[Leica] Visit to France - Digital or Film?

[jplaurel at spectare.com (Jim Laurel)]

Robert,
Why hassle around with digital when you are going on holiday?  You mention
"having to worry about film relative to digital", but I would argue just the
opposite.  To me, digital is more hassle.  Whenever I have to shoot digital,
I'm way more worried in general, because I've got a computer (otherwise how
do you check for hairs and dust on your sensor?), Flashtrax, external hard
drive, and all the other paraphernalia that digital requires (adapters,
surge protectors, chargers, etc.  And if you're really serious, you need
backup gear as well.  You have to worry about all that stuff when you're
moving around the country, when you leave it in hotel rooms, etc.  When
you're driving somewhere and you stop somewhere, you always worry about the
computer gear left in the car.

It's one thing to suffer all that bother and worry when you're working, but
why bother when you're out to have fun?  And why shoot digital when many of
the lovely films we have now (like Provia 100) may not be available for
long?  This is the last hurrah for high quality film photography.  Take your
small Leica kit and have fun.  A simple M6 with 28/50/90 lenses in a small
satchel is a real joy to work with.  Your grandchildren may not be able to
read those Nikon RAW files in years to come, but they will be able to hold
your slides up to the light and see an image...

--Jim Laurel


-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+jplaurel=spectare.com@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+jplaurel=spectare.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
Robert Clark
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 5:25 PM
To: Leica Users Group; MUGGERS
Subject: [Leica] Visit to France - Digital or Film?

Well, it's almost here.  We're leaving for the south of France on Monday.
We're going to be in the Avignon/Carcasonne/Canne region for five days and
then back to our city of Paris for four.  This will be our fourth trip
together to France and for the past three, I've taken the M6 and 50mm
Summilux.  Now, I have a D70 with about 6GB of compact flash card space plus
two nice zoom lenses.  I enjoy both cameras immensely.  I love the Nikon for
the auto-focusing, the instant feedback of high resolution digital pictures,
the flexibility of digital image manipulation, plus not having film
developed.  On the negative (no pun...really)side, it is a bit bulky,
depends on batteries, is not quiet like the Leica, and does not have the
optical quality of the Leica lenses.  OTH, I love the feel and use of the
Leica but not the inconvenience of having to worry about film relative to
the digital.  Also...the optical quality, the manual aspect, the bright
viewfinder, the ease of transporting the M6 and three lenses, and the over
all fun of using the M6 cannot be matched by the Nikon.  So...I'm trying to
decide which one (both?...maybe but probably not) to take with me.  While
traveling, I mostly do street shooting, some night shooting, and people
watching while in cafes, etc.  I mostly use the Nikon for quick snapshots of
my son playing soccer and family outings.  My creative side pines for the M6
while my economical, practical, and quick/easy side says Nikon.  With my
substantial CF space, I could do mostly RAW and high end JPEGS.  And...I
have a small laptol I could take to down load pics but with that, I'm really
getting equipment heavy.  My wife and I are taking the TGV from Charles de
Gaulle to Avignon and renting a car.  We go back to Paris on Monday the 4th
until the 8th.

So...to all the expert shooters out there (Nathan, et al), does the M6,
28mm, 50mm, 90mm get the nod or does the D70 with 18-70 & 70-300 reign?

Thanks, gang....all thoughts appreciated.

Robert Clark
Lancaster, PA

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