At 10:31 AM 1/29/2005 -0600, you wrote:
>Dear OM Photographers and Film Afficionados:
>
>The digital rush is beginning to concern me. As a beginner, I want to
>believe that film-based analog systems have a serious edge over filmless
>digital both in terms of ultimate performance (interpret as you wish here)
>and in terms of durability of media.
Why do you want to believe this? Particularly the first ("ultimate
performance") part? If you like film, isn't that what really
counts? Nothing about digital capture takes anything away from the
qualities you value in film.
I think we should hope that digital capture exceeds current expectations a
thousand-fold. That still does not diminish film in any way.
>Is there any sense on the list as to the niches that the ongoing lemming
>rush is likely to leave for silver-dependent analog photography? Any
>thoughts as to whether there might be a market for film-based analog
>picture preservation? Aren't the all-digital folks out there opening
>themselves to massive data loss due to improper printing and storage
>techniques, improper digital data storage techniques, improper
>analog-to-digital transfers and loss of original analog media, and
>overdependence on a handful of consumer electronics corporations for
>continued access to their original or converted digital data (while the
>accumulated analog knowledge and production capability are being thrown
>away by a handful of short-sighted corporate executives organized in a
>circular firing squad)?
I read somewhere by someone reviewing new stuff at Photokina that film is
cool again. I didn't get the exact basis for this. It seemed more like a
momentary shift in the wind. Photokina is all about marketing I guess.
>Also, how would you plan for the future if you were a diehard B&W 35mm
>photographer wishing to go on taking, developing, and printing stuff the
>old-fashioned way? What ought to be bought and stored in a sub-zero vault?
>How long can such supplies last under ideal conditions?
I think anyone shooting seriously is thinking about storage and filing
systems. Lots of captures will be lost over time, but not by those who
make a serious effort to do the right thing, barring domestic turmoil and
natural disaster. All my prints and negatives from childhood are
gone. That's just because I was careless and let them get thrown out with
the rubbish, not because they were or weren't film.
I've improved in adulthood to a degree, and I can say that my old
fiber-based BW prints are holding up nicely. I would recommend that as
worth the extra effort.
Joel W.
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|