Can anyone remember when.....

[J. Cobble]

This is the coolest forum. You get to learn from people who really know what they are doing. The equipment has gotten so good that we are down to comparing tiny details. Like I said, I am glad that we have all this hi-tech stuff. BUT....do you remember when you used to take great pictures with an old beat up Pentax and first generation SLR lenses? I am a major fan of digital photography now that I have discovered the D300 and I just received my first L lense today. Found the equipment review site, after the fact, and was amazed at the critical review of the performance of the equiptment. All of the stuff produced today is miles above stuff just 15 years ago. You know, Ansel Adams used some pretty low grade equipment in comparision. Just me thinking out loud.

[SoCal69]

I know what you mean...

I still have my SLR from the 1980's - a fully manual Nikon (GASP :shock:) FM2 (sold the FM years ago). Not a single automatic function on it! To be honest, I still ove the way it handles and feels... now if only it didn't require film, I would still be using it :!:

[Scottes]

"One photo out of focus is a mistake,
ten photos out of focus are an experimentation,
one hundred photos out of focus are a style."

I have style? My wife will be pleased...

[SoCal69]

"One photo out of focus is a mistake,
ten photos out of focus are an experimentation,
one hundred photos out of focus are a style."

I have style? My wife will be pleased...

Hey, it's the only way I can call myself a photographer! 8) Now only if other people would call me that!

[iwatkins]

Got an Olympus OM-10 that I use every couple of weeks loaded with fast 'n' grainy ISO1600 film. I just walk around town shooting anything. I develop the film myself (in the bathroom) and then use a scanner for capture if any are worth keeping.

I don't necessarily do it to take great shots (that is why I bought the 10D), but I do it more for stress relief at the end of a tough week and I like the smell of the chemicals :D

Also have a couple of Canon film bodies hanging about as backups.

Cheers

Ian

[tom_sd]

Digital is really good these days but I like shooting with film just as much. Still have my Cannon A1 with lots of different lenses (unfortunately FD lenses). I even break out the old 4x5 and play with it when I feel like messing with sheet film. It is sure nice to just shoot and download though.

[WestFalcon]

Do any of you remember ALtmans? It was thee camera store of the 60's and 70's if I remember my dates. It was in Chicago...wow, what a store. It would be the B&H of its day. Three or four floors with very intelligent people working there. Closed when the employees wanted to unionize it.

[WestFalcon]

Do any of you remember ALtmans? It was thee camera store of the 60's and 70's if I remember my dates. It was in Chicago...wow, what a store. It would be the B&H of its day. Three or four floors with very intelligent people working there. Closed when the employees wanted to unionize it.

[Jesper]

I have my dad's old Chinon camera of the 1970's. I have a 50mm lens for it and a Vivitar 80-200 zoom lens. I can remember when my brother and I were kids and my dad made photos of us, we always complained because it would took *ages* before he finally made the photo. It was a completely mechanical camera, you have to set the aperture with the ring on the lens, focus manually, it has a light meter with a needle and you have to adjust the aperture and shutter speed so that the needle is between the + and the - to get a correct exposure. It really forces you to take the time for making a photo... but it was a good camera and my dad made some great photos with it.

I'm not using it very often, but when I did I sometimes forgot to focus... :? I'm too much used to auto-focus...

[robertwgross]

I can remember how hard it was to get flash synchronization... when we had flash powder.

Then we got flash bulbs for the Kodak Hawkeye.

---Bob Gross---

[ron chappel]

Ah! you've struck a chord with me too!!
I often think about this in fact.Sure i just couldn't possibly go back from digital...but by the same token i couldn't possibly not have a "real" camera sitting around to play with occasionally. :D
I love the mechanical sounds and feel of the controls on the old things.Alot of them smell good too (and some don't! lol)
The only real issue i have with old cameras is ergonomics.They just couldn't make them into the strange and great shapes of present day cameras.

When Leica come out with a true M digital i will have to seriously consider actually trying one.[/u]

[CoolToolGuy]

Ah! you've struck a chord with me too!!
I often think about this in fact.Sure i just couldn't possibly go back from digital...but by the same token i couldn't possibly not have a "real" camera sitting around to play with occasionally. :D
I love the mechanical sounds and feel of the controls on the old things.

How true :!: I want to sell all my film stuff, but every once in a while I pick up the F1 and just click the shutter a couple of times. What a rush :!: That camera is so solidly built, and, well if you haven't been there, you just wouldn't understand... :wink: :roll:

Have Fun
Rick 8)

[kraterz]

I still don't have a DSLR! My mainstream SLR is an EOS-3 backed up by an Elan-7. I still love my trusty old OM2n which has given me almost 3 decades of dedicated service. I still remember when we were all so excited when the OM2 offered *real* TTL flash, man what a revolution that was. I'd probably get a DSLR when it becomes as cheap, reliable and robust as my EOS-3.

[BDM]

I can remember how hard it was to get flash synchronization... when we had flash powder.

Then we got flash bulbs for the Kodak Hawkeye.

---Bob Gross---

And maybe occasional fires?

My Nikon F (which I still have) had a choice of flash sync settings which, if they weren't set right ruined more shots than I care to remember. Even my Hasselblad lenses had a choice of M and X sync which was set with a little lever and which occasionally got moved in most mysterious ways and with unfortunate results. When M sync disappeared things got a lot easier.

I also remember using some very large flashbulbs (I can't remember the number but they were the size of photoflood bulbs) which occasionally exploded. That was a lot of fun!

Bruce