Digital is not Film

[font color=\'#000000\']Hi! Nick,
You make some good points and some interesting distinctions between the nature of film and digital sensors. But I have to disagree with some of your statements which I'll copy and paste below.

"I don't care about megapixels or learned scientific discourses — do prints look better to anyone who sees them; that is all I care about.
Digital is not 'better' than film — it is different. It is clearly much better at certain things and just as clearly worse at others.
Look at your prints and make up YOUR own mind. If you like your chemical prints then that is completely correct -— for you. If your customers like digital prints better, then they are also completely correct."

I find the above comments far too pragmatic. Pragmatism taken to the extreme, and I don't think you really believe in them. If prints look better, is it not natural to be curious as to WHY they are better? And for a professional photographer, I would think there are good practical reasons for being as aware as possible of all the ingredients and processes that make a photograph appealing, if for no other reason than to reproduce them, develop and expand them. And the discerning consumer or buyer of photographs should also be curious as to why they like or don't like a particular photograph.

The sheer efficiency of the 'all digital' process is bound to spark heated debate. The fact that 'state-of-the-art' digicams are so ridiculously expensive contibutes to the heat. One has to be tolerant of the fact that some people are going to persist with untenable arguments (and even resort to abuse) to protect themselves from excessive credit card debt. But the writing is on the wall. Digital either is or will be better than fim - in all respects that matter. The last bastion will be the 8x10' or 6x17cm format. It's not at all clear to me which digital format will replace these dinasoars and I'm still trying to work out if it would be possible for, say, a 48 megapixel 35mm sized sensor in conjunction with an advanced aberration free lens, to produce results equal to or better than 8x10 format. Of course, such a lens would have to be used at an aperture of around F3.5 or even F2.8, and if you wanted DOF you'd have to use one of Canon's Tilt & Shift lenses. But it's an interesting scenario that captures my imagination.[/font]