[Leica] digital transformation

[alaxsxaq at gmail.com (Glenn Stauffer)]

On 4/27/05, Don Dory <dorysrus@mindspring.com> wrote:
> 
> So I guess what I am really wondering is, how many of us on the list are
> somewhat nostalgic for film, or have genuinely embraced the digital
> revolution?
> 

I don't know about being nostalgic for film since film hasn't gone
away best I can tell.  For me, the act of taking pictures with my M6
or IIIF or IIIC is a much more enjoyable experience than using my only
digital camera, a Canon G2.  I haven't seen any digital camera on the
market that would make me want to give up my Leica's so there is no
temptation to do so.  I am periodically tempted to sell my Olympus
macro equipment and replace it with a digital SLR, but to fully
replace the extension tubes, bellows, macro lenses, and ring flashes
is way too expensive given the amount of usage this equipment sees. 
My Olympus equipment will last a long time yet and digital won't save
me any great amount of time or expense so why bother.

On the darkroom side of things, I have always enjoyed processing my
own B&W film, but I have always hated printing mostly because I was
never any good at it.  So now I'm setup with a scanner and an inkjet
printer and that is my darkroom.

There is one great advantage to film still and that is the longevity
of the medium.  This very morning, I've been scanning negatives that
my father made in 1952 in Asmara, Eritrea.  They have been stored in a
box in the attic untouched for more than 50 years.  If they were
stored on digital media and forgotten for so long, they would have
been lost forever.  If I had to wet print these to see the photos he
took, I probably wouldn't bother printing more than a very few, but
with scanning, I can look at them all, print those that interest me,
and put the rest back into storage (in better conditions) where my
grand children can find them one day.

--Glenn