Digital vs Film Photography
Two Types of Photography Battle It Out

Digital vs film photography which is better? Even though compared to the history of photography in general the history of digital photography is brief, it is definitely taking over the market. We'll look at the differences in quality of both types of photography to find out which one ends up on top.

Now I have to admit that there was a time when I was a bit of a film camera snob. I wanted nothing to do with digital photography. If I went to a photo exhibition and saw that the pictures were digital, I'd immediately dismiss the photos no matter how good they looked. "They're digital. That takes no skill. They just make them look good after the fact." That's what I thought as I snobbishly walked around the exhibit furrowing my brow at every picture. I was terrible.

Now that I use a digital camera, I have to admit that I enjoy it. I use it even more than I do my film camera. Okay, I admit it. I don't use my film camera at all anymore.

Let's look at digital vs film photography and see how they both hold up.

Digital vs Film Photography Cost

In the early history of digital photography, digital cameras were considerably more expensive than film cameras. That has changed. Now you can get digital cameras for cheap prices, but the quality of the camera you're getting isn't always that great. A good quality DSLR starts at about $400 and can run into the thousands depending on the quality of image you want to take.

A film 35 mm film camera starts at about half the starting price of a DSLR. While the initial cost is less you have to take into considerable the cost of buying film and processing and printing that film over the life of the camera. Granted you also have to pay to get prints made from your digital camera.

As far as price goes I think they are comparable. The digital camera may even end up being cheaper in the long run.

Digital vs Film Photography Convenience

DSLR's and 35mm SLR's are pretty much the same size. So carrying each camera around can be equally as awkward.

The difference in convenience comes in the LCD screen on the back of your digital camera. With a film camera you have to wait to see if the shot came out the way you wanted. There's no previewing and scrapping pictures that didn't turn out the way you want them. You have to wait for them to get developed before you can see how they look. For the skilled photographer who is practiced in working in different types of light this is no problem. For the less experienced this can be a real issue.

Digital cameras allow you to see a photo immediately after taking it. You can decide whether or not you like it and adjust your camera if you need to and retake the photo.

That's another convenient thing about digital photography, you can adjust your ISO between pictures. With film cameras the speed film you put in the camera determines the ISO. Once that roll of film is in the camera, you have to shoot at the same ISO until you've used up that roll of film.

So it looks like digital cameras have won out in the convenience category.

Digital vs Film Photography Image Quality

Many people think that film photographs are better quality than digital photos. During the early days this was true. Digital cameras produced noise, the colors were off and when blown up image quality was lost. That's not true anymore. High end digital cameras produce pictures that are equal in quality to film pictures. The images taken with these cameras can even be cropped and still look great.

If you're using a 35mm I think that as things stand now they are the same, but if you're using a large format 4x5 or even 8x10 camera you've got digital beat hands down.

Digital vs Film Photography Storage

Where do you store all those prints and negative? This is yet another pro for digital cameras. All your photos can be stored on your computer even though I wouldn't recommend it. You should really have some type of backup system like an external hard drive. You don't need file cabinets full of negatives and folders of prints stacked on shelves. That's a big advantage until a solar flare hits.