There was a time when film photography dominated the market. As digital photography has advanced film is starting to fade into the background. Film isn't completely extinct by any means. There are still a few professional photographers that use film. Let's look at the difference between the two.
The main difference between film and digital photography is the way the image is captured. In digital photography light is reflected onto a sensor. The sensor then converts the that image into digital information. Once the image is captured it can easily be viewed on the camera's LCD screen.
When you're using film cameras for photography the image is captured on film. Once the entire roll of film is used it must be processed in chemicals to see the image. Once the film is processed the image can be transferred to light sensitive photographic paper and viewed. When you're using a film camera you can't see the image right away.
The ISO setting on a camera helps control the sensitivity the camera has to light. When you're using a digital camera you can change the ISO setting in between every shot. You can preview your picture on the LCD and if you don't like the way it turned out you can change your ISO setting and take the picture again. You can do this again and again until you get it right.
When you use a film camera the ISO is determined by the speed of the film you're using. Film comes in speeds like 100, 400, and 800. These numbers show how sensitive the film is to light. The higher the ISO number the more sensitive the film. When you put a roll of film in your camera you must take pictures with the camera at that same ISO setting until the film runs out. You can't change ISO settings between pictures.
When you use a digital camera you can download your pictures onto your computer to print them or simply plug your camera directly into your printer and print them from there. The entire process can be done by anyone at home. If you don't want prints of your pictures that's fine too. You can email photos to family and friends. There are also plenty of website you can use for sharing your photos.
When you use a film camera pictures have to be developed in a darkroom. You need to take your film to a store that processes film. You can't do it at home unless you have a darkroom full of expensive equipment for processing pictures. It could take anywhere from one hour to a few days before you see your pictures depending on where you take them to get developed.
It was once thought that film photography was of much higher quality than digital photography, but digital cameras are advancing so quickly that is no longer the case. You can get lovely, high quality images from a high-end digital SLR camera. A good quality digital camera does cost much more money than film cameras though.
