Digital Photography vs. Film Why Should You Switch?
One thing I discovered during my experience with digital photography is that it is very well suited for the portrait photographer. Why is it that they don’t jump on the digital band wagon? It seems that commercial photographers learned about and started using digital cameras long before the average portrait photographer.
My thought is that possibly they are afraid? Afraid of the learning curve and afraid that the quality just isn’t there unless they spend an ungodly amount of hard earned cash on some scary looking gigantic array of confusing and awkward, let alone “how am I going to learn how to use this stuff” equipment.
The truth of the matter is all you really need is a 5MP digital camera. Digital SLR’s have the quality needed and I’ve seen many photographers with amazing results. Yes, even if you have only a 5 or 6 MP camera.
There are many reasons, here are 5 good ones.
1- Service
These days a real camera repair shop is very hard to fine and service for film cameras is evaporating even more rapidly. Most camera stores will just send your camera to the manufacturer and then charge you more than the flat repair rate that you would get from Sony, Canon or Nikon etc. yourself. If you look online you can still find a real camera repair shop including ones that specialize in digital SLR camera repair and charge much less than the $250-300 flat rate repairs that the manufacturers offer.
Many digital repair parts are replaceable by the consumer such as battery doors, memory card doors and other body parts like zoom switches. Some consumers do replace their own broken LCD screens and lenses, but many still leave that to a professional.
The real problem with finding good Canon digital camera repair for example is lack of knowledge. If you take your defective camera to a retailer and ask about repair, they will tell you it’s too expensive and you should just get a new one. The reason they tell you this is because they have no idea that affordable digital camera repair and do it yourself options actually exist! A couple simple searches on Google will go a long way to help you find a reputable repair shop for your Sony digital camera repair.
2- Quality
The quality of images captured with a high quality lens, properly exposed and well posed is more than enough, even if you shoot JPEGS. Yes, I said JPEGS not RAW. Over 90% of the more than 30-40,000 exposures I put through my camera every year is shot in JPEG mode. Why would anybody want to use JPEG mode instead of shooting in RAW? The answer is simple: It works.
Portrait photographers don’t always need super sharp high resolution photos. If they have in the past, they’ve always degraded the image through retouching and other means. It’s ironic if you think about it? Yes of course you can shoot in RAW if you prefer, but it’s not always required.
3- Control
People want their photos fast. We live in a drive-through world and minutes count. In our studio we create a slide presentation for our sessions and we show them to the clients within 20 minutes of every shoot. Customers love it. The client can see the result right away. If the customer is there waiting to view the shots from the shoot is already planning on spending money then sales will go up. Their is ample evidence that when you show the images sooner, and you create large projected images, which is a cinch with digital, sales go up. Digital gives the portrait photographer more control over the sales process, and ultimately it means more profits.
4- Retouching
Let’s face it, people want to look good. What used to take hours and whole lot of aggravation with spray booths, smelly and dangerous lacquers, is now possible with absolute ease. Even when I decided to farm out all my retouching because I had had enough, it still took weeks or months, and huge retouching bills.
Not to mention the loss of control I had over the retouching aspects. It was up to the subjective interpretation of the retouching artist to enhance the images the way I wanted them retouched. All the time spent retouching photos in the past has been replaced with only minor Photoshop knowledge and much less time. In mere minutes. With absolute astounding results. This ultimately translates to satisfying a basic need that needs to satisfied in our clients, their vanity. Customers want to look good and they want to see the results right away.
5- Innovation
I could go on for days when it comes to what new products, ideas, services, sales processes, packages, etc, etc. . . I have created due to using a digital camera instead of film.
I am once again excited about photography and the new possibilities. When you apply the power of digital, and get a handle on it in your workflow, you can create new and exciting products like never before.
I’ve seen it and experience it every week in our busy little small-city studio. The proof boils down to the quality of the product, which is shown by your net profits?
After all, we are in business first, and creative artists second, right? We are in business to make money and survive. We need new and exciting angles, ways to stay afloat, so we can pay our bills, keep the bankers happy and provide for our families. No one can predict how digital photography will ultimately evolve, but my bet is with it all the way.
Anyone remember when color film and paper was introduced as a mainstream commodity? I don’t, I was just a wee lad, but I heard stories about the many studio owners closing their doors and packing it in because they didn’t want to keep up with the demand and latest craze that color film and color paper had created.
Personally I used to love film and thought I would never switch, but I am now a firm believer in digital photography and can’t imagine going back.