Film Cameras = More Fun, More New Friends than DIGITAL?

[falleri]

People are much more likely to stop me on the street to talk, saying asking about whatever camera I am shooting. Comments generally run into 3 directions

1) someone I knew had a camera similar to yours
2) I had that same camera, or always wanted one
3) where can I get a film camera and get started in film photography?

So, are film cameras more likely to be more fun and a better conversation starter than a digital camera?

Stephen

Definitely. Although sometimes I agree with newsgrunt..

nope. film cameras mean more irritating questions and less shooting time.

..it kind of depends on my mood, and the kind of conversations I get. Females never ask me any questions so reading this surprised me quite a bit (the difference of course is, I am female myself..) I usually get the males. And they're usually much older than I am 🙂 but those men are usually nice and interested.

I've had the exact same kind of questions/ remarks as mentioned above, but also 'do they still make film for that?' or 'where do you buy film?', stuff like that.

Sometimes it really is fun and I have nice conversations with people. This usually happens with my analog cameras. The Fuji X100 gets attention too. I've had a lot of people say 'hey, are you still shooting analog?' I usually reply, yes, but this one is digital actually. Funny faces after that 🙂

Sometimes it really bores and annoys me to death as people approach me just as often with a digital camera, even when I'm working, and they just HAVE to tell me they're into photography too, or ask me what to buy.. :bang: or rant on about a camera they used to own and how great it was (I really don't know how to respond to that anymore, I mean, what can I say? I don't have that specific camera..)

Are there few females on here? Maybe that's the big difference, because I sometimes feel slightly harassed actually; honking cars, people talking to me like they know more than I do (one time I was taking a portrait of someone in the city with a Hasselblad, a guy walks past and says, shall I take a picture of the both of you with that? I mean, the nerve 😱 especially the way he said it.. just mind-boggling), people talking purely about their own photography stuff.. please, leave me in peace so I can take photos already.

Something that still amazes me: 'I own that camera too'- usually a sneer in passing. Well, yes, anyone can buy a camera. There is no law preventing you from doing so even if you don't use it or have no idea how to use it.. So what? I can go out and buy a hammer but that doesn't give me the right to look down on a carpenter, right? 😉

 

[falleri]

Been thinking about this recently, and think the answer (for me) is no. Even when a full bells & whistle camera like a dslr is 'dumbed down' so to speak, I never feel I can trust it implicitly enough, to just let go and concentrate on seeing and shooting like I do with my M3. I think this is the key difference, after reading some left brain/ right brain art and photography writings recently. With my M3, I am able to fully immerse myself in my right brain and just focus on image making, whereas a camera with other distractions (even if just checking the camera made the right call), never permits me the same immersion.

On a practical level, I think two of the key points for me are exposure and focus. With an unmetered camera like an M and negative film, I am adjusting exposure for general shooting conditions almost unconsciously, and almost never when I have the camera at my eye. This means I only have to focus when I have the camera to my eye. That brings me to focussing, where I increasingly find autofocus makes me unconsciously zone out a little, where with manual focus, it keeps me right in the scene I am trying to capture, making me pay attention and cast my eye over the many elements in the scene before me.

At least the above are my thoughts on something I find quite natural, and not so easy to explain. For me, I simply 'see' better with my M3. This is not to say I cannot learn to 'see' in a similar way with other cameras, but think different cameras/ processes affect how we engage our perceptive abilities when we shoot. Learning how to engage that ability in other ways is something I am exploring a little at the moment, mainly in conjunction with Betty Edwards classic drawing manual Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and Bert Krages who uses a similar bent, but in relation to photography, in his Photography, The Art of Composition.

I like your explanation. I have similar thoughts on it and it is indeed hard to explain, especially to people using dslr's etc. For me, the camera usually gets in the way when it starts to think for itself too much, and there's more distractions in the viewfinder and everywhere else.

When I bought my Bessa the guy in the shop said, 'it has a meter, too, not sure if there's a battery in there' and my first reaction was 'oh no! Can it function without a battery? Please say yes' and he looked at me as if I was nuts.. but I use my lighting meter and eyes for this and that's enough, and a red blinking light in the viewfinder is going to distract me and make me doubt myself, so it will cost extra time and make me less aware of what I'm shooting, less focus.

(I can use it without a battery thankfully and apart from a few rolls of film I used while still recovering from a concussion, I get consistent results)

 

[rocksoldierz]

film makes me feel like its really photography....i love shooting my leica. digital is , well useful and without the cost of film and lab costs frees the shutter a lot more.....

 

[Dirk]

The most attention I ever attracted was with my Rolleiflex (well, other than the 70's when I was sporting my white disco outfit). Seriously though, lots of conversations and smiles all around. In fact, the Rolleiflex may be the best street camera ever. Nobody seems to mind having their picture taken with it!

 

[Skiff]

So, are film cameras more likely to be more fun and a better conversation starter than a digital camera?

Well for me, at least, its definitely true.

Stephen

For me, Stephen, it is true as well.
I've often made the same experience.
When I am out on the streets using my film based cameras, quite often people ask me about it.
The best "conversation starter" are TLRs. Especially young photographers, who have been probably grown up 'completely digital' are very interested and curious.

The conversations have always been very nice.
Interestingly recently I've been more often asked by females than males.

 

[jsrockit]

My film photo friends certainly get more attention than me. They even get a portrait or two out of the conversation. The only digital that gets a lot of attention is the Leica M8/M9. People will scream out "Leica" at times in NYC... inside and outside. Kind of embarrassing. 🙂

 

[zuiko85]

Must be the location. Hardly ever get a comment even with a 6X9 folder or my Leica M. Strangely, my Olympus Pen F gets a response, often an older gentleman will ask if it's a Leica. Without a prism hump it does have the same profile as a older screw mount Leica. Last year I picked up a Ziess Box Tengor but haven't taken it out yet. I'll have to see if it generates any conversation.

 

[jk0592]

Well, try using a Hasselblad on a tripod, and count the seconds before someone shows up asking all sorts of questions. The 4x5 is used in the countryside, not in crowded urban areas, otherwise it would cause a major traffic jam for sure...I am always polite with those curious enough to ask about these cameras, "can you still find film for these ?"
usually, 35 mm gear is thought to be digital, so no big questions about it, though.

 

[Pioneer]

I have received quite a few comments with my medium format film cameras, my folders, my Barnack Leicas, and my older Pentax SLRs. Most people either recognize them as older cameras and realize I am using film.

Surprisingly, my newer rangefinders do not usually attract much attention. I think that is because a lot of the newer digital mirror-less cameras have a retro look so, unless I am actually reloading, they don't immediately recognize them as film cameras.

On the other hand, the M9 gets quite a bit of attention, particularly from other photographers I know. A lot of them are pretty committed to digital but they love the size and simplicity of the M9.

 

[bokenikon]

Three years ago I was travelling in Seoul, Korea and started a conversation with a 50-something year-old Korean man in a camera shop in the Chungmuro camera district of Seoul. After an hour's conversation about Hassy's and film Leicas, I was doing happy hour with this respectable gent and his office buddies. Within three hours I was at his house, met his family and drinking wine with him. We still keep in touch from time to time .. .

 

[eja144]

I'll second that TLR's tend to have a relaxing effect on strangers. I was photographing a motorcycle show in the streets of Erie, PA with a Yashica MAT LM, and got several looks, smiles, etc. A kid even pointed to it and asked his dad if it was a video camera! A woman probably in her early 40's stopped me and struck up a conversation.

I think TLR's are naturally disarming, since the waist-level viewfinder requires the photographer to look down and away from the subject. People (and animals) tense up when they feel as if they are being watched or stared at.

 

[Blaufeld]

You can turn off many of the bells and whistles on digital cameras, but there is still always the temptation to tinker, a temptation you do not have with a camera with only the most basic of controls.

So it all boils down to a question of strenght of will, just as with stop smoking, losing weight and exercise more... 😉
I've started last March shooting my Panasonic G3 with an old Pentacon manual focus lens, Aperture Priority mode, all bells and whistles disabled, no back lcd and only infos in the viewfinders are shutter speed and over/under exposition indicator.
And now I've found that is the most engaging way to shoot photos for me, the camera becames totally "transparent"... I shoot at most 15-20 shots a day, everyone of them is deeply tought and not considered "disposable" just because I can shoot hundreds of them on the SD card. I shoot also with two film rangefinders, but I simply feel more at ease with the G3.
Back to the thread title - I had people starting conversation with me when I use my Mamiya C220. My Zorki and my Leica are considered just retro-looking digicams.

 

[robert blu]

yes, TLR are not intimidating. I use sometimes and people tend to smile when they recognize to be my subject! And still remember when a couple of years ago a boy around 12 ask stared at my Rolleiflex, ask me if he could look in it and than ask me how many megapixel it was 🙂
robert

 

[SakamakuAme]

Unfortunately, yes. As a street shooter, I always try to be invisible, but a film camera sometimes take too much attention, especially MF. No problem with Yashica T4, no one wants to talk about this camera. Lol.

 

[mszargar]

My building's janitor who is Russian gave me his old Zenit when he saw me shooting with a Zorki in the street. He seemed proud of the USSR legacy!

 

[shanenoir]

My building's janitor who is Russian gave me his old Zenit when he saw me shooting with a Zorki in the street. He seemed proud of the USSR legacy!

Haha, that is so cool! My college art teacher gave me his old Pentax Spotmatic when I needed a camera for a sculpture project but didn't want to risk leaving my DSLR in public. Then he let me keep it 😀

 

[Godfrey]

The most amusing reactions I get are when I'm shooting with the Polaroid SX-70. Sometimes with one of my 1950s folders.

Otherwise, most people could care less if I've got a Nikon F or a Leica M9, or a Rollei 35S or a Leica X2. They all just see a camera and ignore it.

G

 

[siracusa]

I've had a range of experiences using film, ranging from a woman in the street laughing (in a nice way) at the sign of me using a Rolleiflex, to a girl (early 20s) in a bar stopping by my table to say "cool camera" at the sight of my M2. Perhaps the best response ever has got to be the person who once saw me with a iiif and asked me: "is that real?" When I asked why she explained she didn't think film cameras still existed. I was too busy working that one out to be able to come back at her with a response. In contrast, I've also had people smile knowingly and say "nice to see someone using a real camera", so there was some unintentional irony I guess in the girl's comment. My latest film camera attention was in a bar this evening. A member of bar staff said "oh, I remember - you're the guy with the Leica M2". Indeed, I did have my M2 with me on an evening out with friends about five or six weeks back. Turns out the staff member with the good memory recently got himself an M6 and has a large collection of Zorkis.

 

[gooseta]

My department chair saw me taking shots with my Leica IIIf one evening and said "Wow! That looks like something from the 50's! Have digital cameras gone back to that style?"

I agree fully, people are in general very interested in film cameras, especially kids (meaning teens and young adults).

Film is currently "cool". Enjoy while it lasts (hopefully a long time).

Randy

Yup, 'retro' design is now as in as can be with all your lomo people and Fuji's massively popular X cameras

 

[furbs]

This evening a girl in my Spanish class asked me why I "use that thing" as I put away my Nikon F2AS - she didn't understand why someone who isn't in a photo class would shoot film. I explained that I took a photo class 15 years ago, and as it turns out her mother used to have her own darkroom in the basement of their old house. She said she remembered the smell of the chemicals, and seeing images appear as if out of nothing in the film. She copied down the name of my camera to give to her mother, who is interested in a fancy new digital...