That heading (“Why Are Some People Still Using Film?”) probably sounds a little confrontational and it was meant to. However, I am not actually trying to criticize anyone who is still using film, I’m just really interested in the reasoning behind the decision to go one way or the other. Not that it is necessarily down to reasoning, it could be emotional or perhaps financial.

My own reasoning for converting to digital is clear. I didn’t have room for a darkroom anymore, family life leaves a lot less time for self-indulgent hobbies and I felt that digital had reached a point where I could achieve pretty much the same quality as I was getting with film.

The other day I was waiting outside Boots (the chemist) in a popular seaside town and I noticed a bunch of people who came out of the shop and stood next to me while sorting out a fistful of newly purchased 35mm films. Around the neck of one of them was slung a well used and (presumably) well loved SLR (should that be “Analogue SLR?”). What really struck me was that this was a young man; young enough to have grown up in the digital age. He must surely have chosen to use the old technology, as opposed to not having got round to replacing it? I was about to approach him and ask him about it when my wife reappeared from Boots and dragged me off to the beach. It was probably just as well – I’m not sure being approached by some fat old stranger piled up with bags, towels, buckets and spades, mumbling something about “why aren’t you digital?” would have made his holiday complete.

Later the same day, I visited the Photographers Lounge and was admiring and discussing the latest images by Richard Heeps, which are proudly hanging on the gallery wall there. Kate pointed out that these images are shot on film and traditionally printed in a darkroom. The prints have detail, a depth and a richness which I am not convinced would be achieved with digital, although I have no experience with the really high-end digital kit. Assuming that high-end digital would achieve the same (or even better?) quality, the cost of this equipment could be prohibitive to many photographers.

I can’t help feeling there are many really good reasons for still using film and just because I’m struggling to think of them doesn’t mean they are invalid. When I went looking for some 120 film for my Mamiya RB67 it was quite hard to find and the price was quite shocking. Not to mention the time, effort and cost involved in getting it processed.

I don’t want to get back into “which is better, film or digital?” because that is now a pointless fruitless exercise, but as someone who was reluctant to give film up for quite some time, I’d really like to hear some of the reasons other people have stuck with it.

In the graphic design studio where I am found during normal working hours, the studio manager recently had a requirement for a photographer to take some specific shots for a project. A photographer was recommended and my colleague studied her website and all seemed well – she had her own local studio, decent gear and the evidence that she could take a great shot.

When the job was done, the images were sent to us on CD and the studio manager set about reviewing them and choosing candidates for inclusion in the publication. However, he was disappointed with the quality and asked for my opinion. Without going into great detail, it has to be said that the supplied images were technically awful. They looked like little JPEGs which had been blown up, overly sharpened and overly compressed. I put all my findings to the manager who forwarded them to the photographer. Her reply stunned me, although I still have not really concluded whether she was lying or had no idea what she was talking about. (I would like to paste her explanation here, but I really don’t want to risk her being identified)

We asked for a RAW file or two to be sent over so we could judge the originals for ourselves and the response to this was more (I have to say it!) stupidity. Eventually she agreed, but so far two CDs have got lost in the post, in spite of being sent by recorded delivery!

So what does make a photographer “professional”? This photographer has good equipment and has demonstrated the ability to point a digital SLR at a subject and end up with a top-notch image, possibly after some Photoshop work, but we all do that. Before digital it would have been essential to know what you were doing, to understand exposure and processing and all that stuff. There is not much chance of recovering from excessively under or over exposed film (I speak from bitter experience).

These days it is relatively easy and relatively cheap to set yourself up as a pro photographer. Great kit is readily available, PCs and Macs are cheap enough and setting up a website to show off your skills is quick and cheap too. But none of this makes you a professional, as far as I am concerned.

The sad thing in this case is that it is my belief the photographer made a silly mistake; maybe forgot to reset one or more settings on the camera after a previous shoot. We were able to use one of the shots she supplied, so we got away with it, but now we have a photographer we will not use again. A simple, honest explanation of the error would have at least given us some confidence and we could have all moved on.

That works fine when you are already in the place you are going to be taking the photos, but might not work not so well when you are preparing for a trip abroad or are planning a trip in the future.

Of course, now we have the Internet and there is not much going on in the world that I can’t find out from Mr Google, with a little bit of effort and judicious searching.

Now, for those of you lucky enough to have an iPhone in your pocket, there is an interesting app available which could really help. Called “Darkness”, essentially it tells you times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset for just about any city in the world and for any date.

I won’t pretend I’m going to rush out to get an iPhone just so I can use the app, but if I had one already I would definitely be investing $1.99 in “Darkness”. I believe they are preparing to release a major update, so it would be worth keeping an eye on their site. As soon as the new version is available I’m going to get a copy on a friend’s iPhone and then I can submit a review.

In the meantime, more information is available on the Bjango website.

10th April 2009 – Version 2.0 Released on Apple iTunes Store

I have just heard from Bjango that version 2.0 of Darkness is now available on the Apple iTunes Store. Some of the new features are listed below:

• Completely new user interface.
• Added 14000 new cities (over 22000 in total now).
• Date Switching, allowing viewing of any point in the future or past.
• Added more moon details, like moon azimuth, age and illumination.
• Now shows more moon phases (8 in total).
• Added city map.
• Azimuth and altitude details for various sun positions.
• Improved city searching.
• Fully localized for Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Swedish.
• Partially localized for Chinese, Danish, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese.
• Added sound effects.

I’m looking forward to trying it out (although finding a friend with an iPhone is proving harder than expected!).