film vs digital: an exhausting debate

It's crazy to believe that such a debate still exists in the 21st century. Film and digital have their aesthetic and technical merits, but they still remain a heated topic amongst photographers and photo-enthusiasts alike.

It appears as though recently, there has definitely been a spike in film usage. That is not to say that there are not those that utilize the medium well, but there are those out there that use film in order to diminish any digital processing to achieve similar effects. The way that film captures color can be replicated digitally, but is easily accomplished shooting film. With auto white balance sensors, and even manually setting white balance, can be hit or miss when shooting digitally. As long as the photo is shot at the correct exposure, the colors will come out cleaner on film than digitally.

In developing film, one can appreciate having total control over the end product. The time and effort that goes into processing a roll of film, enlarging the negatives, and fixing any issues manually can give one the sense of being completely part of the end product. However, these days, it's not as simple to process one's own film outside of a school lab or creating an in home lab, which can be expensive. At a time when most people carry their cameras on their phones, film has become rare, therefore more expensive. Wet labs have shut down due to less demand, resulting in most without access to a school or home lab to send out our film. That can be quite terrifying, to put these images you have no way of getting back, into the Postal Service's hands and hoping for the best. But no matter, because if things work out well and your rolls get developed, one can still feel a sense of accomplishment in knowing that each shot was well thought out, well composed so as not to waste a single frame.

One major convenience of digital photography is the ability to shoot as much as a memory card can hold without worrying about having to pay for each frame. Rather than having to wait to examine the shots after processing and creating a contact sheet, you get instant results with digital photography. If a shot is not what you wanted when you examine it moments after depressing the shutter, you get a redo. You don't have to attempt to reshoot everything another day, or salvage a decent image from the roll(s) you have. Digital can get expensive in terms of gear, but so can film equipment due to its rarity. In post-shoot editing, one has the ability at their fingertips to render an image similar to film in color and grain, or they can create their own aesthetic in editing. The possibilities can be endless for digital photography.

Now, many debate whether one is better than the other. I don't think there is really a definitive answer, at least not for me. For some, film is more "authentic" than digital. That's not necessarily true. As an art form, photography can be executed utilizing different types of cameras so long as the artist's message is easily conveyed. I don't think it's a matter of one being better than the other, but rather which benefits the user most. So, are you a film fanatic or digital darling?

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