Slide to Digital question

Since all I have to do is check the UPS site every 5 minutes to see where my 1Ds MKII is I've had time to also think about some of the differences between digital and slide film. Have you ever had one those "no sht" moments... aka an epiphany? I just did. With slide film... once it's loaded, you are pretty much stuck with the iso setting. Yeah you can push process but for the most part each frame is locked to the iso rating of the roll of film in the camera. Not so with digital... holy smokes...

So here's the question. For those of you that moved from film to digital, did it change the way that you approached your subject?

I'm speculating that being able to change the iso of the "film" in a digital camera with every shot will have profound effects on the way that I shoot...

This is one of the great advantages of digital for many types of shooting. For wildlife I may need a high ISO film before the sun comes up and then lower ISO as the light gets stronger. Then an animal may move from bright sunlight back into deep shade and I need a higher ISO again. With slide film I usually kept shooting with the ISO I had loaded, even though it was not ideal. As you mentioned, it is possible to push process, and I often did, but once you start you are committed to that ISO for the rest of the roll. It is also possible to unload film part way through the roll, retrieve (or leave out the leader if you remember to select that fuction) and then reload the film later. You have to hope that the mark you made on the film does not rub off.

The second most useful feature of digital is the LCD display that shows a histogram and flashes any over exposed areas on the review image. This allows you to correct exposure and just about eliminates the need to bracket shots in tricky exposure situations.

Other than that, I don't find much difference in shooting film or digital, except that it costs less every time I hit the shutter button, so I do more "experimental" shots to see if an idea will work or not.

Mike. You bet. As noted and post above, ISO on the fly and LCD histogram review are wonderous advances.
I think people coming from chrome shooting background are WAY ahead when learning metering digital capture. Up until a year ago +/- Forums were full of users complaining digital had poor 5 1/2 stop contrast range, blown highlights meant meters were bad, digital could not be compared to capture range of film. Blah Blah Blah. But those of us who shot chromes for 30 years always protected highlights!

Like this post I contributed to earlier today with a contrasty 1-DII image:
https://photography-on-the.net …php?p=1058234&p​ostcount=4

I would have trouble metering those peaches in my chrome days. I-DII makes it easy.
Slide shooters make the transition to digital very easily.
Going RAW makes getting the most out of every image easier. Wait til that no s--t hits you too.
Well, that's my opinion.

Enjoy your new freedom and tools.
Jack

Clipless pedals and index shifting are equal wonderous advances in bike racing. My other activity. Another 1-DII shot:
http://aesop.rutgers.e​du …0C%20at%20T-Town%2001.htm

I also find it convenient to use the camera as a notepad; photograph the sign as well as the subject. Get some background of what you shot instead of trying to remember what it was 3 weeks later when the film gets back.

White balance... no need for CC filters! Shoot any/everything, 'cuz it doesn't cost any extra. (This isn't always a good thing.)

I agree with the others.
1. review shots immediately for composition (LCD) and exposure (histogram)
2. Shoot tons more (get lots of memory, its relatively cheap, may I suggest 5-8 gb for your 1DsmkII)
3. High ISO capabilities of Canon dSLR make film (especially slide film) really resticting.
The combination of these factors made a huge jump in the speed of my learning and a big jump in my interest. Other than that its still photography!
Mike K

Being able to change the ISO from shot to shot is nice but is not the defining thing about digital for me. Perhaps because when I used film I had 3 bodies with my 35mm system and on those occations when I felt it might be needed I would carry ISO 64 in one and ISO 200 or 400 in another. With my Mamiya RB67 I had 3 backs and could do the same. What changed the way, or I'd like to think, increased the ways I approach my subjects that really seperate digital from film for me is digital post processing. No way could I do in a wet lab what I can do in a digital one (PS CS2).

Anyone got any tips on how to make UPS deliver more quickly

Thanks for all of your comments. Now the anticipation is really going to kill me... The magic day is 1/10...

Well... been there, done things and all that - what with both slide film as well as digital, so here goes.

For starters, if its not a full frame sensor on your digital the multiplier factor is going to be an issue, especially if you love working withwide lenses.

Another spinoff of the digital frame multiplier is going to be its effect on DOF as well as minimum hand-held shutter speeds.

Seeing that you have a slide background, I don't percieve the next couple of things to be an issue with you, but it pays to be a tad bit carefull...

The ability to preview and delete your shots at the drop of a hat can tend to (if you're not carefull) take exposure for granted. As I said, I don't see that happening with you, as most people who shoot slide film are in the habit of being bloody careful with their metering to start with. Follow the same procedure that you do with slide film - meter off the brightest highlight, compensate and shoot. Note however, that assigning a tone when it comes to slide film is a bit different from assigning a tone on digital - with slide its assign tone and shoot. With digital, "shoot to the right", and then adjust tonality as part of post-processing. Btw, always shoot RAW.

Another thing that the instant-gratification thingie of digitals can do tis make you a bit sloppy when it comes to composition; again thats a result of the "delete if you don't like it" feature of digital.

Of course, for ze old pros, these are not issues!

nevilleb

Mike6158 wrote:
Anyone got any tips on how to make UPS deliver more quickly

Pay them more ;{)#

Mike:
You know another 1-D feature you'll have a blast with in outdoor photography? ISO bracketing! Us film users bracketed by shutter speed in M or Av, leaving the aperture alone to not change depth of field.
Now, with 1-D digital, it gets better. You set camera to Auto ISO bracketing, in 1/3 stop increments, leaving both shutter and aperture alone.
It's great. I have personal function set on 1-DMkII to fire a sequence of 5 or 7 frames (< 1 second), bracketing by ISO.
Have fun,
Jack