The photo of the saguaro cacti was taken in 1987 during my first trip to the southwestern USA. Taken with a Rolleiflex 3003, I don’t remember which lens I used. My lens collection at the time included a couple of Rolleinars and a Zeiss lens. So not exactly what you would call an “inferior” equipment. The film was almost certainly an Ektachrome 100 Professional, my favorite film for slides at the time.
Renaissance of Films
Production of this film was discontinued years ago. But these days, the Ektachrome 100 Professional is being produced again and is available in stores. This fits in with the renaissance of analog photography that is currently taking place. Just as vinyl records are once again very popular with enthusiasts.
Where does this return to the technology of the past century come from? Is it simply nostalgia or the feeling that everything was better in the past? I don’t know. All I know is that it certainly can’t be the superior technical quality of analog photography. Because that no longer exists.
A few years ago we had a (small) portion of our slides professionally scanned in high resolution and color depth. Also the photo of the saguaro cacti. When we first saw the images not in projection, but on the computer screen, we were quite horrified. The 100% view showed a difference in quality from even our oldest digital photos that we just didn’t expect. Here is a 100% view of the photo above:
We were satisfied with that back then? Yes, of course. We didn’t know any better. And even assuming that there was some loss of quality in the scanning process, we’d probably immediately throw a digital photo with that stunning edge sharpness and resolution into the virtual trash can. And we’d immediately have the camera and lens inspected by the manufacturer. That’s how accustomed we’ve become to the superior quality of digital images compared to analog 35mm photography.
So why go back to film?
For me, I can only answer the question this way: I have no idea why I should return to film. From my point of view, there are only disadvantages. The poor image quality is just one of them. The limitation to only 36 shots is another. And of course the high cost.
On the subject of cost: I just read somewhere that digital photography is so much more expensive than analog because the cameras and lenses are so expensive compared to (used) analog. If ever I saw a naive fallacy, this is it. I used to do my calculations in “Ektachrome units.” An Ektachrome unit is made up of the price of the film (about 5 EUR at that time) and the development costs (about 2 EUR), so together 7 EUR. Even if one had used only 100 films per year (on the above-mentioned trip to the USA in 1987, I had about 60 films with me…), that would have added up to 700 EUR. So without the film costs, I could have afforded a nice new camera every two or three years. Even adjusted for inflation, analog is still pretty expensive. Oh yes, and of course I never got by with 100 films a year.
So why is film experiencing such a renaissance? I can only imagine that most new analog photographers simply want to be different. When the whole world is shooting digital, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to use film. After all, being limited to only 36 shots automatically leads to higher creative quality. And then, of course, there’s the look. Film is simply not as mercilessly clean and technical as digital. It’s much more vibrant and valuable!
Ok, cynicism mode off!
I also no longer listen to vinyl records
When I heard the first digitally mastered CDs (this was also in the 80s), it was clear to me that I would no longer buy vinyl records in the future. No cracking, no crackling, no static. Music almost like in a concert hall. And as I sit here writing this blog, I am listening to Beethoven’s eighth symphony. As an mp3. Sacrilege, some might say. But my 60+ year old ears can’t really perceive the subtleties anymore anyway. But my eyes can still see the difference between a 30-year-old slide and a digital photo very clearly.
I hope this has been controversial enough for you to leave some comments!
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