Film vs Digital?

[u/natalieguido]

My girlfriend sent me a tiktok of a photographer showcasing their photos and I mentioned that they looked dull and unedited. In her response, she claimed that they looked like they could be film. Keep in mind, these photos were taken by a digital camera. I just want to know if you can tell the difference between film vs digital raw?

[u/manofth3match]

Just assume they are digital until proven otherwise. Film is super niche now.

[u/Rogue_Melon]

hard to tell with so much image compression. Does not look like film though.

[u/Embarrassed-Area4652]

If you knew for sure that there was minimal editing on either side, very small-scale details would look different, particularly grain, but that can be emulated. You're not wrong that film can have different colors and dynamic range than the usual digitally processed image, but both workflows also give you tons of flexibility and variables that determine the final look.

Here's the cinematographer who made Knives Out and The Last Jedi explaining at length why it's not so simple:

https://www.yedlin.net/NerdyFilmTechStuff/OnFilmGrainEmulation

[u/OnePhotog]

is it still 'film' if you are consuming the image on a digital screen?

[u/AtlQuon]

Film is surprisingly punchy if you know what you do. Film by definition isn't dull. This looks very much digital and the trees show a lot of artifacting that I could even push onto the use of AI. This is absolutely digital.