So, for you old timers that had film SLRs, how many shots on average did you shoot in a week/month/whatever?

I shot mostly B&W since it was easy to process in my darkroom. (Did a 5' x 10' mural once. Had to do it on the floor with a mop and makeshift 2 x 4 and plastic "tray") I bulk loaded 40 shot rolls of Tri-X and killed about 4 rolls a day. I would always develop and contact print all but printed just a handful. Use to spend the entire weekend in the darkroom. If I was doing a wedding then it was color print and I'd shoot at least 10 rolls of 36. Now with digital shooting is easier and I just don't have the time to shoot more than 2 -3 days a month.

[mmayer]

I still have my Minolta X700 from over 25 years ago! It still works, and I used it primarily to shoot B&W since I got into developing my own film/prints. Then I had kids, and put it away for a very long time. When my kids grew up and I started to have time again, the digital SLR's were now on the shelf and I had a choice .....film or digital? I was comfortable with film, and concerned about making the switch (that fear of the unkown thing), but switched over anyway. So now I'll never go back to film again as I absolutely love the performance and flexibility I have with the K10D. When will I upgrade??? Probably when it breaks....hopefull a very long time.

[Tom2]

In 1964, I was 13, and I used a twin-lens reflex (Rolliflex) to shoot a bunch of photos for one of my father's books. I had been shooting for a couple of years. BIG manual strobe, with the guide number and f/stops and distances (for Tri-X) taped on to the huge reflector. You could light up half a football field with that sucker!

First Pentax was about that time, shooting his Asahi Spotmatic.

Along the way, bunches of Nikons, Leica rangefinders, Leica SLRs, Olympus OM-2 systems, Pentax 6x7, Pentax 645, dozens of point & shoots (shot magazine covers with some of them!), Mamiyaflex TLR, . . .

1972 -- University of Missouri photojournalism program, and Brian Lanker is there, speaking to us students. One personal asked what the camera settings were for a particular photo. He said, "Whatever what appropriate to get the picture."

He then went on to say, "When artists get together, they don't talk about brushes."

(Google Brian Lanker, if you don't know.)

It was a telling comment, I thought.

[marcdsgn]

"When artists get together, they don't talk about brushes." It was a telling comment, I thought.

Hear, hear!!

[brothereye]

One thing people tend to forget is that old DSLRs will not stop working just because they are a couple of versions out of date.

Too true. In my opinion, one of the big things for DSLRS that happened was when they hit 10MP. At that point, I got enough extra so I could crop some if I had to, but still get super 8x10s, and if I was careful, I could get bigger prints than that. 6MP was another high point, where I could make great 8x10s(and sometimes a little larger) without up-sampling.

It's too bad that Pentax couldn't have kept the K10D in the line-up, to this day it's still probably more than I need, but it sure is nice to have. The K10D could have been Pentax's 5D or D80(except it's constructed better), you know, a consumer model that stayed on the market longer than 18 to 24 months. Ah well, I've got my K10D at least.

[Blue]

Too true. In my opinion, one of the big things for DSLRS that happened was when they hit 10MP. At that point, I got enough extra so I could crop some if I had to, but still get super 8x10s, and if I was careful, I could get bigger prints than that. 6MP was another high point, where I could make great 8x10s(and sometimes a little larger) without up-sampling.

It's too bad that Pentax couldn't have kept the K10D in the line-up, to this day it's still probably more than I need, but it sure is nice to have. The K10D could have been Pentax's 5D or D80(except it's constructed better), you know, a consumer model that stayed on the market longer than 18 to 24 months. Ah well, I've got my K10D at least.

Sometimes people can get "set in their ways" which is thought to be a function of age. The K200d is just as good as the k10d. It is 10.2 mp and has the dust sealing and many other good features and I like using it. I agree that the film slr never really got out-dated until the AF hit then the AF bodies went through and evolution.

[Blue]

He then went on to say, "When artists get together, they don't talk about brushes."

(Google Brian Lanker, if you don't know.)

That makes for a nice quote and all but they definitely talked about what kind of paint . . . Ever wonder why so many artists used to go crazy? Many of the colors were associated with heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury especially mercuric oxide, etc.

[cygnet]

He then went on to say, "When artists get together, they don't talk about brushes."

It was a telling comment, I thought.

Telling that he liked cute sayings more than truth?
I've been an artist, and we talked about brushes, pallet knives, canvas, oils, acrylics, and most anything else involved in the process. And musicians talk about strings, bows, pickups, reeds, woods, and etc.
Of course artists talk about the tools of trade.

[marcdsgn]

Of course artists talk about the tools of trade.

The point is that the more experienced artists/photographers have long since got past tool-envy and worked out what works best for their style, skills and tasks. More to the point, the artist controls the tool and compensates for what that tool may lack. In 24 years in commercial art/design I've never had cause to discuss tools of the trade with industry peers. We each use different means to reach the same end. It's not important - the result is.

By contrast, there are many junior designers who have come and gone from our company whose skills have improved very little despite their eagerness to upgrade to the latest software, emulate the latest style, etc.