It made me become conscious of the huge shifts that are taking place in the world of cameras. Many companies like Kodak, Polaroid, Fujifilm, all the rest of them, are no longer making film! We have shifted, and in a very rapid fashion, from film-based to digital photography. This picture shows the camera I now use (well, mine has 9 megapixels but otherwise is the same) for all my pictures, and what has really changed for me is the immediacy of my results. When I go out hiking with the Seniors, I snap probably fifty pictures and take several of the same scene. Then in the car on the way back to the Senior Center, I go through them and remove probably a dozen, keeping the ones I know I will take a closer look at. By the time I've come home and transferred them to my Mac, I go through them again and edit out maybe another half a dozen. I export some in a smaller format to the desktop and compose my post. The full-sized pictures that I think are pretty good go onto my Flickr site, usually around 12-15.
This is completely different from the days of the film camera. I would buy film for a particular event, usually for outdoors, take the pictures, and if I would be really anxious to see them, take the film to a one-hour photo store to get them developed. If I wanted to use any of them for the internet, I had to scan them in. What a huge difference in process! And of course, most of the time I wouldn't have any particular place to put them on line, because the blogosphere didn't exist back then.
Remember the phrase, "a Kodak moment"? I do. I read this article today about how Kodak is wanting to bring back the moment, about "the REAL Kodak moment is when you share." Frankly, though, the whole moment could only emerge when all the parts had been created and put in place. That moment is here now.
:-)
I didn't realize that those companies were no longer making film. That's actually a little sad. I know that times change and people really don't use film cameras much anymore, but it's still been a viable option for those who so desired. Oh well, I guess it still will be an option for people who want to go to the extra trouble of locating film and places that will develop it.
ReplyDeleteThere is something to be said for the immediacy of the digital world.
I'm glad we don't have to worry about getting photos printed by an outside processor now...I'd always forget...and in time, I had a drawer full of exposed but undeveloped film...This works so much better for me. Fascinating post, dear DJ! Didn't know about the elimination of film and the wish to bring back the Kodak moment...wonder how they propose to do that? Love, Janine XO
ReplyDeleteOh my yes, things have changed. No more digging in drawers years later and finding a roll of undeveloped film.
ReplyDeleteRemember how big the old cameras were we got for home movies? And then there was the Polaroid phase.
Personally, I love it the way it is today.
I like how it is almost instantaneous. I always had rolls of film rolling around drawers. Who knows how many wonderful shots never made it to processing. Then there was always the problem with the processor ruining your pictures with dirty processing fluid. I love digital cameras.
ReplyDeleteDJan, I think we have the same camera..that is interesting..mine is just like the photo except it is 9 Mega Pixels too. I have had mine about a year, I love the digital age, I do the same thing delete in camera, and then again once I have them unloaded..I print very few. I should print more than I do.
ReplyDeleteOne time I thought I had film in the camera..it was our youngest daughters Graduation from high school..I took loads of film to be processed..never got one photo of her. Either I had no film in the camera or they lost it. I had to get some photos from other Mothers. I was so disappointed.:(
Actually, when we had to process the film, Id' lose interest before I got the films back! Now, with it being more instant, I can run right home and I love that!
ReplyDeleteYep, that's pretty much my story, and my camera too! I have a Powershot SX110IS with 9.0 MP. Could it be that three of us have the very same camera?
ReplyDeleteI must admit I've still to read the operator's manual on my little Nikon camera. I do well just to point and shoot, oh and upload.
ReplyDeleteI ahve a wonderful 'film' camera, takes beautiful pictures, yet I always reach for the digital, hmmm.
A very interesting post, technology today will be obsolete in another year.
My daughter has a digital camera, but her printer does not print photos. So she uploads it to COSTCO online and then buys the finished photos there. It's great if you want to display your photos on your shelf.
ReplyDeleteEven though I love my Pentax K10D SLR I still whip out my old Minolta SLR for black and whites every so often. Nothing quite captures certain things like black and white print film. But with that said I don't know where I'd be without my digital camera and Flip digital video camera!
ReplyDeleteFor Sure, DJan...I would never have been introduced or interested in photography in retirement if it wasn't for digital photography...I have fallen in love with it. I could never have done that with film cameras,like I do with my digitals!
ReplyDeleteI have a very old Nikon Coolpix 995 that I use. Fortunately my Mac has iPhoto where I can go to erase my mistakes! I love the easy access to my photos. But as of late have heard there is a whole culture out there looking for and using the old Polaroid.I hear that some newer cameras come with the ability to create that Polaroid look. Although I think digital rocks!
ReplyDeleteFilms still exists here in our country DJ, but I think it's only Fuji who has it. I remember when I wrote a blog about digicam entitled "Course of Acquiring a Digital Camera". I wrote the advantages and disadvantages of it comparing it to the manual camera we have from way back then.
ReplyDeleteSome people still prefer using the manual camera for they won't need or buy computers when they want to view them. Some people here still doesn't own computer so for them what's the use of buying digital cameras.
I do still have them both a manual and a digital but I prefer the digicam because it's convenient to use.
AL
I love the digital. I can take 70 pictures in one walk around session; download into the computer; choose the ones to optimize for the blog; and one of these days I'm going to delete the rest. :D
ReplyDeleteI have several rolls of unprocessed photos as well as hundreds of pictures lying around in a couple of drawers. Again, one of these days I'm going to clean out and throw away. lol
I used to print my own black and white shots. Now I love digital, and Photoshop. I have a subcompact Canon PowerShot that I love using with the grandkids, but I need something with a better zoom for outdoors. Your post just sent me back to Consumer Reports, where I have two or three Canons bookmarked, all similar to yours!
ReplyDeleteI agree that digital is great. I have a small camera that L bought for me a couple of weeks ago. I knew I would want to take a few pics while I was over here and it seems to work very well. It is a Canon 12.1 mega pixels, 4 x optical zoom. It fits nicely into my handbag, which is a plus.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Star
I'm happy with digital! I still have a box of photos to organise and put in albums from my pre-digital days. Although, if I think of it I also have folders and folders on my computer to go through! But at least they aren't accumulating dust and taking up space....
ReplyDeleteI know that I no longer hesitate when taking a shot with my digital camera the way I did with a film SLR. Back in the film days I would usually have six to eight rolls with me on a trip and tried to take only the best shots, bracketing each to make sure. It made me think before shooting.
ReplyDeleteNow I just take as many as I want, I love the digital age. I'm on my second digital camera and looking for a third.
I don't think the companies have completely stopped making film. I bought a roll of Kodak film last week for my old SLR and looked at the Illford and Fujifilm as well. Production is probably very limited however.