With the advent of digital, film cameras seem to have become a thing of the past. While more and more photographers are going digital because of the easiness of use and the lower prices, however, cameras that use film still have many benefits.
The main benefit of choosing film cameras is photo quality. While digital photography has come a long way in the past decade, it's still far behind film when it comes to definition. If you intend on printing wall-sized prints or playing around with larger sizes, film prints offer the best quality. In the last few years, new digital cameras with high-definition clarity have come into the market, but they are still no match for much simpler film cameras.
Another benefit of cameras that use film is their price. Even the cheapest will offer high-quality photography; in digital, however, you may need to pay hundreds of US Dollars (USD) to get the same attributes. As an example, professional film cameras can be bought for about $1,200 US Dollars (USD), while the same level in digital will cost at least double. Also, because of new models continuously hitting the market, digital cameras tend to lose value rather quickly. On the other hand, those that use film will usually retain their value over the years.
Photography tricks involving variation in shutter speed cannot be reproduced in digital. Film cameras, however, allow for a variety of tricks such as time lapses and overexposure. Some of the new high-end digitals may allow for fast shooting, but only under certain circumstances. Even then, they have the disadvantage of consuming batteries much more quickly when performing the same processes.
Film cameras also allow for a variety of filters and lenses, giving the photographer a much fuller spectrum in which to work. While 50mm lenses are common in both types, wide-angle lenses, fisheye lenses, and perspective control lenses are only available for those that use film.