Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/09/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On 2003-09-21 jplaurel@nwlink.com (Jim Laurel) thoughtfully wrote: >But the fact is that, in a few years, I will have to be out there with that >big load of electronic crap, even when field dispatches are not required. >Film will be so insanely expensive that there will be no other practical >way. So, yes, digital is being shoved down my throat. I realize that >people like Tina and me, who photograph in remote places are exception >cases, but this move to digital is going to make life in the field very >difficult for us in coming years. So if I seem a little bitter about it, >that's why. This is almost funny. You're worried about a few years from now? Digital works NOW. To know this look at what's being shot in the field for motion imaging. See much 16mm or super 16mm? Nope. See lots of digital video? You betcha. They are finding themselves UNLEASHED. They can edit in the field. It's GREAT! It works. It's reliable. You sound like an illustrator in the 1850s looking at Mathew Bradey's photography of the American Civil War and saying you'd never do that because he took wagon loads of stuff to make his images, photographed on glass plates instead of a sketchpad and some pencils. Well today's technology is the glass plate age of digital imaging. It's just going to get better, use less power, store more. Already you can store your digital images on highly reliable solid state memory wallets or on disk. They're small and work well in the field. Power usage will go down. And digital electronics are reliable after the initial failure rate (so don't buy something brand new and cart it out to where you can't get it replaced - use it hard for the first month, if it's okay then it'll be okay for quite a while.) But I don't see anyone forcing photographers who aren't on immediate deadline to use digital. People are choosing to use digital because it's easy and meets their needs. If you want to go to the salt mines nothing is keeping you from taking your view camera or your medium format camera or your Leica or your 1DS. You get to choose. Me, I'd take my M6s and a 1DS if I could afford it or a 10D. The digital camera would inform me about taking better film images with the M. The M would inform me about making images with the 1Ds. It's just another way to be creative. And it would still all fit on the back of a camel. Adam - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html