Pros and Cons of Going Digital

I have often wondered if all the money spent on a digital camera is worth it. After hesitating for a long time, I decided to give a go once Canon released 350D to the market. With the camera in my hand for around a month now, I spent a moment pondering if going figital was a good idea. I am listing the pros and cons that I have experienced in going digital.

PROS

1. The most obvious - no more worries about spending on the film. Shoot away as much as you can and just delete what you don’t like. I am shooting much more now than during my film days. And as a result, I am getting some better pictures too.
2. See the results in the field - there is no need to go home and crib about that beautiful composition ruined because you did not expose it properly. See the results immediately on the LCD and shoot more frames until you get what you wanted. You can study the compositions on the LCD too.
3. Digicams are generally much faster than film cameras. I guess you get higher fps because you don’t have to worry about winding the film.
4. Control over post processing. You don’t have to give it to the lab and pray that they don’t screw up your photos. And no waiting too.
5. Sometimes, you don’t have to worry about incorrect camera settings. Last Saturday when I was out shooting, I noticed at some point that I had set the exposure compensation to +1 EV by mistake. I would have lost a few good pictures if it were for film. With digi, all I had to do is go home and fix it.
6. Similar to (5), you can do push/pull processing for each frame.
7. No need to make many painful trips to the lab. Once to submit films, once to collect and many more visits to get prints. It's especially a big pain in a place like Bangalore where traffic is a nightmare.
8. Digital is the way of future in photography. To start early is good. But it is not early anymore.

CONS

1. Prohibitively expensive. A digital camera still costs 3 times more than a film camera with similar set of features(Comparing prices of EOS 300v and EOS 350D).
2. The picture output is yet to match film. A Fuji Sensia transparency film is comparable to 20 mega pixels. We still live in an 8mp world unless you are ready to shell out big money.
3. Sharpness of the picture needs a lot of improvement compared to film.
4. Too much time has to be spent in front of the computer. Without post processing, your picture can look really bland.
5. The learning curve is steep. I have been spending long hours in front of the computer trying to understand all the science behind digital photography and post processing. Knowing everything is crucial to get good pictures.
6. Emerging technology means you need to keep upgrading constantly. Like computers, cameras also start getting obsolete real fast.


Finally if I question myself if going digital was the right thing, I would say 'yes' without much hesitation. The fact that you can shoot as much as you please, and the control over post processing are advantages that outweigh all the disadvantages. The biggest crib about digital is the amount of investment and constant upgrades that you need to make. It doesn’t stop with buying the camera. You need to support it with many other things. Memory cards, card readers, additional memory, softwares needed to get good image output, additional battery packs, additional storage devices for storing images in the field and many other accessories needed will blow a lot of money from your pocket. But at the end, I think it is all worth it.