Question to anyone who's a photographer...?

In this day and age, is there any real value in learning photography with a film camera, or should I just learn with a digital SLR from the outset?

Only a small part of taking a photograph is associated with the storage medium (film or digital card). Composition, lighting, depth of field, timing, contrast, texture, and colour all have a more important part to play.

The benefit of digital over film is that while you are learning these essential skills you can view the results immediately rather than wait for the pictures to be developed. Furthermore the digital card can be wiped again and again giving you in a lower cost per shot. If you go the analogue route you will spend allot of money on film stock whilst you hone your skills in the areas stated above.

However a digital SLR camera is going to cost you more to buy and some great bargins can be had now with second hand film SLR cameras as most people are swapping them for digital and the second hand market is swamped.

To summarise, if you have access to cheap film stock and a darkroom, go for film, otherwise go for digital.

digital SLR

Learn the old fashioned way.

Go with digital, quicker response.
With film, you won't see the results after your film is developed.

If you want to know everything about photography, start with a film camera and progress to the digital.
A bit like knowing how to drive a manual car and an automatic. You' d be surprised how many people cannot drive a manual. Think about it.

learn with a Digital SLR as all the concepts are the same - old style film cameras are on the way out.

I have just bought a FujiFilm S9500 which is like a SLR but with a fixed lens and all the concepts of f-stops etc ... are all the same and it does have an auto mode (which I am using whilst trying to get used to the manual stuff).

I would recommend startng witha film camera. This will force you to develop your skills. With digital there are too many ways to manipulate the image after taking the picture.
BTW I am a wedding photographer. 25 years in the business. I still dont use digital for weddings very often. Most people still hire me for traditoal photos.

Go with a 6X6 Frame Camara , then everything else will be easy...also print your own ..!! ( Have a look a a bloke called Ansel Adams , His prints are about the best you can get )

do it the traditional way,... because with an traditional film camera you can use your skills much better. normally if you want to learn something you read about it first.. and with a camera you can easier try to realise it. like the different kinds of iso oder the use of a flash.. and so on..
its much more fun..

i love the normal pictures.

okay digitals are faster and you麓ll see what you have taken at the moment.. but wheres the surprise? :)

if you only want to make holiday-picture.. use a digital

Digital is allegedly so 'good' that you have to click the shutter half a second or more BEFORE it takes the picture you MIGHT THEN GET if you're lucky and the subject hasn't changed its mind. Why do people have the nerve to say that it's so good then? The quality might be good once you've got a shot, but you've STILL got to get the basics right - aperture, shutter speed, depth of field etc, so learn photography from the basics first. Then when you know how to calculate the right exposure to give and how to compose a picture, THEN you can move onto digi, but NOT before !

DIGITAL IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE YOU SEE INSTANTLY AND CAN ADJUST THE SETTING THERE AND THEN

if you really want to learn about photography, you can start with any of the two but you must learn about film eventually. i started off with digital but made my way to learn film and then digital again. plus, this might be your last few years to learn about film cause most of the films are gonna be out of production in a matter of few years.

Pianojono is referring to the delay factor, a big problem with all fixed-mount digital cameras- even expensive ones like the Fuji S9500 or Nikon Coolpix 8700, but not digital SLRs (which have no delay)

The concepts of exposure and composition are the same, but I'd still start with a manual film camera. You can open up a film camera and see how stuff inside works- you can hold down the shutter button at the 2 second setting and see the results, maybe on the bulb setting and play with the aperture- you can see what the film advance lever and other mechanisms do. Digital cameras will suffer from dust getting on the sensor if try these same exercises, and you don't get quite the same insights from examining a bunch of plastic and electronics.

The big advantage of digital is seeing what your results are right away.

If you're really serious about your photography, I recommend you start with an SLR and ordinary film. The time it takes to get a film processes these days is negligible, and often no bad thing as you've time to sweat about your results. Also, your results are there in hard-copy, and you can study them to see what could be improved, etc., and the added edge of the financial penalty for making a mistake encourages you not to make any.
Once you're quite happy with your technique, then you can experiment with monochrome, (black-and-white), then, and you simply MUST do this, go on to slides. There's nothing like having the thrill of a superbly taken Kodachrome 64 projected onto a screen. Digital still can't touch it.
Then, if you so desire you can graduate to digital. All the skills you honed on film will stand you in good stead, because digital may, or even should, be treated in the same way - it's much more convenient and you'll have far greater understanding of the image-making process.

Everything has a value and a way it is unique.

Digital photography is easy and almost to a point and shoot stage. I suggest you use film first and progress to digital photography. Using film will force you to learn to "See" light and how to capture it correctly, wihtout the aid of photoshop and such. When you to learn how to do this and when you make the step to all digital you'll have the basics down pat and be able to use that to make better digital images. As a photographer we capture light to tell a story, with either 1 image or a series to tell a story. Learn how to be photographer correctly, since film and slide is a lot more unforgiving than digital, it'll make you see your mistakes and force you to correct them in the camera instead of the computer, do this and you'll be a better photog for it. Either way you decide to go Good Luck and Happy Shooting!

get a digital camera- i recommend olympus

I believe that you will have a greater appreciation of photography if you first learn the wet process before going to the digital process. Digital is almost the easy way out.

Digital SLR's offer instant gratification. If you want to actually learn, I feel that you can be more in depth with traditional. This way you have trial and error, and plus playing in a darkroom is waaaay too much fun!

its a preference. Film is so much more complex and natural, which I love. Digital, I'm trying not to get into. I remember the days we held a photo and looked at it, now we stream by a few 100 images and barely take notice...digital. It's artificial...yet many people create great pictures using digital. It's a preference. I would say start with the beginning...how photog started...film. Then work your way up. It's how it's taught in schools too. You will find your niche in photog. Try both.

There is immense value in learning the use of film cameras!

Firstly, the use of ISO (light sensitivity) is from film technology. Before there was digital, there was film... and the use of light (artificial and/or natural), composing, cropping, use of lenses, types of lenses, types of films and ISO types of films, parts of cameras, use of complimentary and complementary colors, contrast, etc., and the general jargon used in photography comes into play... from film technology.

Let us say that before you learn to run, you learn to walk but before you learn to walk you learn to stand... and before you learn to stand you learn to get up from a crawl. Photography has a progression that is important for the would-be photographer. The success of the photographer pretty much depends on his/her knowledge, experiences... and is complimented the skills acquired and the innate talents the individual brings along. But, very important, knowledge is power, particularly EARNING power. Knowing when to use this lens or that filter or use this ISO speed or that strobe as opposed to this diffusing material... knowing how to pose an individual to minimize a large nose, a little extra weight or a double chin, etc., is equally important. Knowing when to press the shutter button as opposed to machine-gunning the shutter button in hopes of catching at least one good image of out a few hundred... and you get to keep the results and errors to learn from!

Once the basics are learned during the course of film photography, you will find that learning digital comes easier. Also, you will find that some situations are better suited for film, at present, than with digital and you will have the added benefit of knowing about film technology, as well, which is nothing more than an added bonus of knowing two mediums.

Digital technology has its benefits, of which one is the instant gratification of seeing the image captured seconds after the shutter button was pressed. But, there are many draw-backs as well. Knowing both technologies will only put the photographer at a most advantageous position over the one who only knows one technology (and knowledge is earning power).

Some photographers have gone back to film for reasons they find of utmost importance in their field, whereas everyday film photographers are giving in to the fad and new convention of digital photography. The field has yet to level out.

Right now, digital technology is still in its infancy and the camera and peripherals (cameras, printers, auxiliary memories for backing up images on the field, extra hard drives, batteries and battery chargers, memory cards or sticks, inks, paper, computers with more speed, programs for correcting, tweaking photos to buy or upgrade and learn, etc.,) are changing and being updated every few months. It is not as inexpensive as once thought... having to upgrade every few months and buy newer programs and newer printers, inks, etc. The technology is not quite stable yet... as I said, it's still in its infancy and has a lot to go before many issues and problems (kinks) are worked out.

If you compare a SLR film camera with a digital camera, both with comparable features, you'll find that the film camera is about 1/5 the cost of the digital camera, yet the digital camera feels flimsier and chintzier in your hands. It is more prone to damage from dust and humidity or excessive heat and/or cold than the more robust film cameras.

Learn from the beginning. Learn the basics. The more you learn, the more earning power you'll have.

I would have to say go with the digital camera. The skills that you will learn making images can be found in both the film and digital worlds. However, the best learning tool I know of is feedback. The time between the making of the image on film and the developed result can take hours, even days sometimes. Learning how to print B&W or color images is a great talent to have but it will soon pass into the world of specialty talents with a very limited clientel. With digital the photographer can see in a few seconds if they captured the image they were attempting. Digital also removes one of the biggest drawbacks to photography and that is developing and printing costs. If you shoot rolls of 24 or 36 images you will pay a fee for the developing and a per print cost on top of that. (Yes, you will also pay per print in digital but you can self-edit those down to a few) Some places let you reject the prints you don't want but I don't consider this a great teaching method. If you learn how to read the histogram you'll learn proper exposure. And the ability to correct mistakes in the computer is the natural progression of the skill set. Sure, I started doing B&W at 14 and taught myself color printing and color slide shooting but I wouldn't go back. I recently printed several 24x24 B&W prints. From start to finish (not including dry time for the fiber based paper) it took an average of three hours per print. That includes and lot of chemicals, water, and special equipment. Now I have much better control of the process and more important, repeatability. The ability to attain predictable results is the mark of a professional. To know what you are going to get in-camera is a great mental relief. With film you don't know if you screwed up until it's too late. Digital removes one of the greatest headaches of photography. (Digital photography does create a new set of headaches.....color space, printer calibration, battery power requirements....ect, but you still have the image and the ability to create the end result you see in your mind's eye.)

Learning to use a film camera will help you understand the values of exposure far better than digital.

You will also learn (very fast) composition as film is expensive. personally if you can try both, film for when you are really in the learning mood and digital to take everywhere. It's so tempting just to snap away with a digital and never learn a thing.

Get hold of some John Hedgecoe photography books for beginners and he will take you through everything you need to know, don't buy them most libraries have them.