Author Topic: A moment to reflect on my year back in film (retitled) :) (Read 4024 times)

mcduff · « **on:** November 13, 2012, 05:04:53 PM »

I have retitled this post, and modified the first message as some are not really understanding what this thread was about. Sorry for being a revisionist

This was not a rant about obsolecence -- hey I hate it, but as someone who works in IT, I try to roll with the punches (and when it does get too much I enjoy the parts of my world -- film photography, canoeing, skateboarding, etc -- where it is not such an issue).

Anyhow, now and then an event can happen to give pause for reflection. That happened recently, when I realized that my 'new' D5100 was not 'new' any more (having been replaced with the 5200) and that I had taken surprisingly few photos on it when it had its 'moment in the sun.' But the reflection was not bitterness but happiness. You see, shortly after I purchased this, me and film, "got back together." We had been apart for about 5 years. It is not that we could not stand each other, we just sort of drifted apart -- I blame myself, maybe I was too into work, maybe I got distracted by a younger face, who knows. Unfortunately for the 5100, about the time that I that I had hooked up with it, I started realizing how much I missed film and how rewarding I found it. Now that film and I have gotten back together we are stronger than we ever have been!

In this last year i have explored more emulsions and camera styles than I ever have before. Despite all the negative stuff that can happen out there in the film world, this really has been one of my most productive film years in a long time! In addition to shooting, I have been spending a long time, scanning and cleaning up my old negs and slides (I am currently slogging through the last 100 kodachromes from when I was in india in the 80's). I am back to processing and printing in the darkroom and likely will be trying some colour processing in the near future. While I always was a 35 and MF guy, I am shooting 110 for the first time since the 80s and even shot a roll of 620 on the Brownie I learned on in the 60-s!!! A 'new' fridge is ticking away in the basement that is slowly filling with rolls of film (that were sort of clogging the main fridge and freezer), and it is an awesome time to be a film nerd (again)!

SLVR · « **Reply #1 on:** November 13, 2012, 05:18:55 PM »

Here here!

LT · « **Reply #2 on:** November 13, 2012, 05:48:32 PM »

Yawn indeed.

Let's keep things positive and about film rather than negative and about digital.

Flippy · « **Reply #3 on:** November 13, 2012, 06:18:42 PM »

I don't really think about whether my cameras are obsolete or not, just so long as they are useful.

mcduff · « **Reply #4 on:** November 13, 2012, 06:58:33 PM »

Haha, OK Leon, to rephrase it: The event has caused me to look back at my last year's photography, and what a positive experience I have had being back in the land of film, and how glad I am to be back for the duration

There was a posting about 'slow photography' on the FPP site. Now this notion of slow photography is not exclusively related to film, but its notions of mindfulness and reflection are things that can well thrive in the film ecosystem, and I can relate to it and I realize it connects to what I have always liked about the experience of photographing. And it has been an experience that I was missing that I found again, once I returned to film about a year ago.

Anyhow, for me today, my observations are not really about poking sticks at my 'old' D5100 (which still gets dragged out when I need a zillion ISO), but just me looking over my images from the last year and how much fun I have been having with my ragtag hoard of Oly cameras!

LT · « **Reply #5 on:** November 13, 2012, 07:04:31 PM »

Quote from: mcduff on November 13, 2012, 06:58:33 PM

Haha, OK Leon, to rephrase it: The event has caused me to look back at my last year's photography, and what a positive experience I have had being back in the land of film, and how glad I am to be back for the duration

Anyhow, for me today, my observations are not really about poking sticks at my 'old' D5100 (which still gets dragged out when I need a zillion ISO), but just me looking over my images from the last year and how much fun I have been having with my ragtag hoard of Oly cameras!

that's the ticket

sapata · « **Reply #6 on:** November 13, 2012, 07:10:59 PM »

Quote from: Flippy on November 13, 2012, 06:18:42 PM

I don't really think about whether my cameras are obsolete or not, just so long as they are useful.

Indeed... but the days of getting a good camera body and keep it "forever" are long gone with digital. I haven't used my Canon 30D as much I should to compensate the money I paid for it. If I wanted to sell it right now, I'd get almost nothing that would made me consider to do so...

Francois · « **Reply #7 on:** November 13, 2012, 08:56:27 PM »

Can I go back to sleep now?

I really don't know of anything electronic that doesn't get obsolete at one point or another.
My TV is obsolete. My DVD player is obsolete. My MP3 player is obsolete. My cell phone is obsolete. My house phone is obsolete. My computer is very obsolete. My VHS player is obsolete. My cassette deck is obsolete. And so on.

The only things I have that are not obsolete are my desk, my chair, my stapler, and everything else which has been obsolete for so long that it's coming back into fashion

charles binns · « **Reply #8 on:** November 13, 2012, 09:15:56 PM »

What is a Nikon D5200?? I've got a D40...does more zeros mean it's better?

moominsean · « **Reply #9 on:** November 13, 2012, 09:33:53 PM »

DIGITAL SUCKS, FILM RULES! WHOOHOO!

mcduff · « **Reply #10 on:** November 13, 2012, 09:45:05 PM »

Haha, despite mcduff's brave and valiant attempts at clarifying the point, alas I fear it is veering off course

The 'obsolesce' of a piece of my equipment was really not me winging

, it just prompted me to reflect on the fact that I am not using it that much, and that over this period of time, i have become a silver halide junkie again.

...quietly backs out of room...

Ordinal · « **Reply #11 on:** November 13, 2012, 09:57:23 PM »

If I didn't like obsolete things I don't think I'd be on this board. I was shooting with a Zorki-4 yesterday - don't tell me that's not obsolete!

Actually I quite like obsolete digital cameras as well, it's just that "obsolete" in digital terms can often mean "can't get the files off it at all as no driver has been written for it since Windows 95".

Francois · « **Reply #12 on:** November 13, 2012, 10:09:17 PM »

Quote from: Ordinal on November 13, 2012, 09:57:23 PM

it's just that "obsolete" in digital terms can often mean "can't get the files off it at all as no driver has been written for it since Windows 95".

That is unless you use Linux

(most versions of Linux come with GTKam which supports just about every camera ever made)

For me, the worse thing is usually not the format. You can always find a way around this. But when it comes to battery packs, it's an whole other ball game...
How many gizmos have I been forced to send to the bin not because they broke; not because I wasn't using them anymore; but simply because the stupid battery in it couldn't be found anymore!

I too have a nice digicam... and I don't use it much except for posting descriptive images online.

sapata · « **Reply #13 on:** November 13, 2012, 11:57:17 PM »

I have a Sony digital camera that records images on a floppy disk, is that obsolete?

moominsean · « **Reply #14 on:** November 14, 2012, 05:02:23 AM »

I had a camera that recorded images on strips of plastic...oh wait, that's film. (Just saving this thread from the leonhammer).

Late Developer · « **Reply #15 on:** November 14, 2012, 09:01:15 AM »

Things are only "obsolete" or "redundant" if they fail to fulfil the purpose for which they intended or the purpose for which they were intended ceases to exist. What most refer to as "obsolete" actually means "has been replaced by". That's not the same thing at all.

I've still got digital cameras and I enjoy using them. It's great technology, it's quick and it's convenient. However, film is my fave and it's the reason this garrulous gaggle of grain lovers exists. Long may it continue.

mcduff · « **Reply #16 on:** November 14, 2012, 04:09:53 PM »

Like a Stalinist revisionist, I have retitled this thread and modified my first post, as this thread was not really about obsolescence but about how me and film have got back together and are getting it on like a couple of sweaty teenagers

So to all you out there, I am glad to have my first year back with film! Feel free to say "I am glad you two are back together, you sound like a happy couple"

SLVR · « **Reply #17 on:** November 14, 2012, 05:19:48 PM »

HERE HERE!

Jack Johnson · « **Reply #18 on:** November 15, 2012, 05:23:08 AM »

In my day, if you wanted to take a picture you had to chip it off the cave wall yourself and drag it away.

Francois · « **Reply #19 on:** November 15, 2012, 06:06:43 PM »

I still got a coal powered camera somewhere in my basement

mcduff · « **Reply #20 on:** November 15, 2012, 07:27:54 PM »

...coal-powered, eh? Maybe that old projector of mine was. That would explain why all my ancient 'chromes (which I am currently scanning) are so grungy...

india-2-3-009 by dsmccrac, on Flickr

Emma · « **Reply #21 on:** November 16, 2012, 01:37:23 PM »

Mcduff, that last picture is stunning! I want it as a print or something...

mcduff · « **Reply #22 on:** November 16, 2012, 05:11:31 PM »

Thanks Emma,

You should find a cleaned up full size version if you follow the link below (which you can feel free to grab for your personal use) - PM me if you cannot grab it. I did not totally clean it up but just shoveled some of the crude off of it. As I have about 500 images from that time i am working on (in addition to actually taking going out and SHOOT), I am not spending a lot of time on each pic. If you click on it and go to view all sizes you will see a nice big one that could print quite well.

This pic (and others on the flickr site) are ones I am cleaning up from an amazing trip i had to india in the early 80's. Part of the awesomeness of it was all the kodachromes I took. I do not want to turn this into a whine that kodachrome is gone -- it is OK and I have moved on and frankly, I stopped using it for a range of reasons in the 90's. I know that some people did not like kodachrome for skin tones, but I think it depends on what 'tone' we are talking about as i think a lot of the people shots I have from india look great. These girls were from village in southern india (Kerala maybe) and are probably in their late thirties now and may have girls that are older than they are in this photo.

india-2-3-009-cleaned by dsmccrac, on Flickr