Getting a different look in digital becomes more difficult every day as it is becoming a one format one or two brand world.
IMO
BC
?
There has never been such diversity in photography as there is today from both the creative point of view
and the equipment point of view.
There are more companies making cameras today then there were in the 80s.
There are all sorts of lenses available on more digital cameras then there were in the past.
You have everything from ultra high end Ziess all the way down to specialized bokeh dirven designs and toy lenses like
lens baby.
Film and large format are still available though there are some limitations.
Yes I miss 8x10 polaroid and panatomic-X but it's not the end of the world.
It's never been better.
What has really changed is that large investments are not required to satisfy the vast majority of the
publishing formats. This has lead to a democratization of the field with kids and carreer changers comming from no where and
taking increadible pictures.