Roger Hicks
Veteran
Anyone jaded? Yes, if they've been taking pictures for more than about 10-20 years, I'd have thought.
Cheers,
R.
Cheers,
R.
faris
Well-known
Just as the posters in this thread, bar a very few, are uninterested in upgrading or converting to the new mirrorless cameras announced recently; I don’t think the camera manufacturers are targeting RFF users.
There is a whole world out there, and it ain’t representative of RFF camera users. First and foremost, each manufacturer is targeting their established target base. Followed by those who want the latest, and the ‘best‘.
There are middle classes emerging across the world., and new generations across the world that have grown up in the digital age. That is where the camera sales are going to come from.
Not from those who use film and are satisfied with their older generation products.
RFF users, to be frank, are a minuscule, almost negligible targets for these new cameras.
There is a whole world out there, and it ain’t representative of RFF camera users. First and foremost, each manufacturer is targeting their established target base. Followed by those who want the latest, and the ‘best‘.
There are middle classes emerging across the world., and new generations across the world that have grown up in the digital age. That is where the camera sales are going to come from.
Not from those who use film and are satisfied with their older generation products.
RFF users, to be frank, are a minuscule, almost negligible targets for these new cameras.
Pioneer
Veteran
I have been watching the recent hoopla with great interest. But I have no desire to drop any money on any of this stuff.
Its not that I don't like digital, I absolutely do. Whenever I have a paid job to do I pull out my Canon 5D and pack a couple white lenses. This seems to comfort my paying clients since packing a Canon shows that I "obviously" know what I am doing. (I do have to say that I am still amazed at how good that camera really is. Canon certainly got that one right.)
Beyond that I am usually carrying my 1936 Leica III or 1930-something Agfa Jsolette. (I know it is really an Isolette but Jsolette just sounds much more interesting.) I find it really amazing that both of those cameras still seem to take just as good a photograph as the Canon does when I do my part. And they are much more fun to use and most certainly easier to carry.
The last camera introduction that really got me excited was the Leica M-A, and I bought it. I still love using it but it isn't quite as compact to pack around as the other two are.
I also remember getting really excited about the Pentax 645Z and I bought one of those as well. Marvelous camera but holy mackerel that was a beast to pack around in the hills. A 4x5 field camera was actually easier to carry so I sold the Pentax a year later.
However, I am not jaded about these new intros at all. It has been very entertaining to watch all the YouTube video heads ranting on and on about what is "game-changing" and what is not so terrific regarding these new cameras. Who knew that not having two card slots would be such a terrible thing? Ever since I have been trying to figure out how to build a camera to shoot two rolls of film at the same time. For crying out loud, I have lost more cards then I have ever had fail.
I cannot wait until Photokina arrives!
Its not that I don't like digital, I absolutely do. Whenever I have a paid job to do I pull out my Canon 5D and pack a couple white lenses. This seems to comfort my paying clients since packing a Canon shows that I "obviously" know what I am doing. (I do have to say that I am still amazed at how good that camera really is. Canon certainly got that one right.)
Beyond that I am usually carrying my 1936 Leica III or 1930-something Agfa Jsolette. (I know it is really an Isolette but Jsolette just sounds much more interesting.) I find it really amazing that both of those cameras still seem to take just as good a photograph as the Canon does when I do my part. And they are much more fun to use and most certainly easier to carry.
The last camera introduction that really got me excited was the Leica M-A, and I bought it. I still love using it but it isn't quite as compact to pack around as the other two are.
I also remember getting really excited about the Pentax 645Z and I bought one of those as well. Marvelous camera but holy mackerel that was a beast to pack around in the hills. A 4x5 field camera was actually easier to carry so I sold the Pentax a year later.
However, I am not jaded about these new intros at all. It has been very entertaining to watch all the YouTube video heads ranting on and on about what is "game-changing" and what is not so terrific regarding these new cameras. Who knew that not having two card slots would be such a terrible thing? Ever since I have been trying to figure out how to build a camera to shoot two rolls of film at the same time. For crying out loud, I have lost more cards then I have ever had fail.
I cannot wait until Photokina arrives!
David Hughes
David Hughes
...Who knew that not having two card slots would be such a terrible thing? Ever since I have been trying to figure out how to build a camera to shoot two rolls of film at the same time.
I cannot wait until Photokina arrives!
Simple answer to that; get one of the early so called colour cameras that took three plates (3 filters etc) and buy two or three roll film holders...
Regards, David
Pioneer
Veteran
Great idea David.
Now that is interesting stuff...way more intriguing than some old Nikon Z.
Sorta sounds like a Datsun Z, doesn't it?
Filter Factor
Established
Oh, but there is a very large and growing population of young, enthusiastic film photographers ready and willing to embrace film formats of all kinds. They're not interested in the new mirrorless models, but they love roll films and they love instant formats like Fuji's Instax line! In short, the manufacturers are missing the mark by a wide mile by not catering to this market.
Huss
Veteran
You not packing that Lomo LC-A 120 anymore Pioneer?
ptpdprinter
Veteran
I keeping reading about them but never see them.
Ken Ford
Refuses to suffer fools
We went to Colorado last November for our honeymoon. I saw about a half dozen film SLRs in downtown Denver over a four hour period, and a whole boatload more on Pearl Street in Boulder a week later. K1000s, FMs, OM#s and other classic systems don’t last long here in the few stores that still cater to film. The young users are out there.
I’m going to open a combination beard care / film camera / craft beer store and clean up.
Emile de Leon
Well-known
Pioneer
Veteran
Oh certainly Huss, just not as often as the little Agfa over the past few months.
The Lomo is my hands down favorite for street/candid photography, but I haven't done as much of that lately. I did put a couple of rolls through it during a trip to the museum with my grandkids last month but I don't think I've had it out since. I could have taken it to the fair a couple weeks ago but I carried the M-A instead. I do love that camera and it is almost as handy as the Leica III.
Lately it has been a lot more night-time high school football games or heading to the mountains for the landscapes and fall colors.
With the sports I am pushing my film mercilessly while working and moving quickly, something that little Leica is perfectly suited for. I am really used to working with it and I'm not about to change my working methods in those situations anytime soon.
The landscape work is done with a lot more deliberation and thought but I am walking up and down the sides of some pretty steep slopes so I certainly appreciate how light and easy to carry the Jsolette is. And that Solinar 85mm is an absolutely amazing lens for that kind of work. Those Tessar designs just seem to work well with black and white or color no matter how old they are. The contrast is a bit lower but the detail is all there.
I know the Lomo is perfectly capable of both tasks (though maybe not so much the film pushing part) but I don't usually use it that way. Of course now that you got me thinking about it I'll have to pack it into the hills with me this coming weekend and see how well it handles some Velvia. The Agfa certainly likes it, I shot quite a few rolls during a hunting trip last year, and I see no reason to believe that the Lomo won't like it just as well. The camera itself is certainly light enough that it won't tax me physically to carry it.
As a kind of interesting side note, and perhaps more apropos to this thread, all of these are full frame mirrorless cameras.
android
Established
That's a good point Huss :bang: I suppose there are myriad opportunities to vary the end results from a film camera - lenses, film stock, developer, darkroom printing, etc, etc. But yes, same can be said of the digital/photoshop workflow if that's your thing.