Silver vs. Megapixels

[thawkins]

I took a vacation with an M3 recently. The Leica was interesting to many expecially to a Japanese gentleman and a youngster from newyawk. The oriental ask many intellegent questions about film selection, metering and shutter speed; he was obviously versed in RF cameras. The young man from the east coast kept staring at the camera and finally ask how many megapixels it had. I explained it had none and he responded by asking how did it "capture the image". I told him it was a film camera and he was cluless. I further explained that it did not use batteries, did not have any sort of a metering system. When it was time to rewind the film and reload the astonishment was complete. "You mean all your pictures are in that little yellow capsule?" His curiosity was growing so I let him handle the camera and take a few pictures with it. After that for the rest of the trip he was all questions about vintage mechanical cameras, film and all that goes with our love of fine cameras. I hope after he returned home, he put away his cellphone camera and continued his curiosity about real cameras.

 

[robert blu]

It happened me at a friend's family gathering where I had my (father's) Rolleiflex and a young boy ask me how many megapixel it was !
robert

 

[ZorkiKat]

When we took the Kodak D2 5X7 field viewcamera out, someone admired its large sized LCD screen....only that it was upside down... 😛

 

[hendriphile]

On a recent visit I let my nieces & nephew handle my M3.
"Wow!," they said, "It's so heavy! And it has numbers all over it!"

 

[robert blu]

I was doing some homework and re-thinking thie thread: the surprise of the boy when he saw the film cartridge. And the boy asking me about the megapixel of the Rolleiflex. This brought me to think the "reverse": what could be the surprise of my father if he could be here now to see that today people take pictures without a film? and that is possible to take out that "strange thing" where picture are stored in the daylight without burning the photos? Just thinking about...
robert

 

[Keith]

I encountered a young guy (19) recently who asked me some questions about my OM that made it clear that he had never seen a film camera before and had absolutely no clue how the analog process worked!

Sometimes it's easy to forget that there's a generation out there to whom a film camera is much like a wooden wagon wheel! 😀

 

[David_Manning]

I was in downtown Toronto yesterday and I had my D700 and 50/24 lenses...I was expecting lousy weather so I brought "The Beast."

As I'm looking through the viewfinder for angles at the Roundhouse Brewery (honestly), a nicely dressed, middle-aged guy walks by and says "I still use film!" He's shooting a Canon AF-1 (I don't think AE-1) and chrome film. So I start sputtering "I prefer film too," and "I'm a film photographer, really," and I'm sure I said "I prefer my Leica" but I think I was unconvincing. I was bummed.

Life is funny and ironic, huh?

 

[__--]

Why does it matter what he thought?

—Mitch/New York
Paris au rythme de Basquiat

 

[Darkhorse]

I was at a photography meetup group recently, and one older gentleman there noticed my OM and remarked at how small and compact it was. Eventually he asked me "is it 4/3rds?" and I said, "No, it's full frame." and he was taken aback in shock until he looked closer and realized it was a film camera.

 

[Alpacaman]

Sometimes it's easy to forget that there's a generation out there to whom a film camera is much like a wooden wagon wheel! 😀

Hey, not for all of us!

 

[Keith]

I took a vacation with an M3 recently. The Leica was interesting to many expecially to a Japanese gentleman and a youngster from newyawk. The oriental ask many intellegent questions about film selection, metering and shutter speed; he was obviously versed in RF cameras. The young man from the east coast kept staring at the camera and finally ask how many megapixels it had. I explained it had none and he responded by asking how did it "capture the image". I told him it was a film camera and he was cluless. I further explained that it did not use batteries, did not have any sort of a metering system. When it was time to rewind the film and reload the astonishment was complete. "You mean all your pictures are in that little yellow capsule?" His curiosity was growing so I let him handle the camera and take a few pictures with it. After that for the rest of the trip he was all questions about vintage mechanical cameras, film and all that goes with our love of fine cameras. I hope after he returned home, he put away his cellphone camera and continued his curiosity about real cameras.

I meant to ask before ... how did the M3 enjoy the vacation?

We love our Leicas around here but you've taken the 'love' to a different level! 😀

 

[menos]

On a recent business trip, I took my M8.2 and a M7 with one lens on each in my day bag.
As it happens, another colleague was quite into photography by himself and seeing me using the small cameras, he got himself lured into upgrading his own broken digital to a new digital camera.

Occasionally, I showed him and other people, I just photographed the image on the M8.2's LCD.

When he asked for a look of that picture, I just took with the M7, he was completely stunned, as it didn't have an LCD.

It was impossible, to explain him the reasons, why I still use film.
I just did not find the right words, to make this plausible to him.
For most people, film indeed is dead.

When he bought his new Sony Nex camera, I by myself was shocked by the weight (or the lack thereof) of the prime lens, it came with (it felt about the same, as one roll of 36 exposure 135 film).
I gave him the f1 lens, I had on the M7 at that time, which he almost dropped in surprise ;-)

 

[RdEoSg]

I get kids all the time that come in the camera store I work at saying they need film for their photo class. I ask how many exposures and I just get this blank stare.

24 or 36?

WHAT??!?!? DOLLARS?

No, how many exposures. How many photos?

*blank stare*

At this point I just hand them a 24 exposure roll because it will be easier for them to load on the reels to process 😛

 

[nikon_sam]

Last weekend a friend made a comment on my Spotmatic camera...she said "Oh, that looks complicated...all those dials and buttons...I wouldn't know how to use it..."
I informed her that it was one of the easiest camera to use...the next time I saw her I handed her my F5 and suggested that maybe she might like this one...

 

[thawkins]

I meant to ask before ... how did the M3 enjoy the vacation?

We love our Leicas around here but you've taken the 'love' to a different level! 😀

Yes, the leica enjoyed the vacation.

 

[user237428934]

Do you all wear a "ask me about my camera" shirt? I'm taking photos now for 25 years and I was NEVER asked by a stranger about my camera.

 

[Guaranteed]

Lol, great thread!

A few weeks ago I was rewinding my roll and a kid(late teens) asked me what I was doing. I told them it had a built in self charger, keep spinning till there's no more tension and your good to go for the rest of the day. One of the others I was with couldn't stop laughing because the kid wanted to know where to get one and I told him I was testing out a prototype that isn't going to be on the market for at least another year.

He's eagerly awaiting it's release.

Maybe it was a jerk thing to do but I'm growing weary of having to explain myself over and over about the choice of using film and being educated on the benefits of digital.

 

[zvos1]

Do you all wear a "ask me about my camera" shirt? I'm taking photos now for 25 years and I was NEVER asked by a stranger about my camera.

Hey, that is a great idea for a T-shirt, I am off right now to get one printed ha,ha,ha 🙂

 

[Matus]

I can not help but wonder - can anybody who is in the age of "young man" - be COMPLETELY unaware of existence of film? 😱

I was also asked about the LCD on my Rolleiflex T 😛 and I manage to surprise some people that my "antique" 4x5 camera was made in 2003, but nobody ever asked " .. what is that little capsule?". But i live in EU .. 😀

 

[SamStewart]

the only people that question the fact i use film is older people. All the DSLR soccer parents don't have a clue what my leica or mamiya is.