Thinking of Selling my Film Gear

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usccharles

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Am I stupid? SOmeone help.

So I've been pondering this ever since i started using my M8. I do love my film bodies, but i seriously see no reason to use them any more with my M8 around. i have a Konica Hexar RF and M6TTL.

Should i keep them for a rainy day or should i sell them and buy a nice lens? they're just sitting at home catching dust all day.

😕
 
its not to say that i'm done with film though. i still have my R6.2 and my Rollei 35. it just in terms of range finder cameras, i see no reason not to opt for my M8 instead of the other bodies when it comes time to take pictues.
 
I sold my m6 to afford the m8 as well as a contax system. When something is sitting around doing nothing it is time to sell Good Luck David
 
back alley said:
maybe keep one as a backup, sell one and still buy a nice lens.
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good idea. which one would you let go, the Hexar or M6? its weird but i'm leaning towards keeping the hexar and selling the M6...
 
I have realized over all these years that I like coming back to my older cameras every now and then. I will use them for a couple of months and really enjoy them and then they go back into the drawer until I get the urge again. I have never sold a camera or a lens that I felt strongly about - even if I thought I might never use it again and it turns out that I do use them. I love digital, but I also love film and I could not envision to dump my film gear. I have a Canon AE-1 - it was my very first SLR and I bought it brand new with the little money I had back then. Just recently I resurrected it and its two lenses to shoot IR film - it still worked great and it felt great working with this old, but timeless camera again. Maybe I am just too attached to my cameras and lenses:angel:

And yes, every sain and normal person tells me that I have too many cameras, but what the heck do they know😀 😀 😀
 
I used to sell each of my old cameras to help pay for each new one. For sentimental reasons I guess, a couple of years ago I started to buy back each model I once possessed. The digital age made them cheap and I got some awesomely nice, exc condition classics. I still use my DSLR and L-series glass and admit that for pure image quality the new gear can't be beat. But I rediscovered film and the thrill of opening a package of prints returned from the lab or the wet B&W film coming out of the developing tank. I'm now heavily addicted and suffer serious RF GAS and have a collection of around 20 old film cameras. So careful, sell your stuff now, but never, ever look back!!
 
photogdave said:
If you think you will ever need a range finder camera that is less noisy than the M8 (in terms of shutter and image quality at ISO3200) then keep one of the film cameras.
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Thanks for the tip- which 3200 film would your recommend? I need to do some low (LOW) light color photography and wanted to shoot film due to film's stellar performance in this regard.
 
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Sailor Ted said:
Thanks for the tip- which 3200 film would your recommend? I need to do some low (LOW) light color photography and wanted to shoot film due to film's stellar performance in this regard.
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I've only shot one roll but I was quite impressed with Fuji Superia 1600 (shot as such):





It let me stop down to get some DOF for the 1st, and allowed me to get the 2nd (it was really quite dark by then).

...Mike

P.S. sorry if I'm too far off-topic for the thread, but just thought I'd respond to the question.
 
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Sailor Ted said:
Thanks for the tip- which 3200 film would your recommend? I need to do some low (LOW) light color photography and wanted to shoot film due to film's stellar performance in this regard.
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come on mr ted, don't be mean. i don't think he meant it that way. i don't trust any color film past ISO400. but with b/w photography there is always iford/kodak 3200 films. image quality wise, grainy, but you do get the extra shutter speed advantage than the M8's 2500.

interestingly, i haven't used my Noctilux at night since i got my M8 (only during the day with my ND filter) so i don't know how the 2500 iso will do to my shutter speed when i'm out in the dark. i did take alot of night time street pictures with my film body with the Nocti and 3200 film.

p.s. but now that i think about it, 3200 iso and 2500 iso isn't much of a difference is it? probably won't make any difference with my shutter speed, maybe half a stop. maybe i should just sell both of my film cameras...
 
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This may not be a useful comment at all. I should also add that I don't have or use any digital cameras, least of all an M8. I also don't own any M film bodies. But here goes.

There are two reasons I will stay with film for the time being. The first is that I love the simplicity of all my cameras. I set the aperture. I set the shutter speed. I focus. I take the picture. That's all. No need to worry about jpg or raw compression, colour profiles, image sizes, white balance on top of the normal photographic settings. (yes, you can set these things and stop worrying, but I would feel unsure whether or not the settings were ideal for just this particular picture and I would end up fiddling with them)

Until recently, therefore, I used to say that if someone made a digital camera, ideally small like a rangefinder, with only the basic settings, I would buy that camera and go digital. I guess (not speaking from experience) the RD-1 and M8 come close. However, and this is my second issue, I next realised that I really don't want to spend hours on a computer to get the most out of my images. (and yes, I guess you can automate it to some extent - but I would feel guilty not using all of the bells and whistles that I could use)

Re-reading my own message, it sounds more like I have some serious hangups about wanting to fiddle with settings than that my objections are anything photographic 😀 . Nah - 🙄 as long as the missus is happy living with my foibles, who cares, right?

Good luck with your decision!

Doctor Zero
 
usccharles said:
Am I stupid? SOmeone help.

So I've been pondering this ever since i started using my M8. I do love my film bodies, but i seriously see no reason to use them any more with my M8 around. i have a Konica Hexar RF and M6TTL.

Should i keep them for a rainy day or should i sell them and buy a nice lens? they're just sitting at home catching dust all day.

😕
Click to expand...

I don't think you are stupid - I've done exactly that (M6, MP and Bronica RF645). The main reason for me was time - I find the digital workflow easier and less time consuming than developing and scanning. Also most of the photographs (images) I've taken over the last few years that I like the most were either taken on the R-D1 or the Olympus E1. I'd made the decision to move away from film regardless of the M8. Don't get me wrong, I do like film and if I had more time I would probably rethink my decision. However, I also found having so many choices counter productive and as well as thinning out the film stuff I've also sold a few lenses recently. The jury is out on whether or not I will keep the R-D1 now I have an M8 that seems OK - again this is for simplicity, not because I need to sell it - mind you I do really like the way the R-D1 handles, so may just keep it as a back up to the M8. I still have my Canon F1 for those times when I feel like shooting film, which I do now and again.

Not sure if this rambling post helps, just my two pennies worth.
 
I echo Doctor Zero's points almost literally.


Why don't you see how the next 6 months or so shakes out. Keep what you use and part with what you don't. Either decision need not be permanent. If a couple years down the road you find yourself drawn to film, then go get an M6. You already have the lenses.
 
Gid said:
Not sure if this rambling post helps, just my two pennies worth.
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I had a much longer, much more rambling message that all can thank me for not posting. The one thing I will point out (and you may be very different from me in this regard) is that every major camera I've owned has had something going for it that I really loved and that I wouldn't be without - even when something "better" came along. For example, many years ago I spent a long time, and went well out of my way, to replace an OM-4 I had stolen from me in a break-in. This despite the fact that I knew I wouldn't use it all that much. I just loved that camera, I worked well with it, and I didn't want to be without one. Even though I'd only really use it a couple of times a year, I'm very glad I have it.

Despite being very new to RF cameras, I've fallen in love with my Hexar RF and kow I simply wouldn't be without one. Partly that's the camera and partly that's film as well (which I've gone back to for some things, despite its many inconveniences). Should my GAS get even more out-of-control than it already is 😱 , and should I acquire an M8 (the attractions of which I can all too easily see), I would not give up that camera, nor would I give up putting the occasional roll of Delta 400 through it.

Your mileage may really vary, but I'd think carefully about it before I rid myself of an old friend of a camera, whichever one(s) of those really hold your affections.

...Mike
 
usccharles,

Sounds like you like a bit more automation since you are thinking of keeping that Hexar. I myself like to go the other route. To complement my M8, I have the MP. While not fully mechanical, it can still shoot w/o batteries. Something about this simplicity appeals to me. I also carry a Sekonic Twinmate light meter just in case. Also, you may need something with a very quiet shutter sound someday. I'd keep the M6 if I were you.
 
Hi
I actually sold my hasselblad system to fund my M8 whilst keeping my MP. I have since sold my MP to buy more leica glass
The price of hassy stuff is so weak in the Uk that I have just purchased a 503 body for 2/3 of the price of the one i sold 3 months ago! I suspect i will slowly resuscitate that system via e-bay. I still love black and white dark room work (its therapeutic). So really i have shifted the bulk of ,my capital to digital but hold a medium format film interest. (Oh and still have my 5x4 for landscapes).
Selling ones film geardoes not meen goodnye for ever. I expect you can re buy cheeper later!
Richard
 
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