What do you wish you'd realized earlier?

[DMA1965]

That using a scale focused Rollei 35 would make me so much better at photography, and especially one with a broken meter. It forced me to understand and trust my judgment of light and distance, and use depth of field to my advantage. I use ones with working meters now for speed, but only to quickly estimate. I then use my understanding of light to compensate on the settings.

 

[Michael I.]

taking more pictures (not doubting if this is worth photographing)
getting in decent shape earlier
buying the lenses I want now when they cost 1\3 the cost

 

[steveyork]

1. Quality film is as important as equipment.

2. There's no necessary magic in a name or price tag.

3. Trial and error in photography is important. Can't figure things out by sitting on a couch.

4. Most important thing is just to get out and take pictures.

All pretty obvious stuff, but it took awhile for me to really know it.

 

[helen.HH]

That a Simple Barnack and a lens in my pocket or dangling from my wrist
makes me very Happy...

Confessions of an ex Gear Head, lol

 

[David Hughes]

I should never have told my wife I learnt to sew when I was in the army. ;-(


Regards, David

 

[Phil_F_NM]

That a Simple Barnack and a lens in my pocket or dangling from my wrist
makes me very Happy...

Confessions of an ex Gear Head, lol

Totally, Helen!
All I regularly carry these days are capable point & shoot cameras. A Nikon Lite Touch AF600, a Ricoh GRD IV and sometimes a Pentax PC35AF. I love a 28mm camera that can handle macro shots.
Phil Forrest

 

[sepiareverb]

I wish I'd realized how much I would like my earlier photos. Then I would have taken more.

So true. I have so few pictures from my years in NY.

 

[jarski]

Guess am one of those educated by Internet, regarding cameras and photography. This meant lot of wading through different brands and kinds of equipment. Had I been directed to one path by someone more experienced, it would have saved lot money and results would have been more consistent. Its a hobby and for fun, so nothing serious though. Motor hobbyists pour much more money into satisfying their curiosity 🙂

 

[Keith]

That if you have a roof over your head and food in the cupboard everything else is incidental.

 

[Archiver]

So true. I have so few pictures from my years in NY.

On a tangent: when I was 13, I took a Kodak disc camera to school and shot through a bunch of images. A couple of decades later, I found a disc of film which I believe has been exposed, and I can't find the camera. So there's likely a series of unknown images on that film disc, and maybe one more in the camera, if I can find it. The original disc of film comprises the very few pictures I have from my life between 13 and 16. I wish I'd kept shooting.

 

[Contarama]

That if you have a roof over your head and food in the cupboard everything else is incidental.

Ain't that the truth
Don't forget a good pair of boots sir

 

[YouAreHere]

That a single 40mm lens is better than a stable of 35mm and 50mm lenses.

 

[Contarama]

That a single 40mm lens is better than a stable of 35mm and 50mm lenses.

Well a 28 on a crop camera has some serious power. Fast fifties are golden on mini format. Very smart post yah

 

[FujiLove]

That contax t3 was going to bring way more than $300 someday

Brutal. Those things are bringing in $1600 or more these days.

Don't worry. Give it a couple of years and there will be replies to this thread along the lines of, "I wish I'd not spent $1600 on a dead electronic brick."


😉

 

[LCSmith]

Opportunities happen through relationships.

The most successful people in whatever field prioritize making and maintaining good relationships.

I'm still in my thirties so I guess I have time to work on this; but it would have been good to know earlier.

 

[LCSmith]

Also, that the 50mm Summicron is the only lens I need to do what I do.

 

[Karlovak]

That it's best to stick to one lens, like a 35mm, and keep yourself in sync with its' field of view, position is key. I've actually known it all along, but it's the GAS that's driving me.

 

[Ambro51]

I wish I had used only Kodachrome “back in the day”, as nearly all my color prints have faded and discolored...while the slides I Did take are still perfect.

 

[seany65]

I wish I'd realised earlier that I would regret selling my:

Yashica Mat 124G, hood filters, bag and meter.

My Sigma 24mm f2.8 Nais lens.

Korean Epiphone Sheraton Guitar.

 

[johannielscom]

A list of things:

1) Framing with my right eye makes all my images have tilted horizons. On all cameras. I still forget to 'check' my horizons before exposing and end up with an annoying choice in post: either keep the borders on the images and the slanted horizon, or lose them both. In digital, that's no issue but in film it is...

2) If you set a lens to 100 x its focal length, you will cover a space that is 100 x the size of the negative. Set a 35mm lens to 3.5 meters, and at that distance it will cover a scene that is 3.60 meters wide and 2.40 meters high. This is very useful to shoot street without using the viewfinder!

3) In spite of the previous, the formats that suit me most are 6x7 cms and 4x5 inches. Incidentally, they are virtually the same aspect ratios.

4) Also, I like 'empty' and 'calm' images, where really nothing much happens except the scene itself.

5) There could be a list of items I sold too cheaply and too soon here, but I won't go that way...😉