I believe a bit of clarification is in order, as it seems these discussions gravitate to highly technical debates that take on a life of their own.
I am NOT a film hater, and in fact use film a great deal considering all of the digital gear I have at my disposal. It seems when I point out that fact , some of you ignore it. IMO, both mediums give us a fantastic array of choices as photographers.
In the end, all any of us can do in discussions like these is draw on our experiences. So, all that I'm saying is that in my experience, digital is here to stay, and is bigger and better than is implied by some posts. Most people I know, in advertising, or as photographers in general, evaluate images with their eyes, not a calculator. In that arena, digital is shocking a lot of naysayers...and will continue to do so.
It is also my experience (as stated before), that in the right hands the visual end results, even from the Contax ND, are spectaular, no matter what mathamatical formula is quoted in rebuttal. The display photos I've seen people like Irakly produce are seductively beautiful, and stand up when exhibited shoulder to shoulder with his film work. No one at any of Irakly's shows went up to the prints and put a loop on it, nor did they whip out a calculator. To my knowledge, not one person asked him what medium was used.
I have experienced the same thing. I've made 13X19 prints from a cropped file that originated from a Canon D30 that brought tears to the eyes of the Bride. My traditional film buddies have been shocked by some of my larger digital prints, and wouldn't believe it wasn't film until I proved it to them.
All of that said, I do believe these posts have value to people like me in that it reminds us of films' unique characteristics and charms.
So much so, that I've decided to shoot my next
wedding exclusively with film. As opposed to my commercial work where the Art Directors no longer want film for their jobs, I am in control of what I shoot for weddings. I've been considering doing this for awhile now, and our discussions here have swayed me.