Source:www.jimippolito.com

I still use film because I have a bit of an investment in older, 35mm and medium format cameras, mostly vintage, that I have brought back to life, and I get a real kick out of using them, despite their shortcomings.

Of course I also have modern film cameras and quite an arsenal of lenses from which I can't quite divorce myself.

Then there's my love of odd ball cameras, such as my Horizon 202, a Russian panoramic camera, and my assorted 3D cameras, that I love playing with.

Some of these cameras have great lenses and the older ones seem to impart various little qualities all their own to pictures taken with them.

So I still use them, in limited ways, for fun, but I can't get the ease of use and versatility out of them that digital cameras offer so I'm basically a digital photographer now and have relegated my film cameras to true "hobbyist" use.

Part of the problem is that I need photos for my Internet work, and scanning negatives is not only a time consuming task but frankly, in order to get really good results a high quality scanner is necessary, and they really cost.

A satisfactory 35mm scanner isn't too expensive, but when you get into medium format, forget it, anything worth having is out of reach for me.

Should you give up on film entirely? That depends. Unless you have a pair of high quality digital cameras I'd certainly keep an existing film camera as a backup, especially when you are away from home and have a chance at once in a lifetime shots. I'm a great believer in having a backup camera.

Your digital camera doesn't have to break down in order for you to rely on your backup film camera, it could be a matter of exhausted batteries.

Then too, you may have some great lenses, particularly wide angle, that go beyond the range offered by your digital camera, and you may want to use film for those shots that call for more coverage.

So what's better, digital or film cameras?

Well, like so many things in life, it depends. I feel that there are some things that only film can handle, but the gap is narrowing rapidly.

Eventually film will be very highly specialized and almost unheard of but for now it still has a place.

Make no mistake about it, digital cameras have revitalized interest in photography, and that's a good thing IMHO.

Here's a great comparison and pro and con treatise on the subject of digital vs. film.

Today's picture was taken 3 weeks ago at "The Gilcrease Nature Preserve" in Northern Las Vegas. I used my Kodak P880 digital camera and touched the file up by using the "auto correct" setting in the "Microsoft Picture Manager" program that came with my computer. Nothing elaborate or special, it simply adjusted the contrast and brightness a bit to bring out the shadow detail.

If you'd like to see a video of the Gilcrease Preserve click here.