Timeline for Should I shoot color or black and white 35mm film to learn photography fundamentals?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 19, 2021 at 20:34 | comment | added | chrylis -cautiouslyoptimistic- | @Kahovius That cuts both ways. With digital, I can take the same close-up shot at several different aperture settings and compare them closely. | |
| Jun 19, 2021 at 14:22 | comment | added | J... | @SWAT If you're serious about learning photography and if you're really such a beginner, then it will be worth it for you to buy a digital camera - you will spend much more money on film and development than you will on a used digital. And if you ever want to share your photos, you'll need to invest in a quality scanner, which costs more money. If you can't afford a digital camera, you really can't afford to shoot film. | |
| Jun 19, 2021 at 2:11 | comment | added | Bob Macaroni McStevens | If time and money are priorities, then there’s no point in hobbies. And no room for gourmet food and recreational boating. No vacations because you just wind up back where you started. No poetry. No music just for the joy of it. That’s all you are shoulding on. No thanks. | |
| Jun 19, 2021 at 1:06 | comment | added | scottbb♦ | @SWAT if you don't have access to a digital camera, then you should use whichever film meets your requirements: your preference of "style" or "look"; access to film stock; price of film; ease of development and/or cost of development; etc. The fundamentals of composition and lighting aren't really affected by the choice of color vs. B/W film. Don't get me wrong, there are certain issues unique to the choice of film, but from what I can tell from your original question, color vs. B/W is basically immaterial to your goals. | |
| Jun 18, 2021 at 19:36 | comment | added | J... | @BobMacaroniMcStevens The "should" here implicitly assumes that time and money matter, which is generally the case for most people. It is objectively the case that digital is much cheaper to practice composition with, even if OP does not currently own a digital camera. The cost of film and development will quickly swamp that of a gently used enthusiast digital camera. Beyond the cost, it's also much faster to learn composition with digital because of the instant results. The "should" here is also prefaced with an "If" that clearly spells out the conditions, so I don't really see the problem. | |
| Jun 18, 2021 at 18:17 | comment | added | Bob Macaroni McStevens | Please don't "should" on new users. Meet them where they are instead. | |
| Jun 18, 2021 at 16:05 | comment | added | jng224 | @SWAT If you have a smartphone, you can also use that to practice composition etc. Sure, you will want to buy something better soon, but you can still learn with it. | |
| Jun 18, 2021 at 14:57 | comment | added | Szabolcs | @SWAT It is good to note that it is not necessary to have a new or fancy model. Something like a Nikon D60 from 2008, with its large APS-C sensor, can be not just an adequate but an excellent tool. I did a quick search on my local classifieds site, and they seem to go for ~50€ without or ~100€ with kit lens. While that is indeed a lot of money in some parts of the world, the cost of buying and developing film, or setting up your own lab, will quickly exceed it. | |
| Jun 18, 2021 at 11:50 | comment | added | Kahovius | In principle yes, composition can be learned just as well on digital as on film, and it will be cheaper in the long run. However, the experience will be vastly different. From personal experience (and I don't intend to extrapolate and generalize to how other people might feel here), shooting film has always forced me to think more when composing a picture, precisely because the per-shot cost is higher than when shooting digital. In this sense, it may be possible to learn more from each individual photo you take on film, even if you end up taking fewer of them. But that's just my 2c, YMMV. | |
| Jun 18, 2021 at 9:30 | comment | added | osullic | @SWAT You will very quickly spend much more on film and processing than you would on buying a digital camera. If you don't have a digital camera, buy one. | |
| Jun 18, 2021 at 6:50 | comment | added | Vicente Matus | Thank you so much for your advice. I dont have access to a digital camera, would it be better if i stick to black and white only? | |
| Jun 18, 2021 at 6:49 | vote | accept | Vicente Matus | ||
| Jun 17, 2021 at 23:18 | history | answered | scottbb♦ | CC BY-SA 4.0 |