Digital versus analog photography
21/08/09 23:46 Filed in: Photography
I have to take care that I do not become some analog snob. In fact, to me, digital is not necessary inferior to analog photography. It's just that I make better pictures in general using analog photography than using digital. If I use my Nikon D200 and shoot 200 photos in a day, I maybe have 2 or 3 good pictures. If I use my Leica M6, and bring the roll of 36 to the lab, I very often have 20 good photos on that roll. That is how it works for me.
It is not just the difference between analog and digital, but also between colour and black & white. I make better pictures in b &w. Other things play an important role: I always have my Leica M6 with me (but also my digital panasonic LX3), the Leica is a very quiet and small camera and the film I use, Ilford XP2 has a very good dynamic range and works well in low light conditions. New digital cameras like the Nikon D3 and the Canon 1DsIII also have a very good dynamic range, but I can not afford those cameras: that is also an important thing: I have a Leica M6 and a Hasselblad 500CM, two of the best analog cameras in history, got them for relatively cheap, but I can not afford a good digital camera (I would like to have at least a Nikon D700.. in a Leica M8 body...).
It would be possible for me to just convert photos to black and white, but I do not want that kind of photography: taking a lot of digital pictures and then having to decide for each photo if I want it in b&w or colour, plus the dynamic range of my D200 is by far not as good as my xp2 film. For me, this hybrid way of working works best: I take my pictures on film, have them developped and scanned in by Hema labs, process them in my computer using lightroom and print them on my epson R2400. Printing them in the darkroom would be better, if my printing skills where up to par, which they are not.
On the other hand, some of my most interresting pictures where taken with my mobile phone, because I had it with me. In the end that is what matters: which camera do you have with you, ready to take pictures.
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