[OT] The irational argument for mechanical cameras

Found this posted a few days ago on rec.photo.eqipment.medium-format.

Titled "Why I like mechanical cameras and film". thought many here

might enjoy it. Says a lot about what will be lost when film finally

disappears, and why many of us refuse to give it up.

 

Sorry for the long cut and paste (remember to check for spaces),

here's the link:

 

http://www.google.ca/groups?q=+%22why+i+like+mechanical+cameras%22+group:rec.photo.equipment.medium-format&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&scoring=r&selm=bltoq9%24gcn4b%241%40ID-52908.news.uni-berlin.de&rnum=1

Found this posted a few days ago on rec.photo.eqipment.medium-format.

 

Titled "Why I like mechanical cameras and film". thought many

here might enjoy it.

Says a lot about what will be lost when

film finally disappears, and why many of us refuse to give it up.

 

Sorry for the long cut and paste, here's the link:

 

http://www.google.ca/groups?q=+%22why+i+like+mechanical+cameras%22+group:rec.photo.equipment.medium-format&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&scoring=r&selm=bltoq9%24gcn4b%241%40ID-52908.news.uni-berlin.de&rnum=1

<a href="http://www.google.ca/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=bltoq9%24gcn4b%241%40ID-52908.news.uni-berlin.de&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2B%2522why%2Bi%2Blike%2Bmechanical%2Bcameras%2522%2Bgroup:rec.photo.equipment.medium-format%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26scoring%3Dr%26selm%3Dbltoq9%2524gcn4b%25241%2540ID-52908.news.uni-berlin.de%26rnum%3D1">Link</a>

What the poster said was very true in at least one way: digital cameras and computers are not very pleasing to the senses.

 

I would like a Blade Runner world where things click, purr, whizz and snap. Though I'd never recommend using Zip drives or those old WORM optical carts, I love the long shutters on the latter media; you pull them back, revealing the transparent blue disc encased within; you can see the individual sectors; and you let the shutter go and it snaps back into place. And they weigh something unlike the CD-Rs which weigh almost nothing.

 

Not to mention the Esper, the Voigt-Kampf machines and (what I think are) mood organs (those CRT screens that have a deep, slow, pulsing sound and a stuttering, repeating image) or any of the other cool things in that movie.

 

Mechanical cameras are great but the only arguement that doesn't work is the one Jay pointed out a week or so ago: we have batteries in our mobile phones, cars, hearing aids, iPods/Walkmans (or what have you) and we don't worry about it. Yet we still think that a battery-less camera is more 'reliable' (i.e. they won't run out of batteries). Even if we're only talking about powering a coupled light meter.

 

Laptops are the only device which you'd really need to keep a careful eye on (though Apple does seem to be making progress there). But phones and video cameras are pretty efficient.

 

I don't think this deserves a separate thread, so I'll ask it here: what's your favourite photography related sound? Mine is the shutter on the thread-mount Leicas. Sharp, snappy and clean.

http://www.dantestella.com/technical/mechanical.html

Irrational maybe, logical...for me, certainly. I just got rid of a Contax G2 due to it's

ability to decide for me and my lack of ability to control it. Sure I gave it a chance but

it's AF system required too much input on my part to be of any use for me. When it

was good it was great, when I or it failed the results were miserable.

 

I bought a Bessa R2 (off this forum) and my foolishness in getting rid of the all

mechanical camera was just that. Sure the G2 is a fine camera, but the lack of direct

intervention on my part seemed to be too great and the important part, the interface

was not at all to my liking in the end.

 

Tools are tools and digital has it's purposes and I do like it, though not always.

 

And yes Apple has made progress in laptops since the 5300 debacle, this PowerBook

G3 is still great after 3 years, but the batteries are expensive!

<I>we have batteries in our mobile phones, cars, hearing aids, iPods/Walkmans (or what have you) and we don't worry about it.</I><P>

 

I have no mobile phone, hearing aid or walkman... the battery in my truck is only for starting it and I don't have to carry a spare 'cuz I can get a jump start if nessesary. Likewise the battery in my camera is only for the meter and I can use Sunny 16 and bracket if nessesary. BTW the battery in my wife's mobile phone dies often and she expends a lot of mental energy thinking about where and when she can get her next recharge. I don't want a cell phone or a battery-dependant camera 'cuz I don't have mental energy to spare.

I've got a cellphone, and the battery thing doesn't bother me, but I don't have a single number programmed into speed-dial, in fact I have no idea how to do it. My problem with cameras isn't batteries either, it's how the basic features require headstands to access on account of all the non-essential features piled on by the geeks just because they can. A battery-dependent camera like a Nikon F3 or a Leica M7 is fine with me. My EOS 1V is like the cockpit of a 747.

From the author of the message on that forum:

<blockquote>

<i>"I don't like shooting digital. Having a confirmation view of what I just

shot removes all the fun. It's like knowing what you're getting for

Christmas a week before and then trying to act excited when you open the

present. I like the mystery of not being sure I'm going to get what I want

and the good feelings I have when I do."</i>

</blockquote>

I know it's silly, but I completely agree. I picked up a couple rolls of finished Velvia slides today, and it was like Christmas. I had an unusual number of "keepers", and it really made my day. Velvia slides still amaze me, they're like little jewels, or tiny stained glass windows. I can't imagine ever feeling as excited about digital images.

Thanks Jim, for the link, and my apologies to all for having to scroll

sideways to read this thread. I will never paste from a text editor

again.

 

After reading Andrew's link, I can find no rational reasons

for my own strong preference for a mechanical film camera.

 

I like using a camera that feels like it was made by another person, and I really like having a physical negative, made directly from the light reflected from the scene. I especially like the fact that

it's a completely unique object.

 

As for my favorite mechanical photography sound, it's the "chunk-

hummmmmmm-toc" of a Time-O-Lite.

Well, for years I had an old Olympus SP-35, handed down to me by my father, that made a "bzzzzzz-ting sound" on longer exposures. Whenever I think of that sound, I'm reminded of my Dad.

 

While I don't have vast experience with hundreds of cameras, I do like the authoritative "k-CHOONK" my Olympus OM-10 SLR makes. The first time my sister happened to hear it while standing next to me when I snapped a picture, she turned and remarked, "Damn!"

 

Maybe there's a market for fitting digital cameras with a sound module -- you could select from a library of different camera shutter sounds!

 

I remember reading about something like this for cars; it was a module shaped like a cassette tape, and fit into the cassette deck. It would sense the revving of the engine and output the sound of a pre-programmed hot rod through the sound system.

 

Anyway, there are my two cents.

It is not irrational, rather a preferance<p>

My favourite mechanical cameras, watches are at at least 30 years old,

some are more than fifty years old, still work like new.<p><div></div>