Film vs Digital Photography(The following article is intended for the hopeful benefit of aspiring digital Wildlife Photographers only. If you already know all about it then read no further – and can I come for tuition?)I would normally shy away from voicing opinions on such a controversial subject as this but since it rears its head at almost every talk I give I feel almost obliged to state my case. In a nutshell – “Yes, I switched to digital a couple of years ago” and “No, I would not, by choice, go back.” Was it a financially painful switch? Yes I suppose it was. Not only was there the cost of new camera bodies and their associated paraphernalia but there was also the “writing off” of several film camera bodies. Years ago I was a “Mr Pentax” but became a “Mr Nikon” when I decided to buy a 200 ml Macro lens and found that, in Nikon, I could get the lens plus a body plus another lens for the same price as just the Pentax lens. Something to do with the economics of whether the volume of sales was divided by or into the cost of production! However, enough said on that earlier score. At the time of my switch I had to mothball Nikon F5’s, F100’s, and a trusty FM2 because, by that time, there was no resale market for film camera bodies. The only mitigating factor in my switch was that, by staying with Nikon, I could retain my lenses, all of which were Nikon’s own. In fairness I must confess that I held out as long as I could and I was one of those pains in the backside who was never going to change unless dragged there screaming. However, a friend of mine visited me in Spain with his two newly acquired Nikon D70s’s. We had a “good old play” for a couple of weeks and the seeds were sown. I was not without apprehension since the term “not computer literate” was formulated specifically with me in mind. The vagaries and directions of my life may have stood me in good stead from the point of view of acquiring an understanding of Wildlife but they never gave me even a nodding acquaintance with the electronic world. The only “mouse” I ever had to deal with was either a problem in my Zoo feed store or something that I fed frozen to various small mammals, birds and reptiles! There can be no doubting, however, that digital is the medium of the future, (if only until they come up with an even more expensive alternative), and so you eventually have to decide whether to go with the flow or fight against the tide. I believe a “Mr Canute” tried that once and failed abysmally. Anyway I convinced myself that children, scarcely of an age to even talk, seemed capable of using computer like products – so how hard could it be? Nikon was about to launch its D200 so, to dip my toe in the water, I settled on a D70s and a D200. Unfortunately, I have found in practice, and especially on a trip, that I need at least two, and preferably three, bodies. Apart from potential breakage, loss or whatever, it is often not feasible, particularly with highly active Wildlife species, to have to change lenses halfway through the charge or chase. It is also helpful, in the heat of the moment, if the bodies you are using are identical so you don’t have to realign your memory banks, every time you switch cameras, to cope with a different range of knobs, dials, buttons and twiddly bits. With my two new acquisitions still hot from the press I embarked on a trip to Zimbabwe for some weeks where most of the picture taking would be on the hoof and in the bush. Photography on this trip would be playing almost second fiddle since Wildlife itself is also my business and I was to be involved in the translocation of a large number of animals, including a group of Elephants, from one reserve to another. I have worked in Africa on a number of occasions but this was my first visit with a digital camera. The disadvantage of not being familiar with my new equipment was, to a large extent, offset by being able to check the results each evening along the way by camera playback, or via the storage unit I was using to download my images. Whilst I didn’t exactly grow to distrust the D70s I quickly found myself loathe to use it if I could use the D200, which felt far more comfortable, instead. To cut a long story short, on my return to the U.K., I traded in the D70s, bit the financial bullet, and now have a full complement of D200’s. I have been tempted by the D2 range but, thinking back to my film days, can well remember that, whilst my body arsenal once consisted of F4’s with F90x backups and later F5’s with F100 backups, it was only the lighter backup bodies that I took on overseas trips. This was not only for the weight consideration but also ease of use in fast moving situations. In fact I can truthfully say that the F100 was the most efficient and comfortable to use body it has ever been my pleasure to own – and the D200 equates to this in its physical characteristics. However, past equipment apart, how does film v digital compare? Personally I feel that it is not a fair comparison to make because you are not comparing like with like. The two media are so completely different. Unfortunately the more recent one looks to be a bottomless pit of financial input if you are not careful. Its potential is vast, but so is its propensity for expensive backup. Like many of our Wildlife subjects it is an evolving species early on in its development. There is a game of leapfrog between camera development and backup component development and innovation, and to stay abreast of the game can prove to be expensive. For the aspiring Wildlife Photographer does it need to be ongoingly expensive? Assuming you are going to be using an SLR camera then I would say “Yes, to a certain extent, but not necessarily to an unlimited degree”. If you are determined to keep up with developments then, indeed, you need to keep digging deep. However, ongoing costs are, to a large extent, determined by what you require as an end product. If your photographic “raison d’etre” is to produce prints to enter into competitions, or images with a view to publication, then you are going to come up against others to whom outlay may be of no consequence. If this is the case then I guess that you have to bite the bullet and continue shelling out. If, however, your aspirations are somewhat more humble and you just want pics for yourself or friends, or even images for projection as a slideshow, then ongoing costs need not be significant once you have acquired your basics. There will always be a camera just coming out, using more pixels, but you have to ask yourself “how many do you actually need to achieve your desired effect?” Some of my most successful African images were captured on the original D70s, with which I parted company so early on, and I often doubt whether I could really better them today. Rather take time out to become truly proficient with the gear you have got before moving on in a constant spiral. Reach for the stars by all means but do so when the time and finance suits you rather than feeling obliged to keep up with the Jones‘. Try to avoid convincing yourself that acquiring this phenomenal brand new product will transform your life and raise your photographic excellence through several levels – because it probably won’t. It will more likely force you to replace the rest of your gear to keep up and remain compatible! When deciding which way to go don’t let the ridiculous carrot of “look what you will save in film and development costs” be the only determining factor. By comparison to the cost of the software and gadgetry you need to invest in, the old cost of film and developing was a drop in the ocean for many photographers. Admittedly, particularly in these days of airline baggage restrictions, the physical transporting of film had become difficult. I usually allowed 5 rolls of film a day on a trip to a new area and was always afraid to send it through the hold baggage scanners, they being, or so I understood, much stronger that those used on hand baggage. A three or four week trip could, therefore, involve carrying some 150 rolls or so as hand baggage together with all the equipment and, towards the end, this was becoming a major logistical problem. In summation I can only say that, despite all the minor headaches involved, you should “Gird up your loins and Go West young man for that way lies the future!” -----, and if you don’t you’ll most certainly be left behind! |
