young people who use classic cameras

<p>I don't mean kids. I mean people around my age, in their 20's or early 30's. (the "MTV Generation", "Generation XY", "Generation Next", whatever they label us now.) People who were kids in the 80's and 90's. What got <em>you</em> interested in using classic cameras?</p>

<p>There are a lot of interesting stories and anecdotes from people who use classic cameras out of nostalgia for what they used when they were young in the 1960's, 1970's, etc. But what about us? I grew up with film. But I really didn't know anything at all about classic cameras until recently. I didn't even know how to use manual exposure until maybe 2 or 3 years ago. All I was familiar with was simple point and shoot 35mm and 110 cameras. And disposable cameras. But I've always been interested in antique electrical and mechanical devices, and that's got what got me fascinated with classic cameras. There was something fascinating about using an all-metal, mechanical camera.<br /><br />We grew up surrounded by modern electronics...video games, computers, cd players, etc. But we like to use film and love using classic cameras. Come on, where are you guys? I know you're out there somewhere. (Patrick Dempsey, where are ya?) </p>

<p>What's <em>your</em> story? How did you get interested in using vintage cameras?<br>

<br />I would of course welcome comments from anyone. But I really would like to hear from people around this age. Sometimes I feel like we're below the radar or we're kind of forgotten. It's not only you older guys...we use classic cameras too! :) </p>

<p>I'm 29 and I have two classic camera which were made before I was born :) I like the feel of the all-metal camera&lens. The craftmanship-feel is so much better than the plastic/alloy bodies of more modern camera. Also having to work yourself (setting focus/aperture/shutter) is nice; combined with the cost of film&processing, it forces you to think more before shooting. And I like technique in general: for my job I frequently repair analytical equipment costing much more than any of the cameras I own...</p>

<p>And finally (but less importantly compared to point 1) the prints from a film have a different feel to them compared to prints made from files of my digital SLR.</p>

<p>I'm 44 but I like to think I'm 20. Does that count?</p>

<p>I have about 30 cameras between twenty and sixty years old and I do occasionally see people of your age using old film cameras.</p>

<p>Well, that all depends Steve. If I say "Zack the Lego Maniac" or "Turtle Power" does that mean anything to you? :)</p>

<p> <em>Zack, Zack...he's a Lego Maniac!</em> </p>

<p>Oh great, now I've got that song stuck in my head again.</p>

<p>I wouldn't really consider a 20 year old camera to be a "classic camera" though. Or at least not within what we usually discuss on this forum. 20 years ago would have been 1989, and that sort of just brings to mind all the plasticky P&S cameras of the 1980's (which I guess is mostly what I was familiar with before I became interested in vintage cameras).<br /><br />And Kasper, I definitely agree with you. I'll never forget the first time I developed my own roll of B&W film, and the first time I made my own print. A real silver halide print just has a totally unique look to it, and there is just something so cool about seeing the picture materialize in the developing tray, right in front of your eyes. </p>

<p>I'm 46, but I refuse to grow up. Other than the digicam that the wife got for me a few years back, all of my cameras are "classic." When I was much younger, the family camera was my father's Diax L-1. It was Voss' last try at making cameras before he closed up shop with the Japanese camera market in the ascendancy. Then one day our next door neighbour had a yard sale and there it was... A Kodak Signet 35. A mechanical camera. For four dollars. It was a chance for me to get a mechanical camera just like dad. So I got it. I didn't know the first thing about it. I bought a roll of film, then another, then another. The shutter was occasionally sticky, and the rangefinder; I didn't even what it was. It wasn't until the shutter completely got stuck shut that I started learning about the camera (about 25 years later). I learned how to fix (clean) the shutter. Then I learned what the rangefinder was, and then the depth of field scale. It was an awakening. In the meantime, my buddies at work started getting me into other cameras (first up was a Praktica Super TL with a Pentacon Electric/Oreston 1.8/50). Then a Fed 5C with an I61 LD. Then, the rest. If it weren't for the advancement of the computer age, (and then E-Bay) I'd have never gotten into this. It wasn't just old cameras, it was also various filters and adapters, then reflective umbrellas, other lenses and most recently, slaves. In the meantime the pictures got much better, (not as good as Gene's) not from having more technically advanced cameras, but from having a better understanding of photography in general. That Signet 35 still comes out with me and I have the Diax now. It needs some exercise. I've recently been playing with longer exposure times up to one second. Back then I could never understand why someone would need an exposure time up to one second. Who could hold still that long?</p>

<p>32 and a half here, only 3 cameras that were made after I was born in my closet and about 25 classic cameras, mainly from the 1930s and 1940s.<br>

I bought my first classic camera (ZI Nettar) back in early 2005, mainly to use at WW2 re-enactments/living history events. The results got me more and more interested in manual photography.<br>

My current collection ranges from box cameras to complex SLRs to various RFs. my favorites have to be my Leica IIIa and Leica IIIc .</p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p>20 years ago would have been 1989, and that sort of just brings to mind all the plasticky P&S cameras of the 1980's</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I only have one of those (Nikon F601). All of my other cameras are either metal or wood. I was thinking more along the lines of Pentax SP500, Kodak Retina Reflex III, Zeiss Ikon folder, Speed Graphic, etc.</p>

<p>Hi Chris,</p>

<p>I am 32 and I will have to repeat what I said in a previous post.</p>

<p>"I like machines and things of mechanical nature, almost no matter what it is. More importantly, I really like things that are made for precision. Before photography came into my life I was highly in tuned with firearms, and as you could imagine, I mostly favored ones built for accuracy. As the saying, "only accurate rifles make interesting rifles".<br>

As photography became a part of my life, I found the same interest in the gear. Well, as they say, they don't make it like that any more. So those all metal, finely made machines is what make me smile." :o)</p>

<p>Yes I have to admit, Zack the Lego Maniac and Turtle Power bring back some memories. Right there with the %$# Smurfs and punk rock bands.</p>

<p>Jason </p>

<p>34 y/o, love my Retina IIc, FOCA Pf3, Pentax Me Super and Yashica TLR, I'm slowly learning digital, and can't find much time for darkroom anymore,but I love films and touching those great cameras, it's the way they are built, the sound, and every shot is something I make myself.</p>

<p>I'm 30 and I love the old mechanical stuff. I do also have a digital kit and even an F75 (they're tools and they have their uses) but I grew up learning on an SRT, used it in college, learned to develop and print... Maybe I'm rebelling against digital society, or maybe it's just that the lenses are so good.</p>

<p>BTW, I was a Lego maniac (still am sometimes). I was in Target the other day and they had a whole Lego section but none of it was just Legos - they were all kits for making some specific thing. What's the point in that? Maybe I just need a whole lot of pieces to make my Super Star Destroyer.</p>

<p>And how sweet was TMNT 2: The Arcade Game?</p>

<p>21 here myself.<br>

When I was about 4 or 5, I came across an old Polaroid 125 at a yard sale. It fascinated me, and sparked an interest which I've kept to this day.<br>

In addition, the fact that most classics can be acquired very inexpensively(especially relative to newer or more modern equipment) has allowed me to amass a consideable number of them.</p>

<p>I am 30 and my current point and shoot is a Pentax 6x7. Out of all the medium format cameras I have cycled through this one is the most fun to use. I also enjoy using my Dad's Nikkormat FT. I had a Nikon S2 for a while, and it was a work of art. Someday I might get another one.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>i use classic cameras cause they are simple, need no batteries, and make nice pictures. i also wear ran ban aviator shades introduced in 1937 and target shoot with colt 45 mod 1911.</p>

Well I'm not of the "here and now" as for your targeted group. I guess at 50 you better have grown up. But I want to make the point that even then (age 24-37) I was interested in vintage cameras. I collected my first classics in the 1980s. I always was intrigued with history and loved looking at old B&W photos.

Another interest was the US Civil War and while looking at a Brady print. I realized that even by

Today's standards, this was a great print. So how much had changed in 100 years? Improved emulsions, improved optic formulas, and electronic aids. Not really too much! I decided I would discipline myelf to doing straight photography. It's still a philosophy that guides me. You don't need the latest gadget that cost $$$ to make great pictures. My first camera was 2nd-hand Yashica SLR much of the same vintage your Minolta is: It was about 7 years old but still had some value. I paid for it over six months. I was about 21 or 22 yrs. Shortly therafter my interest for old cameras began in earnest. I bought a "back-up" camera an older RF Lynx 5000€ and a year later wanting to break into MF, a used Yashica D. My Dad gave me an Argus 40 that he bought at a yard sale for 1$ and I aquired a Kodak Pocket 1A from some neighbor boys who looked up to me.. (I think their parents were very upset when they realized that their kids gave away grandad's camera). I also traded with another younger neighbor some prints of his (vintage 60s TR4) car for his grandfather's Weston 715 meter. This was about 1984 or so. I then did some odd jobs across a month when I was un-employed for a friend of my fathers in trade for his Baby Speed Graphic (spring-back) I'm was not yet 30 yrs old. My point is Ok, I'm not generarion X, but my love of old cameras started when I was your age. As I said in a recent post. This isn't about re-living or recapturing what I couldn't attain in my youth or other

pyschological fullfillment. It'a real love/fascination of mechanical poetry.

<p>I'm a lot older than your age group but I did get interested at age 12 or 13 when I thought it would be neat to have an old box camera to shoot with. Then I found Shutterbug Ads, a magazine for buy/sell old camera eq. Then the cameras started coming in from the usual yard sale sources. Sell a few of these so I could buy one of those and that is how it went. Never found that "perfect" camera and still have that "but I need this kind of camera with that lens just in case this sort of photo op ever does come along". </p>

<p>Years ago, on use.net, there was a guy who was asking about older eq. and, when someone mentioned how they didn't need batteries, the guy said "That's impossible. How do they work?". Loved that. Was laughing most of the day. </p>

<p>About Chris Tobar, he is the younger brother I never had. He doesn't post enough. His posts "freshen" the "old air" in my mind. Almost like having a mentor or something. </p>

<p>This is an excellent thread, kudos to Chris for staring it!<br /> <br /> I've just turned 29 this year...and I still remember fondly the stuff from my childhood, some of which has been mentioned here, e.g the Smurfs, TMNT, He-Man, GI Joe, etc etc. Haha. Growing up, my dad bought a slew of 35mm film cameras, almost all of them the P&S variety, and even an APS camera when that came out. We even had one of the first digital cameras in the 90's if I'm not mistaken, a really odd-shaped Kodak with a tiny LCD. He had only one film SLR which he used to take photos of me when I was about 3-4 years old, and that one I remember..it's a Yashica FX3. But I disgress...<br /> <br /> Well, how did it all start for me? Hmm, lets see. Up until last year, I didn't have any urge at all to venture into photography as a hobby. But then, all out of the blue, I splurged on my first DSLR, a Nikon D40. While it was nice, and I can say that camera was what awakened my interest in the field, I never really did like it that much, I think. I can't say why...perhaps I felt it was soulless. Anyway, in January of this year, while trolling a local photography forum, I found a thread regarding the Yashica Electro 35 GSN. I read it and I was hooked. Before that, I had no idea what a rangefinder was..but then I just had to have one. About a month later, after a lot of time scouring eBay, I got one. Even though it's not fully mechanical, there's just something about shooting in film that just thrills and takes a hold of me. It fascinates me endlessly that these cameras, made before I was even born, could take pictures that are so good. They look beautiful too, perhaps I just love old things...and the mechanisms, man...perhaps Chuck Foreman said it best, "mechanical poetry"...I love that.<br /> <br /> And that's how it all started for me.Of course, I get weird looks from my mates when I pull out one of my cameras, they're all rocking the latest DSLR's which costs 100x than what I'm using. For me, regressing from digital to film doesn't feel weird at all...it fells more like coming home =)<br /> <br /> Living in Malaysia, it's virtually impossible to buy these stuff from yard/estate sales, which are quite common in the States & Europe, I take it. Most have to be bought from the bay. Nonetheless, now, I have a really small collection of classic & not so classic film cameras, about 6 in all, some RF's, a TLR, most of them SLRs...and yup, one of them is my dad's old FX-3, the camera that saw me ever since I was a kid. =)</p>

<p>I'm 31 and I love TLR's. Why? simply because they have a great feel and are still using film. I they ever would make a Digital TLR I would never buy it. All the modern camera's all look the same, you can't tell what is which brand but with an old camera you can in most cases see the brand in a split second.</p>

<p>I am now 46 years of age, and got the Photography bug in 2003. In the late 1980's I made do with my Holiday 35mm Kodak S Series. Before that I did 126 film for some forgotten make of Camera, I got from Boots the Chemists. Anyway I feel now like a child in a sweet shop, I like collecting 1970's mechanical SLR's : Nikkormat FT2, Olympus OM1, Spotmatic 2 and Pentax KM etc. For me the past is a magical place, and affording once costly Cameras, is my Adult version of conspicuous brand loyalty</p>

<p>I'm 35. My dad had a Minolta 7s when I was growing up. My first personal camera was a Maxxum 7000i, which my parents bought for me because I was in the school newspaper at the time and an avid reader of Modern and then Popular Photography, so I was convinced you needed an expensive AF camera, which in hindsight was very foolish. We moved while I was in high school and I didn't join the paper again, and throughout college and first few years after I used the camera very little, except on a few trips.</p>

<p>Then at some point I decided to get back into photography, and I started reading photo.net back when it was Phil's pre-Arsdigita project. Then I discovered eBay. The main draw for me at the time was to build a larger system with more lenses for a small investment, so after looking into Nikons which were still kind of pricey at the time, I settled on the lower cost Minolta MC/MD system. Once I had collected a few, I knew I loved the solid build quality of older cameras and officially became a curmudgeon. I bought a box of lenses as a lot on eBay, which included a minolta-Exakta adapter, so I've since collected some CZJ and Steinheil Exakta lenses. I later discovered Kodak Retinas, Minolta Autocord, and recently Zeiss folders. I don't want to collect old stuff that doesn't work to put on the shelf, but I like all of these cameras because I can use them and they are just fun to shoot with.</p>

<p>WOW! Lots of great replies. Thanks, everyone! It was great to hear from everyone, but I was especially glad to read comments from other people around my age. It's interesting how we have similar experiences. </p>

<p>I really wasn't sure how this topic would go. I didn't want to alienate anyone. But sometimes I feel like young people (young adults) are kind of the silent and ignored majority and we sort of get lost in the cracks. We grew up with film, but also grew up surrounded by modern electronics. Most of our friends use digital cameras, but we are drawn to classic cameras and film. Everyone makes a big deal about teenagers using plastic lomography cameras, and how they are so glad that younger generations are using film. Well, what about us? We're here too! We're using the real deal...classic manual cameras that were made long before we were even born. And yet we're drawn to them, and we love traditional film photography. Sometimes I feel kind of frustrated on this forum, when older people talk philosophically about classic cameras, and how they are "dinosaurs" for using vintage cameras. It's like some of them think they're the only ones left, and they're reminiscing about something that's in the past. But it's not just in the past! We're here. There are a LOT of young people who like using classic cameras and film. Don't ignore us.<br /><br />For example, I'm on several groups on Flickr. One of them is called "I Shoot Film." It's all about people who like to use film, and a lot of people there use classic cameras. Most of them are around my age, in their 20's and 30's. A lot of them develop their own film...even color film. The group has over 27,000 members. It's probably just as active as some of the Photo.net forums. </p>

<p>So just remember us too, that's all I'm saying. It's not just teenagers running around with plastic lomography cameras. Or older people who use classic cameras out of nostalgia. We grew up with film too, and some of us are coming back to film when we got more seriously interested in photography. Or maybe some of us never stopped using it. But we're here too.</p>

<p>I still feel like I have so much to learn. The next thing I want to learn is how to tone black and white prints :) </p>

<p>Are there a lot of people out there with Lomo cameras? I confess I've never seen one except a fisheye camera I owned briefly. (The lack of any sort of exposure control beyond choosing the ISO annoyed me and I sold it on Ebay.)</p>

<p>There are really a lot of people using Lomo cameras, and i believe we should thank them for being the ones that keep the film industry alive.</p>

<p>Yann, I think this thread has shown that there are a LOT of people using film, <em>besides </em>the lomography users. I mean, every single one of us who just posted on this topic uses film. We are ALL keeping film alive. And I don't even own one single lomography camera. I really don't even want one. I just use the real deal, classic cameras. But I think that with the 40 or so rolls of film that I've shot so far, I'm also doing my small part to keep the film industry alive.</p>

<p>In fact, that was kind of my whole point to starting this topic. That it is <strong>NOT</strong> just teenagers with plastic lomography cameras, or older people who were raised with classic cameras. There are a lot of young people using film...with <em>classic cameras</em>. We're doing our part too. And we enjoy it. But sometimes we get overlooked. </p>

<p>Why do some people think the lomography users are the only young people using film? Didn't we just kinda sink that myth with this thread? I hope so. I've never touched a lomography camera in my life. But I'm always out there shooting with my Argus C3 or Yashica A, or Minolta SRT-101. I'm using completely manual cameras, made long before I was born. And I did it before it was "cool." </p>

<p>You're right, we're here shooting films without that Lomo stuff. But that's not enough to keep the film industry alive. The Lomo's latest invention is a TLR like, I don't know where you are Chris, but here in Taiwan it's a hit, when Lomo sold their cheap so called Fisheye, it was such a hit that you couldn't find it in shops, I know some students in Photo schools use Holga for I saw some exhibitions. I really believe that without Lomo the film industry would be in serious trouble. But I live in a small Island, and I can only see things from where I am.</p>

<p>I'm 35, and a filmmaker (i.e. motion pictures.) I was never really interested in still photography until I ran across a photo on the internet about four years ago.<br>

It was a simple black & white shot of a dock on a lake. Pretty typical stuff. But even on the internet, this photo had a mezmerizing level of detail. It seemed like you could walk right into the photo.<br>

I dug deeper, and found that it had been taken with a TLR. I didn't know what that was, I had to google it! I also learned it was taken on medium format 120 film. More googling! I had heard of medium format, I had heard of 120, I didn't know what they were or that they were different aspects of the same thing...<br>

Anyway, once I puzzled through that photo, I have fallen in love with classic cameras and film photography. I do have a DSLR, but love shooting with my Yashica TLR, classic Pentax SLRs (including my dad's old Spotmatic F), and oddities like MF folders and a Meridian 4x5 field camera. I just recently put a darkroom into my basement, so the passion has been taken to a whole new level.<br>

So, back to the OP's question of why? First because of the pictures. Classic cameras/lenses capture amazing photographs with a texture, colour and detail that is different from modern equipment. Secondly because of the gear -- there are so many fascinating variations of camera from the past, and they all feel different and inspire you to work in a different way. I love that exploration.</p>