Quote: When we use our film cameras, we make an active choice to go back to some point along the technological gimcracks timeline and pick a camera which fits our needs or whims,
Amen!
I admit it... I can't always make up my mind either. That's why I keep, and actively shoot with, cameras from different eras.
For Pentax, that means
- Spotmatic F (which I only "upgraded" to open aperture metering with a proper SMC lens recently...)
- Program Plus for that funky 70's metal body-meets-electronics feel
- MZ-7 for a taste of fully modern film SLR
This includes other camera makes and models too. It's amazing what steps the photographer used to have to take to make a photograph, that were eventually made completely automatic and transparent.
Do I want to experience an SLR
without an automatic return mirror? And with a fixed (45mm) Zeiss lens? Then I take out the Contaflex for a spin.
Perhaps I feel like experiencing point-and-shoot photography from the 1940's, without the benefit of ANY focussing aids or meters. Then I load up the AGFA Isolette (120 film) or the Ikonta 35 (35mm). (By the way, I usually prefer the Ikonta 35, because one of the "luxuries" that I need is double-exposure prevention. I always forget to advance the film on the AGFA before I cock and fire the shutter!
Sometimes you pick a camera because of the way it makes you take pictures.... the waist level finder on my Yashica TLR helps me slow down and control every aspect of the composition. The big metal-frame finder on my Graflex Crown Graphic inspires me to shoot spontaneously... once the camera has been set up, you can quickly compose handlheld and fire without other distractions. It makes a good "decisive moment" camera, and you quickly appreciate the dictum of "f/8 and be there".
I love the feeling of picking a camera from any point on the line of development of cameras. Every different camera inspires me to make different kinds of pictures.