Just how long does one hang onto cognitive dissonance? A lifetime?

[FrankS]

In the dark: that's when the magic happens.

 

[gho]

I developed a roll of 6x6 yesterday, and the thought of 20 minutes in the dark, doing sheet film, doesn't feel appealing. Maybe start with a daylight tank.

I did not want to do tray development (shuffling) or to buy a tank. I just place one sheet of film with the emulsion up into highly diluted HC-110 and let it stand. Usually I take two exposures per scene, so I have some margin to tune the development time, if the first sheet came out too thin or too dense.

 

[graywolf]

If you think LF is better than anything else, but do not use it, then you do have CD.

On the other hand, if you like owning different kinds of cameras, if you think that sometimes LF works better for a particular job, if you sometimes use lf, or almost anything other than the previous paragraph, you do not have CD.

If you define yourself by what you do, you have bigger problems than CD. Think about it. Say you define your self as an automotive engineer, then get laid off. All of a sudden you are a "NOBODY". Such people do not live long.

I own a couple of large format cameras, but my identity is not tied to that, they are just toys I sometimes like to play with. That is a good thing, because while I have skills in a dozen or so trades, I am disabled and can not hold a job. Where would I be if I defined myself by the work I do?

Enjoy your camera.

 

[V-12]

I developed a roll of 6x6 yesterday, and the thought of 20 minutes in the dark, doing sheet film, doesn't feel appealing. Maybe start with a daylight tank.

I mostly use a Paterson five reel tank with a MOD54 4x5 insert to do six sheets or fewer, it 'only' takes 1 litre of chemicals. Loading six sheets can be fiddly, so either a darkroom or a daylight tent is ideal. And while the Yankee daylight tank gets some criticism it works for me, and when I want to develop more than six sheets its large appetite for chemicals works out more economical than the Paterson tank.

 

[thegman]

If you think LF is better than anything else, but do not use it, then you do have CD.

On the other hand, if you like owning different kinds of cameras, if you think that sometimes LF works better for a particular job, if you sometimes use lf, or almost anything other than the previous paragraph, you do not have CD.

If you define yourself by what you do, you have bigger problems than CD. Think about it. Say you define your self as an automotive engineer, then get laid off. All of a sudden you are a "NOBODY". Such people do not live long.

I own a couple of large format cameras, but my identity is not tied to that, they are just toys I sometimes like to play with. That is a good thing, because while I have skills in a dozen or so trades, I am disabled and can not hold a job. Where would I be if I defined myself by the work I do?

Enjoy your camera.

I think this is very sound advice, I probably used to be as you describe, defining myself by what I did (computers, not cameras), and worrying a bit more than I should about such matters. Over time I came to realise that it just did not matter, and I am happier for that.

Nowadays, I feel I can pick up a hobby if I feel like it, and drop it if I feel like it. I look forward to trying new things, but will not worry if it does not work out for me, or if it does work out, and I end up dropping another hobby to make time for it.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I decided to drop 35mm film for medium format, I wanted the simplicity of only stocking one type of film in the fridge. But last week I saw a lovely Leica IIIf for sale, and jumped on it, so now I'm back on 35mm film. Does not need to be a big thing, do what you like and don't worry about it too much.

 

[didjiman]

Keep it until I can afford the 110/150 🙂

If you don't need the money to pay bills, nothing wrong with keeping a camera and a couple lens for the occasional uses.