Unnoticed Irony

For some reason I've been thinking about the death of Linus Pauling lately. In nearly every obituary, news item or quoted comment about that event, there was a remark along the lines of "It's a shame such a brilliant man wasted the last part of his life studying and promoting vitamin C."

The man lived about twenty years past the expected lifespan of nearly all these critics. Maybe it was the vitamin C. Maybe it was just good luck. But you'd think people would give a man they themselves called "brilliant" the benefit of the doubt.



Stickmaker

Furtism vs. Faddism

I have been taking 35mm photos for well over 20 years. The past few years people have been pressing me with the question of when I will switch to a modern, digital camera. My answer leaves most of them unsatisfied, either because they don't understand it, or it makes them realize they didn't think things through.

A digital camera with a sensor good enough to match good quality 35mm film in resolution and color fidelity currently (as of late 2005) costs nearly $1000 for just the body. I already have three good 35mm film camera bodies, with an assortment of high-quality lenses and other accessories. Yes, I have to process the film to get a final image. If I want prints from a digital camera I'd either have to send the memory card off for printing (just like a roll of film) or buy a photo-quality printer.

Film is cheap, especially if you shop around. Unused, it keeps for two years or more in your freezer. Once processed, it is a stable storage medium, as long as it is kept cool, dry and out of strong light.

Yes, I will get a digital camera, probably in a couple of years. They're still on the steep part of the curve when it comes to image quality improving and price declining. I would almost certainly buy a digital camera if one of my current 35mm bodies needed replacing. I *like* digital cameras and the conveniences they provide. But I like what I already have better. So far.

One of the most ironic parts of this situation is when these digital proponents ask why the photos I show off are so much better than theirs.



Stickmaker