Satinsnow said:
The one thing that concerns me with View Camera, is I keep seeing more and more information on Digital imaging, which we all know is out there and being used, but I don't care to read about it in the traditional type magazines...
Dave
Dave,
What follows are my personal opinions and observations. I am speaking for myself and not the publisher of
View Camera magazine.
I know this is APUG and the use of the "d-word" is frowned upon around here, however, keep in mind
View Camera is a magazine dedicated to large format photography - not necessarily analog photography. The magazine has always covered digital technology as it applies to large format photography. This is not a new trend. There were articles a decade or so ago about Iris Prints from Nash Editions, the early Evercolor process, etc. I'd have to dig through my back issues to see exactly when the first "digital" article appeared in
View Camera, but I would not be surprised to learn it was back in the early 1990s, well before the first digital point and shoots and DSLRs. There have been in the past (again going back several years) issues of the magazine featuring the latest in digital products and methods. Again, this is not a recent trend.
View Camera needs to appeal to a broad audience and not just cater to one specific sub-niche of the large format market. That's why you see articles and portolios featuring the work of landscape, portrait and architectural photographers in the magazine. It's also why you see articles (and ads) covering both traditional materials and methods as well as digital products. While the publisher of
View Camera clearly supports traditional film-based photography, I do not recall the magazine ever publishing any kind of "analog only" policy like others have done (and then retracted).
That said, rest assured that many of those who contribute to
View Camera continue to shoot with film (including yours truly) and will continue to write articles about "traditional" photography for years to come. You will also continue to see protfolios of people who mix traditional and digital. In fact, most (but not all) color LF shooters I know continue to shoot with film, but use digital somewhere in the post capture workflow. Products like the Betterlight scanning back used by Jim Collum are designed to work with any existing 4x5 camera and standard large format lenses. So, while it may fall outside of the scope of APUG, it is well within the realm of topics that
View Camera has covered in the past (not just recently).
Many people seem to think of digital vs. traditional photography as an either/or proposition. I really believe there is a place for both and they can co-exist for many, many years to come. There is no question that digital photography has created a huge "buzz" in the consumer market over the last couple years. Many people view that as a negative. I, however, think that anything that stirs an interest in photography is a good thing and all these rumors of the death of film are laughable. Yes, manufacturers do discontinue products, but they have been doing so for well over a century. It's pretty hard to blame the demise of Super XX and countless other excellent "traditional" products on digital when they were discontinued prior to the so-called digital revolution.
I'm an optimist. When one door closes, another opens. With the recent bulk purchases from Ilford and Kodak, combined with all the film and paper products coming out of Eastern Europe there are more choices in film in more formats than I can remember at anytime in the past. Film isn't dead, it's reborn - in spite of the rise of digital. An occasional article or an ad here or there isn't going to change that. As long as people buy the products, somebody will make them. Some will disappear, but others will pop up to replace them. Some short-sighted executives will discontinue profitable products to enter new markets that will cost the company millions, if not billions of dollars all in the name of "growth potential". They will get what they deserve as others step up to the plate to fill the void, and reap the profits, they leave behind. And yes, some people will abandon film for digital. And some companies will make money selling products to these people. And other companies will make money catering to those who practice traditional film-based photography. It's the way of the world.
Kerry
