Frederic Sune 23 July 2009 Featured Article, Our Headline 69 views One Comment Email This Post

Is digital greener than traditional film photography?

by Andrea Bakacs

Agh, the never ending debate. Is digital photography greener than traditional film photography?

There is a wide assumption that digital photography is much more environmentally friendly than traditional film photography. Extensive studies have not been done comparing the two, since a lot of the “stuff” required in the process of digital photography isn’t inherently visible, therefore out of sight and out of mind for many people. However, when looking at the pros and cons of each, you can easily come to your own conclusion, or most likely, deem the above statement a myth and not end up with any conclusion at all.

Lets go through the basic steps of film vs. digital, starting with the gear, film and processing, printing, and storage. All categories that apply to both digital and film media. I will leave out aesthetics qualities and try to solely focus on environmental footprint.

Gear:
Traditional film cameras are still around and manufactured today. While not as many are made any more due to the popularity and economic pressure from the digital revolution, they remain the workhorses of the photo industry. They require either no batteries to run, or just a small watch size battery which operates the light meter for years and years without the need for replacement.

Digital cameras on the other hand are the changing face of the industry. You are lucky to buy a brand new released model only to have yet another forthcoming release announced a few months later. Consumers want the latest and greatest and newest to keep up not only with technology, but also with style, size, and not to mention the latest software necessary to just view these images. Traditional cameras did not have a lot of energy used in producing them as they are fairly simple mechanical technologies…

READ The rest of the Article on Andrea Bakacs website: Changents.com

Thanks
Frederic