Technical (Film)
Today, brand equipment and lenses are all relatively excellent. In many of the lenses the differences are discernable only in extreme magnifications (20 x 30 and larger) and those differences are often small ones.
Rather than brand name, I think in terms of format size – 35mm, Medium (6x6.45, 6x6, 6x7, 6x9), Large (4x5, 5x7, 8x10). In general, the larger the format the sharper more detailed the image.
My current camera stock consists of 35mm, 6x7, and 4x5. Most of my landscape work is 6x7 or 4x5 while weddings and events are mostly 35mm. The lenses and bodies I use are all high quality and well known. Having said that, it is important to note that ‘equipment is equipment’ and a necessary means to an image.
Everyone has their favorite brands and justifications for using them. I have seen and made stunning images with very inexpensive equipment and seen and made horrible images with very expensive equipment. Without vision and purpose, equipment is just that – equipment.
Technical (Digital)
While current marketing has people talking about film vs. digital, for me, this is a silly premise. Film is different from digital and each has specific purposes for me.
I use digital for most of my event photography except weddings. I shoot weddings with film and then scan the negatives. My reasons for this have to do with preservation not quality. We currently store digital images as jpegs, Tiffs, raw, etc. and new formats appear almost monthly. In 5 years will we still be able to print from jpegs? I don’t know. I do know we have been printing from film for well over 100 years. For archival purposes, I shoot important, one time events with film and then scan it. In this way, my customers always have a permanent record (film) and don’t have to worry about the vagaries of pixel storage.
As for the noticeable differences between film and digital, film is warmer and more subtle than digital. I realize you can tweak digital files and camera settings to emulate film but, for me, it is easier to just shoot film. I see the question as film or digital not film vs. digital.
