Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Film is very rarely used in music photography anymore. Primarily the reason for this is because of social media and instant news. There’s no time to go home and start pouring chemicals onto film to develop it, or wait until the morning until a lab opens to do it for you.
For festivals or stadium gigs we would bring our laptop with us and start sending out photos minutes after the artist stepped on stage. This is what people expect with modern technology.
In a recent interview, Canon’s president Fujio Mitarai expressed not-so-optimistic predictions for the future of the camera business. He admitted that Canon’s sales have declined by around 10% in the past couple of years, and he believes that it will get even worse. According to Mitarai, the digital cameras market could shrink by as much as 50% within the next two years.
Although it has been a while since digital cameras took over the market, some photographers still prefer shooting film. But is shooting film really worth the money, time and effort you put into it? How different it really is from shooting digital? In this video from Shutterstock, Logan Baker compares 35mm and medium format film with a full frame mirrorless camera to show you how they compare.
Kodak’s been struggling to regain its place in the world of photography ever since it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012. At the time they said that “Since 2008, despite Kodak’s best efforts, restructuring costs and recessionary forces have continued to negatively impact the company’s liquidity position”. Basically, they’re not making enough money.
But why? Well, according to Cheddar’s take, it’s all down to the fact that they ignored the future of photography and the march towards digital. He suggests that Kodak intentionally shunned digital because it would be competing with and eating into the sales of its other primary product – film.
Kickstarter projects often get a pretty negative response from the get-go, especially in the photography world. And while many people forget that it’s simply a venue, and you have to look at the seller, sometimes the audience gets duped. That appears to be the case with the Yashica Y35 “DigiFilm” camera. At least according to this review from Point&ShootClub.
When Yashica announced a comeback, many fans of the brand rejoiced. With the interesting concept of the “digital film roll” and the design of the old Yashica Electro 35, Yashica digiFilm Y35 raised an incredible $1.28 million on Kickstarter. The future looked bright. But now, as the company is shipping cameras to the backers, issues with the digiFilm Y35 are emerging, leaving people angry and disappointed.
Digital backs for old film bodies has been a dream for a lot of people who want to resurrect their favourite cameras of yesteryear. There have been a lot of promises and a lot of hype for various products over the years, too. One project who seems to actually be doing it, though, is I’m Back.
It’s been an interesting journey for I’m Back, and you can see how that journey has progressed from 2016’s initial idea to now on their website. But it’s the now that’s interesting. I’m Back digital backs are currently in production and will be exhibiting at Photokina 2018.
Film vs. digital is hardly still a debate if you ask me, but there are still reasons to think about which option is better for you. You may want to switch from film to digital or the other way around. Or perhaps you want to shoot both. If you’re wondering about the pros and cons of film and digital, Irene Rudnyk has an interesting video. She photographs her model using both a film and a digital camera and discusses some plus and minus sides of both kinds of photography.
Last year we told you about I’m Back, yet another solution to shoot digital images with your old film cameras. They were funding the project through Kickstarter and fell somewhat short of their goal, pulling in €35K of their €85K target. Now, though, they’ve rethought the project and I’m Back is back with lower expectations.
Once again, funding is through Kickstarter with a €20,000 goal, it’s already gone way past that, hitting over €30K. It’s still a little short of the amount pledged last time, but there are still 22 days of the campaign left to go. With a few tweaks and price adjustments, it looks like I’m Back might actually go ahead this time. It also seems that it may now be compatible with a much wider range of cameras.[Read More…]
I’m sure you’ve seen many photographers trying to emulate the “film look” in their digital photos. There are different techniques to achieve it, but you’ll often hear that the “film look” is a lie and only actual film can give you this effect. Photographers Jay P. Morgan and Kenneth Merrill have decided to do a little test and compare some film and digital images side-by-side. Can the “film look” be successfully replicated in digital photos? Or you can see the differences straight away?
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page
