05-24-2014, 08:34 AM
In my negative archives are about 700 MF films, mostly B/W and 1/3 are slides. I fully understand and agree what you said about scanning (Epson V700/750 does have good film holders and spare ones are available at reasonable costs) and do understand as well your joy about photographing this way.
What you didn't mention but would mean a lot to me: You now have two backup copies of each picture: The one on film will always be visible and independant on IT developments, changing hardware and data Alzheimer. That's the reason I keep the archive folders and try to take a bit of care because on some of the sheets I saw traces of insects eating them away. I don't see it as a bad thing that costs like film, paper, chemicals come again - there's a worth in it and in the work you have to do after pressing the button.
But I will not go back on film, having the spotmeter clipped in my pocket and using the zone-system to get the pictures on paper I already saw in my mind.
30MP might sound a lot and on B/W it's great. It's just the scanner produces a mass of data and the pictures remain as grainy as film is - and I don't believe in the beauty of grain for artistic reasons just to turn a contra into a pro. To me that does belong to my film era, gladly I had a long and joyful one.
These days I discovered another way of getting HQ travel pics: I got to Sigma DP Merill, small cameras with fixed lens (never ever dust on a sensor
) weighing less than 400 grams. One has a 19mm, the other a 50mm lens, a lot of downsides - but each is producing excellent quality. Sigma does say 46MP but this is only equivalence to a common Bayer-pattern sensor. In good light conditions the results are at D800 level or above, colours and texture are outstanding. Beyond 400 ISO they start to become quickly "out of discussion" quality.
With those two cams + batteries + bag + lightweight Sirui tripod I do carry 2.3 kg on a belt.
D800 + grip + 24-105 + holster bag = 2.7kg, no tripod, no extra lens. I was hiking with 8kg bagpack mostly filled with lenses and accessories, my back wasn't pleased too much. With primes (especially the new 50/1.4 Art), I can come close to IQ of the Sigma Merills - and in a different weight class, too. I'll never give up the D800 for it, it's a low light and dynamic range monster and much faster in shooting and editing.
Because Sigma is bringing a new DP-line to market, the Merills are now available at low prices - mine were 750 € altogether.
What you didn't mention but would mean a lot to me: You now have two backup copies of each picture: The one on film will always be visible and independant on IT developments, changing hardware and data Alzheimer. That's the reason I keep the archive folders and try to take a bit of care because on some of the sheets I saw traces of insects eating them away. I don't see it as a bad thing that costs like film, paper, chemicals come again - there's a worth in it and in the work you have to do after pressing the button.
But I will not go back on film, having the spotmeter clipped in my pocket and using the zone-system to get the pictures on paper I already saw in my mind.
30MP might sound a lot and on B/W it's great. It's just the scanner produces a mass of data and the pictures remain as grainy as film is - and I don't believe in the beauty of grain for artistic reasons just to turn a contra into a pro. To me that does belong to my film era, gladly I had a long and joyful one.
These days I discovered another way of getting HQ travel pics: I got to Sigma DP Merill, small cameras with fixed lens (never ever dust on a sensor
) weighing less than 400 grams. One has a 19mm, the other a 50mm lens, a lot of downsides - but each is producing excellent quality. Sigma does say 46MP but this is only equivalence to a common Bayer-pattern sensor. In good light conditions the results are at D800 level or above, colours and texture are outstanding. Beyond 400 ISO they start to become quickly "out of discussion" quality.With those two cams + batteries + bag + lightweight Sirui tripod I do carry 2.3 kg on a belt.
D800 + grip + 24-105 + holster bag = 2.7kg, no tripod, no extra lens. I was hiking with 8kg bagpack mostly filled with lenses and accessories, my back wasn't pleased too much. With primes (especially the new 50/1.4 Art), I can come close to IQ of the Sigma Merills - and in a different weight class, too. I'll never give up the D800 for it, it's a low light and dynamic range monster and much faster in shooting and editing.
Because Sigma is bringing a new DP-line to market, the Merills are now available at low prices - mine were 750 € altogether.