save up for DSLR or film?

[faa]

old question i know, but seriously in a dilemma... really wanna go digital but its just too blardy ex... and film is in fact really a more safer learning curve.. and i truly appreciate the traditional darkroom...

so how man?? need some sound sound advices man...

[FiveIronFrenzy]

Hey man. The only thing more ex is the body right? But now the D bodies going at very good prices leh. Go for it. It will help you learn 'faster' then when you get your film body next time ( for back up maybe? ) you will know what to do already. Most of the folks I shoot with owns both.

Oh, film not very cheap anyway. You buy film, process, print, scan... etc. Unless you do slides slightly cheaper, but maybe not as you mentioned dark room. Digital you need to buy and learn more computer stuff like storage, hardware and software.

Do factor in all these costs as well

[Witness]

eh...it doesnt mean using film u learn slower ok...from wat i see most of the ppl who started with film and only upgraded to dslr in the long run learnt quite abit too......

coz only when u feel tt the film is restrictin u then u upgrade...meanwhile buy a cheap body but good lenses so tt when u buy dslr u can use back the same lens....

[madmacs]

actually i think you will learn faster using film slr. digital users tend to become dependent on the lcd to check their shots. give them a film cam and most will have no confidence to shoot.

[espn]

Go film, shoot slides & black & white, wheeeeeeee nice I like my roll of slides on the esplanade the other night many weeks back, colours are va-va-vooooooooooom!

This is an interesting dilemma that you face and I am sure there is no single correct answer. I am a DSLR user now but I am grateful for the years I had with a film SLR - it forced me to learn about the theory behind photography and I believe that a DSLR could allow you to skip some of that - you can basically employ a 'trial and improvement' technique as you are not limited to the number of pictures you can shoot (apart from your own time).

However, I seldom shoot with film now. The convenience of shooting with digital, the ability to post-process and the instantaneous nature of digital photography has overcome any hesitations on the limitations of equipment/quality of pictures. Since converting to a DSLR, I have taken literally thousands of photographs in a very short space of time. In doing so, I have run up that photographic learning curve! However, I was only able to make such progress because of the theory I learnt whilst shooting with my F65 all those years ago.

Have I answered your question? No. Since you are limited by your budget it would make sense to buy a decent second-hand film SLR and a good midrange zoom (28-120 or 28-200). Go out, shoot and read up on photography too (If you need any helpful articles/book, I have lots - just PM me, I can lend for free).

Find someone who will be honest about your photos but also give you lots of positive comments as well as constructive criticism. You don't want to feel that you're always on the receiving end! But at the end of the day, if you love a photo but others can't see it, maybe you're right and everyone else is wrong!

[Stoned]

Might have an interesting suggestion for you. Get a full manual film SLR like one from the FM series. The learning curve is steep but it makes sure you know your theory and techniques well as the camera does nothing for you.

btw, not referring to models like the FM3A which has A mode

[faa]

hey guys.. thnx for all the advices... shall continue to save up meantime while i reflect upon all ur advices..

[nickmak]

For me its really odd... I start with a DSLR, learn to use the Av Mode first... Then recently using a lot of Manual...A few weeks ago I borrowed my teacher's manual camera (It was a Nikon... very old one...) Shot a roll of B&W film and went to my school's darkroom to develop it... Immediately fell in love with it... B&W rules!

[djork]

Originally Posted by madmacs actually i think you will learn faster using film slr. digital users tend to become dependent on the lcd to check their shots. give them a film cam and most will have no confidence to shoot.

for me it's the opposite. i learnt faster using digital. once you know how your camera meters and learn to set the EV accordingly, from that point both formats feels the same to me. since sometimes i can be too lazy to record down my exposure settings for film, digital does it for me and its one less step than film to get the image onto the PC screen.

[authmn]

Originally Posted by Phildate This is an interesting dilemma that you face and I am sure there is no single correct answer. I am a DSLR user now but I am grateful for the years I had with a film SLR - it forced me to learn about the theory behind photography and I believe that a DSLR could allow you to skip some of that - you can basically employ a 'trial and improvement' technique as you are not limited to the number of pictures you can shoot (apart from your own time).

this is already the problem i faced now.... i believed i dun have enough training on firm slr.... anyone believe i use the firm slr as a point and shoot camera??? haha... now using dslr... trying to learn wat exposure to set and wat shuttle speed for wat kind of situation...

but yes... u can always same pic a few times until u get a good one (trial and error) .. but u will missed the magic moments as some things cant do again

[Witness]

u see if u start with fully manual - u learn exposure settings and DOF control composition etc...the super basics coz u dun need to worry about anything else

progress to auto - more settings with basic intro to flash...coz can shoot on modes and try out flash techniques..rear flash etc....pushing film etc etc...

slowly slowly go on to dslr - fine tune everything u have learn so far....

[nickmak]

Originally Posted by Witness u see if u start with fully manual - u learn exposure settings and DOF control composition etc...the super basics coz u dun need to worry about anything else progress to auto - more settings with basic intro to flash...coz can shoot on modes and try out flash techniques..rear flash etc....pushing film etc etc... slowly slowly go on to dslr - fine tune everything u have learn so far....

Sounds like: 'Learn how to drive a manual car, then slowly move to auto...'

[Xaler]

Originally Posted by nickmak Sounds like: 'Learn how to drive a manual car, then slowly move to auto...'

This might sound wierd... but why not? Learning the foundations using manual lets the user do all the thinking and setting, a steep learning curve indeed, but well worth the effort. When you then move onto newer cameras, you'll appreciate their speed and technology. This, hopefully, will translate to better pictures

[Witness]

tt was my learning curve lo....and i would say it worked for me... i picked up the essentials pretty ok le....though my shots still quite screwed....

haha.....

cheers...

[nickmak]

Originally Posted by Xaler This might sound wierd... but why not? Learning the foundations using manual lets the user do all the thinking and setting, a steep learning curve indeed, but well worth the effort. When you then move onto newer cameras, you'll appreciate their speed and technology. This, hopefully, will translate to better pictures

hehe... I started with an AF DSLR, now I learnt all the functions and stuff on it, and now I want to take a step backwards and go manual... is something wrong with me?