Main advantages and disadvantages of digital photography compared with conventional film

Advantages

Disadvantages

No consumable film.  A one off purchase of memory cards is required.  The cost of memory is now becoming reasonable.

Access to a computer or storage device is required to back up image files from the camera and release space on the camera memory cards.

Able to review images taken immediately and can choose to retain, discard or retake.

Consumables such as printer ink and photo quality paper have to be purchased.  Although alternative commercial printing is now available.

Immediate DIY processing.  No waiting for processing laboratories.

More time is required to process the images unless unedited commercial printing is used.

Ease of editing, cropping, enlargement etc.  No darkroom or darkroom equipment required.

Capital cost of computer, peripheral equipment and software can be high.  This could be comparable to darkroom equipment though.

Printed image quality from cameras with resolutions of  2 mega pixel and above are quite acceptable for up to 10" x 8" full frame photos.  Camera resolution is increasing rapidly.   Resolutions of 3m pixels and above is best for printing of selected enlargements.

LCD screens use up battery power. Rechargeable batteries with a fully charged spare are recommended. 

Ease of viewing and transfer of images to all media. e.g. prints, email, web pages, cards, presentations, documents.

Backgrounds generally come out sharp.  Blurring of the background, if required, can be achieved in the digital imaging software.

Large depth of field. e.g. typically a 3 x zoom camera has a focal length of 7 to 21mm equivalent to 38 to 115 mm on a 35 mm camera.

Personal satisfaction in being able to control the entire image making process.