Is digital more expensive?

Many people believe that digital photography is less expensive than shooting with film, "because there is no film".

Whilst digital photography provides a number of important benefits, cost savings are generally not one of them. There is a massive increase in equipment costs, and in time expenditure, to produce quality images.

However, whilst digital photography by itself is not necessarily less expensive, when incorporated into a digital workflow, from capture to output, the overall cost and time savings are considerable.

Higher equipment costs
On average the cost of professional digital equipment is around 3 times greater than the equivalent film gear. Added to this digital has a turnover period of 18 – 24 months as compared to the 5 – 7 year lifetime of film equipment. A basic professional digital kit will cost in the order of $20,000 and can easily rise to $50,000 or more.

Greater time committment
The developing and processing services which were once outsourced to specialised labs, are now handled by the photographer. Every hour of photography generally requires 1 - 2 hours of editing and production time, and an increased volume of computer and storage equipment. The positive side to this is the increased creative control the photographer and client gain over the process.

Additional Knowledge requirements
Many downstream processes once handled by scanner operators, pre-press, or the printers themselves, have also been taken over by the photographer. Whilst this has resulted in an increase in costs from the photographers end, there is an overall reduction in project costs as there are no longer any scanning costs, and reduced pre-press and printing costs. Overall, the digital workflow has dramatically reduced production times, with the greatest of these benefits occurring with “close to deadline” steps.

If you are purely interested in the lowest quote, new or student photographers are often a good option as they will be utilising non professional grade equipment (with the obvious costs savings this entails). However, as with any industry, if you are interested in high quality results and service, you should expect to pay a little more.

Please read our page on the Benefits of Digital Photography for an outline of the potential cost savings when utilising a digital workflow throughout a marketing or advertising project.

Additional Reading

Benefits of Quality Photography The benefits of quality images for your marketing	Using an Experienced Photographer Why an Experienced Photographer is better
Benefits of Digital Photography Cost savings & other benefits of a digital workflow	Digital vs Film pricing A comparison of the similarities and differences