Ken Rockwell: $5 Trip 35 vs Canon 5D & L

Hell -there goes the pro wedding market. Next wedding I go to I fully expect the pro shooter will have a couple of Trips round his neck, and he'll drive one of those Buicks that Kojak had.... and he'll be wearing disco pants.
 
This guy is usually full of s#@! and his photography is horrible, but I like how he's been talking about film lately. Good on ya Ken!
(I visit his site regularly for a good laugh but also he actually knows his stuff with regards to computers and audio.)
 
Ken's been on the disco biscuits and wacky tabaky for wayyyy to long these days. His photos are also just plain boring. At least Riechman's tests are relevant because he uses his equipment well and tests subjectively, Ken just goes off his nut about stuff that by the looks of his photographs, he doesn't put to any good use anyway. People who worry about nuanced crap like Ken never really push the limits of the systems they review in meaningful ways anyway.

Thats why I learned to stop worrying and love the gear. More often than not, yourself sucks, not the gear. Real life measurbating is even worse, it's cringeworthy.

Although, as stated above, I do like Ken's support of film. And unlike some other crazy zelots out there, his talk about flatbeds being good enough to scan 35mm negs is actually true! Mention it on photo.net and you'll have people with coolscans frothing at the mouth how a flatbed just "cannot compare" etc etc. It's like they've never printed a neg they've scanned in their life. Such is the interweb.

End rant ;-)

-Tim
 
From Ken's "About" page:

"While occasionally inspired by actual products or experiences, this site is entirely a work of fiction. It's a joke! Any resemblance to any actual people, places, products or anything is purely coincidental. This site is private and provided only for the entertainment of my personal friends and myself."

I'm sure there is much that is true and useful on his website, but ever since I first read the above, I think twice about anything he writes, and find myself doubting, even (or especially!) when I find myself agreeing with him.
 
Carzee said:
Hell -there goes the pro wedding market. Next wedding I go to I fully expect the pro shooter will have a couple of Trips round his neck, and he'll drive one of those Buicks that Kojak had.... and he'll be wearing disco pants.
Click to expand...

I think David Bailey did an ad in the 70s using a 35 Trip at a wedding. Not sure about the disco pants though : 0
 
zuikologist said:
I think David Bailey did an ad in the 70s using a 35 Trip at a wedding. Not sure about the disco pants though : 0
Click to expand...

Hi All,
I've been away celebrating my birthday and those "lazy, hazy days of summer."

Re: Ken Rockwell: Yes, I've found useful info on his site, especially on Nikon gear. Yet the ads, his raunchy writing style and tendency to sensationalism... leave me suspicious.

I think most of us know that dcresource, dpreview & steves-digicams are more consistently reliable.

Cheers, mike
 
ChrisN said:
From Ken's "About" page:

"While occasionally inspired by actual products or experiences, this site is entirely a work of fiction. It's a joke! Any resemblance to any actual people, places, products or anything is purely coincidental. This site is private and provided only for the entertainment of my personal friends and myself."

I'm sure there is much that is true and useful on his website, but ever since I first read the above, I think twice about anything he writes, and find myself doubting, even (or especially!) when I find myself agreeing with him.
Click to expand...

Don’t you think that statement may have more to discouraging litigation than anything else? it has a whiff of lawyer about it for me.
Not an unpleasant smell you understand:angel:
 
I'm a big fan of The Trip, but gave mine to a friend's son who does a lot of skateboarding. He reckons it gives the best results of any camera they've tried, whether digital, autofocus or SLR. I still see one or two a week a street markets and it's very hard not to pick up another one or two...
 
Rockwell combines an awful lot of real knowledge about technology with a crackpot sensibility. It often makes for interesting reading, but is most dangerous in the hands of the people who are his biggest audience, camera tech novices.
What he's written about the Trip proves, however, that he not always completely off his rocker.
 
Ken's a humorist, and he's always fun to read. Don't you usually go by how you, yourself feel about any particular camera/gadget, anyway? Y'all have read his Seven Styles of Photographer, right?
 
A fairly pointless article because you cannot draw out any practical deductions. Moderately entertaining and a bit of fun. Thats its value if you ask me: Cameras take pictures and even cheap battered cameras can take shor photos. But then again, most of us know that already. Maybe he will compare an underwater camera and a LF camdera with a scanning back in the handheld 'street candid' role next :eek:
 
Timmy P said:
.......At least Riechman's tests are relevant because he uses his equipment well and tests subjectively, .....
Click to expand...

You're joking, right? Reichmann subjective? :rolleyes:

Well, he pretends to be I guess....
 
rich815 said:
You're joking, right? Reichmann subjective? :rolleyes:

Well, he pretends to be I guess....
Click to expand...

Well, objective compared to Rockwell. I find his reviews a hell of a lot more practical than Ken's. Different strokes for different blokes I suppose.

And I'll say it again, I think most technical reviews are still pretty pointless since most people don't have the skills to push the system anyway. Blame the skillz before you blame the cameraz I say ;-)

-Tim
 
Timmy P said:
Well, objective compared to Rockwell. I find his reviews a hell of a lot more practical than Ken's. Different strokes for different blokes I suppose.

And I'll say it again, I think most technical reviews are still pretty pointless since most people don't have the skills to push the system anyway. Blame the skillz before you blame the cameraz I say ;-)

-Tim
Click to expand...

Agree. I was not comparing Ken to Michael though. Just commenting on Michael. He lost me a long time ago when he said metamerism was a thing of the past with the Epson 2200 (or was it the version before that he made that comment? He's a joke!), and then cemented it with the whole M8 fiasco. Not only is the guy a mediocre photographer at best but has zero credibility left in my book. I stopped taking him seriously a long time ago and stopped visting his site at all after the M8 stupidity.
 
Awesome. I enjoy Mr.Rockwell's writings. I really like how folks get upset about it, too.

Y'know, I was at a building class in the Mojave area 2 weeks ago, brought my Olympus Stylus Zoom 140 to document-and brought prints back from the lunch break every day. No one brought any digital prints... and darn, they looked good.
 
Thank you posting this article.

Recently I red an article about cmparing digital compacts for the summer. Finally the result was that the best can take shots where the grass is almost green and the clouds are white etc. What a technological development! :)
I always try to convince my friends: try to use film cameras again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom