Have you ever heard the argument that digital just doesn’t have the same look as film? Well, let’s put that argument to rest. I have painstakingly made my own Lightroom preset that I believe is 96% the same as my favorite film, Kodak Tri-X 400.
As camera makers struggle to innovate, consumers are finding little need to upgrade. The market is slowing to the point of inertia—manufacturers need to take a left field approach to stay competitive.
A career in commercial photography is a progression in learning. One that wanes when complacency creeps in and thrives when pursuit of knowledge lives at its heart. Having a broad mind in both approach and equipment is the key to clearing your mind to be creative.
I entered the world of photography when digital cameras where already on the rise, and as a result, I learned photography on digital. That being said, I am a sucker for anything analog... the sensation of using real organic materials to produce photographs excites me.
It’s not news that photography has changed dramatically over the past century. What was once an arduous process involving chemicals and clothespins has been completely digitalized, and in many cases automated. Anyone with a smartphone can call themselves a photographer; but does that mean the artistry has fizzled? Not in the least.
I've been shooting Canon for the last 15 years and have finally made the decision to move on. The reasons are not really the focus of this article but rather my process for getting into a new system and making that process a creative one.
"What was your first camera?" The answer to that question can reveal a lot about a person. Did you start on digital or film? Was it an SLR, a point-and-shoot, maybe even a medium format camera? Was it your mom's camera? In this fun video, 10 top industry photographers share what their first camera was.
Here's a helpful 12-minute video by landscape photographer and vlogger Thomas Heaton about lens filters. With the emergence of digital photography and powerful editing software, the benefits of some filters can be recreated digitally while others cannot.
Myths and misconceptions persist because they’re either compelling or no one bothers to correct them. For photographers, many myths of digital photography arose when trying to draw imperfect analogies to film photography.
The digital revolution—and a revolution it was—enabled photographers to immediately start saving money after new equipment purchases. Sure, the quality sucked initially (and convenience was overstated) but after a few years, the whole thing really started to work properly, for the most part.
If you have a bunch of 35mm, 120, and even large format negatives lying around in your attic, slowly succumbing to the ravages of time, Ricoh has a solution for you. It's their newest "film duplicator," and it'll let you digitize all that film using your DSLR or digital medium format camera.
I started reading about how to become a professional wedding photographer some time in late 2010. Whether it was on DWF, POTN or Whirlpool, the same advice was being recycled.
Never give away your RAW files
But why?
There are a number of video and computer games out there that feature photography as a prominent in-game element. "Firewatch" takes the idea a step further.
The new first-person open-world game has a groundbreaking feature in its PC version. After you find an in-game disposable camera and take some pictures with it, you're given the option of having your in-game photos printed as real-life prints and mailed to your doorstep.
I bought a Holga Digital through the Kickstarter fundraising campaign in August 2015. It is a fairly early model, so by the time you read this there might have been some tweaks or firmware updates.
I have never owned the original film Holga (or any medium format camera for that matter), so this review is based on the behavior of the Holga Digital camera on its own merit, not compared to its film predecessor.
Phase One today announced a new 100MP CMOS full-frame digital sensor for the XF camera system. "The ultimate camera system has arrived," Phase One says.
Don McCullin, one of the world's great war photographers, believes that digital photography can be "a totally lying experience" and is something that can't be trusted.
The benefits of shooting film sometimes, unfortunately, get lost amid the playground fight between film and digital devotees. The plus points – and believe me there are plenty – get drowned out.
A new patent filed by Facebook suggests that the social networking giant is working on giving user cameras a unique digital fingerprint. Looking for ways to identify fraudulent accounts and evermore establish what connections you may have with others, the new technology means that your future photographs will be tracked at levels previously unimaginable. For photographers, however, it may be an excellent way to prove that you truly own an image.
Polaroid today announced its new 10-megapixel Polaroid Snap instant digital camera, which the brand calls "the perfect blend of nostalgic Polaroid instant photography and sleek modern design.
I’ve been a user of VSCO Film for Lightroom for several years now. I’ve been happy with the results, but I wanted to see how close VSCO's settings are to actual film, so I decided to do my own tests.
This whole experiment was a learning experience for me, especially regarding the digitization of a film negative. For this casual experiment I shot some Portra 400 film on my medium format Fuji GA645, snapped a few similar frames on my Nikon Df, and did a side by side with the VSCO Portra 400 setting from Pack 01 straight out of Lightroom.
The Pentax 645D has received yet another major drop in price. Originally retailing for $10,000 when it was introduced five years ago, this 40 MP medium format monster is now selling for $4,000, less than half the price. We may not all be ready to whip out our wallets, but at less than $4,000 the 645D boasts one of the best digital medium format values on the market.
Drone manufacturers don’t seem to be in short supply, particularly with new ‘revolutionary’ prototypes showing up on Kickstarter almost every other month. GoPro has announced plans to launch its own camera drone by next year. Now Sony wants a piece of the action. The company's mobile division today announced plans to create “autonomous aerial vehicles for image capture combined with cloud-based data processing.”
Rocket Rooster is a digital filter company that produces affordable plugins for Adobe’s Creative Suite. After creating over half a dozen styles for cinema purposes, the company set their sights on creating products for still photographers using Lightroom. Rocket Rooster’s latest filter set, the Analog Film Pack, includes 20 old school film presets and over 100 variations.
I’ve shot digital for as long as I can remember, but for a number of years I have been considering delving into film for my street photography work. Every time I became adamant about pursuing it, I talked myself out of it.
"What are you going to do with your negatives? How will you print? It’s so expensive! Your hit rate on digital isn’t that great...you have more control with RAW anyway...It will be waste of money"
I love film. I purely, madly, and deeply love film. I learned on film, I shot my first wedding with film, traveled around Europe with a film camera, and have taken Polaroids on road trips, adventures and portrait sessions. I have boxes of beautiful little Polaroids that I treasure more than anything I’ve ever taken with a digital camera. Film is a wonderful, brilliant medium for taking photographs with real soul.
Celebrities now have another reason to shy away from paparazzi photographers. Scientists have created a new technique for creating controllable digital versions of celebrities using only a set of paparazzi photos to reconstruct faces and create convincing expressions.
Sigma's dp3 Quattro compact camera is a very different piece of photographic equipment. From the unit’s elongated body shape to its internal Foveon image sensor, it is a mini technological and design wonder. However, just because a piece of tech is fascinating does not mean it will be suitable for its craft. The Sigma dp3 Quattro may be mesmerizing, but is it worth the $1000 price tag?
The debate between analog and digital may never end, but there can be a happy medium. One of the reasons that analog continues to live on is due to the wondrous ‘color profiles’ that one can find in different packages of film, along with their unique grain profiles. VSCO, a company that designs presets for Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop, has released their latest collection “VSCO FILM 07” - the eclectic films package.
Phase One today unveiled its new XF Camera System, a major redesign of its digital imaging offerings. The system features "robust, aerial-grade mechanics, advanced electronics, a new autofocus platform, new modularity options, new software and customizable touch controls." Basically, Phase One wanted to craft a new system that can stay relevant long into the digital age.
In a world in which photographs are primarily taken with digital image sensors, there are a growing number of photographers who are newly interested in film formats of the past. But why would anyone in our age of technological convenience still choose to shoot with analog film?