amw
Newbie
Greetings all,
My name is Aaron and I began my photography journey in the summer of 2011. At that point, I was not interested in digital photography and I stayed true to film until about a month ago. I started out in 2011, the weekend of the 4th of July, with a Holga 135 and Diana 135(both of which I got on clearance at Urban Outfitters for under $50). The next weekend I was given a Minolta X-370 and a Canon AE-1 and luckily happened on a film clearance sale at Walgreens where I paid a $1 a roll. It seemed I had leapt into fate's river and began devouring knowledge as if my life depended on it. I really had very little idea of what I was doing at first, but as the year went on and my interest grew into an obsesssion, photography skills, technical knowledge, and a plethora of gear accumulated. Then my professional career collapsed on Jan. 1 2012 and I found myself with a lot of time to practice photography and find my way. I also started to build a collection of gear which has now turned into that of an entire GAS Anonymous group. Of course I still had the toy cameras and the AE-1 & X-370, but I wanted to try them all. Before the mid point of 2012, I'd begun developing my B&W stuff, added 5 or 6 new bodies, most of which were entirely new brands and systems, and was looking for more. I would never, however, buy anything by Nikon. The system felt to me how I think Mac users make Windows users feel.... Yeah, I'm sure it's great and all, but do they really have to place the f-stops opposite everyone else? And whats with the 52mm threads. Anyway, one day I happened on a pawn shop that had a pristine FE2 with a few lenses and a mint Canon IVSB2 with a 5cm Serenar and a turret finder and the guy wanted $150 for the lot. Figuring the Nikon was worth that alone, I of course jumped on it knowing that I'd likely be able to parlay this buy into some lenses and bodies beyond my means at the time. I was going to keep the Canon and sell the Nikon. However, the opposite happened. I hated loading the Canon and I realized I could get around $500 for the package while the Nikon grew in me instantly. From then on, I was a Nikon man. I sold the IVSB2 and bought an F3, F, and more bodies, and some lenses. But as the year ended, i knew i was missing something. Though by Dec. I was into MF per a Kiev 88, snagged a F4&F5 and, during a 2 1/2 minute break in gear acquisition, somehow managed to get my wife pregnant.
Ahhhhh deep breath.... That's how I started my first year +, but now I had a motive! A baby to photograph! A GAS sufferers dream. So I got a Mamiya RB67 and more Nikon gear. Practiced my payless trade and ramped up for the he or she coming mid-July 2013. As a side note, I helped my neighbor out by fixing an old Benz they had which they wanted to give to their daughter. I asked for nothing as payment because I was bored, liked the work, and it's nice to help a neighbor. Turns out that their recently deceased dad was a camera collector of sorts and had some really cool stuff and some real crap. They knew nothing of the value of any of it, so I shared what I knew and then I saw the three....the only three bodies that would make an expecting dad drool. Two LTM Leicas and a Canon SBIV, each with a 50mm lens. I told them those were the most valuable of the bunch, not let them go anywhere, and to get them looked at ASAP. The next week, as the 3month long car repair was ending, I was offered my choice of any of the three. I declined because I wasnt looking for a quid pro quo. I wanted to be nice and they simply didn't know what they were offering. The next month came around and more car work needed to be done, which I did, and the next day all three were on my porch. A iiib, a iiic, and the SBIV. The iiib didn't work and had a Summar with lots of mess on the front element. The iiic came with a perfect Summitar 5cm and it works except on 4, 2, T, and 1. The Canon shoots perfectly and the lens is as minty as the Summitar. By now I had a ton of lenses, bodies, attachments, flashes, etc. and I rarely used any of those 3 cameras. Well, the Leica I shot a lot with, but really not enough. Then came the baby and it was a girl(we waited to find out). I shot like mad the rest of the year and well into this year. However, I really didn't like color film so I shot 99% of my shots, even of the moments after birth in B&W. After a year of doing this, and renting a Nikon D800 for a wedding, I decided I needed a digi for color work. I swore I'd never do it, but I had to have one. I needed to see my girl in color and the countless undeveloped rolls of her shots were nagging at me. I took the plunge....after much much much research and study. I wanted to be able to use my old glass and I wanted simplicity with good IQ. Also, it had to be fairly cheap. I bought a refurb Olympus OM-D Em10. It was that or a Fuji X series.
Upon its arrival I was rather blasé about it. I felt I was betraying all of my hard work in learning how to shoot film, but I promised myself I'd never spray and pray, nor do anything to an image that I wouldn't do with a film image. I quickly bought a Nikon and Minolta adapter and as a last minute add on, a LTM adapter. Side note, I put up for sale on beBay a 76/77 F2 with the led + 0 - readout F2sb?? maybe, the Lecia iiic body, and the Summitar lens with the idea that whichever sold first, I'd pull the others and buy the Oly. A guy bought the iiic, but thought the lens came with it, so we canceled the sale. Then he bought the body, but thats when I realized the slow speeds were broken so we canceled that and then, finally, a guy bought the Nikon. I had my Oly and my Leicas too. When the adapters came, all I could think about were the barrage of questions about the Summitar 50mm and it's condition. I really didn't know bc I'd never developed any of the film and now I could see what it could do immediately. I put her on the adapter, put the adapter on the body and !! card failure. WTH? Didn't happen with the Oly kit lens. Ugh. Swapped cards and I nearly cried. The lens creates the most gorgeous shots I've ever taken and the images look very much like film. I don't play around in post, most of my shots that are keepers need nothing done except a crop, and dang if it doesn't look awesome on that Oly bod. I look back at how I ended up with it and I'm so damn lucky I didn't sell it. I doubt I'll buy any Oly af lenses as all I need is a wide LTM lens and I'm done. I'm saving for something in the 3.5cm world or maybe a 2.8cm or maybe even wider, but right now I'm so happy with my path. I need to focus faster because my girl is up and walking like her butts on fire and I need to press the trigger faster and perhaps more often. However, I still shoot with a film mindset and it's impossible for me to shoot unless I know it's right. But dang, I love my Summitar, simply love it. Ive hardly played with the Summar and Serenar, but I will. Ive been lurking for a while and had to join you guys. I look forward to reading and learning more about these marvelous pieces of brilliance. They really are up to the hype.
AMW
My name is Aaron and I began my photography journey in the summer of 2011. At that point, I was not interested in digital photography and I stayed true to film until about a month ago. I started out in 2011, the weekend of the 4th of July, with a Holga 135 and Diana 135(both of which I got on clearance at Urban Outfitters for under $50). The next weekend I was given a Minolta X-370 and a Canon AE-1 and luckily happened on a film clearance sale at Walgreens where I paid a $1 a roll. It seemed I had leapt into fate's river and began devouring knowledge as if my life depended on it. I really had very little idea of what I was doing at first, but as the year went on and my interest grew into an obsesssion, photography skills, technical knowledge, and a plethora of gear accumulated. Then my professional career collapsed on Jan. 1 2012 and I found myself with a lot of time to practice photography and find my way. I also started to build a collection of gear which has now turned into that of an entire GAS Anonymous group. Of course I still had the toy cameras and the AE-1 & X-370, but I wanted to try them all. Before the mid point of 2012, I'd begun developing my B&W stuff, added 5 or 6 new bodies, most of which were entirely new brands and systems, and was looking for more. I would never, however, buy anything by Nikon. The system felt to me how I think Mac users make Windows users feel.... Yeah, I'm sure it's great and all, but do they really have to place the f-stops opposite everyone else? And whats with the 52mm threads. Anyway, one day I happened on a pawn shop that had a pristine FE2 with a few lenses and a mint Canon IVSB2 with a 5cm Serenar and a turret finder and the guy wanted $150 for the lot. Figuring the Nikon was worth that alone, I of course jumped on it knowing that I'd likely be able to parlay this buy into some lenses and bodies beyond my means at the time. I was going to keep the Canon and sell the Nikon. However, the opposite happened. I hated loading the Canon and I realized I could get around $500 for the package while the Nikon grew in me instantly. From then on, I was a Nikon man. I sold the IVSB2 and bought an F3, F, and more bodies, and some lenses. But as the year ended, i knew i was missing something. Though by Dec. I was into MF per a Kiev 88, snagged a F4&F5 and, during a 2 1/2 minute break in gear acquisition, somehow managed to get my wife pregnant.
Ahhhhh deep breath.... That's how I started my first year +, but now I had a motive! A baby to photograph! A GAS sufferers dream. So I got a Mamiya RB67 and more Nikon gear. Practiced my payless trade and ramped up for the he or she coming mid-July 2013. As a side note, I helped my neighbor out by fixing an old Benz they had which they wanted to give to their daughter. I asked for nothing as payment because I was bored, liked the work, and it's nice to help a neighbor. Turns out that their recently deceased dad was a camera collector of sorts and had some really cool stuff and some real crap. They knew nothing of the value of any of it, so I shared what I knew and then I saw the three....the only three bodies that would make an expecting dad drool. Two LTM Leicas and a Canon SBIV, each with a 50mm lens. I told them those were the most valuable of the bunch, not let them go anywhere, and to get them looked at ASAP. The next week, as the 3month long car repair was ending, I was offered my choice of any of the three. I declined because I wasnt looking for a quid pro quo. I wanted to be nice and they simply didn't know what they were offering. The next month came around and more car work needed to be done, which I did, and the next day all three were on my porch. A iiib, a iiic, and the SBIV. The iiib didn't work and had a Summar with lots of mess on the front element. The iiic came with a perfect Summitar 5cm and it works except on 4, 2, T, and 1. The Canon shoots perfectly and the lens is as minty as the Summitar. By now I had a ton of lenses, bodies, attachments, flashes, etc. and I rarely used any of those 3 cameras. Well, the Leica I shot a lot with, but really not enough. Then came the baby and it was a girl(we waited to find out). I shot like mad the rest of the year and well into this year. However, I really didn't like color film so I shot 99% of my shots, even of the moments after birth in B&W. After a year of doing this, and renting a Nikon D800 for a wedding, I decided I needed a digi for color work. I swore I'd never do it, but I had to have one. I needed to see my girl in color and the countless undeveloped rolls of her shots were nagging at me. I took the plunge....after much much much research and study. I wanted to be able to use my old glass and I wanted simplicity with good IQ. Also, it had to be fairly cheap. I bought a refurb Olympus OM-D Em10. It was that or a Fuji X series.
Upon its arrival I was rather blasé about it. I felt I was betraying all of my hard work in learning how to shoot film, but I promised myself I'd never spray and pray, nor do anything to an image that I wouldn't do with a film image. I quickly bought a Nikon and Minolta adapter and as a last minute add on, a LTM adapter. Side note, I put up for sale on beBay a 76/77 F2 with the led + 0 - readout F2sb?? maybe, the Lecia iiic body, and the Summitar lens with the idea that whichever sold first, I'd pull the others and buy the Oly. A guy bought the iiic, but thought the lens came with it, so we canceled the sale. Then he bought the body, but thats when I realized the slow speeds were broken so we canceled that and then, finally, a guy bought the Nikon. I had my Oly and my Leicas too. When the adapters came, all I could think about were the barrage of questions about the Summitar 50mm and it's condition. I really didn't know bc I'd never developed any of the film and now I could see what it could do immediately. I put her on the adapter, put the adapter on the body and !! card failure. WTH? Didn't happen with the Oly kit lens. Ugh. Swapped cards and I nearly cried. The lens creates the most gorgeous shots I've ever taken and the images look very much like film. I don't play around in post, most of my shots that are keepers need nothing done except a crop, and dang if it doesn't look awesome on that Oly bod. I look back at how I ended up with it and I'm so damn lucky I didn't sell it. I doubt I'll buy any Oly af lenses as all I need is a wide LTM lens and I'm done. I'm saving for something in the 3.5cm world or maybe a 2.8cm or maybe even wider, but right now I'm so happy with my path. I need to focus faster because my girl is up and walking like her butts on fire and I need to press the trigger faster and perhaps more often. However, I still shoot with a film mindset and it's impossible for me to shoot unless I know it's right. But dang, I love my Summitar, simply love it. Ive hardly played with the Summar and Serenar, but I will. Ive been lurking for a while and had to join you guys. I look forward to reading and learning more about these marvelous pieces of brilliance. They really are up to the hype.
AMW
