It's been a few years, and I have a new identity (the old one was the simple "AndyH").
Life took me away from photography for a few years, including both happy and tragic events, but I returned, using digital gear, a couple of years ago, and my darkroom and much of my film gear were long ago packed away.
Then a strange thing happened - I was surfing eBay for a particular Nikon DX lens, and noticed the prices of vintage film gear and lenses had dropped like a rock. I could now afford gear I couldn't have dreamed of thirty or forty years ago, and I was further surprised to find that my local shop still developed and scanned, for a relatively affordable price.
I rebuilt my Rollei SL35 and Pentax Spotmatic outfits for pennies on the dollar. Then I supplemented the Rolleiflex TLR I had never completely stopped using, with a Zeiss Ikonta 6x6 and a Super Ikonta 6x9. But film shooting was still an occasional indulgence, rather than a habit.
Almost a year ago, a friend from another forum very generously gifted me a Hasselblad 500C, and the race was on. I filled out the Hassy outfit so that I now have a 50mm Distagon, 80mm Planar, and 250mm Sonnar, as well as a metered prism finder and a few other bits and bobs. It is now my most frequently used outfit for artistic endeavors.
Rangefinders soon followed - realizing that Leica L39 models were going for little more than digital point and shoots. Two bodies, Russian 28 and 35mm lenses, a Summicron, and 85 and 135 Elmars soon appeared in my mailbox. A Retina IIIc at a yard sale rekindled my fondness for that line, and with help from Chris Sherlock I restored the slow shutter speeds and cleaned the lens. The 35mm and 85mm lenses were cheap on eBay, and a dual frame optical finder even cheaper.
I recently discovered that APUG had become Photrio, and joined last week. It's even better than it used to be in that guise, and is full of young and enthusiastic film shooters. I noticed that the attendees at the PHSNE show last year had taken a distinctive downward turn in age, and searching YouTube yielded similar results.
I'm thrilled to really learn that "Film is Not Dead!" I'm trying not to get too much into GAS, but I now have several full outfits centered on the Super Ikonta, Hassy, Rollei, Leica, Graphic, and Retina models I own, all separately stowed in appropriately vintage bags, with appropriate filters and meters. I don't HAVE to shoot film, so I don't have to force square film pegs into round digital holes, so I use each outfit for its intended purpose. When I'm shooting family snaps, work documentation photos, or my grandsons' baseball and football games, I'm all about the digital, but when I want to take a road trip and make some interesting and pleasing (at least to me) images, I'll grab one of the film outfits and wash all my cares and worries away behind the lens.
I just wanted to share this story in hopes that some others might be making, or thinking of making a similar journey. Photography has gone from a chore to a purely enjoyable and absorbing activity, and I hope others are making a similar journey.
Now where did I pack away my darkroom stuff????
Andy
Life took me away from photography for a few years, including both happy and tragic events, but I returned, using digital gear, a couple of years ago, and my darkroom and much of my film gear were long ago packed away.
Then a strange thing happened - I was surfing eBay for a particular Nikon DX lens, and noticed the prices of vintage film gear and lenses had dropped like a rock. I could now afford gear I couldn't have dreamed of thirty or forty years ago, and I was further surprised to find that my local shop still developed and scanned, for a relatively affordable price.
I rebuilt my Rollei SL35 and Pentax Spotmatic outfits for pennies on the dollar. Then I supplemented the Rolleiflex TLR I had never completely stopped using, with a Zeiss Ikonta 6x6 and a Super Ikonta 6x9. But film shooting was still an occasional indulgence, rather than a habit.
Almost a year ago, a friend from another forum very generously gifted me a Hasselblad 500C, and the race was on. I filled out the Hassy outfit so that I now have a 50mm Distagon, 80mm Planar, and 250mm Sonnar, as well as a metered prism finder and a few other bits and bobs. It is now my most frequently used outfit for artistic endeavors.
Rangefinders soon followed - realizing that Leica L39 models were going for little more than digital point and shoots. Two bodies, Russian 28 and 35mm lenses, a Summicron, and 85 and 135 Elmars soon appeared in my mailbox. A Retina IIIc at a yard sale rekindled my fondness for that line, and with help from Chris Sherlock I restored the slow shutter speeds and cleaned the lens. The 35mm and 85mm lenses were cheap on eBay, and a dual frame optical finder even cheaper.
I recently discovered that APUG had become Photrio, and joined last week. It's even better than it used to be in that guise, and is full of young and enthusiastic film shooters. I noticed that the attendees at the PHSNE show last year had taken a distinctive downward turn in age, and searching YouTube yielded similar results.
I'm thrilled to really learn that "Film is Not Dead!" I'm trying not to get too much into GAS, but I now have several full outfits centered on the Super Ikonta, Hassy, Rollei, Leica, Graphic, and Retina models I own, all separately stowed in appropriately vintage bags, with appropriate filters and meters. I don't HAVE to shoot film, so I don't have to force square film pegs into round digital holes, so I use each outfit for its intended purpose. When I'm shooting family snaps, work documentation photos, or my grandsons' baseball and football games, I'm all about the digital, but when I want to take a road trip and make some interesting and pleasing (at least to me) images, I'll grab one of the film outfits and wash all my cares and worries away behind the lens.
I just wanted to share this story in hopes that some others might be making, or thinking of making a similar journey. Photography has gone from a chore to a purely enjoyable and absorbing activity, and I hope others are making a similar journey.
Now where did I pack away my darkroom stuff????
Andy
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Not that is a BAD thing...
