Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/03/12

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: Re: [Leica] epson digital RF report pages
From: Frank Dernie <Frank.Dernie@btinternet.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 08:30:02 +0000

How do you send your film pictures to the wire service immediately 
after you have shot them?


On Friday, March 12, 2004, at 06:40  am, Sam wrote:

> I respectfully reply "nonsense."
>
> Right off let's understand the words "need" and "desire" have 
> different meanings. There is nothing that can be done with digital 
> that cannot be done with film. No need was filled that had not been 
> filled before. None.  I know from personal observation that the drift 
> from film to digital had nothing to do with need and everything to do 
> with fear. Fear that a competitor would find a way to use digital to 
> gain an advantage, or at least a perceived advantage. Methods of 
> working have changed not because of need but because of fear that 
> retaining the older work method would be thought old fashioned and 
> unhip. And somehow, someway, revenue would be lost because of it. The 
> only other influence I've seen in agencies are gadget lovers who pined 
> for new toys until they got them. I am not saying that digital is not 
> the wave of the near future. It is. But at the moment the choice to 
> use digital is one of whim, not of need.
>
> BTW, quality is not an issue. News images are used online or printed 
> coursely on paper. Whether the image is hi-rez or not will never be 
> noticed by the viewer.
>
> Sam S
>
>
> Frank Dernie wrote:
>
>> ? a real need! Most news photographers find it fills a real need now. 
>> Most Sports photographers do as well. There are a few I know who 
>> still use film for ultimate quality but the difference in real world 
>> situations is very small between current digital and 35mm. The only 
>> people for whom film is still the best choice is the smallish number 
>> of fine art and landscape photographers using large and medium 
>> format. In studios even they are moving to (ludicrously expensive 
>> IMO) digital solutions.
>> There are a small band of hobbyists who still use film - I am one of 
>> them - but many I talk to are only convinced by theoretical benefits 
>> of film over digital, they have never tried comparing for themselves. 
>> I know exactly under what circumstances I will use digital or film 
>> now, by my own experience and experiments. FWIW on my experiments the 
>> film is critical, on Kodachrome with a Leica and tripod there is 
>> clear superiority over DSLR results. Handheld the differences are 
>> smaller. Using 200 asa print film changes the results - digital is 
>> always better.
>> For ultimate quality I still use medium format. I only use 35mm film 
>> for fun now. For hand held  walking about type photography digital is 
>> as good and much more convenient. I wait with impatience for the 
>> digital rangefinder which takes my Leica lenses, then I will have the 
>> best of both worlds - a digital camera which is fun to use!
>> Frank
>>
>>
>>
>> On Friday, March 12, 2004, at 12:52  am, Sam wrote:
>>
>>> A time will come when digital cameras will serve a real need, but 
>>> that time is not yet. I agree, 8 bits led to much greater, and 
>>> useful, computers. My point is that there is a space between 
>>> conception and realisation that is ripe for fad and novelty. We are 
>>> going through it now. Now really, does it make sense for people who 
>>> shoot 20 or 30 frames a week to talk about "work flow"???
>>>
>>> Sam S
>>>
>>>
>>> Dan C wrote:
>>>
>>>> The 8-bit home computers led directly to the multi giga-hertz 32 
>>>> bit ( and
>>>> soon to become 64 bit) home computers that we have today.  Pac Man 
>>>> led to
>>>> the incredably complex games available today, along with software 
>>>> such as
>>>> Photoshop.   They didn't lead back towards abacii or slide rules.   
>>>> Nor
>>>> will film cameras make a comeback among the people who benefit from 
>>>> them
>>>> (and this includes both pros and the happy snapper amateur).
>>>>
>>>> At 06:29 PM 11-03-04 -0500, Sam wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> No, I'm saying we are going through a period in which just about 
>>>>> everyone believes they need a digital camera, and if they had one 
>>>>> so many things would be done better. Even those people who are 
>>>>> forced to use digital because it's been imposed on them by bosses 
>>>>> are merely being compelled by the forces of whim. If getting more 
>>>>> pictures faster is important to a news outlet (for example), why 
>>>>> the hell is the news 85% nonessential garbage? Are there any signs 
>>>>> that digital has improved anything? None. To the vast majority 
>>>>> it's a novelty made to appear like a need. It's much like when the 
>>>>> first 8 bit home computers became available. How much serious work 
>>>>> was done on Atari 800s and Commodore 64s? Not much, but they were 
>>>>> made to sound as if your whole life would be dramatically changed. 
>>>>> Instead of dramatic change we got Pac Man.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> To unsubscribe, see 
>>>> http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> -- 
>>> To unsubscribe, see 
>>> http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html
>>>
>>
>> -- 
>> To unsubscribe, see 
>> http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html
>>
>>
> --
> To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html
>

- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html

Replies: Reply from Ted Grant <tedgrant@shaw.ca> (Re: [Leica] epson digital RF report pages)