thinking of leaving DSLR for film

Lately I've been tempted to leave the digital world behind, DSLR particularly and concentrate on Film.
Seeing a friend selling most of his Nikon gears to go Leica kinda gave me the push to really do it.
I want to try shoot as many rolls I can throughout a year then develop all at once.
Currently I have a 5D Mark II, 17-40 f4L, Sigma 50 f1.4, 135 f2L and a 100-400 f4-5.6L.
Thinking of selling most of those except maybe the 135L and 100-400L
which I can always use on my EOS-3 for tele/wildlife shots, which I'm not really into though.
I will also be picking up a X100s once it comes out to satisfy my digital need, especially for landscape with the 28mm wide-angle lens.

What this leaves me behind is full time to concentrate shooting film with my M6 and Pentax 6x7.

Anyone else had this idea and maybe actually did it?

Similar boat but I didn't need to sell all of my digital equipment. You already have the film gear. Go shoot film. Learn how to process them, BW and color. Learn how to scan them, if you want to. I haven't shot anything with my 1dmarkIII for over 3 months.

Too much work in film.

dharrisphotog wrote in post #15654192
Too much work in film.

Care to explain??? You mean you have to work for the photos in film? If so, what's wrong with that? As comparing to you don't do any works in shooting digital? Be careful, you are getting yourself into a hole here....

Been there, done that, never want to go back. Film was fine when digital was in it's infancy with low res cameras and primitive editing tools. But digital these days has progressed so far in both quality and versatility that I just can't see ever going back. Nope, not for me.

TooManyShots wrote in post #15654170
Similar boat but I didn't need to sell all of my digital equipment. You already have the film gear. Go shoot film. Learn how to process them, BW and color. Learn how to scan them, if you want to. I haven't shot anything with my 1dmarkIII for over 3 months.

thanks! started last week and half a roll on my P67 and M6
my thinking on selling the 5D Mark II now is because I've seen how quickly digital cameras value decreases. If I sell mine for 1200 now, I might be able to buy another one next year for $1000 or lower.
I can always go back to a classic 5Dc or even a 40D which are really cheap now a days and still excellent performers if I need a DSLR

dharrisphotog wrote in post #15654192
Too much work in film.

Not as hard as I thought it would be.
Getting some E-6 kits from a friend so I will be developing them myself plus I develop my own B&W already.
What I'm trying to teach myself is to become a more selective shooter, go through about 20-30 rolls in a year will be easier to manage than about 9000+ digital pictures

gjl711 wrote in post #15654214
Been there, done that, never want to go back. Film was fine when digital was in it's infancy with low res cameras and primitive editing tools. But digital these days has progressed so far in both quality and versatility that I just can't see ever going back. Nope, not for me.

Fair enough, totally understandable, especially since you seem to have shot film way longer than me.
While I'm also impressed by the IQ of digital, it's not the main thing that I look for on a photo and to be honest I find digital soulless

If you are going to take the time and effort to shoot with film, then why bother with the little ittybitty 35mm? At least step up to medium format cameras and do even more that digital simply can't do in a cost effective manner.

Also, hang on to your digital gear. I've known more than a few shooters who have declared that "Digital has no soul, and film is just better" or something to similar effect, take a nice loss on digital gear, play with film alone for a few months and discover they really hate working with it. Within six months they were back looking to buy a digital body.

For street shooting I gave up using digital and just shoot film. It's just a preference, no one is better than the other.
But I have a whole lot more fun with film.

Hey, how is Calgary
According to your sig, you have (but I'm not 100% after reading you first message):

Why on Earth you need to leave DSLR if you have SLR, RF and MF film bodies and glass already?

Just check if any of local labs are still doing good enough film developing, get film, pickup something like Epson V500 and you all set. You don't have to sell DSLR gear, IMO.

I didn't. I still need DSLR for Macro, reportage, quick portraits and video.
But I'm using it not so often now, after I learned DIY B/W home developing last year.

First, I left DSLR to film for street and candid photography. It is absolutely different for my eyes in terms of the image. Plus, DSLR is bulky, heavy and no fun on the street. And Leica or any other film RF is so liberating.

I also tried and love MF for B/W portraits. Like yours camera or old folding RF or Holga for lomography. All three MF types of cameras provides different results.

I love film as true art media for me. Photoshop for DSLR images will kill your vision, literally. Yes, L and Zeiss glass produce colorful and sharp SOOC images, but with film I'm getting something very different.

I use DSLR for quick and predictable results accepted by majority.
And keep using more and more film as something special for me.
To enjoy, to learn and to share. Check my Flickr

Luckless wrote in post #15654404
If you are going to take the time and effort to shoot with film, then why bother with the little ittybitty 35mm? At least step up to medium format cameras and do even more that digital simply can't do in a cost effective manner.

Also, hang on to your digital gear. I've known more than a few shooters who have declared that "Digital has no soul, and film is just better" or something to similar effect, take a nice loss on digital gear, play with film alone for a few months and discover they really hate working with it. Within six months they were back looking to buy a digital body.

Hmmm...he has a M6 and Pentax 67. He is well covered, period....

Not being much of a 'joiner,' I never went made the full there-and-back journey. I do enjoy shooting 35mm and 6x6 film alongside my Drebel. I augment my large supply of frozen film with occasional purchases of fresh, and develop my own E6 for a little over a buck a roll. Compared to the overall cost of a photo-vacation, a few tens of dollars spent on film is nothing. I still get a real kick out of viewing a freshly souped roll on the light table; 6x6 chrome is chimp-worthy.

IMO, one of the most underrated advantages to shooting film is the superb viewfinder design that old cameras used. Photography is a visual medium, and a large, bright viewfinder is, IMO, a necessity. None of the crop body views are worth a pinch, IMO. (The view through my Drebel is not much better than that of my P/S!) Until the price of FF DSLRs drops to the 'justifiable' level, I'll keep shooting my collection of old beasts. Even then, I suspect I'll continue to enjoy the entire film 'process' too much to let it go.

As others point out, I don't see any reason to paint your choice in stark black and white. Film can be a most wonderful medium, but there are times when one aspect of digital caries the day. Since you'll have EOS mount bodies, why not shoot them concurrently?

Geonerd wrote in post #15654489
... Until the price of FF DSLRs drops to the 'justifiable' level, I'll keep shooting my collection of old beasts....

Are you waiting for 5Dc to show up at local thrift store at the same price of $8 as I got this one last weekend?

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kf095/850833358​6/

In general, my itty-bitty 35mm rangefinder produces better black & white shots then any digital camera of any format, so quality is a bit of a subjective issue here, right? As for cost effectiveness, my film rangefinder versus cost of Leica M9…OK, that issue is resolved. Anyway, I thoroughly track my decision to switch from digital (been there, done that, never want to go back) to film in the "Why Film" link below.

A separate film sub forum is really probably a worthwhile consideration given the recent glut of film related discussions (relatively so) these past few months.

Anyway, as I can see this evolving into yet another film versus digital debate, I'm out of here, but PM's are always welcome

Good friend in Toronto did it, haven't heard any complaints from her.