A little experiment...

At the Lake I conducted an experiment that I think provides some interesting insight to the digital vs. film debate. Of course I don't know that you can even call it a debate any more as the photography world has completely embraced the digital world to the point where it is difficult to find a lab in Kansas City that will process my favorite slide film. But as usual I digress...

My experiment went like this. I shot the same subject (a sign outside a church) in a similar fashion in every format that I work with. Basically I wanted to see what differences would exist between the images that were taken from a similar vantage point and as close together in time as possible.

First I shot with my Nikon Digital SLR:


Next I shot it with my Holga (a "toy" plastic camera that costs under $30) using Ilford black and white XP2 film:

I also shot it with my medium format film system (A Pentax 67 system) with Kodak SW color slide film but as I said earlier in my post finding a lab based in Kansas City to process the film in house has been a challenge. Once I have that film back I will repost with the medium format results.

Finally I shot the sign with what I call "the big boss hog" which is a Calumet "4 x 5" large format system that my dad passed on to me. It is a monorail camera that really isn't made for field work but that hasn't stopped me from trying to use it like a field camera. I used Polaroid Type 55 film which adds the funky border to the image:


I think the results speak for themselves. The digital image is a little too "snapshoty" to my eye. The Holga has its typical look and feel which just can't be replicated by anything else. To my eye at least the "4 x 5" is just at another level which didn't surprise me. With a large format camera you have a number of additional controls at your disposable. In addition I think the process and time it takes to setup the camera take an image literally forces you to slow down and carefully compose and execute the shot. Whereas with digital you can just shot and "chimp" as needed.

So here is my bottom line....Digital is great (and getting better seemingly everyday) but in my humble opinion the digital SLR can't hold its own against a large format system. If I am shooting something that needs to be captured quickly the digital runs circle around the "4 x 5" but if I have the time "the big boss hog" definitely takes the cake.

I like the analogy that Ken Rockwell (a good online resource for camera reviews) uses in regards to the digital versus film argument by comparing the two as cars. In his opinion the digital is like a fancy sports car and large format film system is like a bus. Both can get you to your destination and the fancy sports car is going to do it faster but you can fit alot more in the bus.