Film: To Sing in its Praise Today?

So what is there to sing in praise of film? Surely it is a nasty, dirty, smelly procedure best consigned to the bucket of history? Surely digital is cheaper, easier, faster, more modern? And worst of all, film is analogue—well that’s just not right.   Is it?     Well, between 2005 and 2008 I used digital exclusively, and observed a few things about it. First, it’s not as easy to use as some people are guilty of making out—the latitude of a digital sensor is nothing like as wide as colour negative film and in fact is closer to transparency, as any newcomer to digital who has just seen his highlights totally blown out will testify.  Secondly, speaking as a professional photographer, going digital didn’t save me money, it cost me money—a LOT. Many thousands of pounds a year in fact.  How so, I hear you cry? Once you’ve bought your storage medium