Thinking about film got me thinking about the old film vs digital debates that have gone on over the last few years. I’ve never seen it as a vs situation.
There are things I like about both formats. With film, I hit a comfort zone. I was good at black and white. I could see in monochrome and that worked for me. I experimented with a few films and found my favourites; the ones that gave me the kind of results I liked. I found a groove and stuck with it. I also liked the fact that I knew my camera would last. I had Nikon F100 with an F80 as backup and they were great cameras. I also had an F301 manual focus camera which I still have. It’s about 25 years old now and still working fine. Can’t imagine saying that about my D90 25 years from now.
Digital feels like starting over for me. Gone is the safety net of knowing how the image will look on a certain type of film. Gone is the skill of using a certain type of film to get a certain type of result. Now I have to deal with colour and white balance and stuff. Yet, with it comes a certain freedom that I’m really enjoying. I can afford to be creative, to experiment, to play and not have to worry about wasting film. I can see instantly if the composition worked, or if I missed something, or something might inspire me to do it differently while looking at the LCD. I may have lost some of the discipline I gained as a film photographer, but that freedom to play has brought a new sense of enjoyment to my photography. (The images used for my blog banner are a great example of this. Just messing around and looking at the patterns on the LCD. Could never have done that with film.)
Plus, with digital photography comes a new set of skills. The skills of the darkroom are now replaced with the skills of the lightroom, and best of all, I don’t have to worry about dust like I used to. (Anyone remember having a perfect print ruined by a spec of dust on the negative?)
I still have a soft spot for film; always will and I hope I can keep dipping into film photography for many more years. But digital has given me a new photographic lease of life and a renewed enthusiasm for the craft. So long live film and long live digital.
Tag: photography
To Edinburgh on the Northern Belle
The Northern Belle is one of the Orient Express portfolio of trains that runs in the UK. It aims to take the traveller back to a time when rail travel was for the experience, not just to get from A to B. Passengers experience first class service in Pullman coaches and is a rare experience.
My Dad is Chief Exec of Dove House Hospice in Hull, and when they chartered the Northern Belle to Edinburgh as a charity fundraiser, it was an opportunity for us both to experience something we’re not likely to experience again, and an excuse to take the cameras and go on a shoot in a truly beautiful city.
The first goal was to capture the train arriving at Hull Station, but I hadn’t really thought the shot out and the images weren’t that impressive.
In hindsight, I would have had more carriages trailing off into the background. But that’s hinsight for you.
After stepping onto the train I was gobsmacked by the table in front of me. It was obvious this was going to be a different kind of train journey than I was used to. I decided to take some shots of the table setting and it gave me an opportunity to try out the Nikon 35mm F1.8 AF-S lens.
I have to admit, I was really impressed with it and I like the results.
Both of these shots have been given a high contrast and saturation in ViewNX 2.
Rule 20: Sometimes it’s best to put the camera away and enjoy the scenery.
Following rule 20, I sat and enjoyed the journey rather than trying to shoot out of the window. Following the East coast line we travelled past some fantastic coastline and then came rolling into Edinburgh. This was my first time in Edinburgh, but with only a few hours there was no waywe could see all we wanted to, so the first priority was the Castle.
The Castle is an interesting collection of buildings and angles at various heights and there are some breathtaking views from the top. I took quite a few, but only this one of the dog graveyard with the National Gallery of Scotland in the background made the cut.
The highlight of the Castle though was a memorial were photography is not allowed. If you get the chance, it’s worth a wander through it. A truly inspiring place to visit.
The only other phot I’m posting from the trip is the war memorial in Princes Street gardens. This is a quiet gem hidden in the gardens. It plays second fiddle to the Scott monument, which reminded me of thunderbird 3, and which everyone wanted to see. The war memorial was fantastic and a great way to finish the day in Edinburgh.
I couldn’t help myself, and converted this to black and white. A bit too heavy on the curves, but I like it.
It was a long day, but well worth it, and certainly worth another visit.
Sling Strap Round-up | Black Rapid | Carry Speed | Quick Strap
Camera Sling Straps
Well, three sling straps have been put through their paces and I’ve come to one conclusion at least; sling straps are so much better than neck straps. If you’re fed up of your camera neck strap, give one of these a go. They do take some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, they are so much better for carrying and using your camera. After each review I tried each of the straps again, with and without the under-arm straps. My dad came along for a shoot and tried one of them out, so his feedback will feed into the final results. (He’s now a convert too.)
To round up, rather than look at each strap individually again, I thought I’d look at how each strap fared with the qualities I was looking for.
Comfort
All three performed brilliantly as far as comfort goes. I can’t pick one out of the three so they each tie. Simply put, all three straps are far more comfortable than a regular neck strap.
In Use
This is where the post-review feedback comes in. Having tried each of the straps with the Carry Speed arm strap and the Black Rapid BRAD, I can honestly say the handling of each strap is greatly improved without the under-arm straps; more on that later.
Black Rapid RS-4
The RS-4 didn’t give quite enough slack when bringing the camera up to shooting position and the connector allows the camera to spin around far too much for my liking. The strap was easiest to adjust though.
Carry Speed CS-1
This was the poorest performer as far as slack in the strap, although it improves greatly without the under arm strap attached. The bumpers are the hardest to adjust as was the strap itself. The flat connecting plate is probably the best connector of the three. It was the hardest to connect, but that was down to the carabiner. My Dad tried out the CS-1 and discovered that the locking screw had unscrewed leaving the latch of the carabiner free and easy. The CS-1 had by far the worst carabiner of the three in use.
Quick Strap | Q Strap
This was easy to adjust, and easy to use. The connecting plate is a massive improvement over the Black Rapid one, but not quite as secure are the CS-1 plate, though not by much. The carabiner was identical to the Black Rapid one and the plate hooks on and off easily; by far the smoothest of the three. This was the only strap out of the three to give enough slack when shooting with the camera, yet keep it short enough to let the camera hang just where I wanted it.
Price
If it were not for price, then the Black Rapid and the Quick Strap would be pretty much tied, but it is a big price difference and I’m not sure the extra £30 can be justified by Black Rapid. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great strap and going by looks alone, I would give it the top spot. But that price difference is quite big considering the differences are quite small.
About Those Arm Straps…
After the BRAD arrived, I tried it out on each of the straps and to be honest, it sucked as much as the strap that came with the CS-1. I eventually decided to mod the Carry Speed arm strap, cutting away about two and a half inches of strap and re-stitching it so that the quick release buckle was at the front rather than the middle. This improved it immensely, but although it kept the shoulder pad in place, it restricted the amount of slack on the strap and it proved very difficult to bring the camera up to shooting position on any of the straps, so my advice is not to bother with them. Yes, the shoulder pad will slip and slide all over when you’re shooting, but use the bottom bumper and the pad will sit where it should when the camera sits where it should.
And the winner is…
Factor in the price and the fact that it simply does not get in the way of shooting and the Quick Strap| Q Strap comes ahead as a clear winner. My only criticism is that it comes with a single bumper and not two, but it is a minor complaint. (After a little modding (and robbing of a Naneu Pro bag), I managed to get a second bumper on it.) That aside, for the price, you can’t beat it and I heartily recommend it.
WeavingLight 