What is distinct about rangefiner cameras in the age of digital?

[ruben]

Why should I keep my Leica M7 or Voigtlander R3a? Should I sell and take a digital direction?

Not necessary, but if you are young and rich you would do better owning both types.

Can you tell me what is distinct about the rangefinder , ie the picture quality, that a digital slr cannot create.

Black and White film has proven to resist a hundred years. Do you know any digital media with which you can keep your images for 10 years ?

Thanks. I am new , so please forgive me if my questions are old.

In my opinion digital is The new language of Photography. Digital IS the future of photography. Serious photographers have mostly been working at the cutting edge of photographic technology as well. Yet with the present technological revolution we are left with a basic problem: PRICE AND PACE.

The pace of evolution is so fast that if you invest ten thousand dollars today in digital equipment, you may be left "off-side" (by football language) within two years. The problem will not only be the lowered price of what you have already bought, but also the tremendous value of what you cannot buy after your tongue was left out two years before.

Therefore it is not a bad tactic to let the big companies kill each other in the race, and let the consumer masses to pay for the research, while we stay aside enjoying the analogue gems being auctioned for irrational low prices.

Who can keep these days in digital pace ? Commercial studios and any other bussiness based bodies like news agencies, etc.

Digital prices of the real good stuff, which can start to compare with the good analogue stuff, are so high that there is almost no chance you can match the flexibiliy of the low cost analogue camera systems.

Finally, camera industry is and has been such, that with each evolution and newer features, important and valuable old features were always left behind. This is why many of us proudly buy and own old models having features not found today in the newer stuff.

It all depends on your awarenes about your place at the food chain.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[Les Lammers]

Why even get lathered up about Film V. Digi? Film is not dead but digital is the future of photography. Both have their place. My solution was getting a decent P&S, Panny LX-1 cos it shoots RAW and even though it will be antiquated in 6 months it will still take pics and allow me to learn a few things.

Ansel Adams, Edward Weston etc. were the 'geeks' of their time. Countless hours experimenting with chemicals etc. Not much different than Photo Shop Nerds. If they were alive today how do you think they would 'go digital'?

That said, I just bought a Leitz Valoy enlarger. The digital antidote!