Maybe there is a growing awareness of the analog revival as not just being "Nostalgic"...

[Prest_400]

Sometimes I don't even know why I shoot film, somehow being the last generation that grew into it naturally and in parallel with digital. In my case, 2008, the low cost (some film and processing lending dad's camera) rather than the lump sum of a DSLR was the entry point into analog. Around that time I also discovered dad's vinyl collection and just played it - it's there. For music I however personally do lossless-HiRes digital.

And a decade+ ago I had the aspiration to do a long expedition with Medium format film at the forefront of my imaging, now it seems a strange and impractical choice bearing the fantastic possibilities of miniaturized digital considering a sufficiency point (RX100 1" sensor). However, it still feels natural and a good challenge to do. Lugging a 6x9 RF plus its sizeable 120 rollfilms along.

There was a very interesting article mentioning the rising popularity of film as a counterpoint to digital and AIs convenience. The merit of the medium justifies it.

Want color? Sure, try Portra.
Want to project slides? Sure, try Provia or Ektachrome.

Don't like how a given software algorithm processes your image, but like the camera sensor? Try different developer...

Indeed. When people mention X film and processing combo are "too digital", I can understand but disagree because film renders differently. Can be quite accurate or not, but that together with a larger format is just different.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Yep. Still learning new features on my Canon 6D after years of owning it. Most of these new features are actually useless to me by the way.

The Nikon Z7ii has a nice collection of less than useful features too.

 

[VinceInMT]

At least with my analog cameras I never had to memorize a 200-page user manual.

On a related issue we see the same in manuals for other consumer items. The manual for a new car, which doesn’t fit in the glove box and you have to get online, describes lots of useless features and half of the content is safety warnings like “Do not drink the contents of the battery.” The owners manual for my ‘65 Triumph TR4 is short, small in size, and does tell how to adjust the valves.

And to bring this back to the subject topic in a way, much of the younger generation has no use/interest in driving but they might like film photography.

 

[loccdor]

Sometimes I don't even know why I shoot film, somehow being the last generation that grew into it naturally and in parallel with digital. In my case, 2008, the low cost (some film and processing lending dad's camera) rather than the lump sum of a DSLR was the entry point into analog. Around that time I also discovered dad's vinyl collection and just played it - it's there. For music I however personally do lossless-HiRes digital.

Ah, those were the days. In 2010 I was in college with a few thousand in my bank account. Great film cameras for $50-200 and expired film for $1-2 a roll, fresh film as low as $2.50 per roll. It was a great way to get started into "serious" photography. I wasn't going to buy a $2000 digital camera to get started, and I didn't like the way those pictures looked as much anyway.

 

[George Mann]

I wasn't going to buy a $2000 digital camera to get started, and I didn't like the way those pictures looked as much anyway.

For years, I felt the same way until I recently got a Nikon D2x which provides superior resolution and image refinement to even my D300s which I was never completely happy with.

It is now hard to justify the expense and inconvenience of shooting film.

But on the topic of audio, I am vinyl records only at this point as digital reproduction not only sounds bad, but literally damages my hearing.

 

[Melvin J Bramley]

This applies to the black and white community perhaps not the colour community.
An analogue darkroom/wet print cannot benefit from AI.
Photoshop is AI.
AI will destroy the creative colour photographers efforts and credibility,! not so much the B&W darkroom printer.

 

[warden]

AI will destroy the creative colour photographers efforts and credibility,! not so much the B&W darkroom printer.

No it won't. Don't worry.

 

[Dali]

For years, I felt the same way until I recently got a Nikon D2x which provides superior resolution and image refinement to even my D300s which I was never completely happy with.

It is now hard to justify the expense and inconvenience of shooting film.

Since when do I need to "justify" using film? Is there a court for that?

One of the silliest comment I read here..

 

[George Mann]

Since when do I need to "justify" using film? Is there a court for that?

One of the silliest comment I read here..

Not silly at all since I am a lifelong film shooter that can no longer personally justify its use beyond the nostalgia of it when I can afford to do so, which will probably only be medium format with my Yashica A.

 

[TJones]

On a related issue we see the same in manuals for other consumer items. The manual for a new car, which doesn’t fit in the glove box and you have to get online, describes lots of useless features and half of the content is safety warnings like “Do not drink the contents of the battery.” The owners manual for my ‘65 Triumph TR4 is short, small in size, and does tell how to adjust the valves.

And to bring this back to the subject topic in a way, much of the younger generation has no use/interest in driving but they might like film photography.

How many pages of the manual did you have to memorize before you were able to drive the car?

 

[Don_ih]

You guys know the Canon EOS 1n manual is 120 pages long and the camera has this helpful display:

 

[warden]

You guys know the Canon EOS 1n manual is 120 pages long and the camera has this helpful display:

View attachment 369585

And it had an artificial intelligence servo too, the one shot type. Damn they were ahead of their time!

 

[Arthurwg]

Walking around lower Manhattan the last few days, I've seen lots of people, mostly young, walking around with film cameras. Mostly Nikon.

 

[MTGseattle]

I think when most people use the term "justify" in relation to film it is a direct correlation to the expense (film, chemistry/processing, possible wet printing, time/space, etc) when you add it all up, if you're starting from scratch or haven't been doing it for the last decade, things escalate quickly.

My issue with the ones and zeros side is that I feel like I have only minimal control at best. If I have a hardware issue, and the troubleshooting steps do not resolve the issue, I'm left scratching my head and wondering why technology has left me in the dust.

 

[TJones]

Walking around lower Manhattan the last few days, I've seen lots of people, mostly young, walking around with film cameras. Mostly Nikon.

Interesting. I walked around midtown for 8 hours a few Sundays ago, and saw fewer than five non-phone cameras, none of which appeared to be film. Could be that I was in the more touristy areas.

 

[George Mann]

Having just read the article posted by the OP, I found it to be a superior take on the attraction of analog. Certainly better than 99% of the useless drivel that passes as journalism in this terribly convoluted and hideous new world we have been thrusted into.

It has reminded me of all of what draws me to the only digital camera I actually like and want to use.

Of course I am again referring to the Nikon D2x, a camera that takes a high amount of skill and familiarity with its unique tools to produce the best results from it, while constantly challenging the user to do better.

The results when one achieves success with it is an image that is a cross between the way the Kodachrome captures the essence of a scene, while providing benchmark digital color accuracy approaching that of Ektachrome, and produces the highest resolution per pixel of any 12mpx camera.

What would it take for me to switch back to film as my primary choice in image making? The return of Kodachrome K64 along with mailers for its propriety development.

 

[Milpool]

I still think it’s largely a fad in the case of the younger demographic.

 

[Prest_400]

An interesting 1h20min documentary which I am still watching as my weekend evening content, partly through it; quite interesting so I thought to share it here:

 

[VinceInMT]

How many pages of the manual did you have to memorize before you were able to drive the car?

Last fall we traveled back east and rented a car. I figured out how to drive it but had to pull over to try and turn off the radio. I didn’t use the manual but asked Siri on my phone and found the answer.

 

[VinceInMT]

I still think it’s largely a fad in the case of the younger demographic.

Maybe like tattoos.

 

[pentaxuser]

I still think it’s largely a fad in the case of the younger demographic.

Yes that is what I cannot get out of my head either. I keep on seeing a comparable scene as the revival of what we in the U.K. call Penny Farthing bicycle clubs with a set of younger members who are in love with the concept of experiencing yesterday's "life" and the skill needed to ride one of those bicycles, thoroughly impractical though they are.

It is literally an "experience" and to a lesser extent a "skill" that makes you stand out from the crowd and possible gain some kudos for a while but on balance is unlikely to survive as a real all-absorbing hobby except for a very, very few

pentaxuser

 

[Milpool]

Agreed.

Of course I’d like to be wrong about this, but I can’t see it sticking for very many people. Using film is unwieldy and expensive for what it is - the negatives/positives end up scanned and shared digitally anyway.

I find the 200 page manual argument fairly unconvincing. Most digital pictures are made with cell phones.

Yes that is what I cannot get out of my head either. I keep on seeing a comparable scene as the revival of what we in the U.K. call Penny Farthing bicycle clubs with a set of younger members who are in love with the concept of experiencing yesterday's "life" and the skill needed to ride one of those bicycles, thoroughly impractical though they are.

It is literally an "experience" and to a lesser extent a "skill" that makes you stand out from the crowd and possible gain some kudos for a while but on balance is unlikely to survive as a real all-absorbing hobby except for a very, very few

pentaxuser

 

[MattKing]

Yes that is what I cannot get out of my head either. I keep on seeing a comparable scene as the revival of what we in the U.K. call Penny Farthing bicycle clubs with a set of younger members who are in love with the concept of experiencing yesterday's "life" and the skill needed to ride one of those bicycles, thoroughly impractical though they are.

It is literally an "experience" and to a lesser extent a "skill" that makes you stand out from the crowd and possible gain some kudos for a while but on balance is unlikely to survive as a real all-absorbing hobby except for a very, very few

pentaxuser

Something like this group?

 

[MattKing]

FWIW, yesterday a friend and I rented a table at an annual camera sale and swap. We made a few bucks, selling off a bunch of our excess photographic stuff - mainly film related - and has some fun.
Over the six or so hours, we saw hundreds of people, and a whole bunch of used photographic equipment (+ fair amount of film from one set of tables) was sold to many of them. A lot of people there were young, and curious, and enthusiastic, and I expect some of those will get some fun out of what I sold.

 

[Arthurwg]

Interesting. I walked around midtown for 8 hours a few Sundays ago, and saw fewer than five non-phone cameras, none of which appeared to be film. Could be that I was in the more touristy areas.

Downtown has more hipsters.