As for the environmentalness of digital, where are all of these used ink cartridges going?
Digital allows the casual photographer access to a digital darkroom, something consumer photographers cannot dream of with film. The process to achieve similar effects in wet and digital darkroom is simplified and made more efficient. Wet darkroom photographers spend hours making just a handful of prints, where as I believe digital enhances their productivity. Film’s advantages – negative film has a much wider lattitude, this it is more forgiving with exposure errors. Film can be bought that is as sensitive as 3200. No digital paper has yet adequately mimicked the RC paper equivalent for film, or if a brand has, they certainly have not rivaled a good fibre based print. Prints from film will last longer only if done from the lab or you know what you’re doing. An improperly fixed or washed film print from the darkroom will have just as much of a life as an inkjet print. Overall, the advantages/disadvantages depend on the photographer – I’ve shot both mediums and at times will prefer one
