Old new guy

[stuart_rennie]

<p>Hello from someone returning to photography but completely new to photo.net. The last time I was involved in 'serious' photography was nigh on 25 years ago. I started in 1980 with a Pentax ME-Super with standard lens and over the next three or four years accumulated a couple of bodies and nine lenses, including six of the superb (IMHO) SMC-M range. I also dabbled in medium format with the Mamiya M645 1000S and a couple of lenses, but sold it in 1988, much to my regret. Over the past few years I have used nothing more sophisticated than a digital point 'n' shoot, but I have had a lot of time on my hands recently while recovering from spinal surgery and my thoughts have turned more and more to photography.<br>

I plan to buy a Pentax K-5 body with a standard zoom, mainly because I can still use all of my old K-mount lenses on it. And all of my focal lengths will be x 1.5, so my 400mm will become a 600mm, etc. But medium format film photography is what I really want to get back to. I'm not knocking digital but with film I just feel so much more involved in the process and I will have to think so much more carefully about each shot. And for me there is no substitute for the anticipation of seeing the negs appear from the drum or the print appearing before my eyes in the tray under a red light (careful!). I don't think this interpretation of what photography should be about is 'right' and others are wrong. Medium format film photography does it for me. For some it is working on an image in Photoshop, for others it's more about collecting gear. And why not? Some people collect porcelain but I would far rather look at a shelf full of fine lenses and take them down to dust them from time to time and appreciate the fine multi-coated glass and engineering.<br>

Due to my current predicament I've spent a lot of time in bed recently with my laptop and I have over-indulged in internet retail therapy. Used M645 gear is accumulating at an alarming rate. And it's all in remarkably good condition. But perhaps that is a discussion best saved for the M645 forum, so all I'll say for now is that I can't wait to get out in the landscape with a medium format SLR camera on a solid tripod with a cable release and the mirror locked up. I hope that I will be able to capture something worth sharing with you. Thanks for reading.</p>

[tkphotog]

<p>Welcome back to photography, Mr. Rennie!</p>

[wood]

<p>I look forard to seeing your work here on PN. Welcome!</p>

[stuart_rennie]

<p>Thanks Travis and Robert for the welcome. I'm sure I'll gain a lot from the forum and I'm looking forward to tapping into the vast collective knowledge of the membership and hopefully also contributing to it.</p>