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01-14-2020, 01:24 AM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by johnha Quote
Great video, very well made.



Medium format is much more enticing for me today than 35mm (digital has picked up most of the recording I used to use 35mm for). I now shoot 35mm mostly to use my favourite gear, with 120 for most of my 'arty' stuff. I struggle to shoot more than 15 shots now.
I was in that same (medium format) vein for a good long while, mostly leaving 35mm alone except just to (as you say) shoot the favorite.... But then discovered Konica (which I'd never shot before) about 2 or more years back now, and that led me down yet another 35mm rabbit that has yet to let me come back up for air.

01-14-2020, 03:02 AM   #17
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One little error in this film. Eastman Kodak don't make film since 2013, it is Kodak Alaris a British owned company...
01-17-2020, 12:09 AM - 2 Likes   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by mixalis_kalymnos1611 Quote
One thing is for sure, film is reborn a lot more expensive.
I gotta disagree with you, my friend, at least when it comes to equipment. I found an old issue of Pop Photography from '82 and used one of those handy-dandy inflation calculators. Back then you could mail-order a Pentax MX body for $140 -- equivalent of $370 now. Today you can buy one and get it CLA'd for less than $200. Nikon FE -- $235 then, equivalent of $620, today they're <$100 on eBay. A Pentax LX was $440, $1200 to us. Today you can get one for $250.

OK, film is more expensive - Tri-X was the equivalent of $5 a roll and 100' of Ilford HP-5 was the equivalent of $40. Granted those are mail-order prices. They're a couple-few bucks more today. Slide processing, adjusted for inflation, $8 for a roll, today my local wants $11. More, but not a whole lot more.

I kind of feel like we're living in the golden age. Today I can afford cameras and lenses I could only dream of back then, and the consumables costs are only a little higher. Best yet, with a $200 scanner I can easily view and crop my photos without spending big bucks on photo paper and darkroom rental.

Compare it to digital... Sony a6000 with a lens costs about a grand. For that you can buy a good, advanced-amateur-to-pro-level 35mm SLR, get it serviced, and have enough $$ left over to shoot and process a roll of film a week for a year or more. And in five years, when the Sony is obsolete and possibly broken and in need of another $1000 replacement, your film camera will still be in perfect working order.
01-27-2020, 03:04 AM   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by Autonerd Quote
I gotta disagree with you, my friend, at least when it comes to equipment. I found an old issue of Pop Photography from '82 and used one of those handy-dandy inflation calculators. Back then you could mail-order a Pentax MX body for $140 -- equivalent of $370 now. Today you can buy one and get it CLA'd for less than $200. Nikon FE -- $235 then, equivalent of $620, today they're <$100 on eBay. A Pentax LX was $440, $1200 to us. Today you can get one for $250.

OK, film is more expensive - Tri-X was the equivalent of $5 a roll and 100' of Ilford HP-5 was the equivalent of $40. Granted those are mail-order prices. They're a couple-few bucks more today. Slide processing, adjusted for inflation, $8 for a roll, today my local wants $11. More, but not a whole lot more.

I kind of feel like we're living in the golden age. Today I can afford cameras and lenses I could only dream of back then, and the consumables costs are only a little higher. Best yet, with a $200 scanner I can easily view and crop my photos without spending big bucks on photo paper and darkroom rental.

Compare it to digital... Sony a6000 with a lens costs about a grand. For that you can buy a good, advanced-amateur-to-pro-level 35mm SLR, get it serviced, and have enough $$ left over to shoot and process a roll of film a week for a year or more. And in five years, when the Sony is obsolete and possibly broken and in need of another $1000 replacement, your film camera will still be in perfect working order.
You’re absolutely right about the camera. It’s the actual film I’m talking about. Sure the economical comparison you make makes perfect sense in accordance with what you wanna say. But in my place, it’s more expensive. It’s not widely spread. There are always cheaper alternatives but slide and pro cost much more compared to older times and development issues are also there. If someone doesn’t live in any big city, then the cost of mailing and developing rises to 2x...
Of course you can always try to develop your own. But it’s not easy for everyone.
I totally love my analog camera and will keep shooting, nevertheless.


Last edited by Michail_P; 01-27-2020 at 03:12 AM.
01-28-2020, 06:35 PM - 1 Like   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by mixalis_kalymnos1611 Quote
You’re absolutely right about the camera. It’s the actual film I’m talking about. Sure the economical comparison you make makes perfect sense in accordance with what you wanna say. But in my place, it’s more expensive. It’s not widely spread. There are always cheaper alternatives but slide and pro cost much more compared to older times and development issues are also there. If someone doesn’t live in any big city, then the cost of mailing and developing rises to 2x...
Of course you can always try to develop your own. But it’s not easy for everyone.
I totally love my analog camera and will keep shooting, nevertheless.
A few years back now I went all over this topic in many conversations and in my own head. There are a ridiculous number of variables for each and every shooter, from home dev, to film format choices (let alone stocks), equipement digital/analog, resale values.... on and on. In the end I decided it was all largely a wash, depending how you proceed. But more than that I chose not to worry or think about it much. I never entered into photography and grew with it to be concerned with the economy of it. I shoot both digital and film, but in the past 6 of 7 years, film much more so again by a drastic margin. It works for me on a multiple levels that would be a bore to get into.
I for one am just happy another generation found such interest in film photography at all.
01-28-2020, 07:01 PM   #21
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QuoteOriginally posted by jbinpg Quote
Thank you for posting this. I had no idea there was a resurgence in film interest underway. I will have to watch for it locally.
Here in the Portland area it is pretty hard to miss and has been for several years.


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01-28-2020, 09:37 PM - 1 Like   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by Autonerd Quote
Today you can buy one and get it CLA'd for less than $200. Nikon FE -- $235 then, equivalent of $620, today they're <$100 on eBay. A Pentax LX was $440, $1200 to us. Today you can get one for $250.
I'm thinking I should start shopping in SoCal. A CLA'd MX body in a shop is about $225 with 6mo warranty, about $25 less than a K1000 or an SPII. Add $80 for a Pentax-M 50/1.7. The last LX body I saw was a bit rough and priced at $400. I was quoted between $125 and $200 for a CLA on my Spotmatic F, so that is not cheap either.


Steve

01-29-2020, 05:06 AM - 1 Like   #23
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QuoteOriginally posted by Eyewanders Quote
But insofar as the environmental aspect brought up by that particular instructor late in the video, I fundamentally disagree, and emphatically. There are so, so many ongoing industrial and consumer practices that are exponentially more harmful across as many industries that require attention long before anyone should bother even investigating film's impact. As one pointed out, there are multitudes of household cleaning products still in use by orders of magnitude that are as bad or more impactful. This isn't to say a more green approach shouldn't be explored, but realistically film production and use is a drop in an ocean.
I agree entirely and was quite surprised to see this even brought up. You could argue that paint is environmentally unfriendly.

I suspect the environmental impact of mass-produced digital cameras, batteries and memory cards would out-weigh the impact of shooting film many-fold. Film is almost always shot on gear which would otherwise have been discarded, now it's being re-used, and enjoyed, instead of dumped.

Other than that, it's a very nice little video which I enjoyed very much. I even picked up my beautiful black SRT101 and finished off the roll of APX 100 that's been sitting in it for I don't know how long.
01-29-2020, 08:28 AM - 1 Like   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jonathan Mac Quote
I suspect the environmental impact of mass-produced digital cameras, batteries and memory cards would out-weigh the impact of shooting film many-fold. Film is almost always shot on gear which would otherwise have been discarded, now it's being re-used, and enjoyed, instead of dumped.
Also all the electricity used by the servers/network gear/air conditioners/generators (fossil fuels) that are needed for the storage of all the worlds selfies & cat videos!


Phil.
01-29-2020, 10:25 AM - 2 Likes   #25
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Well I am always glad to see old film cameras back in use; they were a part of the world I once lived in. A time when it was less crowded and more personal and your bank manager knew your name.
Consider this, why do people spend so much effort in golf trying to drive a ball into the hole, when they could easily pick it up and drop it in? The answer is the reward from achievement is related to the difficulty and effort required to achieve it.
The physical nature of interaction with a manual camera, totally dependent on you for its setting, can be very satisfying, and the results being so tangible are equally rewarding.
Perhaps the young today are finding that when things come to you without much effort, there is not much satisfaction either.
01-29-2020, 01:23 PM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jonathan Mac Quote
I suspect the environmental impact of mass-produced digital cameras, batteries and memory cards would out-weigh the impact of shooting film many-fold. Film is almost always shot on gear which would otherwise have been discarded, now it's being re-used, and enjoyed, instead of dumped.
QuoteOriginally posted by gofour3 Quote
Also all the electricity used by the servers/network gear/air conditioners/generators (fossil fuels) that are needed for the storage of all the worlds selfies & cat videos!
In stark contrast is the planned obsolescence of tech across markets that increases and becomes more and more an issue as time goes on. For example the recent Sonos debacle which is causing a very pointed IoT "wake-up call" to consumers, not just in terms of replacing hardware products on a software-based development cycle, discarding the old, but also in practices like Sonos began "offering" last Sept/Oct...

From Sonos, a 30% new product purchase discount is available to current customer via a "Trade-Up" which requires the user to initiate a "recycle-mode" on their eligible out-of-support (or soon to be) device which effectively "bricks" it and renders it unusable/unsaleable. "Recycle mode" is a rather ironic term used for creating such vast amounts of wasted, fully-functioning hardware now destined (in most cases if we're thinking realistically) for landfill... and all in the name of new sales on one side of the transaction, and very slight price-savings on the other. And, this from a company that has always had longevity at the core of its messaging.

Yeah, there are other current concerns that ought take precedence over worrying about film production.
01-30-2020, 04:02 AM   #27
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QuoteOriginally posted by Eyewanders Quote
From Sonos, a 30% new product purchase discount is available to current customer via a "Trade-Up" which requires the user to initiate a "recycle-mode" on their eligible out-of-support (or soon to be) device which effectively "bricks" it and renders it unusable/unsaleable. "Recycle mode" is a rather ironic term used for creating such vast amounts of wasted, fully-functioning hardware now destined (in most cases if we're thinking realistically) for landfill
Wow, I didn't know companies did this. That's terrible. Tech you don't want any more should be given/sold to someone that does want it, then that continues until the item is broken/unusable, at which point it should be re-cycled. Deliberately bricking an item just to curtail the used market and force people to buy new is environmentally diabolical.
01-30-2020, 07:07 PM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jonathan Mac Quote
Wow, I didn't know companies did this. That's terrible. Tech you don't want any more should be given/sold to someone that does want it, then that continues until the item is broken/unusable, at which point it should be re-cycled. Deliberately bricking an item just to curtail the used market and force people to buy new is environmentally diabolical.
To be a bit fair, in all of their coms on the subject they stress that it should be recycled at a proper facility, and if that isn't possible they'll provide a return shipping label to send it to them directly and they will tear-down and recycle it themselves. But in reality there'll be plenty of folks just taking the 30% and chucking them to the bin . From a business perspective it is surely curtail the used market - there's a savings, but there's a new sale. All in all the discount should just be given to current owners and they can do as they see fit with the deprecated hardware. Rather ugly business in my view.

But this is drifting far and away off-topic. My bad.
02-01-2020, 04:52 AM   #29
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even though i still shoot some black and white film with my MZS i honestly don't believe film will come back very strong unless Kodachrome is brought back. nothing compares to it. younger people have no idea I'm afraid. the best of national geographic was shot with Kodachrome and some of the most well know photos of the 20th century were shot with it also. my thoughts anyway
02-01-2020, 07:26 AM   #30
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Film is never “coming back” to the way it was.

That doesn’t imply there won’t be a robust hobbyist market for it with some cool opportunities for making cool art and generally playing around.

But as a mainline commercial media for the creation of images or the preferred media for the larger public, that’s not happening in any future I see as likely...

-Eric
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