Film vs. Digital – Again?

Here’s a shot of my desk at the office taken with the amazing Nikon P-300. I offer it here simply because it is a really good picture of my desk and this is a photography blog. It just seems wrong to post to a photography blog without a picture of something although what I have to say in this post really has nothing to do with this or any other specific picture.

I know I promised that I was through with the film vs. digital discussion but I just read something that set me off again.

Ken Rockwell, one of my favorite photography bloggers (www.kenrockwell.com) recently disparaged Sigma lenses for making it possible to plug their lenses into your computer to tweak the AF settings as an unnecessary annoyance that Pro’s don’t have time for.  In his April 29^th post, “Tinkerer vs. Pro,” Ken Rockwell says, “Something we learn over time is that when a product offers more adjustments, it's because it needs them.…Goodness gracious, why should I waste productive time tweaking a Sigma lens, when I could have just bought a real Nikon or Canon lens in the first place, which would just work perfectly?”

Now I don’t disagree with Ken’s point but I have to admit that I kind of feel the same way about the whole film vs. digital camera issue. Other than point & shoot cameras or sophisticated DSLR’s and MILC’s set on full auto mode, digital cameras have so many things to tweak and set that you can drive yourself crazy. No wonder most folks forget about all that stuff and just set them on auto and go take pictures. Film cameras on the other hand, have only two (three if it’s manual focus) things to worry about; shutter speed and aperture. There is ISO to consider of course but you make that decision up front when you choose your film and don’t have to worry about it again until the next roll.

I still shoot digital too, and I am trying my best to learn everything there is to know about it. At the end of the day however, all I ever wanted from a digital camera was the beauty and simplicity of a film camera except with a digital sensor instead of the film. I don’t think that will ever happen but working with the Pentax K-01 I have been forcing myself to slow down, ignore all the technology and just use it like I use my film camera. I find that much more satisfying and in an odd way – liberating.