The Camera Is the Film—Rethinking Digital Photography

[Suhit Gupta]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1782181,00.asp?kc=PCYH104039TX1B0000663' target='_blank'>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1782181,00.asp?kc=PCYH104039TX1B0000663</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Since the first digital cameras arrived, and even during the era of video cameras, I have managed to take almost every new model made into the field. I've had enough experience with these cameras to conclude that eventually, serious photographers are going to have to deal with the simple fact that in digital photography, the camera itself is the film. It's a classic (and I hate using the term) paradigm shift. During the heyday of film cameras, the camera was the vehicle for transmitting the image to the film. You'd buy the best lens and camera combination you could, which tended to boil down to offerings from Leica, Nikon, and maybe Canon or Pentax. Others made good cameras, but the contrast you got with a Leica or Nikon lens was always superior. Other fabled lenses appeared on bigger cameras, and everyone wanted to own a Hasselblad too. But that's all academic in today's market. Things are different."</i><br /><br />Very interesting and very true article. The author points out that in the days of flim cameras, using different quality and kinds of film gave you very different results. You used to be able to buy Kodachrome, knowing you'd get that certain exaggerated look. There were classy black-and-white films such as Ilford. Things got hot when Fuji developed new dyes. With the advent of digital cameras, one found that all pictures were captured on CMOS or CCD chips. However, it is interesting to note that every camera still gives very different results. The point ultimately is that each camera has characteristics that are as individual as brands of film had. Film camera users would buy one camera, a (set of) good lens/es and then experiment with different films. So does this mean that most photographers, whether pros or hobbyists, will probably eventually have numerous cameras?