Originally posted by Clicker I don't think it's a matter of being "afraid" of MF but more akin to "hey it's 2011 not 1960" similar to missing viewfinders in M43s and P&Ss or EVF vs OVF
And I just think of all the generations of toggers who survived and flourished before AF was invented. How did they MANAGE?!?!? Answer: Those not using a manual P&S (box camera, slow lens, etc) just had to practice a little -- or a lot, with view cams.
How about before metering? I read of one pioneer who used his
cat as a light meter. Catseye irises are slits? Short exposure. Irises half-open? Long exposure. Wide open? Not enough light to shoot. This was back before the Sunny-16 rule, eh?
I grew up with older technologies. Manual or no focus; handheld or no metering; learn to judge distance, light; read the fine print on film cartons. Angst over manual focusing... strikes me as over-wrought. Has the whole world gone wussie? Yow!
No, it's not like I walked ten miles to school every day through blizzards and droughts, AND I LIKED IT! -- none of that. (I just walked or skateboarded or biked 1.5 miles through suburbia, listening to a portable radio and reading SciFi.) I don't advocate a return to Ye Goode Olde Dayse (which never existed). I just think that photographing without all the latest techie assists Ain't No Big Thang. It's nice to have those techie assists. It's also good to know how to function without them. It's like, texting is fine, but learn to write too, eh?
[/me loads a cart of Fuji Superia 400 into my 1934 Kodak Retina 1 folder and goes snark-hunting]