Interesting to hear you are using a 35mm SLR, I’ve just started carrying a Minolta 600si around with my large format kit and gives me another film type option – it’s amazing the 35mm bargains you can pick up these days!

I too went digital and then went (mainly) film again. There’s certainly a quality to film that can’t me matched by digital. I love using Astia which has wonderful tones digital just can’t replicate.

I was interested in your Eigg workshop (somewhere I’ve wanted to go for ages), but it looking at the intinery, it looks very digital based.

I’ve been hearing lately of a lot of photographers who started out with digital and have ‘gone backwards’ into the film realm.

Which was very surprising to me: most workshop participants tend to be digital and the thought of trying a film system seems to be too much for most to bear – the film costs, buying a scanner, processing…. So it’s great to hear that there are those out there willing to try it. I don’t think it’s a case of ‘digital or film’, more ‘digital sometimes and film sometimes’.

I like the sound of your new film system!

I’d have to say I agree with your opinion on the aesthetic qualities of film, in contrast to digital. I can’t say my opinion holds much weight as I am but a fledgling in photography. I started out with digital, but went backwards and am using almost exclusively film. I feel it has a warmer, organic feel to it. I have yet to see digital images have the same effect, especially for non-studio portraits. The look of film adds to the moment that the picture has captured.

Also wanted to add, that I greatly enjoy reading your blog. Browsing photographs is great, but after a while, it is nice to know what goes on behind the scene (without going into gear too much).

Alvin

PS. I’m using nothing but an older Pentax SLR, 2 primes and a Yashica-mat TLR. Somehow, film has subdued my yearning for the “latest and greatest” gear. So there’s another plus to film!