Paul Reading Posted September 16, 2007 Share #1 Posted September 16, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) It says it all; up one level and it reads two viewing this forum, the digital forum has seventy viewing! Has film been abandoned by Leica owners to this extent? I am sure that digital flatters the photographer, it is so easy get instant satisfaction and a correctly exposed image, film on the other hand takes rather more skill. I just find it amazing that here of all places the M's have been consigned to the draw. Perhaps we will see some bargains on eBay, other brands film cameras have fallen like a stone. I wonder if we will see a repeat of this pattern? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 Hi Paul Reading, Take a look here Two viewing this forum. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
bayerische Posted September 16, 2007 Share #2 Posted September 16, 2007 No I'm getting a Film M tomorrow! But just for fun, to accompany the O' Mighty M8! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron110n Posted September 16, 2007 Share #3 Posted September 16, 2007 Paul, I am currently in the market for another film body... I think the price is rising again for the newer film body models. It was better last year and early part of this year. There is a significant increase among young Americans in film photography, especially in B&W. Likewise many are now shooting digital and film side to side. Gladly it's a good news for the film industry. But there isn't much issues with film photography to talk about here in the film forum. It's a proven technology... -Ron ________________ Caveman's Gallery Neolithic Artistry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted September 16, 2007 Share #4 Posted September 16, 2007 It's mostly down to the M8, it's a massive new milestone for Leica and not surprising that it generates so much interest and users swapping experiences/ideas. Digital has a very long learning curve too. I only have two digital cameras, and one of those is my phone. The other is a LC5 (D1) which is probably now considered a 'classic/collectors' camera but does the job for me. 90% of the time I'm still using film with my lllf, M2 and R3 (plus other non Leica gear). I've seen/heard of a number of new M8 users as well as other newcomers who have only used digital eventually buying a film camera and going down the traditional route. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n Posted September 16, 2007 Share #5 Posted September 16, 2007 Plenty of us are still shooting film which as someone pointed out above is mature. The Leica forum on photo.net has more or less died but the RangefinderForum continues to thrive and it is mostly film I think. Film lives! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjr Posted September 16, 2007 Share #6 Posted September 16, 2007 Its mostly general confusion.....few understand really what is all and that includes me! Why do you think the japanese produce a new model every 6 months ? Simple : improve the shortcomings of the previous model and cut out any thinking left i.e. press the shutter and there it is ! Why think...Now with the M8....well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_livsey Posted September 16, 2007 Share #7 Posted September 16, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Perhaps we will see some bargains on eBay, other brands film cameras have fallen like a stone. I wonder if we will see a repeat of this pattern? Doesn't look like it yet. An MP went for uk£ 1438 on ebay tonight Only just under mint ex dems from a dealer. No I didn't bid despite the sig, I saw the way it was going. Another sign of the M8 was perhaps the uk£ 1421 for 28con ASPH. It may be the film users are confident in their tool and the M8ers need a crutch on the best way to use a new tool which hasn't been honed over the last x years in user experience. The constant comparison, now so much easier and less costly to run on digital, of newspapers, walls, sterile scenes etc between models and lenses,which appear with frightning speed, is strangely fastinating and one can get drawn in easily by forgetting why we, or I at least, take photographs. I have and do strive for a technical level of result, as did A Adams, but it is not the be all and end all for me nor was it for him despite writing books on techincal issues. Let them be. They are not,on the whole, a happy bunch. They have a pervasive worry that their tools are not the best possible and this is not alowing them to produce those magnificent photographs they would take if only they had the time between testing and reading about testing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. white Posted September 17, 2007 Share #8 Posted September 17, 2007 If one looks at the history of the medium, 100 years ago the greatest technical advances were being made in the area of optical design. I conjecture that if this forum exsted then, the lens forum would have had far more traffic than the shutter forum. 40 years ago the discussion would have centered around rangefinders vs. the new SLR designs, etc. As has been pointed out above, we are all here to discuss image making using a particular set of tools. With the introduction of a fundamentally new (but familiar as Leica reminds us) means to do so, it's no surprise that the interest in and need for discussion would shift in that direction. As an aside, we have a "photo club" email list where I work. In a recent thread asking which CF cards are the most reliable, my reply was, "I use Tri-X and Portra 400 VC. Never had an issue with them." Very happily shooting an M6 TTL here... -j. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photoskeptic Posted September 17, 2007 Share #9 Posted September 17, 2007 Paul, I carry my M3 everywhere with me (alongside the M8 ). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted September 17, 2007 Share #10 Posted September 17, 2007 film on the other hand takes rather more skill. I wish... over forty years on film and eight on digital - the learning curve is steep and long to use the new medium properly:o Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic vic Posted September 17, 2007 Share #11 Posted September 17, 2007 well i think all the reason together........ plus , sometimes there are 1 viewing other times 20....... but true much much much fewer than digi forums of course.... 1. ya... film is mature and not much to talk about ...... 2. the "culture" of film photography is not post test post test for many , as memebers already mentioned here. 3. i also clearly see a signs of grow in the interst in film photography, and at some extent u can see it on our forum too........ some people take film cameras and even try to develop their own b/w film and quite successfully and jooyfully it seems......... i also see it in real life communication when film gets a "status of respect" rather than "outdated working medium" as it was concidered not long ago......... and most imprtantly..... i have noted it long before and now i can repeat it even with more grip : young photographers has not gone through ugly marketing agitation during the transition of the foto-equipment-indusrty..... so they are open minded and with open eyes...... seeing and apriciating the characteristics of film medium..... as working procedure, as aesthietic outcomes etc etc........... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticman Posted September 17, 2007 Share #12 Posted September 17, 2007 Quite a large proportion of the posts over on the M8 forum concern the latest problems the owners are having - and an equal (or greater) number of people slapping them down and saying that their M8 is totally problem-free... Also a large and tedious number of posts of conference-speakers and such-like, which purportedly show how 'sharp' a certain lens is on the M8 and so on... Then there are the back-focus posts, answered by the front-focus posts. Both of these are rebutted by the "I have 25 Leica lenses and they all perform flawlessly on my M8"-posters. Then there are the "My M8 looks great in its brand-new Luigi case in brown/black/orange etc.." Maybe most of all, people flock to read the "I borrowed a Canon *D at the weekend and did some interesting tests to show how superior the M8 is..." Or the inevitable: "The M8 output is better than film/b&w/medium format and/or home-baked bread" Over here on the film forum we don't need to read all that sort of insecure, self-justifying rubbish - we're happiest taking photographs instead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksparrow Posted September 17, 2007 Share #13 Posted September 17, 2007 Well, now it's 76 digital to 6 film, and I don't care. I went to film almost a year ago, and I'm happy with it, recently started developing my own B&W at home and discovered it was easy and fun to do, plus it really feels like you've created something! I still have my Digilux 2, but it's been sitting on a shelf for quite a while now. Not missing it . The whole process is more satisfying with film. true that the end result (the image) is important too, but for me at least, the way to get there is also part of the fun. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted September 17, 2007 Share #14 Posted September 17, 2007 Over here on the film forum we don't need to read all that sort of insecure, self-justifying rubbish - we're happiest taking photographs instead. That's the attitude of some M8 shooters too <grin> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrewer Posted September 17, 2007 Share #15 Posted September 17, 2007 It says it all; up one level and it reads two viewing this forum, the digital forum has seventy viewing! I tend to agree that those of us shooting Leica film cameras spend more time out shooting and less time venting on the Leica Users Forum. There seems to be a steep, never-ending, learning curve to using the M8 and a lot of people are on the Digital Forum trying to sort things out. Thanks. Allan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocker Posted September 17, 2007 Share #16 Posted September 17, 2007 Q Over here on the film forum we don't need to read all that sort of insecure, self-justifying rubbish - we're happiest taking photographs instead. Some of us have both film M's and the M8. You don't tend to hear from us too much about front-middle-back focus- we're too busy enjoying both cameras to take photographs with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted September 17, 2007 Share #17 Posted September 17, 2007 I found the learning curve of the M8 to be anything but steep to be honest. Once filters and lenses had been sorted out then there wasn't really anything else to worry about. Maybe I've been lucky, maybe my standards are low. Don't know, don't care <grin> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted September 17, 2007 Share #18 Posted September 17, 2007 That is true - this one cuts down on computer time - just like film - get a good lens and expose well - the rest is fun. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
semrich Posted September 18, 2007 Share #19 Posted September 18, 2007 Digital got me started, and rangefinders got me to Leica and some lenses, that and the M8 helped me learn through feedback both from the camera and the forums. All that prompted me to go to film (already have the lenses, and good backup for electronics when traveling) and like others who responded to this link I have now started processing my own B&W and scanning the results. When out with the M8 or the R-D1 I really enjoy them. When out with the MP, IIIf, or the Xpan I really enjoy them as well, though perhaps slightly more than digital. I think this might be a trend that will help keep film around for longer than most people think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasw_ Posted September 20, 2007 Share #20 Posted September 20, 2007 well i shoot BW film 90% of the time. it is my first love photography-wise and will be for as long as i can process it myself. i hold no ill-will toward the M digital ways; it is just that they are not my ways. i can see myself obtaining a digital M sometime, but not anytime soon. i want the M digital to go through its infancy before i put down my loonies for a M digital body. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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