My cameras
i have several film cameras. my first camera was my EOS Rebel. automatic and manual, i used it manually for all of my photography classes at UM. it wasn't the first camera my dad bought me. the original camera i got for xmas 1992 was an olympus all automatic camera with a built-in zoom lens. while i appreciated the complexity of this camera, it wasn't going to to do what i wanted it to do. i needed a SLR with a removable lens if i was going to be a worlds-famous photographer. this point-and-shoot crap wasn't going to cut it. so my dad and i went back to Wolf Camera and i talked him to buying me the Canon EOS Rebel.
it had a removable 35-80mm lens, which was, to me, the absolute bomb. it also had automatic load and rewinding system, which meant that i never had to manually advance my film. it also would roll all of the film OUT of the canister when you loaded it and wind it BACK in as you took pictures, meaning that any pics you had already taken wouldn't be lost if you accidentally opened up the back. it also would beep if you happened to be a complete idiot and not load the film correctly, which consisted of pulling the film out of the canister across the back of the camera and closing the back. then it would whir-whir-whir the film out and bam, you were ready to shoot.
the one thing i didn't like about my EOS was the automatic settings. they were painfully slow to adjust. and in low light, rarely found the object of your desire. whir-whir-beep, whir-whir-beep. the lens would unfurl out and back, never quite focusing on what you wanted to focus on. and usually, by that time (unless you were taking pics of scenery) the thing you wanted to take a pic of was long gone. so i used the manual setting almost all of the time.
i used this camera for my first photography class, photo II, color photo, photo III advanced projects. my parents bought me a tripod a few christmas' later and that really helped for the low-light situations. i also bought a 200mm zoom lens, which totally ruled (in bright light, anyway). but despite my ability to purchase all this stuff, i never quite got the types of pics that i wanted. sharp, all ranges of black and white, crisp, clean. turns out, to get those, you need to shoot on much larger film.
the next camera i purchased several years after my EOS. it was a twin-lens-reflex from russia, a Lubitel 166. i got it on ebay, but it got lost. about 5 months after i bought it, it showed up at work and i think i jumped out of my chair, i was so damn happy. i bought some film and took it for a test.
you only get about 12 images from 120 film, but that's OK, because after using that ridiculous view finder to focus, you're about blind after 10 images. my first few rolls turned out really well, then i started to get sloppy. out of focus, over exposed images drove me to put the 120 camera away and move into digital. sigh.
so, in 2004, i went digital. i bought my first Canon Elph with my last unemployment check before i went back to work. this camera was amazing... 3.4MP, small, quick, agile. yes, it was a point-and-shoot, but after i got this camera, it was a looooong time before i lugged my manual SLR around. to be honest, i can't tell you when the last time was that i used it. maybe when i took pictures of the olympic torch when it was running though chicago on January 4, 2002. (i dropped my camera at this event, actually, and broke the batter door off of it. d'oh.)
anyway, i bought another Elph when the first one took a digital sh*t. then i bought my digital EOS Rebel in may(?) 2008? i soon bought a zoom lens for it, which totally rocked. the difference between this EOS and my old EOS is the autofocus system. the one on my digital EOS is AWESOME. i hardly ever shoot without it. it's quick and accurate, even if it still doesn't like to focus in low-light.
but i feel like i kind of sold out. i love film, i love the darkroom, i said i would never go digital. but it's SO EASY. what would ansel adams say about the digital photography revolution and photoshop? is he spinning in his grave or is he wishing he were still alive to use his Zone System with a digital back on an 8 x 10 field camera?
it had a removable 35-80mm lens, which was, to me, the absolute bomb. it also had automatic load and rewinding system, which meant that i never had to manually advance my film. it also would roll all of the film OUT of the canister when you loaded it and wind it BACK in as you took pictures, meaning that any pics you had already taken wouldn't be lost if you accidentally opened up the back. it also would beep if you happened to be a complete idiot and not load the film correctly, which consisted of pulling the film out of the canister across the back of the camera and closing the back. then it would whir-whir-whir the film out and bam, you were ready to shoot.
the one thing i didn't like about my EOS was the automatic settings. they were painfully slow to adjust. and in low light, rarely found the object of your desire. whir-whir-beep, whir-whir-beep. the lens would unfurl out and back, never quite focusing on what you wanted to focus on. and usually, by that time (unless you were taking pics of scenery) the thing you wanted to take a pic of was long gone. so i used the manual setting almost all of the time.
i used this camera for my first photography class, photo II, color photo, photo III advanced projects. my parents bought me a tripod a few christmas' later and that really helped for the low-light situations. i also bought a 200mm zoom lens, which totally ruled (in bright light, anyway). but despite my ability to purchase all this stuff, i never quite got the types of pics that i wanted. sharp, all ranges of black and white, crisp, clean. turns out, to get those, you need to shoot on much larger film.
the next camera i purchased several years after my EOS. it was a twin-lens-reflex from russia, a Lubitel 166. i got it on ebay, but it got lost. about 5 months after i bought it, it showed up at work and i think i jumped out of my chair, i was so damn happy. i bought some film and took it for a test.
you only get about 12 images from 120 film, but that's OK, because after using that ridiculous view finder to focus, you're about blind after 10 images. my first few rolls turned out really well, then i started to get sloppy. out of focus, over exposed images drove me to put the 120 camera away and move into digital. sigh.
so, in 2004, i went digital. i bought my first Canon Elph with my last unemployment check before i went back to work. this camera was amazing... 3.4MP, small, quick, agile. yes, it was a point-and-shoot, but after i got this camera, it was a looooong time before i lugged my manual SLR around. to be honest, i can't tell you when the last time was that i used it. maybe when i took pictures of the olympic torch when it was running though chicago on January 4, 2002. (i dropped my camera at this event, actually, and broke the batter door off of it. d'oh.)
anyway, i bought another Elph when the first one took a digital sh*t. then i bought my digital EOS Rebel in may(?) 2008? i soon bought a zoom lens for it, which totally rocked. the difference between this EOS and my old EOS is the autofocus system. the one on my digital EOS is AWESOME. i hardly ever shoot without it. it's quick and accurate, even if it still doesn't like to focus in low-light.
but i feel like i kind of sold out. i love film, i love the darkroom, i said i would never go digital. but it's SO EASY. what would ansel adams say about the digital photography revolution and photoshop? is he spinning in his grave or is he wishing he were still alive to use his Zone System with a digital back on an 8 x 10 field camera?
posted by mikraas at 12:36 PM
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