Digital Images
Digital has numerous advantages over film for commercial photography. The first is that the associated costs for film and film developing are eliminated. The second advantage is that there is generally a faster turn around for images since there is no wait for film developing. Images are essentially ready as soon as they can be downloaded into a computer (which takes only a few minutes).
Film Images
Despite what you may have heard, film has a number of advantages over digital images. The primary advantage is image quality. Generally a film image can produce a larger print than a digital image. Another advantage of film is that there are times when film is easier or more convenient to use. This is especially true if a great many images must be made in a remote locale. While it is not cut and dried, filming in remote locations, where there is a lack of infrastructure, can make film much more viable than digital. As long as you have brought along enough film and spare batteries it is possible to shoot images almost indefinitely. Digital equipment eventually needs to be tethered to a power source (to recharge the batteries) or to a computer to offload images to make room on memory cards.
Which is Best for You
The question remains, which technology will best satisfy your needs? Here are a few situations where one technology may be preferred over another.
| Digital May Be Best For | Film May Be Best For |
| Projects that are time critical | Projects that require large prints |
| Web Site Images | Projects that require a broad range of image sizes |
| Small print ads | Projects requiring outstanding image clarity and definition |
| Projects requiring extensive mockup | Images that my appear in many different media |
| Projects sensitive to cost | |
| Fliers, brochures, and sales sheets | |
| Computer software or display | |
| Images that will be downloaded |
Even if you require film for your final images there may be benefit to using digital cameras during the early stages of set creation and image reviews. The turnaround time for digital images makes the entire process go faster. Then, once the basic set composition and lighting have been fine tuned, film can be used for the last few rounds of refinement until the final image is obtained.
Please keep in mind that digital technology is rapidly changing and what is true today may not be true next week. If you have any questions about which technology (or mix of technologies) will work best for you, please contact us so we can help you find the answers.
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