It’s generally agreed that things tend to improve: Newer models of phones or laptops may have more features than older models; newer fashion trends may be more flashy and flattering than before; newer restaurants may use fresher and better ingredients.
Ever since I’ve gotten into both mediums of film and digital photography, the long-stating debate of whether digital or film is better has always confused me — the answer seems obvious. Digital cameras are actively advancing while most film cameras have been put out of production. Digital cameras let you preview and see your photos instantaneously, while it can take weeks before you see the photos you took with film. Digital is convenient; film is not.
With the exception of the recent Pentax 17 released by Ricoh in July of this year, film cameras have been obsolete for almost two decades due to the sheer amount of features that only digital cameras provide: Instant image preview, much higher storage quality and better image manipulation all while being more cost-effective.
Yet, despite all of this, why do I enjoy film so much more than digital photography? There’s no hassle of loading, processing, scanning and printing film, but when given a choice, I’d choose film nine out of 10 times.
The main difference lies in instant vs. delayed gratification. In a world oriented around efficiency, instant gratification is everywhere— social media, fast food, online shopping and so much more. All these release a short-term “high”, or boost in dopamine, which makes these things temporarily feel good but often detrimental to long-term goals. Research has also shown that smartphones, in particular, tend to show results of lower dopamine synthesis, which can negatively affect both your mental and physical health.
Delayed gratification is described as forgoing immediate pleasure for the sake of receiving a more significant reward later and that’s what makes film so appealing to me. Even if the photos don’t come out perfectly, the time it took and the process itself wasn’t all just boring — even if it takes a lot of time and money, it was fun, and the photos that came out in the end ultimately tied everything together.
However, we still tend to go towards the immediate pleasure because we are lazy and delayed gratification takes work, and we usually go towards the easier solution. As technology and production improves, there’s no doubt that instant gratification will also improve, but I think that it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not always about the destination, but more about the journey that it takes to get there. Even though it might seem boring and tiring at first, it’s often the journey that matters. The end will always come, as long as you put in the work.
