To Buy or Leave Alone

ColColt said:

I'm hardly an amateur and not buying it for show and tell. I made a living with the Pentax 6x7 for some years but gave up doing weddings as it was just physically and mentally too demanding at 50+ years old at the time. Now, if a person has more money than he knows what to do with, like myself, another lens is no big thing. I don't need a professional commitment to buy something I think I'll use or even want. How many of us would have what we have if we looked at it from that perspective?

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Oh poor Princess!! I guarantee there are fellows around here that are pushing 80+ and photographing weddings, advertising and commercial work with just a day off each week. None of them are physically or mentally challenged by the work, but thrive on it. What is not unique is that they are supporting not only themselves, but their staff and suppliers/print production. That is what matters in active professional practice. We're all supporting not just ourselves with money, but suppliers down the line.

I think it's a rather bold statement to make in public when a person speaks of having more money than he knows what to do with it. How about giving some to charity as a feel-good fix? Or just buy a lens without questioning it? In the case of the 75AL, and brushing aside the bullshit about distortion, softness, aberrations and other floss, you are unlikely to be disappointed.

Poisson Du Jour said:

Oh poor Princess!! I guarantee there are fellows around here that are pushing 80+ and photographing weddings, advertising and commercial work with just a day off each week. None of them are physically or mentally challenged by the work, but thrive on it.

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Well, there might be folks out there shooting weddings and such at 80+, but I bet they aren't doing it with no 67 Pentax. I shot weddings for a very long time and never used my Pentax 6X7 for one wedding. I started with a Bronica S2A, then Koni-Omega, then Mamiya C220 and C330 and last, but not least a Hasselblad System. Oh, I even tried two Fuji rangefinders(one normal lens and one semi-wide) and people would be surprised at how well they did. If I were to shoot weddings now it would only be with "gulp" digital. I'm not saying the Pentax is bad and I truly love mine and the results it spits out, but it ain't no wedding camera. John W

I think it's a rather bold statement to make in public when a person speaks of having more money than he knows what to do with it.

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That was said with tongue in cheek-something you obviously overlooked. After two bypass operations I'll bet those 80+ gentlemen wouldn't be so anxious to bounce a round doing weddings either. But, that's neither here nor there.

It was not the easiest way to shoot a wedding-with a 6x7 but neither was carrying two large Pelican cases with extra bodies, several lens, extension cords, light stands, light modifiers and heavy 600 w/s lights but that's the way I shot weddings. I wanted to bring my studio to the church to give the bride/groom and their families the best lighting and quality for their wedding and at that, I succeeded. It would have been easier to just to mount a flash on top of a Pentax or Nikon camera and bang away but I doubt I would have accomplished little more than Uncle Fred would have done for them.

Keep in mind there were no or little at best, digital cameras back in the 90's. Medium format was the only way to go. It worked for countless photographers as Ed Pierce, Dennis Reggie and Monte Zucker and and it worked for me, but I would not want to do it again.

ColColt said:

I guess I should have tried to retrieve all those tens of thousands of bullets I sent down range to resell or use again since shooting was just a hobby with zero cash flow...good grief.

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Before I got into photography shooting was my hobby, that led to reloading, which in turn led to bullet casting, which in turn led to spending a helluva lot of money but having fun doing it. I've still got everything and I can go back to it at any time, but I've just kind of lost interest at least for the time being.

that's about where I stand. I started casting back in the mid 70's, got away form it all for some years in favor of photography and recently went back to it about a year ago. I had four moulds for the 45-70, two pots-one a Lyman and the other I used for dipping a ladle into(the Lee) to make 1:20 bullets. I got burned out having to drive so far to shoot and slowly as yourself, lost interest although I still have all the equipment and rifles and way too much powder and primers.

Kyle M. said:

Before I got into photography shooting was my hobby, that led to reloading, which in turn led to bullet casting, which in turn led to spending a helluva lot of money but having fun doing it. I've still got everything and I can go back to it at any time, but I've just kind of lost interest at least for the time being.

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Well that is shooting one way or another.

ColColt said:

that's about where I stand. I started casting back in the mid 70's, got away form it all for some years in favor of photography and recently went back to it about a year ago. I had four moulds for the 45-70, two pots-one a Lyman and the other I used for dipping a ladle into(the Lee) to make 1:20 bullets. I got burned out having to drive so far to shoot and slowly as yourself, lost interest although I still have all the equipment and rifles and way too much powder and primers.

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.38 spl was the only thing I ever casted for but I loaded for .38 super, .38 spl, .357 magnum, .40 S&W, .44 magnum, .45 acp, .45 colt, .30-30, .45-70, and .375 H&H at one time or another. I still haven't decided whether my favorite rifle was one of the four .45-70's I had, or the Ruger No. 1 in .375 H&H. I was a habitual gun trader and I've been hanging out in the local gun shop since I was 11. When I was 11 dad taught me to shoot with a $60 CVA muzzleloader from Bass Pro Shops and his No. 1 Mark 4 enfield, I started saving every penny I got and buying the cheapest junk I could find, and that just started a trading spiral. Of course dad had to fill out the 4473 forums for me until I turned 18, but now I'm only 25 and I'd have to look at my log book, but I've had somewhere between 100-125 guns. I've only had about 35 different cameras in the past two years though so I guess I'm not doing too bad. I've probably only got about 5lbs of powder and it's all bullseye, and I know I've got at least 5,000 small pistol primers, tons of brass, sets of dies, 3 presses, a bullet mold or two, a Lee pot, and who knows what else. Luckily I only have a 3 mile drive to the local conservation clubs range and theres hardly ever anyone there, but for some reason I still got burnt out on it. I took a break from photography last November and tried to get back into guns, but back in April I came back to photography. Maybe someday who knows.

375H&H...you're a glutton for punishment! I've cast for nearly everything from 38-.357 to 44 Mag and 45 ACP primarily. BPCR I cast for the 40-65, 38-55 and 45-70(and 45-90). I only have the Browning 1885 45-70 now, my only BPCR.

Photography was not my first love, shooting was but photography gave me longer lasting pleasure, a partial living and untold hours spent in the dark room. Like many here, my first dark room was the bathroom but I built a darkroom downstairs in what was once a bedroom, plumbed it, built the sink inside the room as I knew I'd never get it in there if I built it elsewhere but-we're getting way off topic.

ColColt said:

375H&H...you're a glutton for punishment! I've cast for nearly everything from 38-.357 to 44 Mag and 45 ACP primarily. BPCR I cast for the 40-65, 38-55 and 45-70(and 45-90). I only have the Browning 1885 45-70 now, my only BPCR.

Photography was not my first love, shooting was but photography gave me longer lasting pleasure, a partial living and untold hours spent in the dark room. Like many here, my first dark room was the bathroom but I built a darkroom downstairs in what was once a bedroom, plumbed it, built the sink inside the room as I knew I'd never get it in there if I built it elsewhere but-we're getting way off topic.

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I do feel that photography has got me out into the world more and allowed me to meet a lot of fun and interesting people that I would not have otherwise met. Of course photography is also how I met "the one who got away" and I really don't wanna think about that right now if you know what I mean.

I have many memories of "the one that got away" sadly. Photography has always brought out something in me that nothing else has. I've enjoyed it immensely in all it's aspects, including the dark room. I wish some of my favorite films and paper were still around like Agfapan 400 and Oriental Seagull FB paper...beautiful tonal range and blacks that are incomparable. I ought to break out my Besler 23CII again.

I second the 23C notion. Printing is much more involved than shooting. Some people make a career out of it. Some shooters hire them. I do both. Shoot & print. What a rush I got from printing my first 16x20!