Which one gives the most problems: film or digital camera?

[drafting88]

The two digital cameras that I am using have been causing problems to me since I owned them.

For the Olympus C-2100 UZ (3+ yrs old), the problems I faced were unreadable SM cards and stuck pixels.

As for the Minolta 7hi (2 yrs old), I had to send it for repair due to the jammed shutter button and also once, the camera kept giving error messages during its operation.

The problems seemed minimal and the digicams were back to normal after the problems have been remedied but it can be frustrating when they happen. At times, I feel that I should have a film camera with me as a backup in case such problems happen again.

I have seen some other problems with digicams that my friends were using and the sad thing is, the problems occurred just after the warranty period ended.

My questions:
1) To those with both digital and film cameras, which one of the two types of cameras gives you the most problems during your time of using them?

2) Is it a good idea to have a backup film camera when shooting using a digital camera?

Thanks for sharing.

Note: This thread is not to start a film camera vs digital camera war.

[nickmak]

Originally Posted by drafting88 The two digital cameras that I am using have been causing problems to me since I owned them. For the Olympus C-2100 UZ (3+ yrs old), the problems I faced were unreadable SM cards and stuck pixels. As for the Minolta 7hi (2 yrs old), I had to send it for repair due to the jammed shutter button and also once, the camera kept giving error messages during its operation. The problems seemed minimal and the digicams were back to normal after the problems have been remedied but it can be frustrating when they happen. At times, I feel that I should have a film camera with me as a backup in case such problems happen again. I have seen some other problems with digicams that my friends were using and the sad thing is, the problems occurred just after the warranty period ended. My questions: 1) To those with both digital and film cameras, which one of the two types of cameras gives you the most problems during your time of using them? 2) Is it a good idea to have a backup film camera when shooting using a digital camera? Thanks for sharing. Note: This thread is not to start a film camera vs digital camera war.

For digital there's always the chance of something gone wrong electronically that you can't repair in the field... For mechanical, sometimes you can repair them yourself... Look at the Kiev Medium Formats... To make a jammed camera work, just bang the camera on something hard and voila!

[Kit]

Nothing I owned has failed as badly as my F100. Then again, whenever I'm out of storage, my 1V works like a charm compared to my 10D. Point is, Murphy's Law applies, no matter what. If its that important, have backup(s).

[ckiang]

It all depends on your luck and whether murphy wants to pay you a visit.

Regards
CK

[nightwolf75]

both digital and mechanical/analog cameras will fail at the most inconvenient times. guess dats why some wedding shooters i've seen carry both? i got a fren who carries a SLR, DSLR and a PnS just to stack the odds in his favour during an assignment.

murphy paid me a visit too. my pentax SLR failed in my recent trip. good thing got another old EOS 88 to back-up. phew...

[sriram]

I've had an old Kodak digicam and a slightly newer olympus P&S digicam which both started giving problems within a short while. The oly would eat batteries. A newly charged 2300mah battery would last only 3-4 shots with LCD and it would indicate empty. If I remove the battery and put it back in, then it would work for another 2-3 shots. The old Kodak was like a spoilt brat refusing to behave itself.

In comparison, an ancient (1995 vintage) canon P&S film camera has been (ab)used for years and it is still alive and kicking. No problems with my film SLR either, except when the flash contacts were a bit dirty and needed cleaning (a 5-second job).

However I've seen many film P&S's fail and stop working too.

[user111]

digital more problematic but more convenient cos dont have to change film every 36 exposures

[bernardsia]

I just lost a whole roll of film for a vacation because the film wasn't loaded properly.

You can't adjust your ISO on demand for film. So I usually play safe and use ISO 400. Unless I know otherwise.

[littledigitalartist]

yes... oly use batter like hungry hippo drinks water... i just had a outdoor model shoot and i have to change 3 sets of 4 batts within like a 4 hr shoot...

[drafting88]

So, do digital photographers use film cameras as backups or you have another digital camera to fall back on when the unexpected happens?

TIA.

[Belle&Sebastain]

Originally Posted by drafting88 So, do digital photographers use film cameras as backups or you have another digital camera to fall back on when the unexpected happens? TIA.

when i have an assignment to use digital, i use another digital as backup

when its film, another film cam as backup

when need both formats, 2 digital cam + 1 film cam + 1 assistant.

[theITguy]

It depends on the user itself. Not everyone can afford to have 2 DSLR, and not everyone loves to work with 2nd SLR/DSLR (heavy and clamsy to move around?) For some they may like to use a DSLR + PnS, like the G5.

[denniskee]

Was shooting inside while it is "snowing" @ Tangling Mall with my D60 few weeks back. As expected, my tenba camera (quite water resistant, save the rest of my gears), tripod, D60 and flash, myself were covered by the "snow" within seconds.

This is the 1st time I shot the DSLR in such "weather condition". It got short circuit by the time I got home. But recovers the next morning after keeping it in the dry box.

For the pass few years, while shooting @ the same place for the same event using EOS88, not problem (even though its also electronics camera when compare Full Mechanical camera).

So I would say digital camera (unless stated all weather) are more prone to having problem by the nature that it has lots more sensitive electronics when compare to non FM camera like EOS system. Most robust being the good old FM camera.

[jesser]

hmmmmm.........dun forget, sometimes the photographer 'fails' himself/herself.