Overheard - made me smile.

[Kin Lau]

I've never had anyone comment on the Leica when I'm out with it in public. Well, except for on a photography club trip, but...

Most people notice it, but apparently 'serious' photographers don't shoot with little chrome cameras with film advance levers so they ignore me.

I've had an older gentleman comment on my YashicaMat TLR.

At the Toronto Streetfest a couple of years back. There was a dance troup (Jazz dancers, so they were dress quite snazzily) and they had just been asked for a pic. The lead dancer came right up to me while I was sitting on the sidewalk and let me know they were going to pose... lots of other cameras around, but I was the only one he asked. I was shooting a Kiev w/ J9 + turret finder... the downside, was the spool problems caused me to lose most of that roll.

With the Kievs & Leica IIIa, I'm often aware of people looking and staring. No comments, but lots of stares... no snears either.

 

[JCT]

I had one of these episodes this morning-- I shoot the summer baseball leagues in town (yes, usually with a D2x). Today my son's team had an early doubleheader so I decided to shoot some dugout shots with my Rolleiflex during the first game. These young men are used to me shooting after all these years and so they are pretty blase.

When I leaned around the edge of the dugout holding my beloved Rollei one of them hollered to my son "yo, Ben, what happened to your mom's good camera?"

Sigh.

And Rich815 --*that* is a sad, sad tale. Yikes!

JT

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[Sparrow]

Viva la résistance
(I shall say this only once)
😉

 

[rogue_designer]

Go to any typical news scene, war environment, riot... whatever .... the statement would be, "you mean the man 50 yards back still trying to load his camera?" 🙂

Ah well... I never claimed I was a reportage man. 🙂

 

[BJ Bignell]

At the Montreal RFF meet, an old fellow came up to Hub and myself at Marché Jean-Talon and asked if the Bessas we were holding were Leicas. He seemed to be a bit of a poor fellow, but one should never judge by appearance; he obviously knew what a Leica rangefinder was, and seemed geniunely curious to hear about newer RF cameras being made.


I often get asked (especially with the Olympus XA) if I can show the picture on the LCD. I also get a lot of looks that can be politely translated into "Hmm, that's interesting" when I tell people that I only own film cameras.

 

[foto_fool]

My daughter (4-1/2) used to ask me to see the picture I just took of her. Now she asks "are you shooting film today daddy?" She's learning about using the viewfinder with a digital p&s. I'm moving her toward the real thing.

My 65-year old brother-in-law usually has a digital p&s with him 24/7. When he saw the B/W stuff I did at our nephew's wedding (M6/35 Summilux) he went out and bought himself a Mamiya C330 - coming back to film after 40 years.

I was out with the IIIf two days ago and stopped to ask a young street musician if I could take some shots. He played, I shot 12 frames or so, and then I tipped him. He stopped me and said" You broke the chain!" In 6 years of street playing I was the first person that 1) asked before I photographed, and 2) tipped after. We had a long discussion about people that use the digicam in their hands to isolate themselves and excuse rudeness. He was fascinated with a camera that was made 30 years before he was born, and genuinely excited when he asked if I was shooting B/W and I said yes. He asked me to share the shots with him when they come back.

- John

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[dll927]

Ted White raised the issue about TLRs - how does one lens know what the other is doing?

The question must have been raised by the same person who saw a sign by the roadside saying "Elk crossing", then asked how the elk knew to cross at the signs.

My only Leica is an M4-2, which doesn't know what a battery is. I have several older cameras (including a Yashicamat 124) that take batteries but can be used quite well without them. On the other hand, my K-M Maxxum 7D would be totally helpless without its proprietary battery. This is progress?

Supposedly the story is that Edwin Land invented the first Polaroid after his little daughter asked him why she couldn't see the picture right away.

This thread is a blast - keep them coming.

 

[Andrew Sowerby]

Somewhat along the same lines:

When I was teaching ESL in Poland I carried around a Lomo LC-A. My students often made fun of me for using an old Russian camera instead of a digicam like the most of them. They couldn't understand why someone from Canada (the land of milk and honey) would slum it with the camera equivalent of a Lada.

 

[Michael I.]

People usually look at mix with pity thinking me too poor. A coworker(who shoots nice lifeless overphotoshopped photos with 20D and L-lenses) rediculed me until he saw the scans. Now he asks me for advice.I showd him a wet print once. He almost cried.

 

[Xmas]

I live in a different world.

Sitting on tree stump changing a film (on a Kiev) - 'whoo a film camera'

Noel

 

[sepiareverb]

...Supposedly the story is that Edwin Land invented the first Polaroid after his little daughter asked him why she couldn't see the picture right away...

A little girl ahead of her time.

 

[raid]

I was taking some photos in Venice with a Rolleflex TLR when an older man approached me to take a photo of me and my wife. He said things in Italian, but I understood enough from his tone that he was viewing the Rolleiflex as a "real" camera.

People look impressed when I used to use the Canon 500mm/4.5L lens. I guess, with such a big lens, I must be a pro!

 

[micromontenegro]

I get all kind of remarks when using Rolleiflexes. My Contax is everlastingly offended by the "Is that a Leica?" questions. But almost nobody notices a Rollei 35.

 

[350D_user]

When a work colleague asked me about what cameras I used, I mentioned one that uses no batteries. A look of confusion was seen... how does a camera with no batteries work?

As for the old guy, in Malta, stating the 350D was better than the Leica because of the availability of the photos from the 350D... well (*cough*weblog).

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[julianphotoart]

At the Norton Simon Museum, in its beautiful garden, I was idly taking some family snaps with the M7. We passed 2 older security guards. They looked like pentioners who do the work just to get out. It looked like one was eyeing the camera. From the corner of my eye I saw him nudge the other guy and then I heard him say "now that's a real camera".

But generally, the reaction I far more often get is of friends and acquaintances admitting they wished they could still have the quality of film but digital is pervasive and seems so much easier and they can't be bothered to do the perceived extra work to deal with film. That doesn't stop them from wanting to see the film photos (often B&W to boot) afterward.

Somewhat OT to this, my nephew is going over to Japan as an engineer with Sony (he's fully bilingual and just graduated from Berkeley). He's going to be in what used to be K-M's labs in Osaka working on Sony D-SLR's. I've given him an earful for instance about the proud history of Konica RF's, optics, etc. Showed him how RF's have so few controls, but that simply means more creativity, etc. We discussed how an old Leica is so simple and its beautiful form has simply followed function. Despite being hired to design digital SLR's, he's definitely on board with the philosophy of bring back designs that are elegant and straightforward and use some real metal.

 

[MadMan2k]

^ woohoo! Maybe he'll knock some sense into the rest of them so that they release a digital Hexar AF.

 

[landsknechte]

Sort of related: I was using my Rolleiflex 2.8C Xenotar this weekend at the public pool taking photos of my wife and son. A young woman lifeguard asked me "What kind of camera is that?!" I told her it was an old German camera from the 1950's and let her look down thru the TLR viewfinder. Upon viewing the crystal clear image on the Maxwell screen she said: "Cool! I did not know they made digital cameras back then!" She honestly had no concept of what an image on a ground glass screen was or how the lens projects the image on it even when I tried to explain it to her.

That just made my week... 🙄

Seriously though, the only time that I've had the uninitiated really respond to a vintage camera that I was carrying around is whem I'm out with a folding 120 camera. I tend to get the same reaction to that as if I was cruising down the interstate in a Model T. Once in a while, I'll the get the amazed "jeez, that's old school" reaction from acquaintances when I'm carrying a RF. Strangers tend not to say anything, unless they're familiar with the gear.

On the other hand, I've had plenty of people respond to my DSLR as if I were aiming a sniper rifle at them.