Am I Crazy? Stop shooting 35mm film?

I was film guy, then went to digital, then got bored and went back to film. What ever allows you to enjoy shooting pictures---use that.
 
Night before last I went to a gallery opening, the work of half a dozen photographers on display. My 14 prints were the only B&W photos. Some were new prints and a few were printed back in the seventies when they were shot. Most of the photos were of Miccosukee and Seminole Indians. The vintage prints were still in good shape and I had no trouble locating and printing from the 35 year old negatives.

I knew that the gallery owner's wife Stephanie would be running around with her DSLR but I put my 21/3.4 Super-Angulon on an M3 body loaded with Walgreens branded ISO 400 color film hanging from my shoulder, an extra roll in my pocket. The first hour or so I spent looking at the other photographers' work, chatting with people, talking about photography and the fact that not only has that Indian culture depicted in the photos dissapeared, but most all of the people in the photos are now dead.

A few of those "Walgreens prints" scans can be seen at http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com

I shot 23 frames, never using the spare roll. Walgreens had 4x6 prints ready by the time a few of us got back from having coffee afterwards. There were five shots more than good enough for a newspaper piece about the opening, shots that captured the moment. Shortly I'll be heading over to the 7-11 to pick up a Sunday paper. I'll have a camera with me.
 
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i have realized that for me it's not so much the film or digital debate but more the camera itself.

when i bought the sony a300 i decided that digital was not so bad but fully intended to keep the zi and r4a.

after using the g1, i have been thinking of selling the sony kit and the r4a and just keeping the zi, for using film should that feeling return.
i think i'll get another g1 for using the zm lenses and one for the panasonic lenses.

i'm fine with digital and the images from them.

joe
 
Don't think of the Leica's as a waste sitting on a shelf, Keep at least one & think of it as an investment. One day the itch to shoot film will return & you will be glad you kept one.
 
How many of you still keep a 120 camera around? I still have a Rolleiflex T and a Minolta Autocord that I still use on occasion.
 
Al Kaplan said:
How many of you still keep a 120 camera around? I still have a Rolleiflex T and a Minolta Autocord that I still use on occasion.
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Guilty. I have a Yashica I haven't used for a few years, but I have a project in mind for it though.

It is a good idea to cull one's "collection" every so often. I didn't start out to be a collector, but as a result of multiple GAS attacks I have a bunch of cameras I hardly use.
 
I have a Rolleiflex that I shot with last week (photos coming to the gallery soon) and I just got a great deal on a Bronica kit here from astroman.
I just sold my last decent digital camera (Panasonic LC-1) to help pay for my new Leica 28mm Elmarit lens.
I've been carrying around a Leica III as a point-and-shoot instead of a little digital like an LX3. I'm having way more fun with it. I will always keep my waterproof Pentax digital handy for those times when I need to put something on the computer instantly, and for its cool video clips. Oh yeah, I almost forgot - I have a Nikon D70! I may as well give sell it since I never even remember that I have it!
Back to the original question: the best advice seems to be keep at least one film M!
 
For me is the exact opposite. I have two RD1's that gather dust. I use one of them sometimes to check the lights in the studio. But not for taking image type digital files with it. After I bought an MP and a 4x5, I stay away from digital. I am having the time of my life.
But my problem is bigger. Because my Epson digicams are losing value much more than a Leica M.
Your problem will be the fact that RD1 is a dead end. No support or further development, as far as I know.
 
First, thanks to all of the responses. I want to assure anyone out there that this is not about giving up film, as I will still be shooting with my Mamiya 7II whenever the film bug hits me. This is about photography.

I like what Al Kaplan has to say. It means to me that it shouldn't matter what cameras I am using as long as I am comfortable shooting with them without feeling like I have an obligation to shoot. I don't want to use an MP occasionally just because it's a Sunday and sunny out. I'm not that kind of person to decide to shoot based on those conditions anyhow. I want my 35mm rangefinder camera to be something I am using because I want to make pictures with it, whether it be film or digital. I made this post because I am questioning whether or not my ideals are so hardlined and purest as to choose the traditional route of film, that I was brought up with, as oppossed to digital with my 35mm rangefinders. I'm finding that with encouragement I am going to do the obvious, what is right for me.

It is about what I know I can do with cameras that fit with me. It's not about what cameras I WANT to fit with me. Anyone want to buy an MP ;)
 
how long have you had the R-D1? I ask because from personal experience (YMMV) I find that once I get a 'new' camera, I spend quite a bit of time with it (to the exclusion of other cameras) and find myself (at least initially) enamored with it, (different ergonomics, workflow, etc...) but I find that there are always certain cameras that I find irreplaceable... so perhaps before you sell off a bunch of your M gear too quickly (assuming you ca afford to), hold on to the film bodies for a few months while you continue to shoot with the R-D1... good luck whatever you decide

Atom said:
First, thanks to all of the responses. I want to assure anyone out there that this is not about giving up film, as I will still be shooting with my Mamiya 7II whenever the film bug hits me. This is about photography.

I like what Al Kaplan has to say. It means to me that it shouldn't matter what cameras I am using as long as I am comfortable shooting with them without feeling like I have an obligation to shoot. I don't want to use an MP occasionally just because it's a Sunday and sunny out. I'm not that kind of person to decide to shoot based on those conditions anyhow. I want my 35mm rangefinder camera to be something I am using because I want to make pictures with it, whether it be film or digital. I made this post because I am questioning whether or not my ideals are so hardlined and purest as to choose the traditional route of film, that I was brought up with, as oppossed to digital with my 35mm rangefinders. I'm finding that with encouragement I am going to do the obvious, what is right for me.

It is about what I know I can do with cameras that fit with me. It's not about what cameras I WANT to fit with me. Anyone want to buy an MP ;)
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I pretty much stopped shooting with my Leicas once I got my RD1.... well, actually I stopped when I got my Hexar RF, but that's a different issue. However, even if it spends most its time sitting on the shelf, I can't see selling the M6TTL.... but then I have shelves full of cameras that see one roll of film a year...
 
Chris101 said:
....I began using digital in the second half of the 90's and was 100% digital by the end of the last millennium. It didn't last long though - I barely made it through three generations of digital cameras when I decided that I no longer wanted to share the same soul as so many other photographers.
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I don't follow the reasoning here.
You went back to film because you didn't want to "share the same soul as so many other photographers," but now you're sharing the same soul as every photographer pre-year 2000, and that's okay? When everyone was shooting film, did it matter then that we were all sharing the same soul? My feeling is that we 'older folks' are rejecting digital more because the 'kids' are getting such good results, so quickly, and so easily. We're consciously Not Competing, because we're intimidated. I just found a wonderful photographer on flickr. Went through her whole 'portfolio,' with admiration, and then learned from her profile page that she's SEVENTEEN years old. She's a trillion times more advanced than i was at that age, and possibly better than i am now. With a higher ceiling. All enabled by the wonders of digital technology, while, when i started, i had to use my meager allowance to buy a roll of Kodachrome, shoot it under questionable circumstances, and then wait more than a week to have the film returned to me by mail. Whatever i might have learned was lost in all that time.....

@ Atom:
Perhaps it's the practical side of me (borne from having to make sensible use of the meager childhood allowance referred to above), but it seems to me that a "desk full" of Leicas is wasteful. I do have four different 35mm SLRs, with one or two lenses each, but i'm in a constant process of trying to eliminate most of them. They were all purchased used, and for little money. But, a bunch of practically identical Leicas? Why? I'm sure you acquired them with a nice story for each, and maybe they each have some sort of sentimental value. But, still - are you a collector? Can you afford that as a hobby? If not, decide which camera is the most practical and efficient, and then maybe choose a backup, and sell the rest to fund whatever digital platform you seem to prefer. I'm not advocating the M8, but why are you not considering it, seeing as how you like the Epson's workflow so much, and so clearly love Leicas?

[Looking at your flickr stream... what's up with the most recent 16 R-D1 shots? Looks like the gamma is significantly different than in your other images. Is that intentional?]
 
CK Dexter Haven said:
Perhaps it's the practical side of me (borne from having to make sensible use of the meager childhood allowance referred to above), but it seems to me that a "desk full" of Leicas is wasteful. I do have four different 35mm SLRs, with one or two lenses each, but i'm in a constant process of trying to eliminate most of them. They were all purchased used, and for little money. But, a bunch of practically identical Leicas? Why? I'm sure you acquired them with a nice story for each, and maybe they each have some sort of sentimental value. But, still - are you a collector? Can you afford that as a hobby? If not, decide which camera is the most practical and efficient, and then maybe choose a backup, and sell the rest to fund whatever digital platform you seem to prefer. I'm not advocating the M8, but why are you not considering it, seeing as how you like the Epson's workflow so much, and so clearly love Leicas?

[Looking at your flickr stream... what's up with the most recent 16 R-D1 shots? Looks like the gamma is significantly different than in your other images. Is that intentional?]
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I am not a collector and I intended at first on trying to continue artistically what I had done with 35mm film in the past. When I finally bought the Epson I suppose, more or less, I found what i had been looking for. I was/am confused about how to proceed, hence this thread. I have 2 Leica film bodies, and can't afford to keep such expensive equipment that i am not using. I shoot a fair amount of wide angle and wouldn't mind having an r4m as my back up film camera, so may pursue that route. As far as the M8 goes, I have used it. I took one on a trip overseas and really enjoyed the images I got from it. What I didn't like was the ergonomics and control layout. Later on when I bought the Epson I realized quickly that the way the Leica was set up was not ideal for me. What draws me to the M8 is the less crop factor and higher megapixels. My workflow with the Epson has just been so much like film but with the ability to change between b/w, iso, and other settings simply and easily.

Regarding my latest flickr shots, they were taken in very low light and perhaps a bit under exposed. They always seem a bit darker once I upload them to flickr. Probably time to calibrate my monitor. The very last one of the man, was taken with a 1946 Summitar as my first test with it wide open. I actually have another thread on that http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69311
 
"I always say that I will use all of the equipment that I have. I try to have nothing frivolous. So am I crazy? Should I stop shooting 35mm film rangefinders that I see myself barely shooting 10 rolls or film with a year? I know they are timeless cameras, but do they fit into my definition of time?"

SNAP! I feel the same way. For many years I was committed to film - at least I was unconvinced that digital was a good value proposition - high costs, low quality results and equipment that went thru major changes every year or so to render the stuff you had just bought at huge expense obsolete.

Then I bought my first digital SLR a couple of years ago. And like you I became committed to the digital image making process. Most film photos I took were mediocre as I had no way of processing and therefore improving them. Now with digital, I spend almost as much time in the study with my computer as I do behind a camera. And I am loving it because I am loving the results I can get by taking a good shot - or even just an OK shot and turning it into something special. Well special to me at least. I could never do this with film!

So here is a folder of my mainly black and white photos. I cannot claim them to be high art.... but more importantly they are MY art. And I am learning and improving. Soomething i did not do much of when shooting film, I think.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80702381@N00/sets/72157610362797162/

I just love seeing an image emerge on screen as I work out the puzzle of how to process THIS shot to make the most of its potential as a piece of the image makers art.

Every shot I intend keeping (and there is much that is thrown away) of course gets the basics....contrast, brightness, noise reduction saturation and sharpness. Then the fun begins: Will I convert to black and white? Will I go for a smooth look or will I introduce grain? What if I just try a smidgin of colour cast? That shadow there, what if I try to dodge it to bring out the details a little? Should I try selective coloration? Will I blur the background more or apply a touch of vignette to make the main subject stand out? A million and one questions - the answers to which are all central to the creative process.

This is what I love about digital. It gives me options I only dreamed about with film. Of course I can shoot film and have it scanned. And I probaby will more, given time, but I also love the immediacy of digital - compose, shoot then try an alternative composition. Something that is a lot more, how would I say - conjectural with film.

The image making process is no longer just abotu me and a camera -about shooting and hoping for the best. I can see results immediately and I know that if they are good I will then spend some time with the shot in post processing. The process is longer but the results are better.

So 90% of the shooting I do, I now do with a digital SLR.

And yet I cannot bring myself to get rid of my film kit, especially my Leica rangfinder bodies and lenses. I take them out, I look at them lovingly, I stoke them and then I put them away again. One day, I tell myself, one day I will use them again. And maybe I will. They are lovely timeless pieces of the camera and lens designer's art and maybe they deserve a graceful retirement with only the occasional use. At least I get pleasure out of contemplting them.
 
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Since I came into the world of Leicas so "late in the game" so to speak, I have relatively no attachment to the cameras that I own. My grandfather didn't hand them down to me so some of the wonderful sentiment and value that some have to their cameras I do not have with mine. I probably wouldn't have even written this thread had that been the case. So as my definition of time evolves I can move along with it unencombered by attatchment that so many have for their Leicas and move to what fits me best. Or I can hold them away in a deep cave and call them my 'precious', yessssss, my precioussss.
 
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