1961, a small summary

[martin-f5]

over the last weeks I'm pondering about some facts of the rff in 60th.
It's realy strange.
1961 my father had a radio with tubes, nothing in our household has ever seen a transistor.
It need's a realy long time till you could buy a modern electronic,
and even tv's had still tubeamplifyers.
I remember I was about 11 or 12 when I got my very first transistor radio,
it was only for MW and LW, to receive UKW wasn't possible.

Now, I've got a couple of camera who were developed in the late 50th.
And what do I see inside?

5 transisors.

An other thread I've started in a German forum we discussed what people could buy in those days.
Non of them knew the yashica lynx or electro 35.

And you, what's about you?

 

[Yammerman]

Yesterday I ordered 5 new valves for my guitar amp. Three cheers for the analogue world.😎

 

[charjohncarter]

AHH, a tube amp, if only I had one. That sweet soft sound and well as the growl. Like you I didn't have a camera with a battery until 1969. But now I rarely use a camera with a battery.

1970s technology:

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I am obsessed with sixties technology. I have a couple of old synths, a Wurlitzer electric piano, a Studer RTR tape deck, tube amps, a combo organ...and of course rangefinder cameras.

In terms of the way technology intersects with design aesthetics, that decade has not been equaled.

 

[rickp]

tubes? valves?? my wurlitzer electronic piano with short keyboard has a tube amplifier and a sound i associate with the 60s. my sherwood 2200 tuner is also a tube design. it is set up for stereo using mono AM (MKW) for one channel, and mono FM (UKW) for the other. a standard for stereo as we know it was not yet agreed (FCC and others), so there was room for a stereo module to be added later. both still work.

in photography, there's good representation from the 50s and 60s: m3 from about 1962
* summarit 50er f1,5 (1953)
* 21mm super angulon (1964)
* hektor 135 f4,5 (1955)

nice thread, thanks. sorry to get off the original track a bit.

cheers

rick

 

[George S.]

"In terms of the way technology intersects with design aesthetics, that decade has not been equaled. "

I dunno... the Art Deco of the 1930's comes to mind...

 

[Yammerman]

I have a farfisa organ in the garage that has not been used in 30 years. I once took a look at the soldering and it boggled my mind.

 

[Yammerman]

My M2 is two years younger than me the swine.

For its 50th it may want me to jump up and down on my digital cameras but in reality they'll probably be obsolete.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I have a farfisa organ in the garage that has not been used in 30 years. I once took a look at the soldering and it boggled my mind.

Mine's a Yamaha YC25D. The amount of point-to-point wiring in that thing is mind-boggling. Miles of the stuff.

 

[Roger Hicks]

"In terms of the way technology intersects with design aesthetics, that decade has not been equaled. "

I dunno... the Art Deco of the 1930's comes to mind...

The 50s, too. My wife's aunt lives in a house that was new in the 50s, and it's a time capsule. The kitchen range was especially gorgeous until it became irreparable.

The technology was thinner on the ground in the 50s than the 60s, and fewer people could afford much of it; but a lot of the best of it really was rather fine both technically and aesthetically -- including of course the M-series Leica and the Nikon F.

Much the same is true of the 30s -- less technology available, fewer people who could afford it, introduction of RF Leicas -- so maybe the 60s wins on the combination of quantity and quality...

Edit: further thought: I have a lot of blacksmith-made iron tools from the late 19th and early 20th century: some pretty fine intersections of technology and design there too!

Cheers,

R.

 

[charjohncarter]

I still use this but it is transistors:

From 1969 but taken with a IIIf and 135mm Hektor:

 

[Al Kaplan]

Last night I went to Starbucks carrying my button rewind M2 with the 21/3.4 Super Angulon which elicited a conversation with a guy at the next table, about 40, about how technological changes aren't always for the best. Turned out he's a pro guitar player and he's finally manged to snag a second tube amp just like the one he already had so he can set one up at each end of the stage with matching sound. He said that he can see the difference between digital photos and those on film, and hates the look of B&W conversions from digital color. Like most musicians I know he prefers analog sound to digital, and thinks that tube amps are smoother than solid state analog.

On the one hand while the techno-geeks in both the photography world and the music world are always heralding the latest "improvements" in fidelity, a lot of the creative people, the ones actually using the lens or camera or guitar, seem to prefer working with the imperfections, making the imperfections work for them. The look of the original 8 element 35mm Summicron might not have the flare free contrast and biting sharpness of the current latest version, but unless you're making studio product shots those aren't the only considerations.

The good thing is that someplace between the still cherry collectible and the outright trashed examples of these older lenses and cameras there's a pretty decent selection of "users" at reasonable prices

 

[oftheherd]

In the late 50's I got a transistor radio from Pennys. It was made by somebody else and branded for Pennys. Worked on AA's. We got our first TV sometime in the early 50's. I liked it well enough, but sure did miss the radio programs. I wish more were available on cassette or on CD. "Who knows the evil that lurks in the hearts of men?"

Or Bobby Benson and the B-bar-B riders that I enjoyed listening to on the crystal radio I built in the late 40's or early 50's. The Lone Ranger and Tonto were cool too. We did have an old table tube radio that I expect my father bought in the late 30's or early 40's. Had short wave too.

How fascinating as a young kid to ply the shortwave airways; the staccato of the Japanese, the sing-song of the Chinese, the lilt of the Spanish, the gutteralness of the German, and the French talking through their noses. 😀

As a young kid I got to use box cameras that my father trusted me with. I remember taking photos at the zoo in Kansas City, with shots of animals so far away you could barely see them. Seemed fun then.

Thanks for the memories.

 

[ully]

I graduated college in 1962 in EE. I studied very little about transistors and yet three years later I was designing all kinds of electronics with integrated circuits. I bought a Yashica Lynx 5000 and I am still using it today.

The 1960's were the golden age of technology growth.

 

[Encinalense]

Any of y'all buying new vinyl? In the last couple of years, I've noticed more and more new releases on vinyl LP (at Hogwild Records in San Antonio, where I still buy music like I live in the 20th century) -- and among these, some labels are (I think quite intelligently) including coupons for free mp3 downloads of the entire album. It strikes me as the perfect solution: the fidelity of vinyl and the portability of mp3 . . . makes the CD format seem like kind of a waste.

 

[Lukino]

Valves? Transistors? Who needs those stuff?

1956 Olivetti Divisumma 24, only electrical parts is an engine that moves an incredibly complex gear system... you have to look inside to understand! This baby can do divisions too, have memory, and even a 1 digit display!

 

[oftheherd]

Any of y'all buying new vinyl? In the last couple of years, I've noticed more and more new releases on vinyl LP (at Hogwild Records in San Antonio, where I still buy music like I live in the 20th century) -- and among these, some labels are (I think quite intelligently) including coupons for free mp3 downloads of the entire album. It strikes me as the perfect solution: the fidelity of vinyl and the portability of mp3 . . . makes the CD format seem like kind of a waste.

Heard of new vinyl releases, but never seen one. I have in the last year, probably bought over a hundred vinyls from a local thrift store. Sadly, they have quit selling them. I have noted that there are more record players being sold in places like Best Buy. Some of my friends have been buying expensive analog systems again.

 

[Harry Lime]

We got our first TV sometime in the early 50's. I liked it well enough, but sure did miss the radio programs. I wish more were available on cassette or on CD. "Who knows the evil that lurks in the hearts of men?"

You can download boatloads of the the old radio shows, as Podcasts from Apple iTunes. Great stuff.

 

[rovnguy]

Those were truly wonderful times for me. I was 10 in the summer of 1960 and my Dad spent a lot of time with my brother and myself. He had picked up an Argus C-3 a couple of years previous, and now he was hooked. His early philosophy regarding photography was very conservative. Don't waste film. He later told me he missed a lot of good shots because of this. One of his friends showed him how to develop his own B&W, and bulk film was available thru the mail, so he really picked up the pace. He was still quite reserved with color as he would only shoot Kodachrome and I sure that was a cost thing. He had an old light meter that he would consult and for a long time I could not figure it out. Finally he taught me about EV's and everything became quite clear. My Mom had a Kodak Brownie Starflash, but after spend time with dad, I seldom used it. In 1961 we got a transistor radio... with 8 transistors. I didn't know what they were, but having more of them had to be better. It didn't work as well as my Dad's Phillips set, but then he built a custom antenna for it. What great days. Thanks for allowing me to reminisce.

 

[charjohncarter]

EncinaLense, no but I have plenty of old vinyl, my wife wants to CD them. But I just like the scratches and sound. I played 'My Blue Heaven' by Fats Domino so many time I can see the white in the grooves, but it is the version that I like best, and I have four CD versions. No, I won't be buying new vinyl but my old vinyl is sacrosanct.