Digital vs. Film
Especially in the indie film world, this seems to be the never-ending debate, especially with the release of RED and the spread of 35mm adapters for virtually every camera out there. Somehow, even though I hate it, I got in another one of these debates yesterday, and I realized something:
People who are asking this question almost never mention specifically What they are shooting, or Why they want the camera in the first place!
Are they just trolling? Are they living in a fantasy world, where they simply want to know which camera they should buy – so it can sit on a shelf, never used? I don’t know. But I know that context is everything to this question.
Every project is different. Some, I wouldn’t dream of shooting on anything but film - the other options are still more expensive or more limiting. For others, a DVX100 out of the box is just fine. 35mm is expensive. 16mm doesn’t necessarily have enough resolution. RED has workflow and early-adopter issues. Andromeda has usability issues. HDV has issues. XDCAM has issues. P2 has issues. Right now we have about a million formats to choose from, and none of them are ideal for every job.
I understand the need to make informed decisions about purchases – we went through a similarly difficult process two years ago when we got our P2 stuff rather than JVC’s ProHD. But just saying “film is better!” or “RED is the best!” just shows that you think very one-dimensionally.
Unless, of course, you disagree…
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3 Responses:
October 19th, 2007 at 11:15 am
This debate is very similar to the 3D vs cell animation debate. It really depends on the work in question, budget and capabilities and other factors.
It always bugs me when people say oh 3D is much better than cell animation or vise versa.
It really devolves down to one major question - ‘what kind of style and feel are you going for?’, this really should be the deciding factor, not some knee-jerk reaction on either side.
October 19th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
I suspect in the not-so-distant future we’ll all be arguing over whether to go out biological bodies, or those brand new mechbodies. And well, it all just depends on what you want to DO with that body. Obviously we’re all going to wait for the ones that last 200 years, or else we’ll just be paying twice.
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Can I get one with a variety of mechanical spider legs? If so, debate = over!