Which is better for a beginner? Digital or Film camera?

Well, there are a lot of features that go with both digital and film. most modern digital cameras are whats called "point-and-shoot" cameras because they don't require any manual lens adjustmentss. they are fairly inexpensive and usually don't require much skill to use one. the downside is you'll be getting the "myspace/facebook" quality in your photos. now film camera's are really more for hobbyists, they use manual ajustment lenses and with some skill and for someone who really has a love for film can get alot of great quality pictures! the downside is once youve taken the photo, you cant delete it or veiw it to see how it turned out until you get it developed. both have great qualites and some of the really expensive cameras utilize both. allowing for digital storage and the use of lens ajustment.

basicly, all it comes down to is if you really want this to become a great hobby and in some cases a carreer or lifestyle, you could invest in a high quality camera, if you dont have the money for one, its best to start with an older camera that still uses film to get some practice in with lens ajustment.

OOOh the doom merchants (lol). Film will continue to have a place on photography. Some of the worlds best landscape photographers use film for their commercial work. I use both film and digital and love using Black and white film which I process at home and scan to produce a very high resolution file. However if you want to learn you cannot beat digital Canon and Nikon do a very wide range of superb entry level SLRs (camera on which you can change lenses) But the camera itself is not enough and there are no short cuts to developing the ability to capture great images. Study and practice+ practice + practice etc. Without fail a good photographer will produce a better image with the cheapest point and shoot than a novice with the most expensive gear. So go get your digital camera - enjoy the learning experience - and whatever you do remember - you will never stop learning and at times you will become disillusioned - don't dismiss film, maybe try a Holga alongside you digital. Most of all enjoy enjoy enjoy Good luck.

no doubt mere mortal will give you a bunch of film cameras to start off with.....this in my opinion is nonsense.

If you take the time to read up on things like aperture and shutter speeds and ISO, and get a digital camera.....then you can go out and experiment with different settings , and be able to see the results of your selections, instantly. I am talking about getting a digital camera which allows YOU to control the settings. A digital SLR is the best. A fully automatic point and shoot digital is useless to learn photography concepts.

So if for example you read that a large aperture creates and effect where the foreground is in focus and the background is blurry......and a small aperture keeps everything in focus......you can go out with a digital camera......take a bunch of pictures at different apertures, and see right away what the book is talking about.

Trying to LEARN the same concepts with a film camera is totally frustrating.. You go out all day, shooting pictures , and when you come home and get the film developed......you will say....YIKES....I can't remember WHICH aperture i used!!! (Because you didn't KNOW to take a notebook and record all of this stuff) OR...the film limited you to 12 pictures, and you didn't want to waste all the fim taking 10 shots of the same scene at different apertures, you don't really understand the concepts.

So start with a digital.....learn all you can. Then, when it comes to taking a film camera out in the field....you can take a shot of a scene...and you know in your mind exactly what settings you want to use. That way, you don't waste expensive film.

As a funny aside....you will note that the person above SWEARS that using fim is best....then she goes on to say,

BUT ONLY if you have the time and money to attend classes to LEARN how to USE a film camera properly FIRST.

Of course this is more or less true. You will WASTE a TON of money on film and developing fees trying to learn photography with a film camera.

It's less about the camera and more about the artistic eye of the photographer.

Regardless about whether you start with film or go digital, there are two approaches for a "beginner" photographer. You can go for a simple camera which only has the purpose of capturing an image. A beginner, with time, patience and a bit of coaching can use this simple camera to make excellent images of many types and subjects. And, he can continue to use this kind of unit for the rest of his life.

On the other hand, the beginner can start with a more sophisticated unit, start by learning it's most basic features and practice by taking the best photographs he can with these features. The advantage of, he can take advantage of these features and find himself a much more versitile photographer. Those features can make it possible to take images of subjects that may not have been possible with only the basic features, or with a more limited camera.

So, even for a beginner, if you are SERIOUS about becoming a good photographer, whether as a professional or as a talented amateur, I think it would be a good idea to do some research and buy just a bit more camera than you expect to need. That way you can "grow" into the equipment as you get more comfortable. Think of how one makes a choice for buying a car. Even if it is intended to be used mostly for a local commute and for fetching groceries, which a subcompact may work very well, the buyer may be considering the occasional road trip or cruising the back roads. In that case, maybe a mid sized car with roomy, comfortable interior and features and a bit more horsepower could be a better choice. The buyer may not need the BIGGEST, most powerful gas hog with all the bells and whistles. Just like a beginner photographer may not need to spend thousands of dollars for features and performance he may never need. But he wants to get a camera that will serve him in just about every situation he may face.

So, back to your choice. I was lucky enough to get my start when all that was available were film cameras. I believe this background, along with my traditional art training, gives me a much better understanding of the entire photographic process, from composing the shot, setting the camera, releasing the shutter, processing the film, making the prints and critiquing the results. I had the advantage of learning the developing process in a well equipped school lab and darkroom. For a while, I even processed and printed my own film in my own darkroom. I shot a LOT of 35 mm rolls. On a typical weekend, I might take as many as two or three hundred frames. Processing costs could pile up easily. Fact is, that I probably made less than a dozen prints out of two hundred shots.

But I don't have the time or resources to do that now. I still take a lot of shots. On a two week road trip to the Northwest last year, I came home with almost a thousand digital shots. I've never depended much on drug store stacks of four by six inch prints. What few prints I get processed are, at minimum, five by seven and eight by ten. A few select prints on my wall are slightly larger. Prints done for clients tend to be eleven by fourteen and much larger. And these larger formats are done by outside labs equipped to handle them.

In other words, I've gone digital and will likely never go back to film.

My reasoning may not apply to you. But you have to realize that if you go film, you will have to set up a darkroom, along with the expensive equipment and chemistry that goes along with it. Otherwise, you lose control of the image the moment you click the shutter. Some anonymous lab grunt takes over from there. And even he will probably just slide your film into a machine that automatically process it from negs to prints. Or you spend lots more to have a good, professional lab do this. If that's okay with you, then go film.

If you want it a bit easier, go digital. Either way, it's not the camera that will make you into a good photographer. It will be your training and practice that gets you the result you want.

By the way, your choices go WAY beyond whether film or digital.

Small format

Medium format

Range finder

SLR

Brand name

Lens family and lens choices

Peripheral equipment

etc.

etc.

Good luck and have fun.

DEFINITELY FILM.

I swear, no matter what anybody else says, it's soooo necessary that you learn how to use film first. That way, you learn the basics. Anybody can toake a photo and delete it. Anybody can photoshop. But it takes real skill to use a film camera and get things right the first time instead of saying something like, "Oh, I don't like this picture. Delete!"

Do Film first, then move on to digital.

UNLESS you absolutely have no choice and you don't have money to take photography classes in college, only then would I recommend doing Digital first. Because if that's your case, you can always learn digital off of Youtube.com or some site like that.

well it depends...

are you buying an expensive one first? i'd say digital. then go film, if you have film you'll wanna develop them yourself so you'll need a dark room or access to one...

honestly i love canon :) :)

i have an slr but i also have a point and shoot canon powershot and lemme tell you it is an amazing little camera. if you want to get your technique down and practice then get a canon powershot, they aren't THAT expensive if your into photography. ill give links to some of my photos taken with the powershot.

Taken with a Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2507/3926694372_e91...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3425/3926692350_7f9...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3496/3926691518_c0d...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3532/3926687322_919...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2602/3926685504_dfd...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2429/3925896883_24a...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2505/3925895985_d1f... cool one!