Analog... or silver-based?

[kb3lms]

Personally, I kind of like "analog". But, then again, I'm a nerdy engineer. AFAIK I'm analog, probably the vacuum tube variety.

Reality is, most of the people I run into in the real world have no idea what analog means. Most of 'em don't know what digital really means either other than that they don't have to send film out to be developed.

Usually I tell people I'm shooting film or if they are old enough to be used to film I tell them I am going "old school" today. There's usually two responses to that lately: one, "I didn't know you could still get film, I heard Kodak went out of business" or two, "I still have my old <insert brand here> film camera in the closet, do you wanna buy it off me?" LOL!!!!!!

 

[ME Super]

It's all both digital and analog, depending on quantum vs macro view

Until you get down to the quantum level, all electronic circuits are analog!

Since light and matter exist on a quantum level, all photography is digital. Light and matter exist on a macro-scale as well, so it's also all analog.

Truthfully, your hard drive stores files using magnetic storage, which when passed by a coil of wire induces an analog voltage. It's only the pattern of the storage that represents numbers. So even the phrase "digitally stored pictures" isn't quite accurate either, as it is converted from an analog form to something that represents a number. Also certain digital circuits are really tri-state circuits, not binary. They have a "zero" voltage, a "one" voltage, and a third state called "High Impedance."

Yeah my Electrical Engineering background is coming through. :confused:

Most people understand both "film photography" and "analog photography" to mean non-digital capture and storage.

ME Super

 

[zumbido]

Wow.

 

[clayne]

Until you get down to the quantum level, all electronic circuits are analog!

Since light and matter exist on a quantum level, all photography is digital. Light and matter exist on a macro-scale as well, so it's also all analog.

So how do express the difference, theory-wise, in analog saturation vs digital clipping? There is a distinct physical aspect going on there - and perhaps if sensor sampling is the ultimate limiter, then yes, CMOS/CCDs are similar, but if they themselves are the limiter, then no, it's not the same thing - regardless of the fact that we're all made up of atoms.

 

[zumbido]

"Analog" is a clumsy term whose dictionary definition doesn't actually, technically, apply to anything that the word was coined to describe. But it's useful because everyone more or less agrees on what it's supposed to represent. What a novel idea, using words to make communication easier instead of more difficult.

 

[chuck94022]

My less serious posts notwithstanding, my hobby is photography. When people ask what I'm doing, I say I'm taking pictures. I don't "capture images". I don't do (film/analog/digital) photography. If they ask me what kind of camera I'm using, I say it is a 35mm or medium format or large format camera. If they ask more, I'll say more. I'll talk their ears off if they let me. If they say "you're using film?" I'll smile and get into the wonders of film with them.

I actually don't know when I would ever say "analog" to a person in the street.

The questions I hear most are: "You're using film?", "where do you find film here?", and "Are there still places to get film developed around here?"

I think the most useful place for the word "analog" is right here, in this forum, among the cognoscenti, allowing us to differentiate this place from our sister site.

 

[EASmithV]

I like to call it Argentic Photography.

 

[John Austin]

What a frayed and knotty thread this is

John

 

[ME Super]

So how do express the difference, theory-wise, in analog saturation vs digital clipping? There is a distinct physical aspect going on there - and perhaps if sensor sampling is the ultimate limiter, then yes, CMOS/CCDs are similar, but if they themselves are the limiter, then no, it's not the same thing - regardless of the fact that we're all made up of atoms.

I would've responded to this last night but by the time I saw it, I was too tired to respond, so waited until this morning.

Analog saturation (like digital) comes into play when you enter into a situation in which either (a) mechanical limits are exceeded, or (b) the output of a circuit should exceed the supply voltage. An example of the former would be an amp which is trying to drive a speaker to play audio beyond the maximum amplitude which the speaker was designed for - the volume is turned up too high for the speaker and you get distortion.

An example of the latter is an operational amplifier (op amp). Suppose we have an op amp with supply voltages of +5V and -5V. Further, let's suppose it is connected in such a way that it has a gain of -10 (I'm using it in an inverting configuration as the math is simpler). It will have a linear response range for input voltages between -0.5V and +0.5V. For input voltages outside of this range, it saturates at the supply voltage. The voltage at which saturation occurs can be increased (to a point, I think it's +/- 18V) simply by increasing the supply voltage.

I suspect that CMOS/CCD sensors operate in a similar fashion, but having not worked with them I'm not entirely sure. I do know that A-to-D circuits have a similar problem as the op amps, but are further limited by the number of bits in the output of the circuit. Further, some A-to-D circuits are simply a D-to-A circuit with a counter and a voltage comparing circuit in them. Add to this that a CMOS/CCD sensor will probably have some sort of amplifier attached to it to bring the voltages up to something easier to convert to a numeric representation, which will have the same sort of saturation limits as the previously mentioned op amp.

I hope this answered your question.
ME Super

 

[David Brown]

Wow.

Well said ...