The Way of the Gear-Head

[kmack]

Nice post Bill.
The "Up the food Chain" obsevation is apt. Some of us find that "half way" is quite good enough.

CSB it's a virtue, not a flaw.

 

[JMP]

Some well considered, soulful thoughts, Bill. Thanks for improving my day.

 

[Honu-Hugger]

(snip)...Are you sure you are not Roger Hicks in disguise?...(snip)

Don't take this personally Bill, I'm sure Donald meant well 😀. Nice article, many thought provoking observations, and thank you for sharing the time and dedication that had to go into writing this -- well done!

Cheers,

 

[leica M2 fan]

Wonderfully written Bill, makes one sit up and pay attention. Very well written.
Tony

 

[wierdcollector]

Good job Bill. Nothing I could add would sound any better. Keep on with the good work.

 

[bmattock]

Don't take this personally Bill, I'm sure Donald meant well 😀. Nice article, many thought provoking observations, and thank you for sharing the time and dedication that had to go into writing this -- well done!

Oh, no offense was taken! To be compared with Roger Hicks is a compliment. For whatever other entanglements we've gotten into, I respect his ability to write, and agree with much of what he writes.

Besides, not everyone here remembers when Roger 'graced us' with his presence here on RFF, for however short a time. Or how I used to clout him upside the punkin' haid.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Nikon Bob]

Bill

That sums it up nicely.

Nikon Bob

 

[John]

It is a pleasure to read your prose Bill. Your interests and experience are an example of just how great this life of ours is. 🙂

 

[cp_ste.croix]

hear hear!

 

[dmr]

Very good article. Thanks. 🙂

I seem to be managing quite well on the good enough stuff. 🙂

 

[Gid]

Bill,

Excellent piece which I enjoyed very much.

I came to "serious" photography late in life, so I didn't go through that period where financial constraints meant make do and mend was the only way forward. I did with guitars, which were my passion in my distant youth, and I could take them apart and rebuild them and if I was lucky have a half decent "box" for little money.

The problem of not growing up with something, of having to learn how to fix stuff yourself, is that you don't develop the skills. Additionally, when I came to photog, I didn't have the time to invest in anything other than taking pictures. It was enough to have to learn photoshop. Now, when I buy a camera, I buy something that I think will be OK out of the box, whether new or second hand. I don't do this because I have limitless funds, but because I wouldn't know what to do if it was DOA and I don't want the hassle of trying to find somebody to fix it. I envy your, and any of the other guys here who have the skills, ability to make something out of nothing. If I had those skills I would have spent a lot less money than I have.

I am not ashamed of what I have bought. Its been, and continues to be, a great experience and I 'm lucky that I could afford them, but they don't necessarily bring you happiness in the way that I remember when I made something from nothing. There is something to be said for the struggle.

 

[bmattock]

Now, when I buy a camera, I buy something that I think will be OK out of the box, whether new or second hand. I don't do this because I have limitless funds, but because I wouldn't know what to do if it was DOA and I don't want the hassle of trying to find somebody to fix it.

Hey, I know what you mean, and I sympathize. I learned how to do basic auto bodywork in high school, and change my oil, do tuneups, replace brake pads, that kind of thing. I've rebuilt carberators, automatic transmissions, and replaced water pumps and alternators. But I don't do it anymore. I pay someone else to do it. I don't have time, I don't have the tools, and I don't *want* to do it.

I built a stock for a 1903 Springfield rifle that I had sporterized once from a flat blank. I could do it again, but I never will. Too much work.

I fiddle with used and vintage cameras because they intrigue me, I like learning to fix them up, and they're cheap enough to make mistakes with. And unlike working on cars or firearms, if I make a mistake with one, no one gets dead. Having read Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, I keep that in mind.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[tkluck]

Going to frame this post!


Then memorize it for the next time the UPS man shows up...
With "search and replace" it works for toy trains, guns, fishing tackle, tools...

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

wow- thanks.

Kind of validates my insanity for beat photographic anochronisms. I had to restrain myself yesterday from grabbing a geiss modified c4 with 3 lenses. Intsead I bought a 10 pack of Konica Centuria 100 in 120 to use in an Agfa Isolette.

I feel better having read this piece.

BTW- Roger wishes he could admit half of the statements here.

 

[Paulbe]

Great post Bill and thanks! You oughta be a Pro writer!
So one day let's get a few hundred flashbulbs and see if we can outdo ol' O.winston.
His most memorable shot to me was the Class A (?) running near the drive in theatre.
Maybe the RFFers could get together and renact the shot! Course don't think the A is running anymore...
Thanks again Bro---nice food for thought...
Paul

 

[Doug]

I sure do agree it helps to know the inner workings of stuff you depend upon, whether car, bike, computer, or camera. Much less of that helplessness when it doesn't do what it should, and a strange noise or operating feel is a more meaningful clue.

 

[mac_wt]

I tought today would be a pretty boring day. I started moving stuff around in the garage. I found my Minolta CLE that I bought with a non-working meter. I finally got the meter working properly (there is somewhere a 'hooray'-post in the forum), only to have the shutter lock up after one roll of film. I then opened up the camera, but ripped of the two wires from the battery compartiment. I then put everything in a closet.
This morning, having nothing better to do, I resoldered the two wires, put everything together and it actually works again (for now; fingers crossed).

So yes, i can relate to what you write. I like the feeling of buying somehting new (even unpacking my new old stock Fed 5), but it's also really nice to tinker with bargain cameras and learning about them. My day can hardly go wrong anymore (unless the CLE locks up again in a few minutes...).

Wim

 

[Oldprof]

When I was a senior in high school (1960) I bought a Beauty Super II rangefinder from a New York mail order firm for $35. It was all I could afford at the time. I knew the little Beauty rangefinder was a damn good camera when I started projecting the Kodachrome slides I had made with it. Countless times I got this reaction from viewers, "Wow, those are nice pictures ... what camera did you use?" After that I stopped worrying about the fact that it wasn't a Leica or Contax.

 

[PeterL]

Bill,

My feelings exactly. I've driven older, all-mechanical cars and my stereo is very basic. I love tools that are designed for one purpose only, and designed to do that simple thing in the most basic way. Such a tool doesn't get in the way, on the contrary, it is noticable only in its humbleness. However, I don't think that's the way most people work.

I'm a computer scientist and in the past, I've programmed quite a bit. Never got the hang of C++ or Java, let alone any decent GUI programming, because all that is very confusing to me. My last programming project was in assembler. So I was programming the machine just like people were doing it in the '60's, and at last I had control over everything. Hell, I debugged a compiler and a few pieces of hardware that way. Unfortunately, though, people seem to feel they need something fancy to show off with. Understanding the way things work is hard, so let's just get a tool that whizzbangs everything into something remotely resembling what was requested. That's the starting point of tool proliferation: tools are admired for everything they take out of your hands, instead of for everything they put into your hands.

I've seen it with computer programming (which has nothing to do with the machine you're working on anymore), I've seen it in audio (lots of lights and fancy alien-design plastic ; the audio also seems alien design), I've seen it in cars (a guy once bragged to me that he drove 160km/h on an icy road because his Lexus coped with the slippery surface) and photography is no exception (I visited a place in Japan where the mountain was continually blinking because people were flash-photographing the view of the city below).

Understanding what you're working on isn't for everybody. Those who do like it, have a hard time finding a tool that is simple enough to give them the control they need in order to achieve what they're aiming for. Fortunately, we have RFF as a community for us wizards who can do things that no mere mortal can understand 🙂


Peter.

 

[AGN]

Bill, I read your post and really enjoyed it. I wanted to respond and tell you so, but I noticed how many others had done so. I put it off until I read your reply to FrankS mentioning a Honda Dream, my first bike. I have spoke of this bike many times to others, and most of them had no idea what I was talking about. Your article was great, but the mention of the Dream shot me back to a happy, and a more simple time. Thanks for the journey.
Art