Is it worth it...

[tougemon]

Hi Guys,


Tell me honestly is it worth it for my studio which currently shoots only digital, to invest in a film body (EOS-1V HS) to shoot B&W only?

I personally would like to, but wondering if anyone has "been there and done that" would like to comment/caution/criticize on this matter?

Also, would clients NOTICE the difference? or is the difference only a noticible by photogs?

cheers,

Lucas

[steved110]

It's only really worth doing if you can do your own dark room stuff, imo.

Digital mono still hasn't quite got the impact of some of those old grainy fast B&W films.

If you don't have a darkroom you'll have to pay a specialist lab to take care of it for you, otherwise the results will be disappointing.

I think in this day and age most people wouldn't bother.

[PurpleRose]

I agree it would only be worth it if you were prepared to develope your own prints. Otherwise you have much more flexibility shooting in color via digital and altering it with photoshop.

[tougemon]

Thanks for the info so far - what I'm truly inspired by is the work of Joe Buissink - his b+w wedding images are for wanted of a better word "iconic" in our industry...sure, he's got Robert Cavelli to do his magic, but I really think that film still has it's place in wedding photography - something that digital mono just can't give you...

...or am I in my own fantasy??? lol

Anyone else on this?

cheers,


Lucas

[Woolburr]

I love digital...but I have yet to see a digital b/w image that compares to a film version. You can do a lot of things in PS, but only film can give you the right look when it comes to monochrome images...which is why I still keep a film body on hand.

[BigBlueDodge]

What's film?

[ssim]

If I was going to buy another film camera it would be a medium format body. I have a couple of them already but would like to go back to a 645 format.

I still have customers that request their jobs be done in film.

I did a test once on the exact same subject which was a mountain scenic. I shot it with my 1Ds and also with my Pentax 6x7. I had both enlarged to 16X20 and while the digital one was good, the film one really rocked.

If you are making that investment only for B&W I would think it would not be a wise choice. You can make the digital B&W look the same but it does take a good knowledge of photoshop. It seems like a waste for just that alone.

I always say to myself that I am going to throw my film bodies in when I go out shooting personally but I never seem to do it or use them if I do. Digital has just made it too easy.

[Perry Ge]

If you have access to a darkroom, definitely.

Digital BW prints will never match film. Ink on paper doesn't have the inherent depth or tonal range of silver halide prints.

Having said that, you don't necessarily need a 1VHS, could you get by with an Elan?