Monte,

Welcome to the fully-digital world and let us know how things develop (pun intended).

Frans Waterlander
pixographer/printer

Frans, I am sure there is much to learn. I am behind the times with my computer also. Old Mac 10.2 system with 512 ram and 800 Gig processer. As long as it holds out I will be fine. I am figuring in upgrading computers as soon as I can. I am still waiting to see how the new Macs fair. Elements 4.0 is what I was thinking of getting but it appears it needs the newer system to run. I have to say I am looking forward to the change and not having to mess with film. Monte.

Well congratulations, Monte! Moving to digital was an amazingly eye-opening experience for me and I hope it gives you the same pleasure.

Thanks Chip. I only hope it is a good experience for me. I find it hard even now to give up film. I may even shoot some 35mm but I feel good about giving this a shot for myself. Monte.

To be honest, the change was so profound that I have trouble articulating it. It's not as if digital is "better" than film; it's more like it has an inherent lattitude which was cumbersome in film. It's like being able to change film between shots just by pushing buttons, though that isn't really an adequate description. The concept of NEVER running out of "film" while shooting is pretty revolutionary too, but that's not it either.

The bottom line is that shooting digital gives me a freedom which simply wasn't possible with film. It's given my creative eye free rein and I hope it gives you as much pleasure as it's given me.

Chip, in all honesty one of the reasons after shooting digital the first time going back to film was beacuse I had lost my perspective at the time. I took many pictures and just could not connect. Something I had to reevaluate this time around. What has changed? That was one questioned I needed to answer for myself. I love film I always will but what has changed since four years ago when I left digital is cameras themselves. More control over exposure,color balance,white balance,use of filters and most of all image quality is much better. Many things about film I will miss but I will not miss problems with labs getting my film processed in a reasonable time and printing problems with them also. I like to experment and using film for that becomes quite expensive. I will no longer have to worry about that. Using medium format has taught me to slow down and see what I am shooting. I think I got it now and I am ready. I have friends who just do not understand how I could change. I respect them for their thoughts but this is about me.I was one who was also quick to share my thoughts. Now I just want to share my experience and learn from others, Monte.