good points John. The truth is digital has a LONG way to go before it knocks
film out on the consumer level. The casual (non-hobbyist) wants three things
simple, cheap & fast. Amazingly enough, digital offers none of this to the
average consumer. Consumer film cameras are amazingly cheap (one use cams cost
little more than film many places) cheap film abounds, the cameras do not suck
down batteries, and one hour printing is everywhere. None of this requires any
kind of computer knowledge or skill. Digital cameras are still relatively
expensive, have relatively complex controls, require a computer and a modicum
of skill to get prints, require you to spend time making the prints. A lot of
roadblocks for the casual user.
In comparison CDs were easier to use, (no cleaning, no need to turn it over,
not likely to scratch), offered longer play times, and were marketed as better
quality. Now while most of these improvements were largely marketing hype, they
nonetheless were targeted at the casual use, helping the big boys ram em down
our throats. The digital boys have a lot of work to do to kill off film.
John O'Regan wrote:
> This current thread reminds me of the CD versus Vinyl debate in the mid
> 1980s. You can still buy new vinyl albums if you really try, but it is
> very much a diehard specialist field now. In the end, CDs won, despite
> inferior sound quality, because that's what the big boys wanted;-)
>
> I don't know much about digital photography, but does the 'mass market'
> really download their pics to a pc or mac and then manipulate and print?
> Surely that's more of a hobbyist activity? Or do they take the 'memory' to
> a processor or what? I've scanned one or two prints into my PC and printed
> them but I have been very disappointed with the results. There seems to be
> some cross-calibration required between scanner/screen/printer and I would
> have thought that similar would be required between a digicamera and
> printer. Yes? No? Is this really a mass market activity?
>
> BTW beautiful eclipse last night, clear sky, orange-red moon - tried a few
> shots with the OM4Ti and Tamron SP 500 f8 mirror on Fuji slide film,
> exposures of 5/10/15/20/25/60 secs. have to wait now to finish the roll.
>
> JOhnO
>
> < This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
> < For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
> < Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|