Lookin' down the barrel of a 35

[jan normandale]

Has anyone ever had an experience where they are in a public place and they are sporting a trusty 'little' RF when along comes a photographer with 'serious equipment' and a proprietary attitude?

I was shooting today and had a couple of my fave low-cost RF's a $40 Electro GSN from the Greyhoundman, a Canonet from my local used camera place for $40 also. One with colour the other BW.

All of a sudden I look up and there is a guy with a 12” lensed Nikon SLR, maybe even digital because the camera body was huge. He looked me over and my 'toy' camera equipment and then looked at me with a stare that sort of implied what are you doing here? Don't you know this is my venue.

Well I smiled and gave a small nod. Nothing. So I went on through the crowd. I saw him twice more. Each time it was a look that said ' would you please leave you are crowding my scene and take that toy camera equipment with you, you're disgracing legitimate photographers'

I didn't of course but I was surprised at the whole event.

Was this just me or has anyone else ever experienced this?

Jan

 

[back alley]

i find these long lensed wonders are more in awe when the see the p!

😉joe

 

[FrankS]

I've had it go both ways. A couple of months ago a digital-equipped wedding photographer was very defferential to me and my Leica M3 at a friend's wedding, and jsut last weekend, a digi photog from a local newspaper wouldn't make eye contact to acknowledge me and my M6 at Uxbridge's Art in the Park event.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Maybe he felt insecure. It's possible that is why he had such a large lens. Kind of like how cod pieces became statements rather than mere garments.

Reminds me of several episodes of "Blackadder."

You should have told him that there is a little blue to pill help with that problem. >🙂

 

[wlewisiii]

I'll agree with Frank. I've had a wedding photog with a really new Nikon DSLR tell me he'd rather be doing the shoot with my Kiev 5 (!) (and yes, he actually recognised it). Or the time I took the Speed to a steam locomotive event and got admiring comments from a guy with a decent (though I've forgotten the details) film SLR. I've also had more than one lecture on how I need to get a _real_ modern camera. Shrug.

OTOH, I gotta admit I really love scaring the mundanes when I go into full photo-journalist mode with my Speed Graphic and start whipping the darkslides and film holders around to catch some fast moving situation. The Digi-Kiddies really don't know what to make of the old girl... 😀

William

 

[jan normandale]

OTOH, I gotta admit I really love scaring the mundanes when I go into full photo-journalist mode with my Speed Graphic and start whipping the darkslides and film holders around to catch some fast moving situation. The Digi-Kiddies really don't know what to make of the old girl... 😀

William[/QUOTE]

I wanna be around to watch when you decide to pull out your heavy artillery, should be great fun to see and also watch the public try to figure out what is happening.

Jan

 

[wyk_penguin]

The speed graphic is an extreme example. I have found that a cheap TLR will do the trick for most situations. (It's getting too expensive to develop 4X5 colour slides where I live; and I'd rather do B&W in 35mm or 6X6.)
Strange that the long lens people feel offended by you. Most of the time, I get "digi-pros" thinking I have a Leica when I am actually holding my Kiev4!!! When I take out the Jupiter 9, they start worshiping. It is a quarter of the price they pay for their L lens (Sorry, Canon folks) and I have 1 more stop and 10 more aperture blades. Sometimes when I know I will meet a bunch of ignorant photogs with expensive digi-cams, I will take a mounted slide along and show it to any non-believers. I find it has the magical ability to stop people telling me that I am not fast enough or I am not versatile enough with my RF, which really saves everyone a lot of time.

 

[Poptart]

I never even notice other photographers unless they bump me. Then I step on their feet.

 

[Seele]

Been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt...

When those big camera toters look down their noses at me, "Why don't you get a camera like mine?" I always say, "Not if it takes pictures like yours!"

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Just be too busy taking pictures to notice.

Chances are if he is giving you the eye that much, it might be because he notices your camera and is impressed that someone is using vintage equipment. If I had the D1 out with a big-honker on it, and saw someone with a Yashica GSN, I would certainly look. I always look when I see someone with a classic camera that is using it.

And chances are if a camera toter asked why don't I get a camera like his, chances are I have it and its either at home or at work.

 

[TPPhotog]

Been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt...

LMAO !!! 😀

Yep When I'm out with the GIII (also from G'Man) I usually say with a big grin been there, done that, but now I can get better pictures ... then push them out of the way to get the shot 😀

Old habits die hard and if I want the picture then I'm going to get it !! 😉

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I have never trusted matrix metering. I usually switch to center weighted metering. That way, I know how the camera arrived at its recommended exposure setting so that I can apply the appropriate over-ride. My favorite meter is the Nikon F Photomic, original "Bulls-eye" (external CDS cell) version. It has an incident light meter disk built in. I have used it at airshows with the 300mm and 500mm lenses; the same light is falling on the airplanes and it does not get spooked by all that open sky. If I saw someone using a fixed-lens RF at an airshow, I would probably think that they needed a longer lens.

 

[MacDaddy]

Yep! Last year when I went to Pleasant Hill, KY to the Shaker Village with my wife, there was a guy with (and he bragged about this!)over $50,000 of top end Canon digital camera equipment in a HUGE backpack. He'd drop that off his shoulders and make a big show of unpacking the camera and one of the monster L series lenses and give the rest of us with our "puny little toy cameras" that dirty look as if to say, "Get outta my space, you're embarrassing me! I'm a PRO!" The hilarious thing was, I saw some of his shots and he STANK!
He was just a rich, preppy type with money and no composition sense at all! Several of us who were literally shoved aside by this Bozo so he could "take advantage of the light" at given locations in the village got together and compared photos and ours were WAY better.
'Guess the moral of the story is (as always!) it ain't the equipment, it's the photographer that makes a good photograph! Since then, I just ignore slobs like that and do my thing, knowing I'm trying my best to create good photography.
Rob "MacDaddy" White

 

[Sonnar Brian]

> Several of us who were literally shoved aside by this Bozo so he could "take advantage of the light"

In that case, buy a 400mm F6.3 Tele-Astranar. Just pack it with you. Great club, can break any Polycarbonate that it comes up against. One time I got shoved aside. I popped up in front with my Nikon F Photomic and 500mm F8 Reflex-Nikkor and did not budge again.

 

[Kin Lau]

I've never had someone try to stare me down when shooting. I do notice bystanders sneaking a peak at the Kiev or Leica, or even looking really hard but they're just trying to get a better look.

When shooting with the DSLR & long lense, I've been stopped a number of times by potential camera buyers asking for advice. Many of my fellow wildlife shooters are usually quite friendly since we're usually trading shooting spots and stories, and we don't get in each other's way. P&S shooters... are another matter.

 

[RichardS]

Has anyone ever had an experience where they are in a public place and they are sporting a trusty 'little' RF when along comes a photographer with 'serious equipment' and a proprietary attitude?



Well I smiled and gave a small nod. Nothing. So I went on through the crowd. I saw him twice more. Each time it was a look that said ' would you please leave you are crowding my scene and take that toy camera equipment with you, you're disgracing legitimate photographers'

I didn't of course but I was surprised at the whole event.

Was this just me or has anyone else ever experienced this?

Jan

You may be reading too much into what you think was a look. As long as he didn't say anything what does it matter?

Dick

 

[canonetc]

He may have just been verrrry curious about who you are; as in, "Is that guy shooting for MAGNUM?"

Newswire guys would love to shoot with RF's. Some of them have never used one, but they know from their photo history classes that all the GREAT photographers used (and still use on occasion) rangefinders.

So, take the hard stare as a compliment. He's wondering,.."Geee...who's that cool looking shooter with the cool looking camera. Wish I could work like that."

I also approach big-camera shooters and spark up a conversation. That can sometimes get rid of the "evil eye" when they realize you are not looking down your nose at him because he HAS to shoot digital. Many love RF's, and like I said, would LOVE to use one on assignment. But the demands of the spot-news world just don't make it that easy anymore.

We're all shooting together; "pro" or "amatuer". We're one big family. So let's get along and enjoy what we're doing. We can learn a lot from each other, and we do. Especially here at RF.

Cheers,

Chris
canonetc

 

[dmr]

"Why don't you get a camera like mine?" I always say, "Not if it takes pictures like yours!"

Oooohhhh, nasty! 🙂 That's a good one to use when somebody asks when I'm going to "go digital". 🙂

 

[jan normandale]

Hi Richard,

I understand your comment entirely. I thought about that several times before making the post. If it had only been once I would be onside with your comment. Fact was when you are 8 feet from someone with photoequipment and you are also toting a camera and the other guy smiles and nods it is customary to at least acknowledge. Didn't happen that way at all. Frowns are frowns.

From the comments above though I am not the first to have had an incident like this. So I don't think I'm unique here. I'm not worried about the other person's pictures. I would have loved to talk 'camera talk' with him, and after seeing him a total of 3 times at the event it just wasn't going to happen . It takes two for a dialogue.

I wasn't worried I kept shooting. It takes a lot more than that to 'knock me off the puck'.

He might have thought me a competitor for a story , I don't know. But if you put us side by side on that day I looked like an old rumpled, slightly overweight bald guy in shorts and a t-shirt, against a ball hat and sunglass, vested, multi pocketed khaki wearing, loaded for anything forty something.

In retrospect after writing the descriptions I think it sounds humourous. Who knows maybe I scared the other photographer. ;-)

Jan

 

[wierdcollector]

I think there will always be equipment snobs no matter what you're doing. The other day my wife saw a motorcyclist (on a tiny Japanese bike) give a Harley rider a wave only to have him respond with "the finger". Different equipment, same snobbery. The are always goofs in every crowd, be it photography or anything else.