Are we nearing the end of Photography as we used to know it?

[mangerton]

I've just read this thread with great interest. I'm now on my second digital camera, a Fuji S6500fd. I am pleased with it, but still feel a twinge of guilt when I use it and think of my Olympus OM1 and OM10 lying in the cupboard at home with their various lenses. I used to use one for prints and one for slides. The convenience and cheaper "running costs" of digital photography are without doubt major factors in the move to digital. I remember a holiday trip to France when we visited Mont St Michel. I pushed a six month old Miss mangerton in her buggy to the top, while Mrs m carried the camera bag. I'm sure I had the lighter load.

ff msg 3 - film is still fairly easy to get, but batteries are not so readily obtainable.

I have scanned some of my transparencies with varying so I too am grateful for Hornspieler's kind offer.

[french frank]

ff msg 3 - film is still fairly easy to get, but batteries are not so readily obtainable.

For the OM1? Yes, I'd heard that was the case. I haven't had it out of the bag for several years, but it does rather put the kibosh on it if you can't get batteries. I have an OM10 as well which somebody gave me ... I wonder why?

[Stunsworth]

Most of the battery problems are for cameras that used PX 625 batteries that used mercury. These have now been banned on environmental grounds. You can get silver oxide batteries that will work, but they have a higher output voltage and as has been mentioned earlier while the camera will work the metering won't be accurate.

An alternative is to use something this...

http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/sbc_mr9_adapter.htm

this is an adaptor the same size as the PX 625 that takes a modern battery. The output voltage exactly matches that of the PX 625 so there are no metering problems.

Another option is to use a 'Weincell'. Details here...

http://www.weincell.com/

They are a self contained battery, however their main disadvantage is that they have a limited usable life once you start to use them - you need to break a seal to allow air into the battery in order to use them. Internet searches suggest that the active life is around 3 months.

Hope that's of interest to someone.

[french frank]

Many thanks to Paul and Steve - I may have another go with it. I got it in the first place for photographing manuscripts - script and illuminations - (i.e. for 'recording' rather than creative photography) for which the standard macro lens was ideal.

[gamba]

Here's a collection of photos my good niece Alice made me aware of the other day.
Not a sterile camera club image anywhere
http://everyday-i-show.livejournal.com/46292.html

Never mind the pictures - I'm intoxicated with the waves of nostalgia sweeping over me at the sight of all those long forgotten sprocket holes !!!

[salymap]

I've rescued gamba's thread on the Lewis Chessmen and it is now on Platform 3. He is too modest to do this but if you are interested in photography and haven't seen it do look at it, and see how he achieved such a result.

[gamba]

I've rescued gamba's thread on the Lewis Chessmen and it is now on Platform 3. He is too modest to do this but if you are interested in photography and haven't seen it do look at it, and see how he achieved such a result.

[pmartel]

Great thread.

I am an avid amateur photographer of over 30 years and STILL not totally convinced on digital.

Still having some rolls of film sitting around, I took them in for developing.

I was stunned as to how incredibly natural the resolution was.

My film cameras are two Nikon E series cameras with vintage Tamron lenses, a 25-75w/a zoom and 80-210 telephoto.

My digital camera is a Nikon Coolpix L110 and I have noticed it has it's own distinct qualities.

Getting my films back it made me realize how much I miss my film cameras and as long as I can get film I will split between film and digital.

Shooting b&w I PREFER to use film as it has a more natural look.

I also am fortunate that I STILL Have my grandfather's Pony Premo Model A 4x5 sheet film camera and have seriously thought about using that as a portrait camera once I get a new back made.

Yup, getting my film developed from 5 years ago really made me prefer My film camera and will have to give it a whirl again

[umslopogaas]

Thirty-odd years ago when I was working on a government agricultural research station in Papua New Guinea, a friend decided to write a book on tropical land snails and knowing I was keen on photography, he asked me to do the plates (this will of course reveal my true identity to anyone lucky enough to own a copy, but I'll chance it, I think it quite unlikely that anyone will, it being a rare and very expensive item and not a subject of much interest to most of the contributors to these boards). We decided that 35 mm wouldnt give high enough quality, but then I discovered the station had a Linhof 3 x2" bellows camera buried in a cupboard: it had been bought for a long-forgotten project and hardly used. I persuaded them to let me borrow it. For those used to the convenience of modern digital photography, or even standard 35 mm, this sort of camera is a serious challenge.

I bought a piece of plate glass and mounted it horizontally, held in place about two feet off the ground with a couple of laboratory stands and clamps. Sheet of white paper on the ground underneath. I then mounted the camera facing down onto the glass on my far-from-robust-enough tripod. The weight unbalanced the tripod, so I hung my belt of scuba diving lead weights on the other side. Right, line up the shells on the glass, stuck down with bits of bluetack. Make sure the metal slide is in, open the detachable back and load a roll of 2x3 film. Using the separate Weston exposure meter (remember them?) select a shutter speed aperture combination, but set the shutter speed one lower, and cock the shutter. Make sure the tilt and shift controls for the front lens are not tilted or shifted. Fit the cable release, squint through the viewfinder and focus. Now, since all this was set up on my verandah and the house was built on six foot concrete stilts, the slightest movement caused things to wobble. Pull out the metal slide, but not right out, so that it still seals the gap. Hold the cable release and wait a few seconds, standing still, until the wobbles have died away. Ready? Click! Now push the slide back in, wind on manually until the next number appears in the little red window, move the shutter speed up one notch, repeat, wind on again and repeat. Should now have one underexposed, one correct and one overexposed: even if you were a bit out on the readings, one of the three should be OK. Cant remember how many you got on a roll, but I think it was twelve. Finish a couple of rolls, heave a sigh of relief and open a couple of beers. What a way to spend Sunday afternoons. But we did seventy seven plates and though I say it myself, they are pretty good.

[pmartel]

umslopogaas, that is truly something.

That's what I DON'T like about modern photography.

When I was in college oveer 30 years ago, I DID manage to try my grandfather Pony Premo that I had mentioend, It had JUST MISSED being in a flood by inches and the case DID get a bit of water damage.

The results that I remember with the Pony were NO LIGHT LEAKS in the bellows and it gave a very good test negative.

As I plan to go to Yosemite one day, I would LOVE to take the restored Pony along.

SADLY, young people will not know the real joy of what we experienced in photography in our young days

[Globaltruth]

Here's the perfect compromise...

[Stunsworth]

Here's the perfect compromise...

Better buy it quick, Kodak have just announced that they're ending all production of slide film.

[Hornspieler]

Better buy it quick, Kodak have just announced that they're ending all production of slide film.

I'm sure that Kodak, the pioneers of photography for the masses will shortly go out of business. They've taken a terrible hit on their colour printers and they should have got into digital photography years sooner. There is no way that they can catch up with the Orientals in digital cameras, lenses and accesories manufacture.

Sad, but inevitable. How long will such famous names as Leica and Zeiss be things of the past?

HS

[Stunsworth]

They've taken a terrible hit on their colour printers and they should have got into digital photography years sooner. There is no way that they can catch up with the Orientals in digital cameras, lenses and accesories manufacture.

Sad, but inevitable. How long will such famous names as Leica and Zeiss be things of the past?

Kodak were one of the digital pioneers. They offered the first digital SLR - I think it was based on a Nikon body with Kodak electronics inside. They also used to make most of the sensors for digital medium format kit, though they sold that business a year or so ago. Kodak's big problem was the fact that film was such a cash cow for so long, and it's difficult to turn around a company as large as Kodak.

Leica is doing just fine at the moment. They've been doing very well since the launch of their digital models the M8 and then the M9. Lenses also are in great demand and difficult to buy off the shelf as most of them are going to satisfy dealer back orders.

[Hornspieler]

Kodak were one of the digital pioneers. They offered the first digital SLR - I think it was based on a Nikon body with Kodak electronics inside. They also used to make most of the sensors for digital medium format kit, though they sold that business a year or so ago. Kodak's big problem was the fact that film was such a cash cow for so long, and it's difficult to turn around a company as large as Kodak.

Leica is doing just fine at the moment. They've been doing very well since the launch of their digital models the M8 and then the M9. Lenses also are in great demand and difficult to buy off the shelf as most of them are going to satisfy dealer back orders.

Thanks for that reassurance Steve (and Paul).
I'm more than pleased to be in error on this subject, but in terms of retail sales bearing the name of Kodak, they do seem to be a bit low on the ground.

HS