Topic: Kids react to a film camera

[Indofunk]

The "kids react to" series is sometimes mildly amusing, but this one is apropos to this forum.

KIDS REACT TO OLD CAMERAS

My favorite quote is at 4:50

Also, they were greatly aided by the fact that it was a fully automatic, motorized camera that they were given. I'm going to try giving my Graflex Ciro to my nephew and see how quickly he gives up on it

[gothamtomato]

LOL, I was just coming here to post this.

[huevos_rancheros]

Haha!

"So when did they start making real cameras?"

[Indofunk]

Haha!

"So when did they start making real cameras?"

So many great quotes in there

[limr]

A Canon SureShot 85 zoom isn't old! Sheesh 

One of my students asked me a few weeks ago how to dial a rotary phone. Mind you, I teach college-aged students, not children 

[Indofunk]

A Canon SureShot 85 zoom isn't old! Sheesh 

(5:00) you live with this? You must be really OLD

One of my students asked me a few weeks ago how to dial a rotary phone. Mind you, I teach college-aged students, not children 

In your student's defense, the operation of a rotary dial isn't really that self-evident. One day, college-aged kids will question why there were ever phones that were permanently tethered to the wall with a cable

[02Pilot]

One day, college-aged kids will question why there were ever phones that were permanently tethered to the wall with a cable

And one day I'll be able to project my utter disdain and withering, bitter sarcasm directly into their brains telepathically, but until then we'll just have to rely on old-fashioned snark and energetic eye-rolling.

Get off my lawn!

[limr]

A Canon SureShot 85 zoom isn't old! Sheesh 

(5:00) you live with this? You must be really OLD

Oh lord, that girl was so annoying! It doesn't surprise me that her first attempt at a picture was a selfie

Of course, I adored the one kid with any sense who said he'd rather shoot film 

[Indofunk]

A Canon SureShot 85 zoom isn't old! Sheesh 

(5:00) you live with this? You must be really OLD

Oh lord, that girl was so annoying! It doesn't surprise me that her first attempt at a picture was a selfie

Of course, I adored the one kid with any sense who said he'd rather shoot film 

They're all actors playing roles. They did annoyingly cater to the stereotypical "young girls taking selfies" trope...

[tkmedia]

One of my students asked me a few weeks ago how to dial a rotary phone.

OT!
I still use a pulse dialing phone as touch tone cost extra on many systems and I'm a cheap bastard.
As a kid I recall "hacking" (using them to call out) many pulse phones without rotary dials by tapping the hook rapidly.

[Indofunk]

One of my students asked me a few weeks ago how to dial a rotary phone.

OT!
I still use a pulse dialing phone as touch tone cost extra on many systems and I'm a cheap bastard.
As a kid I recall "hacking" (using them to call out) many pulse phones without rotary dials by tapping the hook rapidly.

Hahahaha I used to love doing that on pulse-tone phones

[limr]

I still have and use rotary dial phones, including a working candlestick phone I have. When my student asked about it, I explained it, and then I brought in my desk phone the next class meeting, plonked it on her desk, and said, "Here. Dial."

[SLVR]

The kid at the end! The lone kid! There is still hope!!!

[limr]

The kid at the end! The lone kid! There is still hope!!!

He's a new hope! He's Luke Skywalker! 

[Bryan]

I still have and use rotary dial phones, including a working candlestick phone I have. When my student asked about it, I explained it, and then I brought in my desk phone the next class meeting, plonked it on her desk, and said, "Here. Dial."

I still use one, my wife's yaking away on it right now.


Hot Line by bac1967, on Flickr

[Hungry Mike]

Don't worry my kid is younger than these kids and he knows all too well what film cameras are - after all they'll be his only inheritance! "Mum, why did dad have all these 'half frame' cameras? And what is a "half frame?'" 

The rotary phone might throw him though.

[timor]

I find myself happy to know both worlds. I can function in both. New generation seems to be handicapped in thinking, that new technology is given and rock solid. Actually very little is needed to render it useless, like power outage. Where this kids gonna find their pictures ? It will be more, than one hour wait for the net to come back if off course the servers would be not damaged. Just recently I watched documentary about Air Force One, state of the art command center. State of the art yes, but technology 30 years old, proven and much harder to destroy. 

[Late Developer]

By way of another example of how things change - and how quickly....

A couple of Christmases ago, my wife bought me a couple of albums I was after in 180gsm audiophile vinyl.  When my sister-in-law came round, it became evident that she had no idea (a) how to use my record player or (b) that the big black vinyl discs need to be turned over to play the other side.  She is in her early 40's, I'm about 10 years older.

[gothamtomato]

I still use one, my wife's yaking away on it right now.


Hot Line by bac1967, on Flickr

Wow, I bet you could call Batman on that thing!

[Bryan]

I still use one, my wife's yaking away on it right now.

Wow, I bet you could call Batman on that thing!

I tell people it's a direrect line to the president. 

I think technology is supposed to make our lives better but the problem is that some new technologies don't necessarily do that.  I think some just create new problems.  With these kids only knowing about digital cameras how would they know if it's better, easier is not necessarily better.

[Indofunk]

I still use one, my wife's yaking away on it right now.

Wow, I bet you could call Batman on that thing!

I tell people it's a direrect line to the president. 

I think technology is supposed to make our lives better but the problem is that some new technologies don't necessarily do that.  I think some just create new problems.  With these kids only knowing about digital cameras how would they know if it's better, easier is not necessarily better.

To paraphrase the great timor, kids could easily learn about film cameras and how they are better than d*****l cameras, but they would rather eat a potato chip.

[Francois]

I just couldn't get past the "I just wasted my selfie time" part on the video.

[Terry]

BAC: don't you know?  Easier is ALWAYS better!!!!!

[Bryan]

BAC: don't you know?  Easier is ALWAYS better!!!!!

Apparently I don't know that.  That's why I'm attracted to cameras that are more difficult to use, more complicated = better.

[jharr]

Yeah, there seems to be a gradient even among filmwasters. Some like the more automated SLRs and some like the pre-war folders with range focusing, manual shutters, etc. No judgement one way or the other, just noting that technology moves in a constant march and we all choose which level appeals to us. My boys are certainly aware of my arcane camera collection, but they haven't chosen (yet) to embrace it. I don't really expect many of their generation to adopt the technology of earlier generations. Aside from photo equipment, I don't use old tech. My laptop is only a few years old, my car is a 2012 model, the flooring I just put in my living room is current laminate technology, I stream music and video. It is just in this 'artistic' area where the aesthetic of old technology appeals to me.

[Offertonhatter]

Wonderful insight of kids today. So used to instant gratification of a photo on a camera, but a serious and perfect response from the young boy about the future of digital images. He even preferred having the film camera. No doubt in a few years he will be a member of filmwasters. :-)

[mcduff]

I thought their uptake on how to use these cameras was pretty good -- especially since the intent of this series of vids is for us to laugh at how young whippersnappers don't know how to use old technology. And as is usually the case for this series, they were presenting the technology emphasizing the negatives (eg having to drive somewhere and wait an hour to see the images). If it was a Polaroid SX70 the kids would have freaked with joy as instant film is more immediately gratifying in some ways than instagram (which was modeled to emulate it). My daughter and her non-photo-nerd friends think Instax is the cats meow (even without the hello kitty film, haha). And kids think any prints are amazing because most people do not print their digital images.

Like LD's comment about the turntable, I don't think unfamiliarity with certain technologies is limited to kids. My wife (who is very technically capable in various domains) looks like she is holding an alien device when she is using most of my cameras (including my oft-neglected DSLR). My 15 daughter looks like a pro when she is rocking her K1000 

And I still remember upgrading my mom from her pocket instamatic to her 'easy loading' P&S (of a similar vintage to what the kids were playing with), and her confusion was pretty similar to a few of the kids in the segment.

[mcduff]

Another observation about that series is that it has a funny internal contradiction

We enjoy shaking our heads at how the kids are befuddled by technology that is only a decade or so old,

and

Yet our generation(s) invented and foisted this technology on them (they did not invent it)

and also

It is being presented to them from a generally pro-technology ('pro progress') perspective. The neat aspects of the technology are not really presented, and most of the adult viewers view the technological change as progress. For example, most of the adult viewers of the camera segment likely view this change as a good thing and are glad they do not have to deal with film.

[SLVR]

I recently got some negatives my father found in his basement whilst cleaning up some stuff. He didnt have the prints but passed the negatives to me for scanning. Turns out some of the negatives are older than I am.

The experience of scanning and seeing these images from a different time that I never experienced was exhilarating. Seeing family members before they knew of my existence. Or seeing places I recognize before I ever set foot there. It's sad to me that these kids will never get to experience that. The only images they will see will be on a computer screen and only if their parents are smart enough to backup their data or organize it all correctly.

Someone should remind them all what the archivability of hard drives is.

[Hungry Mike]

The experience of scanning and seeing these images from a different time that I never experienced was exhilarating... The only images they will see will be on a computer screen and only if their parents are smart enough to backup their data or organize it all correctly.

This is often my chief reason, among many other reasons I'm sure,  as to why I take photos with film cameras especially of my family and friends. For instance, I have a friend with a very seriously ill child. A very tragic situation on its own but it breaks my heart further when she tells me that she only uses her phone for photos. Needless to say when we see them, my wife and I take a lot of pictures of her kids, especially the sick one. The value of those photos will be immeasurable, not because of the particular artistry of the photos, but that moment in time they capture. Photos are the ultimate time travelling device.

[SLVR]

Photos are the ultimate time travelling device.

I like this, well put.

[timor]

  Easier is ALWAYS better!!!!!

Yeah, but better does not always come easy. Even with digital technology.
No doubt, for an average snapshooter new technology is more practical. Even aside the whole propaganda surrounding it and new life style created by it. There is always fashion for something (beside constant fashion to have the money), this time for electronic gadgets.

[kentish cob]

Nurture vs nature, maybe..? Until they're sufficiently schooled to follow their own interests, children will only learn what they're taught.

I suppose the huge uptake of digital photography by the previous generation has left todays youngsters with no knowledge of film based photography, in both a practical and historical context , unless of course they're lucky enough to have a filmwaster around to share the knowledge.

Like McDuff, I have teenage kids who are more than comfortable handling their film SLRs, as well as digi compacts and phone cameras. I figured it was entirely normal, but now I realise, perhaps it's not... I'd not even considered, before seeing this video, that a high percentage of todays kids would have not the slightest inkling that photography existed pre the digital dawn.
Hopefully some of those who find an interest in photography through digital will be sufficiently enamoured to delve back into the history and that inevitably leads to film...

[Terry]

Well, mea culpa--I failed to attach an appropriate emoticon to my "easier is better" comment.  My preferred camera is my 5x7 Gundlach from somewhere around 1920.  I actually like spending half an hour on a single exposure!  Just for the record.

What annoys me most these days is the easy use of the word "technology" to refer to digital stuff.  Technology, of course, long predated the computer. 

[Paul Mitchell]

Next time give em a pinhole camera 

[tkmedia]

Since I was also taught... I know of a young kid with no trouble threading a 'reel to reel', put on a LP, and operate a rotary phone.

[Bryan]

Since I was also taught... I know of a young kid with no trouble threading a 'reel to reel', put on a LP, and operate a rotary phone.

It's amazing how quickly young children can figure stuff out like that.  I was pretty young when I got my first record player and I had no trouble operating it.  My first camera on the other hand was an Instamatic so loading it was quite simple. 

[Francois]

I've just come to the realization that today's kids don't know why some people put an old-skool ringing bell on their cell phones 

[tkmedia]

It's amazing how quickly young children can figure stuff out like that.

True, but I often find 8+ year old or so kids tend to have harder time.

[sgt.brimer]

I remember making a pinhole camera in grade school. I don't know what happened to the photo. My Aunt was always taking photos when I was growing up and I had a middle school teacher that I got to work with doing multimedia presentations (all done on several synchronized slide projectors). I think today in society we want everything now. I am going back to film because I want to relearn everything I forgot about photography.