One Walk, Two Cameras

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a walk around the neighborhood, and I took two cameras, the Nikon N80 with the 50mm, f/1.9 lens, loaded with Arista EDU Ultra 400 B&W film, and the Canon Sure Shot Supreme loaded with Kodak Gold. I took a lot of photos on that walk, but one of the things I did was focus on the summer blooms which were looking particularly vibrant. I wanted to see how they would look in color and in black and white, so here are the side-by-side images from that walk.

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These white hydrangeas were growing in front of a neighboring building. Obviously, I got close in with the Nikon, something that isn't really an option with the Canon and its wider 38mm f/2.8 lens. I like the composition with the Nikon better.

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This cluster of three roses highlights the dramatic difference in sharpness between the Nikon glass and the point-and-shoot camera.

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Finally, we have these two unusual yellow flowers. I'm not a huge fan of how the color photo turned out at all. The black and white photo brings out the spots in the leaves much more clearly.

Some subjects, like flowers, would seem to scream for color film, yet, when I look at the photos side by side, I find that I am happier with the monochrome images. Now, that may be a function of the superior camera with which I shot said images. Comparing the Nikon to the Canon is a bit apples to oranges, I admit. I have been really leaning into the Nikon N80 ever since I got it. It's a very satisfying camera.

Lately, I have come to realize that in terms of the joy I derive from the shooting, developing, scanning, and printing, black and white film definitely wins the day. I find it frustrating to get colors right in scanning and editing, and I don't particularly like developing color film as it is time-consuming. I just don't shoot enough color to use up the chemistry before it goes off, so it ends up not being as cost-effective as it could be to develop myself. Printing color photos means either reserving the rather expensive color darkroom here in town to get analog prints or making digital prints on my inkjet printer. On the other hand, I can fire up the guerilla darkroom anytime I like to make silver gelatin prints.

Does this mean I'm going to stop shooting color film? No, I won't. For one, I have a lot of color film in the fridge that is begging to be used up. Because the developing, scanning, and editing of C41 process film isn't exactly pleasurable, once my current color chems are exhausted, I'm going to leave that job to the pros down at my local lab. They have superior equipment and know-how and always deliver better results than I manage to get on my own. It costs more money but saves me so much frustration and disappointment.