I made my start in photography with a 1-megapixel point-and-shoot Sony digital camera many years ago. I bought it from a friend, used, because that was the only way (at the time) that I would afford a digital camera. It was nice to be able to try a lot of things and see the feedback immediately on the little screen on the back of the camera, and nicer that I could delete the duds and keep the good shots, and not spend money doing so.
As I read and learned about photography, however, it became obvious to me that I was going to need some features that the little point-and-shoot unit didn’t provide. I needed control over exposure by way of aperture and shutter speed settings — not just the little +1/-1 EV adjustment. I needed manual focus. I needed to know what an f-stop was. Basically, I needed an SLR.
Digital SLR cameras were far too expensive for a guy who could only justify the cost of a used P&S, but eBay was ripe with used film SLR cameras at awesome prices, so I started learning to shoot film with a Canon AE-1.
My experience with film taught me the guts of photography. I learned how light affects silver grains, and how time and temperature of certain chemistry sets the exposed grains and removes the rest. I learned how the size of the aperture was proportionate to the focal length of the lens, and how that related to film speed and overall exposure. I learned how to get a proper exposure without a meter.
The most important thing that film taught me, however, was to value every single shot. When you have only a finite number of shots per roll of film, and only a small number of rolls, you tend to be more selective about what you shoot. And when you have to develop, dry, cut, and print your film before you get to see how it came out, you spend more time thinking about all the details before you press that button.
Over recent years, I’ve witnessed (and occasionally participated in) a number of debates over which is superior: digital, or film. In the beginning, I was very partial to film. But I think at this point in time, most digital SLR cameras produce superior images where color photography is concerned. However, there is still little doubt in my mind that a quality shot on black and white film, printed by hand in the darkroom, produces a result that dramatically outshines anything you can do in the digital realm.
The instant feedback and the low cost-per-shot of digital photography are awesome learning tools, and not to be trivialized. But the fundamental skills and knowledge that come from the film experience are also important. I believe that anyone wishing to become a truly talented photographer should invest time learning from both formats.
It puts a big smile on my face when I see digital photographers exploring our film-based past. It’s kind of like a modern street-racing enthusiast parking the Honda and spending some time under the hood of a GTO. Modern technology is amazing, and often superior in many ways, but there are valuable things to learn from our roots, and sometimes some irreplaceable experiences, too.