Oh, no. Not another analog & digital thread!

Pieter12 · Monday at 10:36 PM

I admit, I shoot both analog & digital. I have come to the conclusion that for me, at least, there is no real difference shooting one or the other. Sure, different cameras make different sounds, have different ergonomics, but in the end the act of taking a photograph is pretty much the same for me. It is taking a photograph. I can shoot manual or automatic on many of the cameras across the spectrum, some fit in a pocket, some need to be on a tripod. Many are pretty much the same except for the medium. My Hy6 will take a digital or film back, depending on what is called for.

But the big difference for me is in making a print. While pretty much all of my analog work is in black and white and I take immense pleasure in printing in the darkroom, I cannot say the same about digital. I don't mind spending time in front of a monitor fiddling and fine-tuning, but the digital printing process just leaves me flat. Maybe because I haven't invested the required time and money to perfect inkjet printing. Certainly not as much time and effort as I have in the darkroom, but maybe I have been lucky enough that I turned out decent prints soon after I started. I can't say the same for digital prints. And although I have obtained nice prints from very good outside printers, I only resort to them when there is a good reason, like an exhibition or sale (hah!).

So there.

BrianShaw · Monday at 10:39 PM

I only read the first sentences, and agree.

wiltw · Monday at 11:44 PM

While digital is far more potent about 'screw up cover up', and also 'overcoming photographically challenging situations' well (without hours in the darkroom trying to get things right in a print), photography's departure ('obsolescence') from emulsions and processes which appealed to the artistic side of my pursuit of photography leave me far colder.
The analogy is driving an automatic (even one with paddles) vs. driving a 4-6 speed manual transmission on mountainous roads...the automatic is easier but it leaves me 'cold' and unsatisfied.

Hassasin · Monday at 11:52 PM

As much as I enjoy digital capture, I need to remind myself there is such a thing as slow shutter and depth of field for creative control. Quickness of results from digital instancy alters how I photograph. As I now do more digital than film, switching back to film is a bit of a "analog prayer" before I go out, so I can refer to the "analog bible" as a reminder there is a difference. It extends to all aspects of getting the final result from either.

In the end I simply enjoy both almost equally, but do NOT print digital on my own..

koraks · Tuesday at 3:04 AM

Pieter12 said:
But the big difference for me is in making a print.

Yeah, I'm with you there. I'm a little less biased towards darkroom printing, though. It's a love & hate thing for me, while I feel less strongly about inkjet. Inkjet for me just works; it gets me the print I envision - but it'll be a no-thrills, clinical (although technically good) print. For color at least; I still need to figure B&W out properly. Like darkroom printing, good inkjet printing takes time & effort to master. Media choice is critical as well for the impact of the print.

With darkroom printing, I find the tactile nature of the process appealing, but it's at the same time also a bit of a chore. So much time is lost on housekeeping and waiting for prints/strips to process. Much of my darkroom time is spent on this kind of faff, and not on actually making artistic decisions.

When it comes to the end result, I do have to distinguish between B&W and color. Color just works better in digital space for me. When I shoot color, I look for a relatively clean and straight result; WYSIWYG. But that clean result doesn't always follow from a linear process; I often twist curves quite selectively. Darkroom color is limited in terms of media options and if you want to do any advanced curve twisting, you find yourself doing all manner of filtered flashing or masking. It's a chore. Inkjet is much more straightforward, you can go straight to a FB baryta paper if you want, and it just follows the flexibility of digital editing space. It gets me much closer to what I want with so much less effort that it only feels like cheating. But if I'm critical, the results are just technically better.

For B&W, it's different - but as said, B&W inkjet is something I feel I haven't started to figure out properly yet. My printing intent in B&W is also often different; I enjoy some of the idiosyncracies that certain alt. printing processes give. Esp. alt process printing brings such liberties as fondling different kinds of (not specifically photographic paper), fiddling around with brushes and liquids and a whole slew of tactile process, several of which can be performed in (almost) broad daylight. Silver gel B&W printing is nice, too, but I feel it's more likely for me to get replaced ultimately by inkjet - although the latter may not entirely replace my desire to occasionally do something like lith printing or more pronounced toning.

I guess I can relate to an extent to what you say - at the same time, there's a lot of nuance to it, I think. Thanks for bringing it up; it's an interesting topic, esp. the aspect of printing, IMO.

loccdor · Tuesday at 6:54 AM

If you were going into drawing/painting, would you use 3d modelling software to make your images or paper/canvas and paints/pencils?

While there's a lot of amazing 3d modeled art around, in general I'm more compelled to look at art made in the traditional style.

Although there is some overlap in the skillset, there are also large areas with basically no overlap. There are lots of people who can do one and not the other, even with considerable effort and time invested.

The feeling I get looking out into the world with my eyes or through an optical viewfinder is curiosity and enjoyment. When I look at a tiny screen at an image I mostly just feel annoyed.

Sirius Glass · Tuesday at 1:13 PM

I shoot film and digital, but I enjoy film more. Partially because a have many film cameras and lens combinations to choose.

Pioneer · Tuesday at 1:19 PM

I shoot both but prefer to use film. I just like the process of using old equipment. Face it, it is hard to find a digital camera that handles like my Argus C3.

Pieter12 · Tuesday at 2:19 PM

loccdor said:
If you were going into drawing/painting, would you use 3d modelling software to make your images or paper/canvas and paints/pencils?

While there's a lot of amazing 3d modeled art around, in general I'm more compelled to look at art made in the traditional style.

Although there is some overlap in the skillset, there are also large areas with basically no overlap. There are lots of people who can do one and not the other, even with considerable effort and time invested.

The feeling I get looking out into the world with my eyes or through an optical viewfinder is curiosity and enjoyment. When I look at a tiny screen at an image I mostly just feel annoyed.

I' have what he's having.

Pioneer · Tuesday at 2:46 PM

loccdor said:
If you were going into drawing/painting, would you use 3d modelling software to make your images or paper/canvas and paints/pencils?

While there's a lot of amazing 3d modeled art around, in general I'm more compelled to look at art made in the traditional style.

Although there is some overlap in the skillset, there are also large areas with basically no overlap. There are lots of people who can do one and not the other, even with considerable effort and time invested.

The feeling I get looking out into the world with my eyes or through an optical viewfinder is curiosity and enjoyment. When I look at a tiny screen at an image I mostly just feel annoyed.

My granddaughter walked off with the only digital SLR I owned so now I am down to using the screen on my mirrorless when I chose my digital.

loccdor · Wednesday at 2:09 AM

Pioneer said:
My granddaughter walked off with the only digital SLR I owned so now I am down to using the screen on my mirrorless when I chose my digital.

I gave my old Fuji digital camera to my dad, he's barely used it... prefers his phone. Kind of wish I sold it. He was using a Canon AE-1 for over 30 years but stopped a while ago.

Taylor Nankervis · Wednesday at 2:50 AM

The enjoyment from shooting film comes from its real, tactile nature – you have an actual photograph in your hand (very much so with slide film), not a bundle of ones and zeroes on a tiny card that is very easily lost.

In the post-Ilfochrome Classic (darkroom) era, all of my printing (from mid-2023 when RA4 was discontinued as a print option) is digital (giclée), the only problem being which media to select among the huge number of choices available, generally extended-gamut baryta media.

A Fuji XT100 digital camera was bought in Dunedin NZ c. 10 years ago but, as time passed it did not, for want of a better term, "light my fire", and it was deposited in the back room of the family ancestral home, I think in 2022, and is probably still there – unloved and unwanted, while the grand old vintage troopers that make up my 'Analogue Army' shamelessly come out to play almost every day.

I have only a cheap but very usable and reliable Samsung phone. No inclination really to print anything from the inumerable albums and sets!maybe a small 6x4 print of my b'loved cat...

But, ahh, how do you print from a phone??...

... Hmm. A subject for another day...

RezaLoghme · Wednesday at 3:37 AM

Pieter12 said:
I admit, I shoot both analog & digital. I have come to the conclusion that for me, at least, there is no real difference shooting one or the other. Sure, different cameras make different sounds, have different ergonomics, but in the end the act of taking a photograph is pretty much the same for me. It is taking a photograph. I can shoot manual or automatic on many of the cameras across the spectrum, some fit in a pocket, some need to be on a tripod. Many are pretty much the same except for the medium. My Hy6 will take a digital or film back, depending on what is called for.

But the big difference for me is in making a print. While pretty much all of my analog work is in black and white and I take immense pleasure in printing in the darkroom, I cannot say the same about digital. I don't mind spending time in front of a monitor fiddling and fine-tuning, but the digital printing process just leaves me flat. Maybe because I haven't invested the required time and money to perfect inkjet printing. Certainly not as much time and effort as I have in the darkroom, but maybe I have been lucky enough that I turned out decent prints soon after I started. I can't say the same for digital prints. And although I have obtained nice prints from very good outside printers, I only resort to them when there is a good reason, like an exhibition or sale (hah!).

So there.

Darkroom work is a nice hobby, and very relaxing I guess.

koraks · Wednesday at 4:01 AM

Taylor Nankervis said:
how do you print from a phone

Install phone link app, drag photos to printer.

RezaLoghme · Wednesday at 5:01 AM

I shoot film and digital, the Leica M System has the benefit of making this quite interchangeable.

RezaLoghme · Wednesday at 6:40 AM

I prefer shooting digital but I like shooting analog more.

Andrew O'Neill · Wednesday at 9:19 AM

My D850 is convenient, and I like how I can work hybrid with it, but I still prefer my film cameras... of which I have too many.

Pioneer · Wednesday at 11:26 AM

I use both but I am out the door this morning with my Contax II, the Zeiss-Opton Sonnar 50 and a roll of Tmax 100. It is a Sunny 16 morning in Northern Nevada, as many of them are.

Have fun people. I know that I will.

Taylor Nankervis · Wednesday at 7:29 PM

koraks said:
Install phone link app, drag photos to printer.

I googled that as 'Phone Link' and it came up as being in the MS store, so it is now installed. Some irksome foibles about "this app has not provisioned correctly" have, I think, been fixed; it does show a connection to my phone (wherever that thing is at the moment...). Interesting little trinket, but I doubt I am inclined to print from the phone; I just don't have the level of rabid enthusiasm as I do for printing from transparencies and keeping the lab turning over!!

koraks · 2025-10-09T01:18:15-0400

Taylor Nankervis said:
Interesting little trinket, but I doubt I am inclined to print from the phone;

Neither am I, but it's convenient for doing quick image grabs that I want to email or post online by means of illustrations. And it's convenient for websites that want to authenticate using a text send to phone etc.

RezaLoghme · 2025-10-09T01:19:22-0400

Modern phones are surprisingly good cameras, by the way.

Taylor Nankervis · 2025-10-09T02:07:42-0400

RezaLoghme said:
Modern phones are surprisingly good cameras, by the way.

No doubt they are, with the camera and photography features rising exponentially with the cost – particularly those shiny gems sporting Zeiss optics. Oh, I wish!... A Galaxy A12 of c. 2020 has just a 'passable' camera, and the zoom is horrid.

RezaLoghme · 2025-10-09T02:43:46-0400

Has anyone ever laid their hands on the Japan-only Leica phones?

gary mulder · 2025-10-09T03:16:36-0400

For me the transition to digital was hard and painful. Maybe part a grieving process. But I now have the feeling that I’m on the way up. Learning and discovering the possibilities to make very nice prints. Including B&W. I sincerely think the gains are greater than the loses.

RezaLoghme · 2025-10-09T04:04:37-0400

I leapfrogged the transition. I sold my film equipment in the early 2000s, and went camera-less until 2023, when I realized that you could pick up Hasselblad V bodies for pennies.

Oh, no. Not another analog & digital thread!

Pieter12

BrianShaw

wiltw

Hassasin

koraks

Moderator

loccdor

Sirius Glass

Pioneer

Pieter12

Pioneer

loccdor

Taylor Nankervis

RezaLoghme

koraks

Moderator

RezaLoghme

RezaLoghme

Andrew O'Neill

Moderator

Pioneer

Taylor Nankervis

koraks

Moderator

RezaLoghme

Taylor Nankervis

RezaLoghme

gary mulder

RezaLoghme

Oh, no. Not another analog & digital thread!

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