sblitz Posted April 6, 2012 Share #1 Posted April 6, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) my m9 is in repair for a couple of weeks, i hope, and facing time with my lenses gathering dust i picked up an m4 that i had been eying for quite a while. could've gotten any number, but chose the m4 for the frame lines, the build, the loading, and, more to the point, no battery (mp was too expensive). 90mm on m4 is easier to focus than on the m9. what a wonderful camera, a work of mechanical art. having no battery to worry about or a meter to check in the viewfinder is, simply, liberating. it is just focus and frame and wait and shoot. the quiet click. funny thing too, on the street no one seems to mind my taking their shot the way they seem to with the m9. perhaps an old fashioned film camera is not threatening. anyway, i simply wanted to share on the film forum just how great it is to be with a camera, contemplating, and taking a photograph. no bells, no whistles, no electronic reminders, able to focus on what it is i want to shoot. i use a light meter app on my iphone (a rotary is too big to carry) and it works perfectly. you can check out a few photos of mine, including the one below, but my point is really to share my thoughts. and as for developing, being in nyc finding film and developers and getting back negatives and a cd is really not much different than the pre-digital age -- just fewer places to go. that's an added bonus, negatives and a cd, computer can crash and burn, the photos are still there . . . . lady waiting for a 5th avenue bus (capture one pro 6 was used for pp, portra 160, 50mm summilux lens) -- [ATTACH]309002[/ATTACH] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 6, 2012 Posted April 6, 2012 Hi sblitz, Take a look here the liberating force of simplicity. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
erl Posted April 6, 2012 Share #2 Posted April 6, 2012 I agree, shooting a film M after an M9 is a refreshing change. The Portra 160 is one of my favourites also, and of course I am an avid fan of C1 6 Pro too! The only thing you seem to have that I don't is the New York location. It is slowly creeping into my perception of 'next trip'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
c.poulton Posted April 6, 2012 Share #3 Posted April 6, 2012 I feel exactly the same way with my m2 (although I have never owned an m9, or any digital camera for that matter!) - I use a Sekonic Studio Deluxe II L-398M which doesn't require batteries so I am totally at liberty about worrying about batteries or power, a very nice feeling! :-) Christian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted April 6, 2012 Share #4 Posted April 6, 2012 Not wishing to pick a fight Paul but I've owned and used a lot of digital cameras (including both M8 and M9) and I've yet to find one that has "better colour" than many of the different colour films I've enjoyed using over the years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert blu Posted April 6, 2012 Share #5 Posted April 6, 2012 I like this post and share the thoughts expressed here. Unfortunately I get a wrong adrees message when I try to open the attachements robert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted April 6, 2012 Share #6 Posted April 6, 2012 Christian, the Sekonic LM is a superb instrument. I had one but it was stolen. I should have replaced it, but bought a spotmeter instead. Ian, not wishing to split hairs but, I am sure you would agree that all the different media, M8, M9, assortments of films and processes all have their virtues. None is 'better' than the other, unless a definitive outcome is defined. Then one or another will more closely satisfy it than perhaps another. It is fortunate that we still all those options viable today, so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NB23 Posted April 6, 2012 Share #7 Posted April 6, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Do people on the street really make a difference between a M4 and M9??? I'm mot sure... Quite impossible. Yes, 100% mechanical and meterless is liberating a short while. But soon enough, a built-in meter and eigital become the REAL liberation. At least that's what happened in the market :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
01af Posted April 6, 2012 Share #8 Posted April 6, 2012 Do people on the street really make a difference between a M4 and M9? No, they don't ... with the exception of those few who are into photography themselves. But then, these will notice, and react to, an M4 just as much as to an M9. Yes, 100 % mechanical and meterless is liberating a short while. Yes ... and this while will last as long as you need to notice how long it takes (and how much it costs) to get your film processed. If you do it yourself then sooner or later it will become tedious work. Developing one or two films is fun ... developing ten or thirty or one-hundred is nothing but a chore. If you don't do it yourself then sooner or later you'll get your film back with scratches, fingerprints, and cuts right through the best pictures. Been there, done that, no thanks. Turning digital was the most liberating step in photography ever. To improve the M9 experience, switch the advance mode to Discreet and the auto-review duration to Off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticman Posted April 6, 2012 Share #9 Posted April 6, 2012 Yes ... and this while will last as long as you need to notice how long it takes (and how much it costs) to get your film processed. If you do it yourself then sooner or later it will become tedious work. Developing one or two films is fun ... developing ten or thirty or one-hundred is nothing but a chore. If you don't do it yourself then sooner or later you'll get your film back with scratches, fingerprints, and cuts right through the best pictures. Been there, done that, no thanks. Turning digital was the most liberating step in photography ever. To improve the M9 experience, switch the advance mode to Discreet and the auto-review duration to Off. I'm so damn tired of people writing their own subjective opions here as though it embodies some Universal Truth. Who do you think you are - God or something? What do YOU know about why some people might enjoy the time spent processing. What do YOU know about having films developed by a professional and trustworthy lab? I've never had fingerprints or cuts through my best pictures. What I find boring (apart from arrogant, self-serving posts like yours), is when I plug the sad little SD card into my laptop and download the digital images on it - I've seen them all before on the camera display, anyway - now I just need to process them so they look half as good as film, and then back up and possibly even put another copy on DVD. YAWN. Now getting my negs back from the lab - THAT is truly exciting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildlightphoto Posted April 6, 2012 Share #10 Posted April 6, 2012 I'm so damn tired of people writing their own subjective opions here as though it embodies some Universal Truth. Who do you think you are - God or something? Three words: Pot Kettle Black Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildlightphoto Posted April 6, 2012 Share #11 Posted April 6, 2012 Maybe I should have qualified this - Colour print Film. You are quite correct of course many colour slide films will easily beat any digital camera !! I haven't found a color slide film I prefer over the DMR. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted April 6, 2012 Share #12 Posted April 6, 2012 I haven't found a color slide film I prefer over the DMR. I would have put Astia on a par with the DMR. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildlightphoto Posted April 6, 2012 Share #13 Posted April 6, 2012 I would have put Astia on a par with the DMR. I wasn't fond of Astia. I found the shadows too muddy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sblitz Posted April 6, 2012 Author Share #14 Posted April 6, 2012 i would agree that people wouldn't make a difference but somehow they seem to see not the brand difference but that this is some old film camera while the m9 (perhaps because it is black and branded and a bit larger, who knows) gets a somewhat different reaction. this is far from a scientific experiment and it took me by surprise. as for the liberation of digital and in-camera meter, yes that is how we got here, but there is something nice about a simplistic approach, trusting a meter reading, and just focusing and framing and shooting. and being in nyc, the processing issue is really just a matter of time (can't go home and upload and see right away and, no, i am not going to start developing and scanning myself -- no time in my life for that!) in regard to the photo, no sure why it didn't load -- here it is again (i hope) -- Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/176500-the-liberating-force-of-simplicity/?do=findComment&comment=1975452'>More sharing options...
M9reno Posted April 6, 2012 Share #15 Posted April 6, 2012 Three words: Pot Kettle Black Perhaps in the tone, but note the personal pronoun in post #9 was "you", whereas that in post #10 was "I", and thus openly a matter of subjective opinion. My own subjective opinion: I develop my own film (and, by the way, have gone beyond the first ten rolls) and still find the whole experience, from shot to print, intensely pleasurable, creative, spontaneous, immersive. Then I go back and shoot my M9, and find (or think I find) that I can use digital better every time I use film. Until I took film seriously, digital let me take hundreds of photographs (for example on an iPhone) without the least pause or thought, and (not surprisingly) they were mostly crap. Until I took digital seriously (on an M9), I lacked the practical and immediate feedback necessary to improve my film photography. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildlightphoto Posted April 6, 2012 Share #16 Posted April 6, 2012 Perhaps in the tone, but note the personal pronoun in post #9 was "you", whereas that in post #10 was "I", and thus openly a matter of subjective opinion. I suggest you read a few of plasticman's posts in other threads. I should mention that I agree with the original post re: simplicity. My favorite film camera is the Leicaflex SL, and I use the R8/DMR in manual mode 100% of the time. I could do without most of the other features. Put the DMR's sensor in the SL and I'd be happy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
c.poulton Posted April 6, 2012 Share #17 Posted April 6, 2012 Christian - the M2 is a great camera I own and use two of them but if you get the chance try out a digital M. The M8 particularly gives gorgeous B&W and the M9 gives better colour than I have ever seen from any film camera. Thanks Paul, but for the moment I am happy with my film cameras. So happy in fact that I am seriously considering getting another film body. maybe one day I'll be swayed into going down the digital road, but not today and for the foreseeable future. It's very interesting what you say about the M8 though as I find the B+W output from the M9 (at least from what I've seen on screen) is not for me. Too clinical..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticman Posted April 6, 2012 Share #18 Posted April 6, 2012 Perhaps in the tone, but note the personal pronoun in post #9 was "you", whereas that in post #10 was "I", and thus openly a matter of subjective opinion. Thanks for quoting wildlifephoto - he's been on my ignore list for a year or two now, so I appreciate your correct interpretation of my post. Everyone is entitled to their opinion - even when they're wrong.* *(01af + paulmac) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted April 6, 2012 Share #19 Posted April 6, 2012 Can we keep this and every other thread civil please folks? Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
c.poulton Posted April 6, 2012 Share #20 Posted April 6, 2012 Christian, the Sekonic LM is a superb instrument. Erl, Yes it is great, at least for 'normal' lighting conditions. I tend to find that it loses it's accuracy indoors in very poor light, i.e. in very dark situations. For the moment I use the fall back of a light meter app on my iPhone (or my backup VCII shoe-mounted meter) when it gets too dark for the Sekonic meter. When I first got the meter I was worried that I would find it troublesome to use (after having used the VCII meter for a number of years previously) however it very soon became second nature to me. I tend to not meter for every shot, but only when I perceive that the light has changed in any case. The real liberating factor for me is not having to worry about batteries, and I have been worrying about batteries for years, ever since I once got caught out in Rome without any spare batteries with my Yashica GT. Not the easiest camera to use the sunny16 system with! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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