Did you start out photography with film or digital ?

I started with film. To be more specific, a Nikon EM in about 1985. It had no aperture priority mode, no auto-focus, no automatic film advance, no nothing. And despite the Nikon badge it was cheaply built, so it wasn’t even good for clubbing them pesky dinosaurs that still roamed the streets back then. As the years went on, I added items.

My first digital camera was a Nikon Coolpix 8700 in 2004. It produced nice images but its limitations compared to an SLR drove me up the wall. In 2006 I upgraded to a Nikon D200. To me, that was the first “affordable” digital camera that was good enough to retire my film gear. I took the D200 on a round-the-world trip in 2007-8 and wore it every day with a heavy zoom lens attached. My back still hurts, but I got some great images!

And just this week I’m getting back into film. A few days ago I bought a 1968 Agfa Silette LK for $5. It’s a fixed lens little thing that slides into a coat pocket. What a great feeling to have a tiny camera again! So yesterday I upped the ante and bought a Canonet QL17 G3 for $75 on eBay.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Canonet became my main camera due to the small form factor. With a fixed 35mm f/1.7 lens it’s great for street photography. And unlike any digital point & shoot, a film camera is responsive and with f/2 you can blur the crap out of the background.

I was saving my pennies for a Nikon D700 to replace my D200. I almost did, actually. But if this Canonet turns me onto rangefinders I might rethink that. I’m more of a gear head than I should be – reading up on every development and spending way too much cash on gear – but really, I’m happy with any old camera and an interesting location. The older and cheaper the gear, the more thought/ effort/ skill it takes to get great shots... which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Fun question, by the way. I enjoyed reading the other answers!

I've started with film. Not that I wanted that, but that was the camera destiny put in my hands.

In fact I didn't care too much about photography until 2005 when the river from my area flooded, taking bridges, houses, animals along the way. In that morning a neighbor just handed me a film camera, a really simple yet good one, and before going to help out people, he told me to shoot around. I've made about 70 pictures, some of them really great even though, at that time, I had no idea what photography was about. This kind of start is really sad and I don't quite like remembering it, but... was a new beginning for me.

After a year and a half I bought myself a 2mpx camera which helped me making the first steps, learn new stuff, then a 7mpx ps camera followed, but didn't use it for a long time, because a dslr "came into picture".

Now I have two dslr cameras, some lenses, two flashes and... a pinhole! Anyway, film camera will come soon, I have new experiments and ideas for the future... All I need is the time, that's the only thing I miss at this point!

They both have pros and cons. I suppose the most important thing is if you REALLY want to learn photography or if you are just wanting to snap photos. There is a big difference. A film camera will force you to learn photography properly because it costs you money every time you push the shutter button. You either learn proper exposure, focus, and composition, or you have eternally awful photos. With digital, you *can* learn at a much faster rate IF you approach it as such. The great majority of people who use digital have no clue what so ever about what they are doing. They are just pushing a button and taking 20 photos hoping one will come out right. They do not care that they are having to do that because the photos cost nothing. The temptation with digital is to put it in automatic and mindlessly press the shutter button and hope for the best. If, however, you use the digital camera to REALLY learn photography, it is a great tool. You can learn how shutter speed, aperture, and ISO relate to one another in real time experiments. You can work to learn lighting and see the results immediately. You have EXIF data for each photo so you can learn how the various parameters affect your photo. There are many other pros and cons between the never ending film vs. digital arguments, I am only addressing the *learning* aspect of the two mediums. Bottom line, digital CAN be a great learning tool IF you use it as such, but most people don't. Film teaches you to learn things correctly and to take your time and THINK before you push the shutter button. Just slowing down and really seeing and thinking about the photo you are about to take can often make the shots taken with a film camera much better than the typical mindless snapshot garbage done with digital cameras. steve

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Film, of course.

I've loved taking pictures, ever since I was a little kid. That was around 1986-1987, and so of course there was no such thing as digital cameras. I was about 8 years old, and I think my very first camera was an old Kodak Instamatic that my parents got me, probably from a thrift shop or something. They just got it for me to play around with as a toy (because I had a fascination with cameras even back then). But I actually learned how to use a camera and I loved taking pictures. It was mostly just snapshots that I took with my friends, or on school field trips, etc. But my parents still have a few of those pictures to this day.

I actually took better pictures when I was 8 years old than the blurry, pixelated snapshots that most 16 year olds take with digital cameras now ;)

Later on, in the 90's, I started using 110 cameras and 35mm. But when I was around 13, I was going through a phase where I wanted to take everything apart to see what was inside it...and of course I couldn't put it back together! I took apart most of my cameras. My parents definitely weren't happy about that.

Even though I've loved taking pictures since I was a kid, and always had a fascination with cameras, I didn't really get seriously interested in photography until recently. Probably the past 2 or 3 years or so. And I became interested in photography BECAUSE I wanted to learn how to use film cameras with manual exposure.

I've been using digital cameras since about 2004. And webcams for chatting online since about 1999! But I only use a digital camera for snapshots when I'm out with my friends. For REAL photography, I always use film. It's a lot more fun and challenging, and I can get much better quality pictures.

A little over a year ago, I learned how to develop my own black and white film. Then I set up a darkroom in my garage. Since then, my digital camera has been sitting on a shelf, mostly just collecting dust. In fact, right now I have one of my vintage folding cameras loaded with a 120 roll of Kodak Plus-X film and I'm about to leave to get some photos downtown.

There was no digital at the time. So film. I only got a digital camera a few years ago. Well to be completely honest it was actually a phone, anyway the easy handling of digital files was good even though the quality was horrible. Anyway the poor quality finally convinced me to move to a proper digital camera and that was that. I still have a 30 something year old film camera and a 10 year old one as well and I use them both, but digital is just as fun in different ways, especially when you need to do things quickly.

Got my first serious camera in the early 70's. so it was film. I still like film, but most often shoot digital now. I got my first digicam in 1998 or 9, top resolution of 480x640! I shot wedding on film until 2006, then a mixture of film and digital until last year, my last several have been all digital. I have never taken a photography class, though.

I am taking a road trip this weekend, and suddenly feel inspired to shoot a few rolls! Thanks!

Film, since early 70's. 1st SLR in 1982, Canon AL-1. I learned 90% of everything I know on that camera. Also have a Nikon F and a Minolta SRT-101 floating around. The Canon is long gone, after Canon did the whole FD-EF lens fiasco thingy.

My first digital was a Casio, not even VGA resolution, almost 10 years ago. I've gone through a few since.

I've shot maybe 5 rolls of film since then.

I took to digital quickly, and only shoot film now if it is actually required. It is hardly ever required!

Its Complicated, really.

Being born in the early 1990s, It natural that at some point that A film camera fell into my hands. As much as I hate it, I think I actually "Started photography" with a point and shoot digital and then took off with the purchase of my beloved N80 Film SLR in 2008.

Thank you for asking this question, Anna. It brings back fond memories of me opening those first borrowed issues of popular photography magazine right when they started to debate the newly emerged digital VS film all those years ago...I had sided with film...

Digital photography wasn't even some crazy man's dream much less close to reality.

Kind of a retro learning curve starting with the modern type of photography and working out the how's and why's, isn't it?

I, personally, enjoy digital more than film for its ease, but I still love film.