That's where the 'astute' part comes in.
That's where the 'astute' part comes in.How could an instructor (or anyone) tell between using an automatic mode and being good at measuring and judging exposure?
How could an instructor (or anyone) tell between using an automatic mode and being good at measuring and judging exposure?
Well, what do you suggest?
But that's how supply and demand works. As long as there's sufficient supply, those things you mention will continue. Once the supply shrinks, which it will at some point, then the market will get the signal:- repairman will start offering their services at competitive prices, and manufacturers will start making new cameras at costs that can compete with higher prices on old cameras.
An "eat what you kill" market solution for problems like this means that a whole bunch of perfectly usable cameras will become impractical before they need to be and a whole bunch of experience based resources like repair people will die off, because all that approach supports is a result that ensures quick profits - usually accompanied by long term, unrepairable harm.
A better approach would be to improve the efficiency and efficacy of the market, by taking steps to increase knowledge about and usability of the cameras that are priced too cheap. Help make them more desirable, and encourage their pricing to come to a more reasonable level. That make take some interesting efforts, like improving access to instruction manuals, compatible accessories and appropriate batteries, and repair availability. All of those things are unlikely in a market based economy which rarely looks past the next fiscal quarter.
How could an instructor (or anyone) tell between using an automatic mode and being good at measuring and judging exposure?
So rather than market-based supply and demand, you want the taxpayers who own digital cameras to subsidize film shooters so they have access to old cameras, repairmen, and manuals at lower prices. I don't think that's something you'd want to run on. "Tax rebates on film cameras."
Who said anything about the government?
You need people like dedicated users interested in more things than just a quick buck. Plus educators, long term investors, motivated industry participants - like film manufacturers - and maybe a little bit of government support, for things like training programs for repairers.
Photographic websites are useful participants.
Supply and demand has already nearly destroyed film and film cameras. If you rely on it alone, it will complete the job.
You have to have some faith in markets.
I think the biggest problem is the dearth of qualified technicians (and available parts) and there doesn't seem to be a lot of people being trained to replace them. So these cheap cameras may be on the verge of breaking down and become disposable--as is most of what is made today. Have you ever tried getting an inkjet
Which reminds me. When was the last time someone repaired a toaster?
I try to buy well-made products that are built to last rather than cheap, disposable ones. And I go the repair rather than replace route whenever possible.Which reminds me. When was the last time someone repaired a toaster?
Which reminds me. When was the last time someone repaired a toaster?
I took mine apart for a good "CLA" the other year, and why not? A new Dualit 2-slot toaster sells for about $300, yet toaster technology hasn't really changed much.Which reminds me. When was the last time someone repaired a toaster?
Cheap is a relative term. I still think film camera prices are relatively cheap, even with the additional interest and rising prices.
(old man ramble)
As a young man, I worked the entire Summer of 1976 pouring concrete to purchase my dead-basic Minolta SRT-MC II setup. That $400 purchase comes out to roughly $2,088 USD in today's currency.
Had an amusing conversation with another photographer I ran into a few weeks ago. He was sporting a Fuji GFX 100S medium format digital camera and I had an old Nikon F2 hanging around my neck. He expressed interest in shooting film but thought it too expensive, although that camera body hanging around his neck cost about $5K USD at the moment.
I could buy several cameras and almost a lifetime supply of film for the cost of that body alone.
Oh well. To each their own...
As a young man, I worked the entire Summer of 1976 pouring concrete to purchase my dead-basic Minolta SRT-MC II setup.
As far as teaching, there are no cameras that can be bought new so every kid has the same camera. So the instructor has to put up with everyone having a different camera. Just tell the students to switch to Manual mode.
Not a toaster, I repaired a drip coffee maker a few days ago. It stopped working because the thermal fuses blew (Thermal fuses are essentially a piece of solder-like alloy that melts if it overheats, for fire protection). I could buy another electric coffee maker for less than the nominal cost of my time, but: I like keeping stuff out of the garbage, this one made good coffee, and if I get a new one it will likely have programmable features that I don't really need but make it un-repairable if the mainboard fails.
Anyway, there are few going businesses that repair small appliances, but perhaps more DIYers than one might expect.
I think the decay of knowledge in terms of repair techs, plus the potential lack of specialized tools, supply of weak-link parts, or service manuals, is a bigger issue than the oversupply of film cameras. An oversupply means that there are plenty of donors to use for parts, unless a specialized part is the one that always breaks. But if there is no one with the expertise to do repairs then it's a problem. In the past, I think many repair techs got training either through apprenticeship or the military. I think that anyone who can repair digital cameras or movie cameras could also learn to repair older film cameras, but the question is, in a society where new manufactured stuff is cheap and old stuff is seen as outmoded, how many things (including digital cameras) are people going to continue repairing at all?
Did you just replace the fuse, or also fix the issue that caused the fuse to blow?
Which reminds me. When was the last time someone repaired a toaster?
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