the RF Culture

here is my bike, uh, scooter - kymco people s 250, water cooled, 250 cc, cvt, made in taiwan, shot with a minolta A5, kodak bw400cn, during a light rain:

R1-9A.jpg
 
feenej said:
I like vintage bicycles. I think bicycle technology peaked in the 1980's (for my tastes). I like old pocket watches.
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I took my old handmade British (Ellis-Briggs) steel frame bike and made a fixed gear out of it, and it's fantastic! But I have a one year old carbon fibre Eddy Merckx hand made in Italy, and have to say it's a huge improvement. I use the fixie to go to work, and the Merckx to do "serious" riding. My point is that technology is always improving, but you have to look long and hard to find good build quality these days and it will cost you. IMHO a vintage item, if it is still around, is probably still here because back when it was new it was one of the good ones. Those of us who appreciate quality are more likely to buy quality used gear than cheap new gear.
 
I love vintage steel frame bicycles. Japanese hand made, French and others...

I love vintage racing bicycle parts.

I love vinyl/turntables, for sampling, and dj/scratching, but not so much for listening to music, casually (itunes is too convenient).

I love VW cars from the 50s-mid to late 60's.

I hate old computers.

I love old video games from the 80s/early 90s.

I love RFs, and SLRs, but more recent stuff. Digital SLR over Film, but Film RF over Digital RF....

I love hand made/craftsmanship. I work with a lot of hand made manufacturing companies in Japan.
 
Leica/clone collector/user, also have a few vintage Bulovas, Hamiltons and Gruens found in flea markets that I use regularly. When budget allows I'd like to acquire a classic BMC Mini (sorry BMW) with a 998cc SU carb engine and 4 speed manual as a weekend "fun" car. I appreciate vintage bikes but too dangerous for my profession. Almost 3000 LPs acquired through the years, spun on a vintage Garrard 301 through DIY tube preamp and triode amps driving horn speakers. Not really into literature. Classical music is work, can't relax to it....instead I listen to Jazz or 80s pop/new wave, music from my youth. I'm a classical musician/violinist sitting on a reproduction Barcelona chair while typing this.....😀
 
I love things made to last (best if a lifetime), be either wristwatches, cameras, in fact no matter what it is, a long as they are the things that I need.
Then, low profile and non consumer.

Ernesto
 
In a way we tend to love eveything which is not in the currend trend, because it cuts us from everyday life : are there better synonyms to "week-end" than object that weren't made in the "Mission : Impossible" way? "This camera will self-destroy after 5 second. Should anything happen to you or a member of your team, the department of state shall deny any implication."
 
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There's nothing like the heft, the feel, the look and the precision of a Leica. Compared to a modern DSLR the Leica M-Analog is a bit of a kludge. But that's what makes it fun!
 
I think having an RF camera is fairly likely on RFF! I prefer an RF for a few reasons: lighter, smaller, simpler, quieter and I can use one without reading the glasses that I now am forced to use.

In general, I like well-designed, simple things that are fit for purpose, built to last can be repaired. No throwaway, short-lived things if possible. I don't like all the frills that modern cameras have, to me they just get in the way. Shutter-speed, aperture and focus is all I want or need for most things I photograph (along with an exposure meter).

I ride a 28 year-old motorbike, have a few old timepieces inherited from my father (his hobby, repairing them) but I wear a modern analogue watch. I like old cars and have owned a couple of classics but repairing them got too much. I tend to use old technology when it still does the job but I'm not scared of the newer stuff, though I try not to rely on it.

I don't have any musical talents and tend to wear new clothes not old. I have old vinyls but don't collect them, just the ones I bought back in the day.
 
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wolves3012 said:
I think having an RF camera is fairly likely on RFF! I prefer an RF for a few reasons: lighter, smaller, simpler, quieter and I can use one without reading the glasses that I now am forced to use.

In general, I like well-designed, simple things that are fit for purpose, built to last can be repaired. No throwaway, short-lived things if possible. I don't like all the frills that modern cameras have, to me they just get in the way. Shutter-speed, aperture and focus is all I want or need for most things I photograph (along with an exposure meter).

I ride a 28 year-old motorbike, have a few old timepieces inherited from my father (his hobby, repairing them) but I wear a modern analogue watch. I like old cars and have owned a couple of classics but repairing them got too much. I tend to use old technology when it still does the job but I'm not scared of the newer stuff, though I try not to rely on it.

I don't have any musical talents and tend to wear new clothes not old. I have old vinyls but don't collect them, just the ones I bought back in the day.
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Mine is 34 years old. Like you, I enjoy an old motorcycle. 🙂
 
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the RF culture

the RF culture

I shoot with a Mamiya 7 and Hasselblad XPan. I drive a 1967 Citroen DS (the coolest car ever, IMHO) and I like classic motorcycles. Also listen to classical music and jazz, and play the tenor saxophone. Would love a Leica one day and prefer film over digital. Oh, and my favourate films include The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Jean De Florette. Oh, and I use a fountain pen! Cultured? Eccentric? Ecclectic? Just me!
 
I drink moonshine I made in my bathtub, I have a digital Seiko, I drive a Ford Escort that's been modded into a Monster Truck, I shoot dirt squirts on my Honda Cub, I wear nothing, I collect vinyl stickers, I read magazines, I listen to rawk, and I play the washtub bass... but also use a Leica.
 
I shoot with a Bessa but consider an older Leica, I also use a rolleiflex and a quite old DLSR.
I drive a 90's truly rectangular Volvo and cannot think of buying any newer and more modern car in the future.
I use a contemporary but handwound mechanical watch, a modern japanese fountain pen. I enjoy wearing classic english shirts with nice cufflinks and collar stiffeners and I do wear a hat. And I am not yet thirty.. 🙂
 
I am 43, own a business where we restore vintage toyota land cruisers, wear a Hamilton, drag Leicas all over hell, have had the same rollerball mt blanc for almost 20 years, BA in anthropology, MFA Sculpture, drive a giant POS land cruiser, love tailor made clothes and have bird tattoos on both my hands 🙂
 
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ErnestoJL said:
I love things made to last (best if a lifetime), be either wristwatches, cameras, in fact no matter what it is, a long as they are the things that I need.
Then, low profile and non consumer.

Ernesto
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Yes I couldn't agree more. I love my Leicas and the ethos behind them and wear a Breitling Chrono for the same reason. I wish I could afford to drive an Aston or Ferrari but sometimes reality kicks us in the pants. Some time ago I had a good German two seater sports car and an acquaintance said " I bet you've pulled a few birds in that'. No I replied "I prefer to drive it alone".
 
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Finder said:
I don't define myself from my belongings.
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Neither do I. But the choosing of things does matter to me.

am14s1.jpg

Alex Moulton AM14S, August 1985

As of this coming August, I will have owned this bicycle for 25 years since buying it new. It wasn't "vintage" at the time of purchase; in fa, it was considered radical and cutting-edge at the time. I didn't buy it for those reasons: I bought it because the gestalt of the bike simply resonated with me. There were lots of trendy, "modern" bikes available at the time, but I ignored them for this. It rode like a dream, was built like the proverbial Swiss watch (and was priced appropriately...if I had to do it again, I couldn't afford it!), and only abject poverty would compel me to sell it.

I feel the same way about my Hexar RFs. And my Hamilton Khaki Field mechanical watch. (Fountain pens, too, but this is getting geeky enough as it is.)

The one thing all the above have in common is that they were all purchased new. Apart from their genesis in terms of design and engineering, they had no "story" when they reached my hands. Perhaps they will have a "story", real or imagined when they leave my hands, which, if I'm lucky, won't be too soon. I bought them because they both filled a need/desire (the line of demarcation here is always tenuous), and touched a part of my sensibility that I couldn't ignore. The "X factor" has long been a bit of a mystery, and as much as marketing folk like to think they have the motivations of all of us dialed-in (they do have most of it, though, for better and worse), they don't have it all.

Flying the fringe flag for the hell of being fringe, at least for me, is boring. I simply like to occasionally highlight the stuff I think is awfully good (when I feel the desire/need), and leave it at that. If no one else "gets it", I'm not crestfallen (well, not much, anyway). I keep rolling and clicking. There are a dozen practical reasons/excuses for my choices in all the above categories, and just a few emotional ones. If it only matters to me, then that's all that counts in the end. If others grok it, more fun.


- Barrett
 
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My Leica culture story

I am not a man with unlimited means. But, I try to buy the best I can afford at the time I think I need it. I usually do need it when I buy for most stuff.

I have a simple service job that pays well at times (I get a commission of the total value), And Photography is a total hobby for me.

So, I have to save (hard to do), or sell older gear and add $$ to buy newer gear, that is an upgrade to me.

The Only reason I own any Leica gear is because of my Dads estate. He was an avid photographer also for most of his life, as I am now. And, I want to keep that going as a family tradition.

I chose Leica as a film camera because I am familiar with the quality, and I wanted to replace an M5 I once owned for a year or so when I was much younger. I have always liked film, but most of my life, it was just too expensive to deal with... I am glad that Digital came along.. But, now I can do both, finally.

So, I am a middle class blue collar worker that got lucky when my Dad passed. And I enjoy both DSLR and Film RF photography.
 
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