Since the first time I held a camera, until about the year 2000, I’ve shot everything on film. Black and white a whole lot and at times color film and slides. Sometimes Ilford XP2 black and white film which had to be developed in the C-41 color process. I used a lot of Ilford FP4, Ilford HP5 and Kodak Tri-X. Developed and printed in my own darkroom. Mostly I bought bulk film on a roll and put that in 35mm reloadable plastic film cartridges.

After going fully digital I never looked back. I don’t miss all the work that comes with shooting film. Although I loved it back in the days. The ”film look” can be very beautiful but I don’t think I really need to shoot film to achieve that. But that’s personal. My favourite black and white conversion software Silver Efex Pro helps me achieve a final result that really looks like film in my opinion.

Another thing is that when shooting film, you end up with negatives that need to be scanned. In the end you have a digital file of each image. The scanning of the negatives can take away some of the image quality because there’s an extra step. Of course it all depends on the scanner, software and operator. All ‘n all I would rather directly shoot digital.

Not only is shooting digital more direct it is also cheaper per shot. You don’t have to buy film after all. Of course buying a decent digital camera can be very expensive not to mention the lenses. But still that also goes for analog cameras and lenses although probably cheaper.

One really big advantage of digital are the direct results. Especially when you are a beginner you have direct acces to the shots taken and can very easily experiment with different settings to see what they do. You don’t have to worry about costs. You will get better results much quicker than you do when shooting film.

Even as a more experienced photographer it’s easy to experiment in the moment and check what the results are. Working with an electronic viewfinder and lcd screen helps enormously with getting the best exposure because you directly see the result right before your eyes.

I love digital for its directness and ease but I am not here to convince you or tell you what is better. There’s no such thing as better.

Film photography is great. I encourage anyone to do it. The tactile feel of putting film into the camera and transporting the film after each shot is a great feeling. Developing your own film is precise work, having to mix the developer correctly and bringing it up to the right temperature. It’s all about timing and having control over all the elements, to get consistent results. It is satisfying to find the right combination of film, developer, timing and agitation of the tank, getting the “perfect” result. Placing the film into an enlarger and exposing the negative image onto photographic paper, developing the paper in the developer tray and seeing the image come up right in front of you, is magic! This is your image. You have been patiently working for it. That’s great stuff that cannot be replaced by any digital camera or computer.