The difficulty with this discussion is that us serious, knowledgeable photographers are trying to compare what the "other side" would do digitally or with film.
For those that actually save their negatives, film is simpler. However, you would be appalled at how many times I have encountered people who just throw the negatives away. Those who do save them, mostly throw them in a box somewhere and forget about it. If you check with most minilabs (the majority of snap shooter labs), you will find that the percent of reprint/enlargements is miniscule. I mostly see people bring in their prints and throw them on the Kodak Kiosk to get inferior prints so they don't have to find the negative. For those digital users that want to act just like the film users who don't save the negatives, they can get the prints and then wipe the card and start over. For those who want to act like those that just throw the negs into a box and forget about it, then can order the cd of their images right when they get the prints - Walmart and the likes offer this for very cheap - so now they take the cd and throw it into a box. For those who actually value the negatives or digital images, more work is involved. Putting the negs in pages or some such and organizing so that they are useful takes time and thought. Storing them on your computer and organizing and backup takes time and thought. I see the process as too similar between the mediums to plainly state one is easier than the other. One funny issue that hasn't been discussed much is the one concerning help from knowledgeable users. Much like the computer industry where some machines may be inherently easier to get running for a neophyte (Mac) and some others may require a bit more knowledge (PC), I see film and digital (for the P&S crowd) as being somewhat the same. The thing is, for most people, that don't have the knowledge, they know someone who helps them over the hard part (knowledge) and gets them on their way. I see this happen time and again with digital P&S, someone points them in the right direction and off they go. The other factor that we don't take into account is that the buyer is changing. Those who are older and grew up in the earlier days of camera and computer technology have different needs, wants and interests. The young people today (I have 4) view the world quite differently. They are not phased by the digital arena. It is almost second nature to them. This is a growing portion of the camera sales and usage - especially on the digital front. Sorry for my thoughts starting to rattle around. -- Best regards, Bruce Wednesday, August 25, 2004, 10:08:24 AM, you wrote: JCOC> NOT TRUE, because you are forgetting something very JCOC> important, ARCHIVING. JCOC> With film, you get the negatives as well as the prints. JCOC> With digital you now have the extra work of somehow JCOC> transferring the files to hard drive, Cd, or DVD JCOC> or some other digital media. That is NOT simple JCOC> to someone with little computer literacy and even JCOC> to someone who knows what they are doing it is extra JCOC> work. So film is the simplest and easiest from a user JCOC> standpoint. Not only that, when you delve into the "AUO EVERYTH JCOC> ING" mode on cameras, film has the advantage because color JCOC> print film, the overwhelming choice of the non-technical JCOC> photographers, has much more exposure latitude and hence JCOC> room for error than digital. Sure you can see a bad digital JCOC> shot on the LCD and shoot again to fix it, but it is going JCOC> to take knowledge and time to override the automatic settings, JCOC> once again, not simpler than film. JCOC> JCO JCOC> -----Original Message----- JCOC> From: Gonz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] JCOC> Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 12:56 PM JCOC> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] JCOC> Subject: Re: It's over (was Re: Ilford in trouble? and digi snappers) JCOC> J. C. O'Connell wrote: >> >> >> Are you guys serious?, anyone can see, even by your own descriptions >> of the process, that there are less steps and skills required to do >> 35mm film than digital. That is simplicity. Your wrong digital is not >> simpler or AS SIMPLE as 35mm film from a user standpoint. JCO >> >> JCOC> You could treat your digital cam just like a film cam and the process JCOC> would be identical. Take pics, drop off cf card, pick up pics. JCOC> rg
