Willy Ronis on motor drives

Alan W · Nov 9, 2012

I read a copy of camera and darkroom magazine today-it was from August 1994.In an interview with Willy Ronis he gave his opinion of motor drives as follows"If you click ten times to take a picture,it is very bad;you have no right to be the author of it.It's just shots.You have to merit a picture.You have to have the right.I never was a machine gunner-bupbupbupbup-a photometruier.It's a question of honor!It's a question of morality!You are the author of your picture.It is your responsibility to capture the real moment,not before or after".
Something to ponder!

Worker 11811 · Nov 9, 2012

I'm on the fence. I hate "machine gunners," be they digital or not but I also like the idea of being able to concentrate on making the picture and not whether I advanced the film and cocked the shutter.

Motor drives can be valuable tools to capture fast action, the finish of a horse race, for instance. However, even in that circumstance a three-shot burst is usually all that is called for. One problem is that, even with a motor drive, you often miss the moment you were shooting for. You'll get the split-second before the horse crosses the finish line and the split second after the horse crosses the finish line but not that "golden" moment. You might just be better off shooting one frame and trying to time the shot for the right moment.

Much as I like my motor drive, I still call it "The Electric Film Burner."

pentaxuser · Nov 9, 2012

My initial reaction was to say that Mr Ronis has never attempted a shot of an Isle of Man TT motorcycle rider at say 120mph without a motor drive but then I thought about it and there have been some n magnificent shots without AF or motor drive as per the comment by Worker 11811.

pentaxuser

cjbecker · Nov 9, 2012

I enjoy advancing film. Makes me take my time and think.

hoffy · Nov 9, 2012

Yadayadayada - its another tool. When used in the right environment and situation, it helps to make the job easier. What's he problem with that?

blansky · Nov 9, 2012

Horses for courses...

removed-user-1 · Nov 9, 2012

I have an MD-4 motor on my Nikon F3. It's my only motorized camera and it's usually set on 'S' instead of 'C' unless I think I'll need to take a quick sequence. At roughly five frames per second, 'C' is indeed a film burner! But I like using the drive, because I can keep the camera at eye-level while winding and I find the shutter release slightly more responsive. Also, the F3 handles nicely with the drive attached, especially with a moderately large lens.

As noted above, it's a tool.

Chan Tran · Nov 9, 2012

I like motor drive. I want my motor drive to be capable of 5fps or faster. I never use it in continuous mode only on single. I want to be ready for the next shot.

mopar_guy · Nov 9, 2012

Modern cameras have a lot of automated features. Automatic mirror return. Automatic aperture stop down. Cocking the shutter at the same time as the film being advanced. Automatic focusing. Built-in metering.

If you want to be a purist, then get rid of all of that stuff.

Worker 11811 · Nov 9, 2012

rthomas said:
Also, the F3 handles nicely with the drive attached, especially with a moderately large lens.

I like using the vertical grip when my drive is attached. Probably one of the main reasons I like using it beside the drive function, itself.

David A. Goldfarb · Nov 9, 2012

I agree with Chan Tran. The camera reacts faster with a high speed motor drive in single-shot mode. For a while I tried a slower auto winder instead of the 5-fps motor drive on my New F-1 figuring that I rarely set it to 5 fps, and the winder is lighter and more compact, but the lag time of the winder drove me crazy, so I went back to the motor drive and its 12 batteries.

Jeff Kubach · Nov 12, 2012

The only reason I use a motor drive/power winder is so not take my eye off the viewfinder.

Jeff

ath · Nov 12, 2012

Worker 11811 said:
I hate "machine gunners," be they digital or not but I also like the idea of being able to concentrate on making the picture and not whether I advanced the film and cocked the shutter.

Exactly.

Willy Ronis on motor drives

removed-user-1

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency