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Paul,
My background is custom photo
lab etc etc etc... you won't get one iota of argument from me about studio
imaging with digital... I used a Better Light 4 X 5 scanning back ... the
images it produced were astonishing compared to film, especially with
dayglo artist colors that film emulsions were all but blind to.
My only argument about all this
is two fold... one is cost... I can invest in a $10K 120 system and have
something pretty decent... it is trully portable and fast... a lot of times I
see an image and it's there for only a few seconds... no time to futz with
digital set ups. I want to shoot, and I want to shoot in seconds from a
standstill.
The other issue is resolution, which is tied into
number one... it's OK to justify digital backs that you described if you have
the throughput to substantiate them... but you have to realize that you are a
small minority... most people cannot justify those kinds of expenditures
... and the prosumer digital cameras don't cut it. Furthermore one can shoot
around the limited recording range of film by bracketing and then using PS to
combine the best of each exposure. Modern cameras will even shoot a bracketed
set automatically... so the resolution is there, and with some work, complete
tonal range as well.
Finally, if I did have one of
your $50,000 digital backs, would I subject it to rigorous hikes into the
Sierra, or chance getting it wet in the snow, or skiing with it, or wading with
it into the ocean to get a cool shoreline shot? I don't think so...
So.... for all of the
above, I think there is a place for film and will be for quite some time. Until
they can make 5000 X 5000 chips that download in a second into a camera
that weighs in at 40-50 ounces with battery and memory... all for the price of
$3000... digital will reign supreme in the cloistered environment of the studio,
but I think outdoors is a totally different experience and environment that is
not digital friendly. Oh yeah... and a lot of times I shoot without a tripod...
there isn't time to set one up or there's no room for one.
Guess we've beaten another
one to death... it's snowing outside... not much else to do. : -
)
Tony
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