Have you noticed the new Flickr splash pictures with classic cameras?

I know some of you are on Flickr, and some people have differing opinions about Flickr. But I just noticed

something kind of interesting a few days ago. They re-designed their home page, and they changed the pictures

that are randomly displayed. Have you guys seen them? I think Flickr is starting to FINALLY catch on. They're

starting to notice film users! I've already seen a couple of pictures with people using classic film cameras. In

one of them, a girl is looking in the view screen of a medium format SLR, and in another picture someone has a

bunch of vintage film cameras around his neck. All of them are classic film cameras...I see a couple of 35mm

SLR's (I think one of them is a Pentax) and also a Ricoh rangefinder.

 

There are literally thousands of film groups on Flickr now, and some of those groups have hundreds of thousands

of members. It looks like they finally took notice. What's interesting to me is that there must have been some

kind of discussion in a board room when they decided to make a new design for the home page...and someone must

have said "you know, we really should put something in there with film cameras too." And the good thing too is

that it wasn't some over-hyped Holga or Diana, but true classic film cameras.

 

I just thought that was pretty cool. Not so much the pictures, but just the fact that film photography and

classic cameras were being shown on a mainstream website like that. Combine that with the other things I've

noticed here and there with classic cameras being shown in tv commercials (in one commercial, a girl was using a

folding Polaroid Automatic 100 camera) and I've seen some clothing ads in stores where the model was holding an

antique 8mm movie camera.

 

It definitely seems like SOMETHING is going on.

<p>Hey silverscape</p>

hehehe...yup, that's me. Where do you think I even got the idea to start that group? <i>This</i> forum.

<p>Old film cameras are becoming cool. Here in Hong Kong there is an ad on one of the cable channels promoting HK as a tourist destination. The ad features a fellow taking photos with an f2.8 Rolleiflex. </p>

<p>Seems to me that the main reason behind the increased visibility of film cameras is that there is a lot more difference in distinctive appearances between different models vs. your average DSLR, which, other than a few size differences, all pretty much look the same. There's a reason that they used a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye in a recent Progressive Insurance commercial, and it wasn't because of the image quality. No one even bothered to tell "Flo" how to use the thing since you never see her winding it or changing a flash bulb. With these ads it's all about the look of the camera. If more people start taking pictures <em>with</em> these cameras rather than just <em>of them</em>, then I'll be impressed.</p>

<p>There is the novelty element as well as teenage rebellion. I know of a young guy from work who would only shoot with cameras that makes him look cool! He can't keep his hands off my Zeiss Ikon folder and while I thought about lending him one of them, he really wouldn't know what to do with a meterless camera!</p>

Well, the novelty element is what got me interested in antique 8mm movie cameras. But I graduated pretty fast from just having them sit on a shelf and looking cool to actually using them once I found out you can order 8mm movie film!

 

And there are even groups on Flickr for people who like to shoot in 8mm, Super-8, and 16mm.

<p>Yep film is just like Arnie, "I'll be back."</p>

<p>I didn't notice, but I guess this is why my shot of my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwedd459/5732657918/in/photostream">new (old) Konica FP</a> got so much attention. So far I only have a shot <em><strong>of</strong></em> the camera in my stream, but I have a couple rolls to scan and should have some shots <em><strong>from</strong></em> that camera online later today.</p>

Jason, I noticed because one day when I was signing in, I saw that the Flickr homepage looked a little different. And there was a new splash picture that I had never seen before. It was the girl focusing a medium format SLR. I was like "Well, that's different!" I was really surprised about that, because it seemed like until recently, Flickr had just about ignored film users...even though there are THOUSANDS of groups just for film photography now. Then the next time I signed in, there was another splash picture with a guy that had a bunch of vintage 35mm film cameras. So I realized something was going on. When they decided to change the look of the homepage and changed the splash pictures, it looked like they deliberately made an effort to include at least a few classic film cameras.

 

I am starting to notice a lot more groups for people who like to develop their own film too.

 

Jason, the next time you go on the Flickr homepage, click the "reload" or "refresh" button on your browser to make it display a new random splash picture. You'll see the pictures I was talking about.

<p>Thanks, I never sign out, so I see my custom homepage, and I bookmarked the activity feed and usually jump straight to there. Just logged out, and I see what you mean by splash image. I refreshed a few times and got the girl with the medium format SLR. Cool!</p>

I forgot that the splash pictures on Flickr aren't just generic images, they're actually photos by Flickr members. There's a small link at the bottom of the picture where you can go to the person's photo stream.

 

Here is the same girl, with the same camera. It's a Hasselblad. And she's definitely not just using it for a fashion statement. She has a lot of pictures she's taken with that camera, and a few TLR's and some of them are pretty good.

 

 

Also, she has a lot of pictures posted that her friends have taken, also with vintage TLR's.

 

It definitely seems like there is some kind of renewed interest in classic film cameras. It's NOT just people running around with Holgas and Diannas because of the lomography fad. There definitely seems to be a growing interest in "real" film cameras.

<p>Ah, she's in Japan! (I am too.) There are thousands of these classic old cameras for sale in the used shops in Tokyo, the hard part is finding one for a decent price. A lot of them are in amazing condition and priced for collectors, not people who want to actually shoot with them. I went into one place last weekend that was all Leica and almost nothing under $1500 US. It was more of a museum (shrine??) than a camera store.</p>

<p>I've posted a few shots from a test roll with my Konica FP. I picked it up for 5000 yen (USD $62). It's the most fun I've had with a camera in a while. Learning to shoot with a manual SLR is a nice experience.</p>

<p>I'm shooting film because I need a change. I've carried a camera with me everywhere almost everyday for the last 2 years, and I'm starting to feel photographic deja vu (already shot that). So now I'm only carrying a film camera with me. If I do something "important" where I really need to get the shot I'll take the 5D mkII, but for my casual wanderings film is more fun.</p>

<p>Also, there's a nice family-run photo lab in my neighborhood. I'd like to see them stay in business, so I buy my film from them, instead of from the mega-stores.</p>