Digital vs. Film

I just purchased a "slightly used" zoom lens for my camera - a fantastic camera my parents got me for my birthday 6 years ago. To get specific, it's a Canon 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 EF III Lens, and I'm so excited to start using it (yes, it's another bit of incentive to get on that plane - just think of all those pictures I can take!).

My purchase got me thinking about the whole digital camera vs film camera debate that goes on. Let's face it, there are people who love one or the other. I will admit that the digital camera (which I only use at work) does have it's benefits, but I am still a film camera girl at heart. I grew up with an amateur photographer as a father, which means that I was photographed regularly as a child (and teenager). If I'm not mistaken, he purchased his camera within the first couple of years of my birth. Hmm...maybe even before that. He was always experimenting with the aperture settings, the focus (which was NOT automatic!), and even black & white film - way before we were able to scan pictures into the computer and with the click of a mouse, change our once colorful pictures into b & w.

So, I am a staunch supporter of film cameras, and here are a few reasons why:

1. Digital cameras offer our already too fast-paced society even more instant gratification. Yes, we still have 1-hour photo shops (in which I do not partake), but we still have to WAIT to see the pictures.
2. I love the way that camera film smells. Weird? Yes. But who cares?
3. Let's not forget about the sound a real camera makes when it takes a picture. It's not a beep, but a nice, solid click.
4. I don't care what anybody says, digital pictures just do not look as good as developed film.
5. And finally, I saved my biggest reason for last. Digital cameras let you delete your mistakes. I love my "mistake pictures" - blurry pics, closed eyes, uncentered focal points, etc. Even if the picture doesn't look good, it's still a picture I took at a certain (probably important) time in my life. I don't want to erase my mistakes. Mistakes are what makes us who we are. Life would be pretty boring if we could always just delete what we didn't like, what didn't look good, what didn't turn out the way we thought. Where would I be if I didn't make those mistakes? What kind of person would I be if I never learned from those mistakes?