Film vs. Digital...

I'm an amateur photographer and have I must admit, three cameras and more lenses, filters and accessories than you can poke a stick at. They all even have a special home - a photographers backpack (Expedition 5) made by a company called Tamrac in California. I tell ya - these backpacks are the dogs b*llocks as they would say in the U.K! Waterproof zips, pockets everywhere and super well made.
http://www.tamrac.com/frame_exp.htm

Anyway, I changed systems from Pentax to Canon when I was in Iraq as the lens and flash back-up was just light years ahead with the latter brand, and remember the day that I got my Canon EOS 1V 35mm film camera delivered to Taji APO (digital was only just starting to be taken seriously on the SLR scene).

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/SLR/EOS_1V/index.asp

To feel the heft and shape of that beautiful beast... This was the camera the pro's used and boy it felt like it. All the National Geographics I had read usually had a small note on the last page about the photographer and his/her work and all those spectactular pics - they were made on either a Canon or a Nikon.

Later that same year I splurged out on a Canon EOS 20D digital SLR and man that was one smick picture making machine too. I've since sold that and upgraded to a Canon EOS5D full-frame (equivalent 35mm) so all my lenses will work on both the flm and digital cameras with no lens effect.

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/Digital_SLR/EOS_5D/index.asp

As a learning tool it is wonderful and I love being able to try techniques and get instant feedback - things like slow shutter speeds, fill-in flash, panning, shallow depth-of-field etc.,etc.

The only gripe I have with digital is well, the fact that it's digital. When I take a roll of Kodak Elitechrome (I love this film - so punchy yet still colour faithful) and get it developed, that's it. Finished. I look at those images on my slide projector and see those saturated colours and whoa.....

But with digital, if you really want Elitechrome/Fujichrome results and not some washed out Jpeg image, you have to shoot in R.A.W. and then post-process the file. So you end up spending hours on the computer manipulating the image in Photoshop to get something like what Kodak/Fuji gives you straight out the box. Hmmm....

Now although I'll usually wait until the hullaballoo has settled on new technology (I.E. the VHS vs. Beta or Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD debates) I'm not a luddite and just lurv my EOS5D, but at some point I want pictures that I can show people. With digital you just seem to end up with a computer full of picfiles of various formats...

I don't get to spend nearly as much time as I would really like picure taking but that's another matter. I just had a five day break over Easter in Provence putting several rolls through the EOS 1V and enjoyed every minute.

I'm torn. It's like being married to a hot babe but having a love affair with a flashy newcomer. Like choosing between the elegant seduction of Sharon Stone or the raw energy of a ripped Natalie Portman.

Somebody help me!