Are we all old?

[robert_marvin]

I'm 68. I know no one through direct personal contact who uses film and prints in a traditional darkroom like I do.

Fortunately I know lots of people electronically who do so.

[rick_m.]

<p>61 and a half. </p>

<p>Last weekend I saw a kid of about 18 using an argus c3. He was cheating though. He had a hand-held meter and wasn't using the color coded shutter speeds.</p>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>I'm 56 but my doctor says I have the physique and health of a 40 year old. See...humping around the outdoors with big heavy classic cameras is good for you!<br>

I appreciate a beautifully made camera, wristwatch and guitar. I love both sunny and rainy days. I enjoy both my CMC's <em>and</em> Digicams but what I really love is making pictures. Life is so good, I sometimes feel like the luckiest man alive.</p>

[steven_burch]

<p>I'm 22 and I shoot more film than digital. I greatly prefer my Nikon MF equipment to my DSLR. A friend of mine is 18 and he shoots a good bit of film too.</p>

[brian_m.1]

<p>I pondered this question a few weeks ago. I personally don't see the replacement rate sufficient to keep the movement alive. Even digital cameras are being challenged by cell phone cameras so nobody is safe. May be we can look back to other technologies for lessons. What happened to the audiophiles and their reel to reel decks? </p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/casual-conversations-forum/00bD3o</p>

[umbush]

<p>I am 44. Only use Hasselblad 500cm and Nikon f3. Have my own darkroom, which is my sanctuary. My sons ex girlfriend is at university and had to make a box camera and do the prints in a darkroom. So there is still hope:)</p>

 

[maiku]

<p>Early 40s or there abouts with a 3-year old and 1-year old. I have to stay in this age range for the next 15 years or so.</p>

[ralf_j.]

<p>Well, 38.5 here, and I can still scale a fully mature Mediterranean Persimmon tree almost as well as I did as a child.</p>

<p>80% film shooter, use indiscriminately anything, SLR-s, rangefinders, box cameras, instant, 110, 16mm, 35mm, medium and large format. I must say, I am partial to Minoltas (mainly SRT-102, XE-7) and my Topcons.</p>

<p>Always, hunting for film deals, which are becoming rarer and rarer these days. (Another contributor, Fotokemika of Croatia, the maker of Efke just exited the film production scene this past August, I am hoping Foma is not next...). Long live film and its supporters/users.</p>

[kris-bochenek]

<p>I am 31. It all started with Cmena 8M some years ago and ended up with 15 classic cameras.</p>

[charles_stobbs3]

LXXXV but my Retina IIa would crumble if I put anything in it other than Kodachrome 25 so I make do with a couple of digitals and a 2 MP cellphone which is my newest toy.

[ridinhome]

<p>33.92 (birthday in a month) but feeling significantly older after drinking too much last night.</p>

[grey_rogacion]

<p>55, a beginning beginner, still trying to learn from all you guys out here..................</p>

[jakenorcross]

<p>I'm 28 (not the youngest here), and shoot at least 85% film, plus photo paper, dry plate, and any other assortment of things. I only own a couple of cameras made during my lifetime (one of which is my digital camera, made in 1993). Of course, I also have decided to write my thesis with a 1980s computer, make my next cell phone <a href="https://www.sparkfun.com/categories/96.xml">rotary dial,</a> inherit and appreciate my father's vast vinyl collection, and otherwise seem to exist in the wrong century.</p>

<p>((Please note: I am not a hipster. I do none of this ironically, and do not drink PBR. Despite my art degree.))</p>

[gerald_di_giampaolo]

<p>I am 60 and have been using a Canon 5D MK2 for the past couple of years because of a concern of being left behind. However, I recently made a trip to Sedona, Arizona and only used my Hasselblad because I missed the process required when shooting the Hasselblad. I only took about 40 pictures and most of them were keepers. I enjoyed projecting the images. I felt like I went home. So this year I'll be using the Hasselblad more along with my Olympus OM4 and full complement of lenses. </p>

[DWScott]

I'm 39, and seriously into photography (film and digital) for

seven years, and into shooting analog movies (16mm and

Super 8) since 1996.

 

When I walk the streets of Toronto, or go to an event like

Kite Fest, I see lots of film cameras. Mostly they are being

used by guys and girls aged 20 to 45. Anyone older than

that seems to have gone completely digital. I've chatted

with a few of these folks 50+ and their attitude is "good

riddance" to film and its foibles and costs. They are

enjoying the freedom of digital and don't understand why

anyone would be wasting their time with old cameras and

film.

[mukul_dube]

<p>I'm 62, I use both film and digital, and I cannot say what I might have done had I been young. I'll add that I know younger people who use film cameras. My impression is that some or many do it to be "different", or because they believe that film is somehow "pure" unlike digital. I have also seen, in some young people, an obsession with B&W which they explain in a way that tells me that they have no idea about the evolution of photography or about the evolution of pictorial representation generally.</p>

[william_vickers1]

<p>I'm 70, but I think my general attitudes and outlook are still pretty youthful. I'm curious, flexible, and tolerant of the differences among people. I have always heard others say we become more conservative as we age, but this hasn't happened to me. I'm still a flaming liberal when it comes to social issues and politics.<br /><br />Since growing up in the 1950s and 1960s I have always loved 35mm rangefinders and single-lens reflexes, and especially the classic metal-bodied ones with manual focus. I don't care much for plastic blobs and auto-focus. My preferred color film has always been Kodachrome and I lament its passing. As an anthropologist I have taken thousands of slides of native, peasant, and urban peoples in Latin America and I continue to be awed by the wonderful longevity and archival qualities of Kodachrome.<br /><br />Today, I shoot more digital images than film, but these are mostly casual photos and family snapshots. But I continue to work with my film archives which mean much more to me professionally.</p>

[chansonbleu]

<p>I'm 60, shoot digital 80% film 20%. Still ride a motorcycle, and hike the Appalachians. After immersing myself in Digital for a number of years, I'm rediscovering film. I also find quite a few younger photogs adding film camera's to their image making tool box.</p>

[tony_lockerbie]

<p>Thanks to everyone for interesting and positive replies. I still shoot 95 per cent film (B&W) but would have a Leica M9 if I could afford it. If I did buy a digi, the Fuji X Pro looks interesting. I do have a Topcon Super D in front of me and this camera gives me a buzz, even without film in it!</p>

[steve_levine]

<p>I'm 58. These sit on my computer printer. To me they aren't "old" cameras, as they are to everyone else.</p><div></div>

[zack_zoll]

<p>I'm 29. I got my first camera at either 6 or 7 depending on what parent you ask - a Nikon FG-20. Technically it was my mother's, but apparently I was a grabby little kid.</p>

<p>I do a lot of shooting digitally for convenience reasons (especially walking around at night), but I do most of my serious work with a Hasselblad 500c/m, and a Linhof Teckika III. I shoot FP4+ almost exclusively with both, and develop it in my bathtub at home :)</p>

<p>I don't know if I'd call those 'classic' cameras, so much as the stereotypical 'cameras I could never afford before digital came around.' But I like 'em. I'll probably ditch the Hasselblad when digital SLRs get a little better (I figure that's around 2 years from now), and I don't see myself ever getting out of large format. Although I'll probably upgrade, as that Linhof is really starting to show its age, and restoring it would cost about as much as buying a used Sinar or somesuch.</p>

[a._t._burke]

<p>Mr. Lockerbie: </p>

<p>I was 93 last year. When a person is under seven or eight and over about eighty-five folks seem to add a half year when appropriate. </p>

<p>“Hey, I’m not four, I’m four and a half!” </p>

<p>So I’m not quite 93 ½ . </p>

<p>A. T. Burke</p>

 

[jodys]

<p>Thank you all for making me feel young. Well, younger than 87.5% of the people who responded. Young enough that true 'Classic Manual Cameras' were mostly made before I was born (that last statement might not be true).</p>

[Rob_the_waste]

<p>The birth certificate says I'm fifty, but I refuse to grow up. Although I got away from it for a bit, I can proudly say that this weekend I actually took exposures with my Moskva 2, my Yashica A, and my FT2. The film in the Moskva is now finished so I can get that one done. The Yashica is close to finished, and the FT2 film just got started. I use a Canon ultrazoom digicam that gives me some pretty good versatility, but there is still something missing with it. One thing that comes to mind is that I got a shot of my father's dog Snoopy yesterday with the FT2 that I wouldn't have gotten with the digicam. Can you say, "shutter lag?" Silly dog won't hold still if his life depended on it. I hope it turns out. The light was dim.<br>

The other day at work, my friend Shirley told me that I'm just a kid. I asked her why do I feel like I'm 73?</p>

[owen_omeara]

<p>I am 73 years old. Note that I did not say 73 years young, I know better. My work has been shown in major galleries and is in several museums. I do mainly black and white work and have moved to digital. In the past I have shot mainly with Nikon f3's and Hasselblad 500CM's.<br>

My move to digital was prompted by the incredible developments in technology in cameras and computers, papers and ink. My work is now better than it was with both silver and platinum and I doubt I will go back to the old days. I may, however try my hand at silk screen printing. Another problem with wet darkroom work is the availability of the great papers and films of days past. I truly believe there will never be a replacement for Portriga Rapid with a slight Selenium tone. Time moves on and changes occur. The new epson Signature worthy papers are wonderful as are the Ultrachrome K3 inks.<br>

I am thinking about selling my Hassy 500CM with two lenses and two backs and a nice set of filters. Anyone interested?</p>

<p>-Cheers</p>