Dulled by electronics ?

[dee]

I recently discovered Leica II / IIIc / IIIF , which was like a light in fumbling darkness .
Though i mess up many shots , it's a real world away from auto exposure / auto focusing / plastic everything .

Enter my M 8 , dream camera , if ever there was one - an impossible dream until an inheritance brought it all true ...

But now I can view the results of my attempts instantly - my memories of how and why , not distanced by the time waiting for slides to return .

And one lense . 50mm going on 66 on the M 8.[ Well , several actually , but all 50mm! ]

I was certian that a 35mm equivalent was the next on the list , but no , a 90/120mm is the 1st ''essential '' for closer architectural dee'tails .

i had been ''dulled '' by a decade with a 35/100mm [ nominally ] zoom , on my 1997 35mm Minolta SLR , and laterly , my Canon G2 - i no longer realised what focal length , I had set - I just mindlessly zoom in and out .

This shocked me - just as I had lost the ability to overide the meter , simply by turning to manual and bracketing - all buttons and switches on a modern camera .
It will not be for everyone - but a return to 50s simplicity-with-pixels has awakened all the stuff I learned in the 60s about creating pictures - i will never be '' good enough '' to show pics in this company , but i was shocked at how much '' knowing '' had been eroded .

dee

 

[dazedgonebye]

I bounce back and forth on the tools. From DSLRs to manual everything. I think it's best to keep your mind on "it's toes."

 

[Michael Lloyd]

I bounce back and forth on the tools. From DSLRs to manual everything. I think it's best to keep your mind on "it's toes."

+1 There's nothing preventing one from using M with any camera...

 

[Michael Lloyd]

Well, the XA lacks M in this case...

ok... most cameras

 

[dazedgonebye]

+1 There's nothing preventing one from using M with any camera...

Manual being available, and manual being the ONLY thing available are two different experiences.

 

[Trius]

I love the XA but I hate it =)

Just detach yourself from M-ness, my son. The XA does it job VERY well, you just need to immerse yourself. :angel:

 

[alternatve]

Actually, changing from fully auto to totally manual isn't too much of a problem for me. I had one night to figure out how to work my friend's DSLR and I instinctively knew where the controls were in 10 minutes of experimenting. The main problem for me is metering. I got the basics down, but pretty much die at the complicated metering patterns.

Samuel

 

[amateriat]

When I suddenly changed from the kitchen-sink-and-all exposure options of my last full-on AF SLR system (a pair of Minolta 9xi's) to my present setup (pair of Hexar RFs, with aperture-priority AE the only auto option), I wondered just how much I would miss my six-waya-to-Sunday automation alternatives. Not only did I not miss them, I was rather relieved not to have them to cycle through every time I wanted to make a change-up in my camera's settings. I also liked the factr that I had an aperture ring on the lens again, rather than a control wheel on the body (an advantage with the fast, big-butt zooms I used to drag around, but nothing special with more mild-mannered single focal lengths). We might like to call this sort of control layout "minimalist", but this was standard-issue on all flavors of Canon's F-1, almost every F-series pro Nikon up to the F4, and Dog knows how many others before a certain form of feature-creep set in (can't blame digital for this, alas...this was well in place before they started stuffing sensors into SLRs en masse). I didn't need to go hair-shirt with a meterless M or the like to cleanse my photo-technical palate, so to speak...just a move away from SLRs to an intelligently-appointed but modern RF did the job, and, oh my, did it stick!

Again, it comes down to thinking about the tools you choose, and what works best for you. Could be an M-mount somthingorother, a Nikon D3, a Deardorff, a home-made camera obscura (hey, there's an untouched "trend" we could get on the ground-floor of...Lomography would have nothing on us!).

Electronics in cameras isn't evil per se (and since even my Konica Auto SE has a meter in it, it's good I feel that way 😉). But you need to sort out for yourself what's important, what isn't, and what would constitute an technological distraction in an otherwise decent camera. Since my decision to run away from the "circus" so to speak, things have been better, but that's just me.


- Barrett

 

[peter_n]

I have a camera that has both. I do use manual but I use auto exposure more. When you need to be quick AE is invaluable.

 

[Dektol Dan]

Damn I'm Good!

Damn I'm Good!

I can shoot a single action revolver, drive a stick shift car, make love with my eyes open, draw and shoot a rangefinder as fast as any DSLR, and I'm experienced enough to remember when I got it right without instant play back.

I frame by walking to and from my image without any zoom, and I focus on the fly as I compose. I'm a circus juggler. I've been doing this for years. Damn! I'm good at it! Why should I put my skills on the shelf just to be with the times? I like the flexibilty of film and I'm not shooting advertising or journalism. Why should I want a steady diet of a DSLR?

I shoot a IIIf to stay sharp and I love every minute of it!

 

[Michael Lloyd]

Manual being available, and manual being the ONLY thing available are two different experiences.

True. When I shoot my 500CM the experience is different. I suspect that when I finally begin to shoot my view camera, that experience will be different from the Hasselblad and DSLR's...

 

[fishtek]

Y'all are thinking too much...I don't think there's much of a learning curve between cameras until you get the the menu-driven cameras that offer a gazillion variables. Those who need to fine-tune results, or are otherwise techno-oriented are happy to learn the multiple layers of adjustments, and those who appreciate simplicity don't bother with the full spectrum of possibilities, just "go in" as far as necessary. JM2C, of course...

Regards!
Don

 

[dee]

I have little against auto everything cameras , though my Autism has a problem with the changing frame of zooms , which I have been aware / wary of for ages ...
But it was a real shock to find just how distanced an '' unfamiliar electronic interface '' , rather than simple dials ,had caused me to lose so much .
However , I am now contemplating a budget maybe used , lightweight DSLR , to complemet my M 8 - and the IIIc / IIIf - which will find more use now I am better equipped / more confident , to use them ...

Thank you for the replies - as I said , I am learning all the time !
dee

 

[ChrisPlatt]

25 years ago I hated my Canon A-1, but today I love my Bronica RF645. Both are electronic cameras.
I'm sure I've changed a bit since then, but the Bronica is far more straightforward to operate as well.

Chris

 

[amateriat]

Chris: I bought an A-1 shortly after its release (traded away a Canon EF for it...there was a real "what was I thinking?" moment), sort-of liked it, but really hated the way it ate batteries alive, likely due to that damned digital LED in the VF. The Bronica, while electronic, is a whole different beast: far less a computer-with-lens-mount as the A-1 was, much more in-league with earlier, electronically-fortified cameras like the Pentax ES, Minolta XK and Olympus OM-2 (if we're sticking with SLRs for comparison). My Hexar RFs, in certain technological respects, make an A-1 look like a Model T (which is fine...without starting there, we couldn't have gotten here), but the Hex is more camera and far less "hexa-photo-cybernetic" (Dog Help Me, that was Canon's techno-speak PR for the A-1, and, yeah, I fell for it). There are cameras that simply utilize electronics in the design (to a greater or lesser degree), and there are Electronic Cameras. Enough said.


- Barrett