| Going Digital After Film |
© Mark LaMonica. All Rights Reserved.
| Gear |
It's not uncommon for Cd's, DVD's or even hard drives to just stop working. Data becomes corrupt and unreadable in the digital age and even with perfect storage methods, it
just happens. Film has the edge when it comes to stability and readability over the long term, but it may not be mission critical to worry about pulling up a CD from 5 years ago
and finding out it has a fatal error. The RAW file for the image to the right is forever gone except this low resolution web site version. The hard drive and CD both crashed within
days of each other. This doesn't mean you should stop using digital and go back to film. You just need to know that everything could be gone without any warning.
just happens. Film has the edge when it comes to stability and readability over the long term, but it may not be mission critical to worry about pulling up a CD from 5 years ago
and finding out it has a fatal error. The RAW file for the image to the right is forever gone except this low resolution web site version. The hard drive and CD both crashed within
days of each other. This doesn't mean you should stop using digital and go back to film. You just need to know that everything could be gone without any warning.
I photographed this Ski Jumper who was
traveling over 55 MPH. I used my 600mm and
took 1 shot while the news reporter next to me
did a 10 shot burst with a digital camera. He
then looked at the monitor and kept the best
shot. I did this for the following jumpers and he
finally said to me, How do you know you're
actually getting any keepers? I replied I know
my gear, I know my film and I have over 20
years of experience. The insert shows the
slide as captured aproximately 1.50 inches
wide. I scanned it as a 4x6 300dpi image and
cropped the face at native resolution without
sharpening for the image to the right. Not bad
for film eh? A vertical cropped version of this
image was used for a book titled 52 Weekends
in Connecticut.
traveling over 55 MPH. I used my 600mm and
took 1 shot while the news reporter next to me
did a 10 shot burst with a digital camera. He
then looked at the monitor and kept the best
shot. I did this for the following jumpers and he
finally said to me, How do you know you're
actually getting any keepers? I replied I know
my gear, I know my film and I have over 20
years of experience. The insert shows the
slide as captured aproximately 1.50 inches
wide. I scanned it as a 4x6 300dpi image and
cropped the face at native resolution without
sharpening for the image to the right. Not bad
for film eh? A vertical cropped version of this
image was used for a book titled 52 Weekends
in Connecticut.
| Film to Digital We have Options |
| Fuji Provia 400F |
Want Film in a Digital package ? It's Possible to program in any flavor you like :)
February 1, 2010 and the new generation of digital cameras. Nikon started adding what is called "Picture Controls", designed to allow the
photographer to select Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome or Nine User-customizable Settings.
White Balance and Color Temperature are like adding filters or switching from a Tungsten film to a Daylight film . . . but not really. it's more
involved than that, but essentially if I was using a Daylight balanced film in Tungsten light, I would add a filter to color correct for the lighting. With
digital, you have all these options built right in. You can switch on the fly from ISO 50 to ISO 6400 where if I was using film my personal choices
would be Velvia at ISO 50 and a maximum of ISO 400 with Provia 400F.
With all these wonderful in camera options for ISO and Color, we still have lens options too. In the days of film fast lenses were essential tools of
the trade. We couldn't produce exceptionally sharp grain free images with high ISO films. With today's digital technology, my images at ISO 6400
rival the images I captured with ISO 400 reversal film. So now I can use a professional grade zoom with a continuous f2.8 aperture instead of a
fast prime say around f1.4 and get the same results. All I have to is dial up my ISO from ISO 100 to ISO 200 or even 800.
The same familiar Nikkor lenses from the past will work on our Professional Digital Bodies, so we can still get that silky smooth manual focusing
and days of old feeling of photography.
photographer to select Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome or Nine User-customizable Settings.
White Balance and Color Temperature are like adding filters or switching from a Tungsten film to a Daylight film . . . but not really. it's more
involved than that, but essentially if I was using a Daylight balanced film in Tungsten light, I would add a filter to color correct for the lighting. With
digital, you have all these options built right in. You can switch on the fly from ISO 50 to ISO 6400 where if I was using film my personal choices
would be Velvia at ISO 50 and a maximum of ISO 400 with Provia 400F.
With all these wonderful in camera options for ISO and Color, we still have lens options too. In the days of film fast lenses were essential tools of
the trade. We couldn't produce exceptionally sharp grain free images with high ISO films. With today's digital technology, my images at ISO 6400
rival the images I captured with ISO 400 reversal film. So now I can use a professional grade zoom with a continuous f2.8 aperture instead of a
fast prime say around f1.4 and get the same results. All I have to is dial up my ISO from ISO 100 to ISO 200 or even 800.
The same familiar Nikkor lenses from the past will work on our Professional Digital Bodies, so we can still get that silky smooth manual focusing
and days of old feeling of photography.