[séamuis]

Oh, I had this reaction so often. Still, people look to my metal cameras with great respect.
Could be that these old cameras have the quality touch forged in?



I tend to apply the same type of use. It is impractical to use film with off camera lighting, for example. I would not have the guts to cover an event strictly on film. Chimping on the LCD for light balance and having the instant result in front of your eyes is both reassuring and helping me in adjusting the parameters.
I use to say: "Analog for myself, digital for others".

I get that reaction myself quite a lot. I would agree that there is certainly a quality touch, but quality itself is a rather subjective term in many ways. I think however, that most of us deem certain materials, certain methods of manufacture to be more 'quality' than others even if it technically isn't. for example, I know that my 1957 'AP' was hand assembled, hand shimmed, hand adjusted, and lab tested to perfection by a skilled worker before it left the factory. my Spotmatic wasn't. it was much more mass manufactured, much like my K-7's. but I would certainly consider my spotmatic to be of higher 'quality' than my K-7, even though they are both well designed, well engineered, well put together and use quality materials.

I would not be against using film for work at all. I know my equipment inside and out, I know the film I use, very well. but my local newspaper can make no use of film. I don't have a choice but to use digital. one of my favourite things to cover are local parades and other celebrations because I get to very closely interact and converse with people while working and I often get asked 'that was quick, how do you know you got it?' because I never check the LCD. well it comes from my confidence using film. I know what a photo will look like, because I've learned how to judge scenes, I know my equipment, instead of relying on the convienence of having the camera tell me every time wether I got it right or wrong. that does little good when the moment has passed. I aim to have the same level of confidence and smarts as Garry Winogrand had. watch video footage of him in action, and you'll know what I mean. thats a part of the reason why I use film, but more importantly, its why I use particular film cameras. because I think a big part of the reason film has and continues to see a rise in use, is just as much about a connection to the cameras as it is the medium of capture. a lot of people just find that they really connect with the process of capturing or creating a photo in a very different way by using a much more simple film camera vs. a big heavy digital with more buttons, levers, dials and features than they can really make use of. and when you add in the fact that whatever they have will be 'obsolete' and unlikely to be able to be repaired within a few years of manufacture, you start to have a much more fond attachment to older equipment. a lot of the pros I know use more modern film medium and large format equipment, but most of the amateurs use older slr's, tlr's, rangefinders and fixed lens cameras from the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. there is a reason for that and it extends beyond 'retro' or even the use of film. its about simplicity. which anyone who has ever dabbled in art in any way would agree that simplicity and personal limitations are the essence of creativity. a simple approach that lets them concentrate on getting the photo instead of fiddling with settings, checking screens, adjusting menus functions, etc.

a lot of photographers are begging for more simplistic digital cameras, but the manufacturers just think they want something 'retro'. so people are turning to film cameras, and in turn, to film.

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Last edited by séamuis; 02-22-2012 at 09:28 AM.

[stevebrot]

Film is very popular here in the Pacific North West as well. (Oregon, Washington and B.C.) There are lots of pro labs in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver to choose from.

Phil.

Don't forget Portland and the "other" Vancouver. At times, I think Portland is the hub of the film photography universe. It is not unusual to see people on the street with a film camera and the Lomography community is very active. We have four pro labs that I am aware of and several stores that cater almost exclusively to film photography.

Sometimes I think they should do a Portlandia skit on the Portland film photography scene...


Steve

[magkelly]

I think a lot of it has to do with people discovering that they can get film equipment fairly cheaply and with the now easy availability of decent scanners for slides and film. You can buy a decent film scanner for under $100 now if you look hard. People who had always used film went digital for the convenience. Now they're finding they can still have their cake and eat it too, have the quality of film and a digital work flow if they want. They don't have to choose if they don't want to. Plus the kids coming up a lot of them like the simplicity of retro things in general. There's the whole steampunk thing going on, old is "cool" now.

[westmill]

Medium format Cibachrome takes some beating full stop !
There is still a very high demand for this and even 35mm Cibachrome.
I saw one image library that stated they prefer Ciba although they still accepted digital.
Digital kills film cameras dead when you are talking about prints from negs, but Ciba
closes the gap considerably. For a lot of people, 6x7 ciba is still king.

[ironlionzion]

I think I got over that benefit a long time ago. I enjoy waiting, forgetting and rediscovering those moments. Not everybody has to like what I like.

I think you misunderstood me? I was saying I like to wait and see what pops up when I develop my film as well.

[séamuis]

I think you misunderstood me? I was saying I like to wait and see what pops up when I develop my film as well.

I have hundreds and hundreds of rolls of film, that has yet to be developed. I have no idea whats on them anymore. I'm really bad about not developing my film.

[ironlionzion]

wow, that's taking it to another level haha

[Kerrowdown]

I think with the increased interest in photography due to the advent of digital, it has created a whole new group of younger photographers who maybe missed out on the film era.

As film equipment can be picked up relatively cheaply, they're now giving it a bash.

[séamuis]

wow, that's taking it to another level haha

I have hundreds undeveloped, but I may well shoot somewhere in the neighborhood of a 1000 rolls a year. before I gave my chrome SV to my ex-fiancée, I only had it for about a year and a half, if that. I put probably 1300 rolls of film through it. I had to have the shutter replaced before giving it to her, and it had seen a very quality service and restoration in Japan before I bought it.

[monochrome]

I think with the increased interest in photography due to the advent of digital, it has created a whole new group of younger photographers who maybe missed out on the film era. As film equipment can be picked up relatively cheaply, they're now giving it a bash.

• Spouse, now 5x, has a Pentax A-40, shoots daily and saves to laptop direct from camera. I got her PS Elements and she hasn't loaded it yet. She has never loaded film in a SLR, but has extensive binders full of negatives and prints.
• Child #1, now 27, learned on a K1000 and KX, has taken several 5 week photo trips, prints wet, and now has a film Rebel, an iPhone and a Panasonic compact of some kind. She gave me back my KX and lenses. She posts to Instagram and blogs on Wordpress daily. She is a professional network news producer.
• Child #2, now 25, learned on an overstock.com Nikon P&S, now has a Blackberry and a Pentax RZ10 that he uses, made 2500 or so shots on his semester abroad in Canterbury, posts daily pictures of his cats to Twitter and Instagram taken directly from his phone. He is a History teacher and wants nothing to do with Photoshop nor Rodinal.
• Child #3, now 21, has an iPhone 4s and a beater Kodak EasyShare something. She is an accomplished Photoshop Developer and Pagemaker layout designer, collects fonts as a hobby, blogs on Tumblr about fonts and Ralph Waldo Emerson and will begin her Ph.D. next year. She has never loaded film into a camera.

I don't think my children are all that unusual in thier tastes.

[octavmandru]

...a lot of people just find that they really connect with the process of capturing or creating a photo in a very different way by using a much more simple film camera vs. a big heavy digital with more buttons, levers, dials and features than they can really make use of...

...a lot of photographers are begging for more simplistic digital cameras, but the manufacturers just think they want something 'retro'. so people are turning to film cameras, and in turn, to film.

I have hundreds and hundreds of rolls of film, that has yet to be developed. I have no idea whats on them anymore. I'm really bad about not developing my film.

Hehe, VIVIAN MAIER did the same thing.
And ease of use is the main reason I love my ME Super. This kind of design has a special elegance in it.

I think you misunderstood me? I was saying I like to wait and see what pops up when I develop my film as well.

No-no, I was referring to the current tendencies. My gf is a strong representative of this modern age, she likes to chimp to the rear LCD. However, I recently developed a B&W that was sitting in the ref. for a couple of months, and she was amazed seeing the results; now she became more understanding about my ways.

I think a lot of it has to do with people discovering that they can get film equipment fairly cheaply and with the now easy availability of decent scanners for slides and film. You can buy a decent film scanner for under $100 now if you look hard. People who had always used film went digital for the convenience. Now they're finding they can still have their cake and eat it too, have the quality of film and a digital work flow if they want. They don't have to choose if they don't want to. Plus the kids coming up a lot of them like the simplicity of retro things in general. There's the whole steampunk thing going on, old is "cool" now.

Another point, valid in my case at least: lots of great lenses come attached to old cameras, still functional. I see it on this forum all the time.
Ease of use combined with the huge VF. Hard to beat, really hard.

[octavmandru]

• Spouse, now 5x, has a Pentax A-40, shoots daily and saves to laptop direct from camera. I got her PS Elements and she hasn't loaded it yet. She has never loaded film in a SLR, but has extensive binders full of negatives and prints.
• Child #1, now 27, learned on a K1000 and KX, has taken several 5 week photo trips, prints wet, and now has a film Rebel, an iPhone and a Panasonic compact of some kind. She gave me back my KX and lenses. She posts to Instagram and blogs on Wordpress daily. She is a professional network news producer.
• Child #2, now 25, learned on an overstock.com Nikon P&S, now has a Blackberry and a Pentax RZ10 that he uses, made 2500 or so shots on his semester abroad in Canterbury, posts daily pictures of his cats to Twitter and Instagram taken directly from his phone. He is a History teacher and wants nothing to do with Photoshop nor Rodinal.
• Child #3, now 21, has an iPhone 4s and a beater Kodak EasyShare something. She is an accomplished Photoshop Developer and Pagemaker layout designer, collects fonts as a hobby, blogs on Tumblr about fonts and Ralph Waldo Emerson and will begin her Ph.D. next year. She has never loaded film into a camera.

I don't think my children are all that unusual in thier tastes.

It's about imaging in the end. People like things that are easy to use. Many pro's choose huge DSLR's for sheer sensor performance and fps and use it mainly as expensive P&S's.
The Bang Bang Club is a great resource of information about the golden age of photography.


BTW, I like your sig.