End of rangefinder days...?

[Ducky]

Welcome to the roller coaster. The highs arer great but the dips get to the stomach. My budget allows me to only ride the kiddie coaster so I shoot FEDs and a Fujifilm S6000 with 10x zoom. I like both.
Ducky

 

[AusDLK]

Now, I never meant to suggest that I was thinking of selling my RF gear.

And, as many of you may remember, I was an (unpopular) and vocal critic of the M8 when it came out. I have to admit that since I've grown fond the larger and louder S5, it may be easier now to accept some of things that I so disliked about the M8...

 

[jan normandale]

Being unable to develop film for the past four to six weeks, I decided to take a different view of photography.

I bought a FujiFilm S5 Pro (a modified Nikon D200), a 20mm Nikkor f/2.8 wideangle (30mm on the S5), a Tokina 12-24mm f/4 (18mm to 36mm), and borrowed a Nikkor 35mm f/2 (52mm).

I love it .

It has fostered a new style of photography for me, i.e., the (sub)urban mundane in color, which is just another form of street photography.

Right now I feel no compelling urge to return to my film rangefinders as a digital SLR is perfect for this new (to me) style.

So, I ask myself, how long will the sun remain set on my use of the film rangefinder?

Jeez Dave, you're leaving and I hardly knew you! Happy DSLR Trails!

BTW can I have all your RF stuff and film for cheap? 😀

 

[Chris101]

Hey Dave,

I jumped into the digiworld in 1999 and flourished there until 2006, adding up two digicams and two dslrs. I probably won't give up my digital stuff, but I have returned to film. I gotta say my style and technical ability has been improved for the excursion.

But I did finally realize that all that flash art was just that. Momentarily there, and then onto CD and gone. For one, a digital file is not a thing. It's more of a conceptual image than a picture. The idea that I could extract parts or change everything around made it seem more ... disposable.

Being able to see my negatives is a real boon to my photography. I now feel like I'm making something again.

So enjoy your time with digital - the instant feedback, and mutability is priceless. But do try to keep your eye on the idea of a photograph, rather than getting carried away by images.

 

[Marc-A.]

Dave,
I appreciate very much your work, you know that, and if you do the same with a DSLR, then go for it 🙂
Now, I don't understand the question:
Just because you're shooting now with a DSLR, you wonder whether it's the end of RF!
I know you're a famous photographer and have deep influence on all of us, but please don't worry, RF world will still go round tomorrow 😛
Ok good people, leave your RF gear, sell them all, and maybe I'll have a chance to buy a cheap Summilux 1.4/50 🙄

 

[amateriat]

I say: give the S5 a good wringing out, add it to your permanent arsenal if it truly serves a purpose, but try and keep as much of your current setup as possible...no need to give up one for the sake of the other (philosophically, at least; cash-flow is another matter).

In the last few years, whenever I've felt any urge to to "go digital" in a big way, I've borrowed a friend's Olympus C8080 and shot with it until the urge went away. 😉


- Barrett

 

[kalokeri]

Dave, I know what you mean.

When I gave into buying a D80 I found a thrilling new way to take pictures. But I came back to film and to old fashioned rangefinders. I´m using both systems at the moment and can really imagine to use a digital rangefindercamera.


Thomas

 

[RayPA]

I've never understood why it has to be a one-or-the-other proposition. I agree with the assessement about the D200. I really enjoy using mine, but there's still much magic in shooting with film and rangefinders.

🙂

 

[amateriat]

To make a point about digital...

Besides the silly-cam built into my current cell phone, I have a "vintage" Olympus D-510 Zoom digital p/s, which I use primarily for quick n' dirty documentation and the like. I don't like pressing it into service for something of greater import, but once in a while I do it out of abject necessity, such as tonight when I went to see my favorite "avant-pop" group, Split the Lark (with the amazing Janine Nichols), at my fave watering hole, Barbes, here in the Slope. I have to fight hard with the camera to get it to do things it wasn't quite designed to do, and not having film's elasticity to play with doesn't help things much either. But, once in a while, I come away with something that makes me smile, if mostly rather wanly.

But, next time, out come the Hexars.


- Barrett