Things you never worried about...

how bad internet is
how bad ebay is (also how many heads around the world that will pop when they read the word ebay, sorry, that auction site)
 
Rangefinders..

When I got into photography in the late seventies, the days of the rangefinder were already practically over. There were basically two types of cameras left; compacts and SLRs.. I saved up for a Zenit SLR and used it for 20 years without second thought. I didn't have a clue that rangefinders existed. Didn't worry about mirror slap, didn't worry about handholding at slow shutter speeds, and didn't worry about focus accuracy of ultra wides either. Then came the internet.. and I got sucked into rangefinders.
 
- lpmm
- R09 not being Rodinal
- Grain character
- The M4-2 not being a proper Leica, but for some reason the following MP's, M6's and M7's are the real thing
- The M5 being a dog
- Buying a classic camera without first sending it out for a CLA being equivalent to original sin
 
Old equipment becoming obsolete when new stuff is announced. I can understand the price drop, but not the fact that a camera stops making images or a lens becomes unsharp based on news. Oh, and rumours can actually be as powerful as news in making stuff obsolete.
 
I was using the internet before I was buying cameras, so there never was a time I didn't worry about things read on the internet with regard to cameras. However, I will say that the internet got me thinking about:

Focus shift, range finder calibration, the "actual" ISO of film (Delta 3200 is not a 3200 ISO film, who knew!?).
 
Image sharpness,
Lens distortion (barrel etc),
Getting perfect negatives and using two or more cameras when shooting 35mm one for each different light condition,
 
* People doing photography wrong (shooting too many cats, doing HDR, tilting horizons, centering subjects, using toy cameras etc). The internet appears to contain shiploads of rules and moaning about what should not be done.

* Distinguishing "street photography" from regular photography that just happens to take place in an urban environment

* Avoiding clipped highlights and blocked shadows with religious zeal

* Technical (as opposed to real world) lens testing, MTF graphs

* Everything being already photographed by someone

* Film misloading with M4 and later style bodies. When I got my M4, I downloaded an M6 manual from the web somewhere, read the loading bit, dropped film in camera as described (dead easy) and wandered away to shoot.

Then, months later, I read about leaders coming loose from the spool and how the old style loading is "better" and so on. Oh well. I guess it's not easy then.
 
Super High ISO !!!

(and why it is absolutely, imperatively, in the utmost urgency, a *must have* on my next digital camera, as well as the number one deal-breaker if it only has a measly 12800).
 
pvdhaar said:
Rangefinders..

When I got into photography in the late seventies, the days of the rangefinder were already practically over. There were basically two types of cameras left; compacts and SLRs.. I saved up for a Zenit SLR and used it for 20 years without second thought. I didn't have a clue that rangefinders existed. Didn't worry about mirror slap, didn't worry about handholding at slow shutter speeds, and didn't worry about focus accuracy of ultra wides either. Then came the internet.. and I got sucked into rangefinders.
Click to expand...

I can beat this, I never thought about rangefinders until the last few years. Not only that, BUT, I didn't even realize I was using Rangefinders in the late 80's when I was shooting a lot of 3D.

Now unless I'm shooting my Hasselblad, or need a long lens, I tend to prefer shooting a rangefinder over any of my SLR's or my DSLR.

Of course the TLR I was using in the 70's seemed hopelessly obsolete at that time, yet a few months ago I purchased a 1936 Rolleiflex for the results it will give. :D
 
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