Feature: A few clients have persistently asked - why go digital in your photography
Motivation: Digital Photography has some very explicit pluses and minuses

I persistently get asked by clients and friends why I have gone digital. And I have to patiently point out to them that I have not gone completely digital - I still have a trusted Nikon FM1, old but reliable Minolta SRT101, and a clunker 2 1/4 Zenza Bronica. But, yes all my new investments are primarily in digital cameras and hardware + software. I recently invested in a HP Media Center PC with an AMD 2.6GHz 64bit processor, 2GB of memory, 250GB of disk space supplemented by a 300GB Maxtor external drive. So yes I am a digital person .

Yet there are number of compelling reasons for not switching from analog to digital. In the photographic world, analog/film has four major advantages. First, in fine-grain resolution, good film excels all but the most expensive digital sensor chips but with such simplicity of exposure and storage. Second, analog/film has built up an accumulated 150 year knowledge of how to preserve images for archival lifetimes of 100 plus years at a minimum. Third, analog/film has a range of emulsions and chemical reactions that offer sensitivity at the same extraordinary precision to a broad range of the light spectrum from infrared through natural light to ultraviolet and X-ray. Fourth and finally, analog/film lends itself to precision copying extending its lifetime to as long as copies are made.

But on the other side of the coin, digital image-taking has its own features and advantages- why else would there be such a dramatic shift over the past 10 years from analog/film to digital in the popular photography market place? So here are the top twelve reasons why I like digital photography:

1-Instant review - one can inspect any or all shots immediately and correct accordingly
2-Fractional cost/image - making mistakes are easily forgiven and quickly corrected
3-Huge capacity - a digital camera can take and store 1000's of photos in an hour or less
4-Digital image movement - is cheap, instantaneous, and to anywhere in the world
5-Flexibility - digital image-taking can be all-automated or switched to full manual
6-Rendering - digitals are printed to the highest quality but also animated, sculpted, etc
7-Interoperable - digital images are easily exchanged among 1000's of devices
8-Digital follows analog closely - the same exposure, aperture/focal, shutter rules etc
9-The wet end is dry - no fumbling in dank, damp, darkrooms for 3-4 great prints/day
10-Post processing delights - it is cheap and did I mention fast
11-Post processing creativity - the opportunities for expression in digital are breathtaking
12-Digital automation enhances innovation - automated metering, focus, exposure control allow one to concentrate on layout, composition, lighting, blur, mood - the art of photography.

So these are my top twelve reasons. I am sure readers can add their own. But digital is not without its blemishes. In a separate article, I expose the 4 strikes against digital photography. Lack of archival storage plus rapid obsolescence of digital technologies and storage media are just two of the issues covered. But one that I have not mentioned is the steep learning curve associated with digital photography.

As points 6,7, 8, and 9 above state, digital follows analog/film fairly closely in image-taking; but in post-processing, or photo finishing as this site prefers to look at it, there is a steep learning curve. We have been recommending Corel's PaintShop Pro because its intuitive operation , strong help features and many ease-of-use conveniences give users a leg up on many other photo-editing programs - and at $100US retail its a bargain.

But look at the big picture. Analog/film retains 4 key advantages. Digital has at least 10; but their are 4 key disadvantages. Weigh the risk reward profile of each against what you want your image-taking to do for you - and then decide what analog/film versus digital mix you want to use.