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telenous

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Today I sold my one last, remaining SLR camera (an FM3a). I am SLR-free, so to speak. It is the first time in my life that I have no other cameras save for rangefinders. I know others here have trodden this road before - but here I am too.

I suppose I may get an SLR again some time in the future. But it is not going to be soon and it is never going to alter the true photographic love I found in this peculiar (yes, peculiar is the word) kind of photographic seeing. Without it I would never have found the passion and dedication I now seem to lavish over this hobby of mine.

It's almost a year since I first registered with RFF. A little over that is the time I am shooting with rangefinders. Some things in life affect you in ways you never could have dreamt.
 
I fully understand your sentiments Alkis. It is a little over a year now since my father gave me his M4. I have used my SLRs precisely twice since.
 
I'm quite fond of rangefinders I must say. I find myself fumbling when I pick up one of my two remaining SLR's (Cosina CT-1, a gift... and Zenit-E, could never sell). I prefer the quality from my Rollei TLR's, but not the ease and speed on the rf's. That said... The best compromise I found was photographing my rf's with a 4x5 view camera. That's sweet! 😀
 
I didn't realize how little I have used my slrs until I submitted 4 photographs to a new local artistic publication. As I reflected on which to submit all those I chose were taken with a variety of r/fs, Leica, Bessa R, Vivitar 35ES, and a Fuji GS 645 Professional, the folder. All 4 were accepted and I just received the premier issue. I can say proudly I am published! My slrs are relegated to taking action photos of my quite mobile grandsons.
 
Richard, congratulations on getting your work published... and in an artistic venue to boot! Significant that they were all RF images.

I've been putting more effort into building up my old Pentax systems now that film gear prices are so reasonable, and necessarily shooting with this stuff to see that it works properly. Off for 2 weeks vacation over Thanksgiving I took along only a Pentax body and three primes, mostly using a recently acquired slightly-wide normal. In reviewing the results I saw that this lens was unusually subject to flare from bright light near the field of view, so that's both interesting and disappointing. Might likely have been better to take the GS645 instead!
 
Richard Black said:
I didn't realize how little I have used my slrs until I submitted 4 photographs to a new local artistic publication. ... All 4 were accepted and I just received the premier issue. I can say proudly I am published! QUOTE]
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Richard, Congrats on being published! That's got to be sweet 🙂

As I reflected on which to submit all those I chose were taken with a variety of r/fs
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Now, that is precisely the reason why I decided to part with my FM3a. All the photos that bear some significance to me, if not to others as well, seem to have come out of a rangefinder. All the SLRs I tried ever since my rangefinder epiphany, have been wonderful machines but somehow failed to ignite me with photographic passion. When I hold a rangefinder (and I don't just mean a Leica) I am consummed with the flame of the storyteller. I genuinely believe that rangefinders give me a vantage point of view to eye-select these pieces of human history that can bring to life the story I would like to tell.

My slrs are relegated to taking action photos of my quite mobile grandsons.[/
Click to expand...

That's when I am buying an SLR again - when I will have grandkids (in about 30-40 years time) 😀
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Welcome to the club, Alkis. I really must get around to sending my old SLR kit to some dealer who'll take it as the only non-rf I ever use is a digital compact (mostly for Ebay pictures, I hasten to add)
 
telenous said:
It's almost a year since I first registered with RFF. A little over that is the time I am shooting with rangefinders. Some things in life affect you in ways you never could have dreamt.
Click to expand...
I've only been here since November '06 when I bought my first ever rangefinder ( a Contax G1 ) as I've always hankered after a Leica, despite knowing very little about rangefinders generally. Now I own an M6 and am in love with the simplicity - to the point where my G1 is way too automated for me.Unfortunately I HAVE to use SLR's on a daily basis, which includes a bag full of lenses, filters, flash cards, flash, batteries for flash and cameras and far too often a bloody great Manfrotto tripod....however...I am about to dump ALL of my own personal SLR's off at my local camera dealer so that I can add to my M6 and get a couple more lenses. I've never felt so free as when I'm with one rangefinder and one lens ( two at tops! )
 
Simon, I evidenced the final hour before the acquisition of your M6 - believe me, I was so happy for you, esp. as it brought back the memory of the first time I handled my M2 and looked through its viewfinder. One word: Bliss...

What does not cease to amaze me is how some people held the rangefinder light alive through the years of the wilderness (Joe and Jaap to name the first that come to mind, Stephen Gandy no doubt too, many other members here). There must have been times when it seemed all but certain that the 'faith' will die, and yet, hoping against hope, it didn't.

It must be a tremendous relief that it didn't and a great credit is due to the lifelong rangefinder aficionados, for their sheer perseverence and headstrong dedication to a kind of photography that today seems to be safer than ever in the last twenty-thirty years - to the point where one can genuinely talk (without a hint of sarcasm) about a veritable Rangefinder Renaissance.

🙂
 
I must admit that I have, through mainly professional pressures, slimmed down my RF's to one lens and one body, and expanded my L glass and generally slid into the world of DSLR's, which are more a necessary evil for me than a fun purchase. At the moment I'm trying to work out if it's viable for me to do any comissioned work with my pentax 67, because I want to differentiate myself from uncle Bob and his 350d and I want to sell big prints at shameful prices.
 
Toby said:
I must admit that I have, through mainly professional pressures, slimmed down my RF's to one lens and one body, and expanded my L glass and generally slid into the world of DSLR's, which are more a necessary evil for me than a fun purchase. At the moment I'm trying to work out if it's viable for me to do any comissioned work with my pentax 67, because I want to differentiate myself from uncle Bob and his 350d and I want to sell big prints at shameful prices.
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Toby - I think it will work. Your Pentax 67 may be a unique selling proposition in a world flooded with digital images. I guess you will get into more trouble than usual to have the prints made. That alone would justify a higher price for the prints to my mind.
 
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telenous said:
Toby - I think it will work. Your Pentax 67 may be a unique selling proposition in a world flooded with digital images. I guess you will get into more trouble than usual to have the prints made. That alone would justify a higher price for the prints to my mind.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the encouragement. I'm really wringing my hands over this one as I'm relocating to West Sussex in a couple of weeks, and re-launching my portrait business down there. I want to have a small exhibition to really set my stall out, and I'm getting frustrated by digital as I think my skill outstrips the camera (an EOS) than doesn't really lend itself to images that are thoughtfully crafted. That plus I have ten years experience with my pentax and less than a year with DSLR's, and I really resent having to flush all that skill down the toilet and start again with something less good because of the essentially economic arguments of digital. I think it's still pretty simple to get prints made there are syill plenty of good labs in London more than happy to take my money, and there is always the scanning option, ultimately digital 6x6 is supposed to be coming this year, but I'd have to be really doing well to plump for that.

Here's a sample image from the test shoot that made me start thinking about the project, that I believe you've seen on my flickr, but hey, I like showing it😀
 

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Great shot Toby!
You said: ultimately digital 6x6 is supposed to be coming this year...
Tell me more. Is this a new digital back for my Hasselblad?
 
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