Digital Photography vs. Film Why Should You Switch?

One discovery I have made is that DSLRs are perfect for portrait photographers and wedding photographers. Why is it then that they are slower to switch to digital SLR cameras? For some reason portrait photographers have been slower to switch to digital cameras than the average commercial photographer has.

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 with a 5 megapixel 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 shops that say they will repair your camera will instead send it to the manufacturer and charge you for something that you could do yourself for less. yourself. If you look online you can still find a real digital 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. There are plenty of people who want to repair their own camera and replace the LCD screen or lens, but many prefer to leave the repair to a professional service instead.

The real problem with finding good Sony 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 Canon 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 reason is simply because it works.

Most of the time the average portrait photographer doesn’t need an extremely high resolution image to work with. 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? You can still shoot in RAW mode if you wish, but it isn’t really needed.

3- Control

People want their photos fast. We are living in a drive-through culture and every minute counts. 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. The client is already in the studio ready to see the images, and ready to spend, so sales 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. Using a DSLR it gives portrait photographers greater control over the sales flow and this means and increase in 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. Farming out all retouching took weeks and sometimes months to get back and we incurred 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. Your net profits will give you proof that clients like your product?

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.

I have always been a fan of photography and shot many rolls of film over the years. I never thought I would switch to digital, but once I gave it a try I was sold and haven’t looked back.

Tags: digital camera repair, Digital Photography, Photography