But what happens to that historical record....are our children and grandchildren going to enjoy sifting through tens of thousands of digital files, they way we looked through photo albums, and boxes of slides and negatives taken by our parents and grandparents? Or will the laptop or hard drive go straight to recycling?
Since about 2002 when I bought my first digital camera (a 1.3mp fixed focus plastic thing that chewed up batteries and could store about six or eight images on internal memory) I shot only digital - it is so convenient.
My first roll of film in sixteen years was shot in my replacement Contax 139 Quartz back in March, and the images really got my attention. The result is something I can touch, which can be stored away, and enjoyed in the future by others. It needs to be stored well of course, but probably has a better life expectancy than a digital file. I realised that the convenience of digital, while wonderful, did not for me fully replace the magic of film.
The colours and textures are different, each type of film has it's own special characteristics, and the process is more about taking the time to make the image in the camera, rather than fixing it up afterwards on the computer. Vintage cameras and lenses are a bargain compared to digital equipment, and there is no arms race to stay up with the latest technology. In fact, I can afford the professional grade lenses that were always out of my reach, and my collection is growing.
My next purchase was a medium format camera, the Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex in the picture at the top of this post. It was made in about 1952, so is a little older than me. It uses 120 roll film, and the negative is 6cm x 6cm. The image quality is amazing, especially when you go to print something big to hang on the wall! Here is one I took at dawn, just as the sun was rising at the Nugget Point Lighthouse, just up the road on the Catlins Coast! I love living at The End Of The World!!!