Dilemma.

BrianShaw said:
For goodness sake... you asked an open-ended question and you got a thoughtful response. If you don't like Ampguy's answer, just say "thank you, but no thanks" and move on. Why start ranting on two different forums? What's up with that?
Click to expand...

It was not meant to offend him...it was just meant to explain my stance. I felt that I gave a thoughtful response in kind. Sorry you don't think so.

The rant on my blog was WELL overdue, thank you very much.

I've taken everyone's advice here, actually, and I've decided to stay with a medium format for a bit (though I'm going to look at my friend's camera) and take my Ansco and perhaps look for a Yashica Mat TLR or some such.

I value everyone's opinion, but in the end I have to make the choice.
 
You're obviously tallented as a profiler. You pegged me.
But go with your instinct on the job switch. Sometimes you have to listen to your heart.
 
Personally, I love the Graphic. Resolution for all day. With Tri-X 320 and Diafine, you can get some speed out of it (c. ISO 800-1000).

On a tripod, landscapes like they should be done. Except for architecture, usually one doesn't normally need many movements.

Handheld, the Graphic works and works well. And surprisingly, handheld, an old Graphic is a very people friendly camera. The culture has labeled photography a rude endeavor such that street photogs have to go covert just keep from being pelted or falsely accused of violating imagined civil right. Pull out an old Graphic and people brighten up. And not only enthusiasts say, "Now there's a camera!"

I do have a scanner that can handle 4x5 and a HP Combiplan for daylight development.

I use an insulated cordura "lunch box" to store about 5 or 6 holders or two or three Grafmatics. 10 to 18 shots is about an afternoon for me anyway. The camera in one hand, the bag hanging off me is no less handy than some of my other kits.
 
Stephanie Brim said:
So yes, I mastered an SLR long ago...I could get about any manual focus SLR now and get great results.
Click to expand...

i love it when it came out of a 23 year old...

so you mastered the slr use when you were...uh...3?
 
wtl said:
i love it when it came out of a 23 year old...

so you mastered the slr use when you were...uh...3?
Click to expand...

I'll put it this way: I got all I could get out of an SLR during the time I had my FE and decided that I liked it for limited things. I much prefer rangefinders and would rather not have an SLR at all, but for closer shots a rangefinder isn't really the best choice.
 
FrankS said:
Sometimes you have to listen to your heart.
Click to expand...
Frank, another of your famous truisms. I totally agree that listening to hearts is good/necessary, but getting back to your earlier advise, there are many realities that must be attended to when growing up. First things, first... wasn't that in one of your cookies? At my age I KNOW what my priorities are. I don't hate my job, but there are many more fun things out there that I sorta', kinda' wish I were doing. But htey don't pay as well, would require relocation, etc, etc, -- all of which is not a good thing right now. I have adult responsibilities and must "take care of business".

Here's how I see life priorities... you can agree with them or not (the specific order can be altered to meet individual needs, of course): God, family/friends, education, job/career, emotional maturity, home, and then toys. Honour is in their somewhere, but I don't want to step on Frank's toes so I'll leave that priority for him to deal with. 😉

My Chinese fortune cookie wisdom:

"You have to give up to get".
"A little sacrifice up front reaps many rewards in the end."
"It's better to suffer early and shorter, than later and longer."
"You have to stay true to the course else you quickly get misdirected."
"If you don't know where you are going, any road will do; but if you do know where you are going it is best to get their in the most direct way."
"If you keep flip-flopping then all you'll end up doing is flipping and flopping."

See, I eat Chinese food too! 😛
 
Brian, I wasn't trying to talk you out of changing your job - I have no way of knowing if you were serious or kidding.

Just thought of another FC saying: If you NEVER listen to your heart, it jsut may stop talking to you. Made that up myself. 🙂
 
The best fortune cookie paper must be "That wasn't chicken you just ate"
 
FrankS said:
Just thought of another FC saying: If you NEVER listen to your heart, it jsut may stop talking to you. Made that up myself. 🙂
Click to expand...
Ahhh, you are Frank (AKA Confusious) S. 😀

p.s. I totally understand where you are coming from. I know you weren't trying to talk me into, or out of, anything.

p.p.s I made a few of those FC sayings myself. Perhaps we are really twins who were separated at birth??
 
Rich Silfver said:
The best fortune cookie paper must be "That wasn't chicken you just ate"
Click to expand...
Not funny... too close to being true. I once took my wife to a Chinese restaurant that once was the best in town. Nobody was there except us. We should have known better but we stayed. The food was bad and the service was worse. The waiter was nowhere to be found and after about 30 minutes of waiting for him I opened the kitchen door and stuck my head in. Another man was working on a pile of chickens with a cleaver, but he yelled "get out of here... NOW; you're not supposed to see this" so loud that I could only imagine that they were rubber chickens or something. The restaurant is still in business. I imagine the same chicken is still on the chopping block 🙄

(For the mods: I had a rangefinder camera with me at the time but it was too dark in the restaurant and kitchen to take a picture.)

Oh... and a similar thing happened to me at an Indian restaurant in the North of England. I asked what "meat Rhogan Josht" was... considering that they also had beef, lamb, and mutton on the menu. I never understood the answer but I think it was something like "That wasn't chicken you just ate." 🙂
 
I've been to this one Chinese restaurant in San Francisco a number of time and once there was a big rat scurrying across the glass ceiling and once there was one on the floor maybe 10-15 feet away. Their chook is some of the best in the city though so I'm pretty sure I'll be back.

Note: This is nothing against Chinese restaurants in general - I've seen really, really bad habits/incidents at a number of other types of restaurants.

For those in San Francisco you can look up your favorite restaurants here and read all about how many rodents, cockroaches, etc the health department found during the last inspection: http://www.dph.sf.ca.us/eh/Violations/Loc_Search.asp

Oh..and I had a rangefinder with me when I saw the rats (didn't take any photos though).
 
Rich Silfver said:
I've been to this one Chinese restaurant in San Francisco a number of time and once there was a big rat scurrying across the glass ceiling and once there was one on the floor maybe 10-15 feet away.
Click to expand...

That was the special of the day 😀
 
The sensible answer might be to leave that format alone for a while, however, sensible isn't always the most fun or most interesting. The logistics might be a bit tight to test, maybe fix, and learn that system before October. Your hobby is photography and you definitely like the gear. Neighbours, friends, people at work, acquaintances, relatives, yard sales, are places you might find good gear that you like and want to experience. If your friend at work only needs $25 for that camera why not grab it? You might like cleaning them up, making adjustments, fixing stuff, being on the lookout for parts you need. Maybe I am wrong but I just get a feeling that fewer people will be wanting this stuff someday and you could end up with lots of it if you want. You don't have to burn $100 day worth of 4 x 5 film to be an enthusiast. You can find them, fix them, try a few shots occasionally, do your own thing. 🙂
Just don't let your hobby influence the rest of your life. You might need to move away for work or school and live in a small place. Hopefully you can leave it all with your folks till your set up again. 🙂
 
This whole thing reminds me of my own dilemma.

Should I get a Mamiya 645 or not?

Some time ago, a guy in PN offered an 80mm Mamiya lens he had around, broken but repairable, for just $5.00 (the cost of shipping). I jumped at it, thinking that, with time, I'd get it fixed, get a body and shoot away.

Guess what? That lens is still looking at me. And the thought of carrying a 645 camera with me doesn't appeal to me as much as it does to carry a nice RF camera. So, my own dilemma is... should I buy the 645 body and get the lens fixed or drop it altogether?

Of course, I'm fairly proficient in 35mm but then, there's the allure of trying something new. And getting a new toy, now that I learned I got a raise! 🙂
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Looking for a square-frame brightline viewfinder. Any 126 cameras out there have a decent finder I can adapt/cannibalize?
2
Replies
20
Views
558
justins7
J
AusDLK
TT Artisan 28mm f/5.6 front wobble
Replies
19
Views
321
AusDLK
AusDLK
B
Two Newbie Viewfinder questions
Replies
4
Views
647
brianentz
B
peterm1
Who is your favorite photographer in history - who has influenced you the most?
2 3
Replies
50
Views
2K
mconnealy
mconnealy
Rob-F
AI is helping me decide whether to buy a Leica M10!
2 3 4
Replies
62
Views
2K
Rob-F
Rob-F
Back
Top Bottom