San Francisco Diptychs: Hipstamatic vs. Film
Six side-by-side photos compare a photo taken with an iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app with a photo shot with a 1950′s Franka Solida III medium format folding film camera. Much like last year's experiments with a Holga, I prefer the film images.
The certo6.com site has a lot of great information on vintage folding cameras. The Franka is compact, works perfectly, and looks beautiful -- not bad for a 50+ year old camera. The best part is Jurgen from certo6.com does a full CLA on each camera before selling them on eBay.
The downside of shooting film is the cost -- a roll of 120 plus developing ends up being $12 -- $1 per shot. And then of course you need to scan the film. If you want to make prints, the extra hassle is worth it. Film has a lot more dynamic range than the iPhone. And the 5 megapixel iPhone 4 or 8 megapixel iPhone 4s can't compare to the resolution of scanned 6x6 film. Even on my old Epson 4990 flatbed scanner at the 2400 ppi setting I get a 25 megapixel file from my Franka negatives. Big enough to print a 16" square image at 300 dpi, which is a nice size for these images.