Europe v USA approach to usage of accessories and chemicals for photography

[Alan Edward Klein]

It's really a lot of work to put on a hazmat suit and gloves before passing through the Golden Arches. One of these days they're going to dig up a giant set of sandstone arches near the tombs in the Valley of the Kings of ancient Egypt, and finally learn the real secret why mummies didn't decay.

Maybe the mummies ate Big Macs.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Or maybe they were Big Macedonians. <shrug>

 

[Dr. no]

Europeans (a very big generalization!) tend to live closer to a brick-and-mortar store than Americans (also a big generalization!); especially as North Americans think of distance as distance and Europeans as time. I love posts that suggest things like "just go to your local high street store and look at the item". Our local store closed this year, There are still two (used gear and some chemicals and film) in Albuquerque (an hour's drive, this is considered local), but after that it's seven hours to Denver or 12 to Dallas. We have to ask ALL our questions here.

And I'm not clear what you mean by gadgets and chemicals; like, we prefer glass in our lenses instead of pinholes? Developers not made of fermented beverages and vitamins?
"Make photography organic again"

footnotes:
1. my son lives in Canada, they measure in km but talk in miles...
2. this forum seems to have a lot of North Americans who don't live in the big coastal cities, other fora and social media, with perhaps younger participants, are the opposite, perhaps. The European side appears to have something of the same distribution, though again the distances are different.
3. and one of my favorite silly quotes: "To Americans, 100 years is old. To Europeans, 100 miles is far."

 

[GregY]

Europeans (a very big generalization!) tend to live closer to a brick-and-mortar store than Americans (also a big generalization!); especially as North Americans think of distance as distance and Europeans as time. I love posts that suggest things like "just go to your local high street store and look at the item". Our local store closed this year, There are still two (used gear and some chemicals and film) in Albuquerque (an hour's drive, this is considered local), but after that it's seven hours to Denver or 12 to Dallas. We have to ask ALL our questions here.

And I'm not clear what you mean by gadgets and chemicals; like, we prefer glass in our lenses instead of pinholes? Developers not made of fermented beverages and vitamins?
"Make photography organic again"

footnotes:
1. my son lives in Canada, they measure in km but talk in miles...
2. this forum seems to have a lot of North Americans who don't live in the big coastal cities, other fora and social media, with perhaps younger participants, are the opposite, perhaps. The European side appears to have something of the same distribution, though again the distances are different.
3. and one of my favorite silly quotes: "To Americans, 100 years is old. To Europeans, 100 miles is far."

Dr...., Canadians, notably those not living in big cities do in fact use time as distance. I live an hour from Calgary and have been known to drive to Invermere, 2 hours away to go to a party.....

 

[MattKing]

Even in the big city.
I currently live in a suburb to the south of Vancouver, but still in the area described generally as "Greater Vancouver".
Due to traffic and congestion, a drive to North Vancouver, a suburb north of Vancouver, and also still in the area described generally as "Greater Vancouver", where I spent my youth, is often an hour or more.

 

[Don_ih]

Yeah, every drive is measured in time. It's an hour drive to Toronto, ninety minutes to Midland, three hours to North Bay (I think?). And people talk in miles, but no one knows what one is. They say "mile" and are actually thinking of roughly a km.

What we do talk and think in is pounds and inches. No one knows how tall they are in cm, no one knows how heavy they are in kg.

I don't like darkroom gadgets. An enlarger and a timer are all I want. I get better results mixing my own chemicals - and it's cheaper and easier.

 

[MattKing]

What we do talk and think in is pounds and inches. No one knows how tall they are in cm, no one knows how heavy they are in kg.

Talk to a high school student - you might hear differently, but then you might not!
My niece is a moderately young high school French immersion science teacher. She is bilingual in many different ways
The pervasive influence of those folks down south is tough though to overcome.

 

[BrianShaw]

Seems to me that you guys need to spend a bit more time "down South". The generalizations are so generic they may lack validity.

 

[Don_ih]

Talk to a high school student

I asked 2/4 of my kids and they said pounds/inches for personal measurements. Metric for mostly everything else.

 

[Don_ih]

Seems to me that you guys need to spend a bit more time "down South". The generalizations are so generic they may lack validity.

All anyone can faithfully know about what goes on within that border is what is broadly announced to the rest of the world. I would hope one can't make many true generalizations from that particular stream of information.

 

[cliveh]

I don't know why the whole world doesn't adopt the metric system. It works in tens making computation so much easier. Or perhaps we should resort to rods, chains, pints, furlongs, and all those other daft measurements designed to confuse any child in education.

 

[Dr. no]

live an hour from Calgary and have been known to drive to Invermere, 2 hours away to go to a party.....

Yeah, every drive is measured in time. It's an hour drive to Toronto, ninety minutes to Midland, three hours to North Bay

Close to bedtime in the EU and UK, no contributions?

Yes, but those times/distances are entirely different...90 minutes is 100 miles/170km. Koraks or cliveh, would you drive (bike or train) that far to a party?
I guess I meant that time is actually the more valuable part of travel, than absolute distance, but North Americans are more likely to go farther (and longer) than a lot of Europeans for casual travel.

 

[Dr. no]

I don't know why the whole world doesn't adopt the metric system.

Politics as well as practicality...
When it was introduced by French radical liberals (that's enough to keep it out of the USA!), France used several randomly defined systems within its own borders, so any centralized system would have been better enough. It's "rational derivation" is also entirely arbitrary (fraction of the circumference of the earth), though the decimal system is a good idea, but it would be nice if the base units were more intuitive (as in: inch ~ first thumb joint, foot (obvious), and cubit (the actual latin for elbow)/yard/fathom.

If you never have to convert between systems, any universal system is fine. Engineers typically used decimal inches before switching to metric, no big deal.
Also, thinking in different number bases improves mental flexibility.

 

[Ron789]

Without any scientific / statistical evidence, just observing this and other forums for many years....
European photographers use mostly 35mm and medium format, very few use 4x5", hardly any use larger then 4x5", while many American photographers are really fond of 8x10",
Hardly anyone in Europe applies pre-soak and/or HCA in the (B&W) developing process, many American photographers do,
Many American photographers seem to be more into technical perfection, while many European photographers seem to focus more on the content, message and emotions in their photo's.
As said, no statistical evidence and this may be way too much generalization, just my personal observation....

 

[cliveh]

Without any scientific / statistical evidence, just observing this and other forums for many years....
European photographers use mostly 35mm and medium format, very few use 4x5", hardly any use larger then 4x5", while many American photographers are really fond of 8x10",
Hardly anyone in Europe applies pre-soak and/or HCA in the (B&W) developing process, many American photographers do,
Many American photographers seem to be more into technical perfection, while many European photographers seem to focus more on the content, message and emotions in their photo's.
As said, no statistical evidence and this may be way too much generalization, just my personal observation....

I would tend to agree. Before I joined Photrio, I knew no one who made up developer with distilled water, or used nitrile gloves.

 

[Dr. no]

Many American photographers seem to be more into technical perfection, while many European photographers seem to focus more on the content, message and emotions in their photo's.

I think that's a better generalization (at least one I agree with)...
Though I can see that (again) for street v. landscape, city v. rural, etc.

 

[MattKing]

All of these generalizations are really about the people who one might find on forums, not photographers in general.
Relatively few new or young photographers are found on places like Photrio.
I stress the word "relatively". We have lots, but I think they aren't typical.

 

[abruzzi]

I don't know why the whole world doesn't adopt the metric system. It works in tens making computation so much easier. Or perhaps we should resort to rods, chains, pints, furlongs, and all those other daft measurements designed to confuse any child in education.

My property is officially measured in varas. Given my location, it is most likely the Texas vara:

Vara Definition for Land Surveyors - Learn CST

Vara Definition for Land Surveyors, courtesy of the NSPS "Definitions of Surveying and Associated Terms", used with permission. Part of LearnCST's exam text bundle.

learncst.com

 

[Chuck1]

Links and Chains are pretty standard

 

[Don_ih]

Talk to a high school student

I polled all my kids. The three older ones use imperial for personal measurements (height and weight) and metric for everything else (mostly distance and milk carton sizes). The youngest doesn't think about measurements - doesn't care.

 

[fstop]

I may be wrong, but from reading posts on this site over many years, I get the impression that photographers in the USA are far more dependent on gadgets and chemical additives than us folk in Europe. Would you agree?

Are you talking photography or other activites?

 

[fstop]

It's really a lot of work to put on a hazmat suit and gloves before passing through the Golden Arches. One of these days they're going to dig up a giant set of sandstone arches near the tombs in the Valley of the Kings of ancient Egypt, and finally learn the real secret why mummies didn't decay.

I've been to McDs 5 times in the last 30 years,2 times were to get orange juice.

 

[DREW WILEY]

What is the distance difference involved between a traipse, a saunter, and a mosey?

 

[Dr. no]

What is the distance difference involved between a traipse, a saunter, and a mosey?

Intent.

 

[mshchem]

I suspect that on FADU they all drink "warm beer" as well

pentaxuser

I've adopted "near beer" which is probably a greater crime than chilled