Originally posted by monochrome
Many years ago I had a turn with the Sightseeing Screwmount, an SV that toured around the membership for a couple years. I went to a railroad museum loaded with Tri-X and my Sekonic L-98 Micro Leader. Lot's of people looked but didn't comment - but there are people who just don't have any propriety. My 'favorite' comments were:
Are you an art student? You're kind of old, aren't you?
:P While I am a 36 year old student, because of my age and I guess my 'early greying' if you will, most people wouldn't even assume student, or have something entirely different in their mind. Like being on the sidewalk, at night, full on aluminum Bogen 3021 tripod, camera mounted clear as day, shutter release attached, and getting ready to take some shots of long exposure traffic coming down the highway (the sidewalk being on the overpass that's grated off). So not discrete in the least, it's very apparent I'm taking pictures. Also bear in mind I'm deaf (moderate to severe one side, severe to profound the other), so I'm not hearing the woman at the light coming off the highway yelling at me until she's honking her horn. "What are you doing!?" ... I'm taking pictures, "WHY!? Why are you Taking Pictures!?" ... I felt like saying "... because I can... ", but rather just saying "I'm a student" for whatever reason shuts them up.
Originally posted by monochrome What kind of cheap camera doesn't come with a meter?
One an experienced user might like...
Originally posted by monochrome I didn't know they still made film (of course).
Haven't gotten that one yet, since round here it seems obvious that it *exists* (but in their minds in an extremely limited capacity which may be true locally I guess), but I have had the retorts such as "Wouldn't digital give you a better quality?", they say that even when I'm out shooting with my Olympus E-M5, despite the tilt up LCD screen on the back, people on the street keep thinking it's a film body. The Peruvian walnut grip probably doesn't help.
Originally posted by monochrome You mean YOU have to focus? (by a teenager).
Never had that, but I could see it happening. I have mentioned with some lens I have to manually focus but that I prefer such and such lens over some of the native ones on my digitals. The usual responses if they are into photography as well is "I can't handle manual focus, nothing comes out right". Which is pretty obvious when you consider 99.99% of the DSLR cameras made now days have focusing screens intended primarily for AF usage. None of that split/micro prism goodness, and usually a pentamirror unless you're lucky enough to get a model with an actual prism.
Originally posted by monochrome The most obnoxious was, sotto voce, "If he'd just use a real camera we wouldn't have to stand here and wait."
Never had that one either, but usually when I can, I like to shoot from the waist, so most of the time people don't notice. I usually prefer that people keep on walking, not stopping and asking me for the millionth time if they're going to get in the way. It's like walk as normal, I'll time myself around you.