Why did I switch to digital? You would almost never hear this question actually asked in publiic anymore. It is just an assumption that everybody would switch. Yes, there are many good reasons to do so, but for me, it was fiercely practical.
In a sentence, film and processing in China are unreliable. In one of the copy cat capitals of the world, you never really know what is real and what is fake in China, including that Kodak or Fuji roll of film on the shelves. Most people ask, “How can film be fake? Film is film.” Not true. Film is specific chemicals at specific amounts on specific “papers”, and trickster Chinese film makers cut costs on chemicals. Though most people have never thought about the effects of these chemicals, they would still very easily notice the difference if they compared photographs taken with genuine and fake films. The color is washed out, giving them a bluish or gray tint, and often grainy.
But that is not all! The processing stinks too! Somehow, even the most beautiful photos turn awful in Chinese processing. My guess is the same. They cut costs by using a below standard amount of chemicals, thus leaving your photos abou the same as bad film.
Well, truth be told, I do not know exactly which problems are caused by bad film and which are bad processing, because having both problems it is fairly hard to isolate which is at play. And I am sure there are many quality films and processors in China, but with the simple fact that the fakes are so rampant, customers cannot trust their purchase.
So, for me, the choice to go digital was simple, to sidestep these problems. It was easy: if I take good photos, do I want something silly like fake film or low-quality processing to destroy what I do? No. So, digital is the answer; take the “processing” out of the hands of others.
And I have only begun to dig into the many different little digital processing controls I have over my photographs now. I did my time in the darkroom, and loved every minute of it, but nobody would argue that digital processing on a computer is far more convenient than a film darkroom! You cannot exactly carry that around with you as you travel.
