The Difference Between Film and Digital Photography

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There are many differences between film and digital photography. To most amateur photographers they do not matter much. They prefer the convenience, ease of use and lower cost of digital cameras and are not going to revert to the film age, since using film to young and upcoming photographers film can seem almost prehistoric. However understanding the differences can help taking even better photos and can also help when debating with friends about the future of film.

Below is a list of differences that are important to understand.

The most obvious difference between film and digital is the sensor used to take the photo. With film cameras a film sensitive to light is placed behind the lens. When a photo is taken the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the film. The result is a photo “printed” on the film. To take a new photo the film has to be rolled and a fresh “clean” film is place behind the lens. With digital cameras a fixed electronic sensor (sometimes known as CCD) is situated behind the lens. The sensor is built from tiny light sensitive sensors each representing a pixel. When the shutter opens light hits the sensor and each pixel gets its “value”. Put together all the pixels comprise one photo. To take a new photo the photo is saved on a digital media and the CCD is electronically emptied.

What does a different sensor mean? The main difference is in the Depth of Field. Since digital sensors are smaller in size than a 35mm film the depth of field will be much higher and in fact in most compact digital cameras almost infinite. The result is that blur backgrounds can not be created.

Photos taken with a digital camera literally cost nothing. The photos are kept in erasable memory and thus can always be discarded at no cost. Also the photos you would like to keep can be copied to digital media such as a computer’s hard disk. With storage prices going down the cost of saving a photo on disk is practically zero. Film does cost money. With a film camera you have to pay for the roll of film, for developing the negative and for printing the photo. Every time you press the shutter button you spend money.
For more information on this article as well as a wealth of information on Photography from simple to advanced visit my site at
[http://www.makelifegreat4u.com/LearnToTakeBetterPhotos]
Harley
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