Mamma don't take my Kodachrome away!

[Lester]

Kodak kills Kodachrome film after 74 years
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kodachrome, the film brand touted as the stuff of memories, is about to become a memory itself as Eastman Kodak stops production due to overwhelming competition from digital cameras.

http://www.reuters.com/article/technolo ... nologyNews

[cgarison]

At least Paul Simon can get his hand on Kodak UltraMax 400 film for his Nikon camera.

But who care because real photographers shoot a Canon.

[Jet Black]

I can't find anything faster than 400 anymore, not that I've looked hard. I used to like to keep ASA1000 in the camera. I used to like that Kodak Royalwhatever print film, but I never see that anymore. I've got a roll of Fuji 400 in the camera now, that's what the world has come to.

I don't shoot slides anymore, that used to be the family standard. Those were the days!

[cgarison]

The fastest film that Kodak makes is 800. Fuji makes a 1600ASA. Agfa is now into specialty films, paper, and processing chemicals and no longer make 35mm film.

And in terms of modern photography, 800ASA is unacceptable with my Canon 5D sensor capable of shooting ISO 3200 without much loss of image quality and my 40D produces wonderful photos at ISO 1600. Now that the megapixel war is over due to the busting of the myth that more MPs crammed on a sensor are better, Nikon and Canon are in an ISO war with both producing models shooting quality photos at ISO 16000.

[Bob Campbell]

Do you still find film better quality than any digital? Or has digital caught up?

[cgarison]

Do you still find film better quality than any digital? Or has digital caught up?

Digital has caught up to film and even surpassed it in many ways. The key is that digital captures images without the film grain texture in the final print. For long exposures, I think film is still superior.

[Lester]

I agree on both accounts... except where it comes to longevity. Many people snap, and snap, and snap away... and will get around to getting actual prints made "some day".

Then the hard drive dies.

I see the potential for a massive "digital void" in about 50-75 years... where there are more family photos and "everyday shots" from the 1960's-1990's than there are of the 2000's on.

[CoolBreeze]

I started into digital photography in 1997, and now have about 300 CDs full of saved photos, not counting a 150 gig external hard drive almost full.

My concern is the CDs: Have you ever taken a razor or other sharp object to the very edge of a CD? That's the only place the metal seems to be sealed. Once you break that seal, you can peel the rest of the metal off the plastic like peeling a banana. I mean... it lifts right off as though there's hardly anything holding it to the plastic! As plastics deteriorate over time, I can see billions of CDs suddenly just start de-laminating into two pieces: The plastic and the metal. Naturally, CDs will go the way of 8 track tape. But will the new media arrive in time?

[Bob Campbell]

Another "I'm not a photo guy" question. How good a digital camera do you have to get to beat film? The last camera I actually bought for myself was and Advanced Photo system 35mm that got, as far as I thought, really good quality. Back in the 80's I went through a short photo phase and I owned a pretty good Canon SLR 35mm that really got good quality.
What do you have to get to beat SLR 35mm quality?

[genlock]

I suspect dvd's and cd's and memory sticks will last as long as paper pictures if all are kept in a
proper storage environment. I wonder if you could develop a storage medium out of Monel
or inconel discs? Kind of expensive but could withstand anything but a thermo-nuclear blast.
Plastic milk jugs seem to last a long time too.

[genlock]

I was looking at the Nikon D-90 camera but the deals on these have dried up.
What is the most bang for the buck in digital SLR type cameras?

[Lester]

Best bang for the buck: Canon EOS Rebel T1i.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2347164,00.asp

Whip ass, slap yo' mamma awesome: Canon EOS 5D Mark II... but almost 3k.