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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Shame - Old Camera Gear
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03/05/2011 07:21:47 PM · #1
Been on a bit of a kick this week... bought an old Kodak 1A from I believe the late 20's (trying to find some info still) and a Yashica TLR from the 40/50's but the reason for this irrelevance is I also picked up an old FD 135f2.8 lens. I am duct taping a flash behind it to project an image, so I went cheapest I could find and paid a grand total of $2.25 (shipping was 3 times the price of the lens... would have preferred a 80-200 or something but they were a lot more $ and I am just stuffing around)....

I feel kinda bad... This lens is just such a beautiful piece of work... SMOOTH and god I mean smooth focus, great tactile aperture dial, just a great solid feel to it..... Those cameras are just pieces of art compared to the blob of black & glass that is a modern digital camera.

Anyway - Not a jot of meaning to this post.... so continue on with your life and no ya don't get the 30sec reding this back :-)
03/05/2011 08:00:32 PM · #2
Enjoy!

you can still use these cameras and often do things that are difficult to achieve with digital cameras (narrow DOF, tilt/shift, BIG image size that means effectively much bigger 'mega pixels' than most dLSR's can currently dream of therefore bigger prints and you can potentially experiment with all sorts of weird and wonderful, cheap unwanted lenses. No end of adventure and fun and often (initially) very cheaply!

I have a Kodak 33a 5x7 field camera (late 20's), a 1950's 4x5 Graflex SpeedGraphic and a little Fed II 35mm Russian ranger finder (also 1950's) all bought cheap and all now being used again to take photos. All except the FED II needed some DIY work to get back to picture taking status but that was half the fun. That and wondering what scenes had passed through these bellows and lenses and been captured over the last 50-80 years! I am now hunting for a bargain TLR like your Yashica (want a Rollei but the prices of these usually too much).

These old cameras aren't as convenient as a digital camera but can still make wonderful images. You don't take as many photos but you spend more time thinking about how you will do each one.

What is more, with a Fuji Instant film back I can be holding a finished, beautiful quality, glossy 4x5 inch colour print 60-90 seconds after taking the shot which is a lot faster than most people can do with a digital setup! What is more there are no batteries to go flat, the camera is all clockwork! ;)

I really enjoy the process of using these cameras. It is slower and more considered. The dSLR is just a convenient tool to me, the other cameras are... well... they have a kind of soul and make the process of photography (for me) much richer.

03/05/2011 08:23:16 PM · #3
Originally posted by jonkster:

I am now hunting for a bargain TLR like your Yashica (want a Rollei but the prices of these usually too much).

Yeah... I was hanging out for a Rollei as well but as you say too much $$... at least for my use.... The Yashica D was the best compromise I could find as I wanted a TLR with some nice styling - I wanted to be able to use these as props as well as throw some film thru them for fun. Took a bit to find one for a decent price that looked good and was likely to work (I have some portra on order to check them out and see if they are light tight & what not but they look and sound great... Just got lucky on fleebay this week). I also wanted a real old bellows type but I am not keen to get into large format stuff.... just not me.

Originally posted by jonkster:


These old cameras aren't as convenient as a digital camera but can still make wonderful images. You don't take as many photos but you spend more time thinking about how you will do each one.

Yeah... I grew up with film, so that part is familiar. I have an early 60's Yashica rangefinder and it's just sooo much fun on those lazy days.... although I reach for a dSLR first most of the time.
03/05/2011 08:27:47 PM · #4
You two better be careful!

If you keep going you will find the same satisfaction that some craftsmen do, using only old hand tools to make hand crafted furniture. Then what happens is that you become part of the process. You become one with the work. You find a joy and satisfaction that a calligrapher knows, and a word processor doesn't. You start to try to tell others about this joy of being part of the process you have found. But the "others" will look and laugh at you, because they "know" that the process is not important. That the camera is not important. That the only thing one needs do, is to blast away and "fix" the best one in post.

Neither will understand the other, and you will be thought odd, and out of step with progress. Newer, by definition, is better. You just won't get it.

Aye laddies, it is dangerous waters that ye sail.... Safe journey...
03/05/2011 09:36:07 PM · #5
Excellent Alex.
03/06/2011 01:49:50 PM · #6
Originally posted by ambaker:

You find a joy and satisfaction that a calligrapher knows, and a word processor doesn't.

lol... So as a computer programmer that has done a chunk of calligraphy in the past and own a couple of pieces of hand made furniture.... I think your warning is too late for me :-) Maybe your words can be a warning to others :-)
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