Digital cameras are nice to have. But I think it's getting excessive and some people take it too far, to the point where we've become tired and super-satured with photos.

I think there's a certain nostalgic appeal to photos from the pre-digital camera era. Back then you knew you only had a finite number of photos you could take, and you knew these photos would cost money to develop, so you knew you had to make damn sure that your photo came out ok. And so every photo you took was with much diligence and care, because you were seemingly taking the photo "blind", with no real knowledge of how it will turn out.

And then you'd take it to Shopper's Drug Mart to get your film developed, and then you'd pick it up in a couple of days and open up the envelope in eager anticipation of how your photos came out. Scanners were expensive in those days, and you couldn't simply put your pics upon the web by hooking your USB cable up from your laptop to your camera. No, to share your pics you'd actually have to like, distribute the film by hand.

This was how things were done as recently 2001. But now all that seems really archaic.

Digital cameras have taken away from the thrill of photography. Now that anticipatory eagerness is gone. No longer is there that week-long/month-long gap between when you shoot your pic and when you develop the film. Now you'll see that photo took in a second. And if it sucks, you do a reshoot. Where's the thrill in that? Not to mention you have so much capacity, and so you can take photos at whim. So people take photos of all kinds of random inane crap. So you can go out one night and come home with 100 photos. What results is super-saturation and, as with any good with negligible cost, the value of each individual photo diminishes.

http://photos-374.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v51/168/45/502540374/n502540374_4217_9544.jpg
Here's a nice photo from the pre-digital camera era. This is a photo of a few of my schoolmates in Grade 9, circa 1999. You can tell the picture is dated from the boxy gray car on the street and the dorky wire-rimmed glasses, something you'd never see now. And, as with any photo that's been scanned, there is a grainy quality which adds to its rustic charm. Call it our generation's version of the black-and-white photo.

I love digital cameras. The fact that you can instantly see what you took, not wait a week and realise it turned out crap. And no creepy guy in some photo developing place looking through your family's photos.  ::)

I also love digital cameras. I mean...I am one that has always been rather picky with pictures (especially ones of me)....so with a digital camera..it allows you to immediately get rid of those crappy pictures and such.

Digital Cameras are great, and they are definately widely used more than film cameras I would say.  The only thing I feel sad about is that these photo developing places are probably losing alot of customers over it

It's the Digital age.  The old is out and the new is in i guess

Digital Cameras are great, and they are definately widely used more than film cameras I would say.  The only thing I feel sad about is that these photo developing places are probably losing alot of customers over it

It's the Digital age.  The old is out and the new is in i guess


Nah, they're still getting plenty of business. What I don't get is why the original poster is going on and on about how great it was to wait for pictuers, when now all the places do it in one hour or less. I should know, I used to work at the Target photo center.

As for me, I love my digital camera. If I screw up a picture really badly, I can delete it rather than waste a frame of (usually expensive) film. Some of the best pictures I take though are screwups and random things. And not everyone posts their whole digital card to the internet. That's just lame. ::)

There is alot to be said on either side.  I used to "be into" photography, black and white, developing, all that.  It is fun, you cannot get that with Photoshop.  35mm will probably be around for a while anyway, for the art of it, and because at this date digital photos cannot hold up in court because of the ability to alter.

I would never go back to film. Digital Cameras are just so much better and save money and ultimately make your photography experience a lot better.

Come on, someone back me up on this. :) With all due respect the OP makes alot of good points, you have to admit that.

Yeah, I'm picky with pictures too and it's a drag to wait for the development of film, but that was part of what made it special. Yet at the same time, if we returned to that, it would feel out of place because we're now so "used to" doing it the new way. I used to take pictures alot, although it was more of scenery and things, as opposed to people lol, It's all a tradeoff I guess, and there's no perfect answer because we feel both ways.

To use a similar comparison, I love listening to music on the computer. I love having around 3000 of my favorite songs all in one place that I can put on shuffle, without having to keep getting up and changing tapes/cds or scanning the radio stations up and down just to keep finding a good song. I love being able to burn CDs and the conveinence that goes along with all of that. I wouldn't want to give any of this up, but...

I love audiotapes. I literally grew up with them my entire life, with my parents and other relatives making mixes or buying albums that way. Making a mixtape felt like a real creation, and cassettes in general as an analog format were more of an exciting thing with more variation. You can speed it up or slow it down. They did wear out with time, so they felt more special. Some boomboxes record in higher quality than others (same with brands of tape itself), you can stop or start it at any point in the song. You can also record off the radio, outside sounds on a microphone (my dad did these specialized psuedo dj-ing and announcements for some family mixes and to this day, the little bit one one I have left is one of my cherished childhood memories), or through those little Aux inputs to pick up sounds from television or something. This was something that was a standard for me up into the '90s and even as late as 2003ish. I still use them today too, although there's far less of a need to (I've been burning CDs for about three years).

I love all of this and just miss the simplicity and familarity of it. You can't replicate that with digital tech, it feels "colder" in general. Even if it's much more conveinent.

Oops I ran out of time before new replies came up. ;)

Seriously, I'm starting to think the "early Internet period" (about 1997 to 2001) was absolutely perfect for both worlds. The modern technologies that have become standards we take for granted now existed, but it was far less portable and widespread - and stone age compared to today, lol.

Yet, the key point here is that they co-existed with old school technology people had been using for years which hadn't yet faded. This was just perfect. I don't mind new things coming onto the scene (the world would stagnate if that didn't happen), but I hate when they kick the old stuff out as a result. THAT is what just saddens and pisses me off to no end.

Giving this one last shot - did anyone consider my points? ;)

Giving this one last shot - did anyone consider my points? ;)


I have!!! :)

I know what you are saying...I mean, there's still something so warm and cozy about taking pictures with regular cameras...and waiting in anticipation to see what they will turn out like. It's just that..I have been disappointed SO many times when I get my pictures back. I will be all excited to see what they look like..and then I get it back and I am like, "Crap...I waited all this time for THAT?"  With digital cameras...those lame pictures are NO MORE. ;D :D

I've known about them a long time. I remember them being around in 1998! Much more convienient than going to Fred Meyer's and developing them.

I have!!! :)

I know what you are saying...I mean, there's still something so warm and cozy about taking pictures with regular cameras...and waiting in anticipation to see what they will turn out like. It's just that..I have been disappointed SO many times when I get my pictures back. I will be all excited to see what they look like..and then I get it back and I am like, "Crap...I waited all this time for THAT?"  With digital cameras...those lame pictures are NO MORE. ;D :D

Thanks sweetie. :)  :-* Yeah, it really is a tradeoff. I mean I guess it's because I never took pictures of myself that much when I got into film, so I didn't notice it as strongly. But yeah I'm quite picky with how I turn out. I mean I want to look presentable/cute and all, lol.

And yeah, I remember some of those late '90s digital cams. They were like Medieval compared to today and less essential, but a few people had them. My uncle had one of those early ones, and it's funny in retrospect, but when he was showing it to me for the first time, I kinda resisted the idea, saying "Hey the old ones are fine". I mean he was this guy in his late 60s (there's a pretty big age divide with my dad and I) who was showing me all this new and hot technology, and as a 17 year old I was bonded to the old-school stuff from my childhood/very early teens! ;D

I can see where mace is coming from and it is a bit of a shame the art of developing prints is dying off - hell, there are still professional photographers who swear by old-school film and there probably always will (like record player enthusiasts) but this is just part of the tide of digitalisation. I never really took many pics with the old film cameras - and when I did they always turned out rubbish, so I don't bemoan that either. It's just sooo much more convenient these days with digital.

I got one this past Christmas...and I'm lovin' it!! 8)

How did I miss this topic when it was first started. I am one of the hold outs for the old film cameras. My 35 mm camera died a few years ago and I went out and bought myself a new film camera. I used to always buy Kodak but Kodak is no longer making film cameras except for the one-use ones (which came in very handy for our wedding-we put them on all the tables so our guests would take pictures).

About two years ago, Carlos & I decided to go into the eBay business. We had a few cheapo (freebee) digital cameras and they were all a piece of s**t. We decided to break down and invest in a good one. We got a Canon Power Shot. It took really nice photos for eBay. Then we started using it to take some photos that had nothing to do with eBay. As we were planning our last trip to Puerto Rico, Carlos wanted to take the digital camera where I wanted to take the film camera. We took both of them. My sister joined us and she had her digital and was taking a lot of "artist" type shots. Well, it was kind of contagious because we started taking those "artist" type shots, too and before I knew it, the film camera was almost forgotten (there still is film in the camera and the other rolls still have to be developed). Carlos & I ended up fighting over the digital. We even went out and bought another BIG chip. One of the advantages to the digital is that it has a zoom-where the film camera does not. Carlos thinks the important advantage is that you don't have to pay to get the photos developed and you can zap them if you don't like them.

Anyway, to brag about some of the photos we took with the digital:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23251068@N02/



Cat

I got a digital camera 2 years ago and I love it. I agree that it was neat to go down to the photo shop (which in the small town where I grew up was the drugstore) and pick up your photos after a few days...it was almost like opening a Christmas present in a way. Then again, digital cameras really aren't that different when you think about it. It's still cool to plug my camera into my computer, download the photos, and see them in higher definition.

But to me, the biggest advantage to a digital camera is that you never have to worry about running out of film. As long as you keep your battery charged and don't let your memory card get too full, you're fine.

There was one instance where me and some friends set up the perfect photo opportunity (long story, but it involved a prank that we pulled on an opposing mascot at a hockey game) and my brother went to snap it, only to discover that he had run out of film. Sure, it was his fault that he hadn't changed the film but still, with a digital camera you don't have to worry about that.

Digital cameras are nice to have. But I think it's getting excessive and some people take it too far, to the point where we've become tired and super-satured with photos.

I think there's a certain nostalgic appeal to photos from the pre-digital camera era. Back then you knew you only had a finite number of photos you could take, and you knew these photos would cost money to develop, so you knew you had to make damn sure that your photo came out ok. And so every photo you took was with much diligence and care, because you were seemingly taking the photo "blind", with no real knowledge of how it will turn out.

And then you'd take it to Shopper's Drug Mart to get your film developed, and then you'd pick it up in a couple of days and open up the envelope in eager anticipation of how your photos came out. Scanners were expensive in those days, and you couldn't simply put your pics upon the web by hooking your USB cable up from your laptop to your camera. No, to share your pics you'd actually have to like, distribute the film by hand.

This was how things were done as recently 2001. But now all that seems really archaic.

Digital cameras have taken away from the thrill of photography. Now that anticipatory eagerness is gone. No longer is there that week-long/month-long gap between when you shoot your pic and when you develop the film. Now you'll see that photo took in a second. And if it sucks, you do a reshoot. Where's the thrill in that? Not to mention you have so much capacity, and so you can take photos at whim. So people take photos of all kinds of random inane crap. So you can go out one night and come home with 100 photos. What results is super-saturation and, as with any good with negligible cost, the value of each individual photo diminishes.

http://photos-374.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v51/168/45/502540374/n502540374_4217_9544.jpg
Here's a nice photo from the pre-digital camera era. This is a photo of a few of my schoolmates in Grade 9, circa 1999. You can tell the picture is dated from the boxy gray car on the street and the dorky wire-rimmed glasses, something you'd never see now. And, as with any photo that's been scanned, there is a grainy quality which adds to its rustic charm. Call it our generation's version of the black-and-white photo.
Actually a lot of people look good in wire rim glasses.