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How many film cameras do people still own and use?


SteveYork

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I use digital (a Nikon D300) for practically everything that people pay me to shoot. There's just no substitute for the convenience, the ability to edit and touch up color work, etc. Digital significantly outperforms color 35mm film in low-light situations, and even though low-speed/high quality film (Astia, say) can capture more information than a digital sensor is capable of at present, getting all that extra image quality into a form that can easily be seen (other than on a light table) and displayed is costly and inconvenient.

 

But I still keep plenty of film cameras lying about because (1) I like the feel of them (including my M3), which provides a different and in some ways more satisfying photograph-making experience than digital; (2) I still think that black & white film printed in a darkroom looks vastly superior to digital B&W (I don't own a high-quality monochrome inkjet, or my opinion might change) and (3) I now have an Epson V750 which enables me to get very good scans from medium and large-format film, which trump the quality (in many cases) I can get from the D300. And some color film has a look/signature which it's hard to replicate digitally. (Digital just can't do pinks like Portra 160NC in medium format, as one example.) I really can't understand the heat over the film vs. digital thing--I just use whatever works best for a particular application, or for what I want the final product to look like.

 

Anyway, here's my collection of old friends, all of which get used to some extent:

 

Leica M3

Nikon FE

Nikon F4 (temporarily dead, sigh)

Balda Baldax 6x6 folding rangefinder (sweeet!)

Rolleiflex T (really sweet, except for the currently sticky slow shutter speeds)

Mamiya C330f

Mamiya RB67

Sinar F1

Crown Graphic (oh, how she and I are mourning the death of Polaroid!)

 

Cheers, and Merry Christmas!

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Leica M7 and MP for documentary work

Leica MDa for pinhole

Minolta Dynax 7 for quick snaps with Sony/Carl Zeiss autofocus glass

 

I enjoy working and playing with all these camera's. Still love film! The look of film that is. Could do without the expensive labs, time-consuming scanning, etc...

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M6 titan not used for 4 years, but a beauty, and used very much;

M5 so battered it hurts to see it. . .but it works well;

3C exactly my age, not used for five years;

1927 Leica 1 - how could I possibly sell it?

Nikon D3 and pro zoom lenses- big and heavy, but perfect, just heavy.

 

Just sold M8 and film M bodies to fund an M9.

Sell my M lenses? You jest!!

 

All my shooting has been digital for three years: Nikon for weddings and studio work, M8 and Dlux 2 for everything else. I have no complaints!

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One of my ongoing concerns is backup of digital images. I'm actually current on backup at the moment, including an off-site copy of everything, but when I'm on deadline at the office that can fall a couple of weeks behind. Then there's another issue: Once I took a decade-long break from serious photography, and all my negatives were still there when I came back.

 

When you were using film, did you make dupes of all your negatives and store them off-site? If not, why is it so important to keep an off-site copy of "everything" digital?

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My decision-making process as to which body to use is based on the speed at which I want take my photographs. Not shutter speed, but aesthethic speed - you know what I mean.

 

When shooting fast, I prefer the M8; I confess to a weakness - generally abhorred here - to chimping! The 1/8000 sec. shutter speed is handy, too.

 

My preference however, is to carry the M3 with its .92 viewfinder, along with an M7 at .58. Lately, the M8 is staying more and more in the bag/pocket - or at home. The .92 and .58 viewfinder combination is a real "sweet-spot" for me, and is brilliantly effective.

 

For really slow work, the Hasselblad 501CM comes out, and I don't mind using it as a walkabout once in awhile.

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i would say i am thinking of getting more film cameras not selling down

 

One occassion when you had some breakdown with the film camera, it happens to everybody. I've heard personally from people that their 5D broke down on site and they were left with their G11 ... and the number of stories I hear of software issues, AF issues and other electronic nasties

 

Every format has its issues

 

I like the look of film and just deal with it.

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Guest polylux

8. one P&S, 2 RF, 1 MF, 4 Nikons. Nothing digital - and I don't aim to ever get into this. In my book, film is still more economical. I've learned it, I'll stick to it. Rather I may venture into LF. Not for the reason of image 'quality' but in order to teach myself carefulness.

 

Best

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1. My father's Dolly from the 1930s - I run a 127 film thru it every so often in memory of him.

2. Mamiya C220 TLR: my photography tutor in the 1960s - Raymond Moore - used one. Couldn't resist picking up a cheap one on eBay in memory of him.

3. Rollei TLR - wish they made a digital TLR.

4. M3 - slightly tatty double-stroke, but it's so buttery-smooth after a CLA.

5. M2

6. M7

7. 1937 IIIa.

All of these get exercised to some extent throughout the year...too many, really, especially when combined with the two digital, but then whenever I've got rid of a camera, I live to regret it (ah, the Contax II, the Gandolfi plate camera, the quaint Periflex etc!)

 

Sam

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2) Leica MP a-la-carte

1) Leica IIIf

1) Leica IIIb

1) Rolleiflex 2.8

1) Rolleiflex 3.5

2) Canon F1

 

I use the MPs all the time. The IIIb, IIIf and Rolleiflex occasionally. And rarely, I will pick up an F1 for super wide or macro shots.

 

I don't own a DSLR, and have a Ricoh GR-D2 only for quick snaps.

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