Oh dear, oh dear.......

[half diminished]

Having sold all my Olympus OM gear a few years ago including a mint Chrome OM2n & OM2 Spot Program, near mint OM3 and boxed as new black OM4ti............

Well I really missed them all. Mrs hd's gonna kill me! I promise not to replace all the lenses I sold though


Here are the new babies............

OM 1

OM 2n

You see, the OM1 was the first really good camera I ever used - we used the chrome models but I always wanted a black one.

I had a Zenit E 'at home' and we used the OM1 at art college. So I had to buy it and well we always wanted the new OM2 but college didn't have any so I had to get that as well didn't I. My previous one was chrome but again I wanted a black one.

OM4ti's are now way too expensive in mint condition - I should never have sold mine as I don't believe it had ever been used at all.

The OM3 was the best though but again they are very expensive now and I can only dream of owning an OM3ti! I did get offered a brand new one for $1200 via a forum 4 years ago but someone else saw the post before I did and bought it! They were selling at £1200 in the UK. I was not happy and I doubt I'll ever be that close again.

 

[jonf]

Worse than me....

Bleedin' hell Ian, you're worse than I am! (Just got a new compact Panasonix Lumix to go with my other Lumix. Which goes with my Canon compact, and the Kodak one 'to take on the beach'. They keep their cousins the pair of Canon FtB SLRs company. Who in turn look after their cousins the Mamiya twin lens reflexes. All three of them.)

And I sold a load on eBay a couple of years ago. What did I do with the proceeds of sale? You've guessed it, I bought yet another...........sax!

 

[half diminished]

Bleedin' hell Ian, you're worse than I am! (Just got a new compact Panasonix Lumix to go with my other Lumix. Which goes with my Canon compact, and the Kodak one 'to take on the beach'. They keep their cousins the pair of Canon FtB SLRs company. Who in turn look after their cousins the Mamiya twin lens reflexes. All three of them.)

Yeh, in the past I've also had:

• Leica M6
• Nikon F2A
• Nikon F3
• Mamiya 645 Pro TL
• Bronica ETRS

All mint and with 'extras'

... and of course as 'users' a Canon EOS 3 and EOS1V HS, and then with the switch to digital Olympus E1 and finally the Nikon D2x.

Its all gone now bar the D2x and the new OM kit - am mostly to finance the D2x purchase and my first saxes.

Magpie..... moi!

And I sold a load on eBay a couple of years ago. What did I do with the proceeds of sale? You've guessed it, I bought yet another...........sax!

Likewise!

 

[kevgermany]

Am still using 2 Bronica S2s, a Bronica Model C, 2 Canon FTbns, as well as a Nikon D70. An EOS300 sits unused since the D70 arrived. My Minox 35 still comes out occasionally. Don't think I'll ever sell the Canons or the Bronica's, but the D70 and the EOS300 that I never use have no soul and I could easily sell them.

Good luck with Mrs hd.... )) Could be a tricky one. Best get it over and done with, then hang in for a few bargain lenses...

 

[thehunt]

Oh well! Makes a change from saxes.
I still do my own B&W printing, mainly Lith work. Smelly old darkroom. Check out Tim Rudmanns website for lith work.
Use 6x7 Mamiya 7
6x4.5 Bronica Etrsi
Voigtlander rangefinder. Great camera.
Canon 50E
For my holiday snaps a Panasonic lumix and Canon whatever. ( not that interested in digital ) Trying to fit this all in with sax playing is a nightmare. Phil

 

[half diminished]

Am still using 2 Bronica S2s, a Bronica Model C, 2 Canon FTbns, as well as a Nikon D70. An EOS300 sits unused since the D70 arrived. My Minox 35 still comes out occasionally. Don't think I'll ever sell the Canons or the Bronica's, but the D70 and the EOS300 that I never use have no soul and I could easily sell them.

You're right, some cameras just have soul and some don't. Of all the cameras I have ever owned I have real soft spots for the Leica M6, Olympus OM3 and the OM1 and the Zenit E that started it all off for me in 1975. Ironically in today's automation age - all fully manual cameras.

The best camera I have ever owned is my current Nikon D2x though I have no attachment to it - I'd sell it tomorrow for a D3. In fact on reflection, the digital cameras and the more 'plasticy' ones at that seem to be the ones without soul.

Of the digital cameras I have owned (Olympus E1, Panasonic Lumix LC1, Canon G9 and the D2x) - only the E1 evokes any feeling. And the quality of that Zuiko glass was amazing. Problem was though with a poor AF system and only 5mps resolution it had to go.

I still lust after two cameras that I may never own - Nikon F6, probably the best film camera ever made (still way too expensive to buy) and the Leica M8 - biggest problem here is the cost of Leica glass and its the main reason I sold my M6.

My favorite film was Agfa Scala - fantastic B&W - here's one I made earlier

Good luck with Mrs hd.... )) Could be a tricky one. Best get it over and done with, then hang in for a few bargain lenses...

Currently earning brownie points.............

 

[thehunt]

HD my first camera was an Olympus OM10 with the little adapter on the side to set the speed. Zuiko lenses are great.
Reason i got the Voigtlander was because thay are half the price of a Leica have super super sharp lenses and you can use Leica lenses on them, also very quiet shutter. Solid metal camera, feels just right. I agree there is too much automation, people just don't look anymore, and rely too heavily on their on-board gadgets to get the result they want. Will no doubt upset all those Diggie fans out there!

 

[kevgermany]

If you scan the photo forums, you'll see huge numbers of posts from people who started with auto everything and can't get their brains around the basics - the sort of stuff we couldn't ignore if we wanted a shot - even if it was only match needle metering to set exposure...

Now's the time to buy a good manual SLR, a few good lenses - and start shooting.

Lovely shot above, never did much mono work, was mostly colour slides. Some of my stuff here www.betterphoto.com/?kev Hope no-one minds the link.

It's a sad fact that as we automate we throw skills away that used to be seen as essential, but aren't required most of the time. Then when we need them we're in trouble.

But you can't argue with the speed and convenience of digital. Trouble is it's so .... soul-less.

Good luck with the brownie points...

 

[thehunt]

Nice Bike shots Kev, most of my work is B&W done traditionally but when Lith printing you get colour shifts depending on which paper you use, some of the papers still have cadmium in them, so i call it the colourful world of black and white. Also down to the toning methods used, selenium, gold, sepia etc. Have a prb downloading some piccies to show you. Anyway back to saxes. Rgds Phil

 

[half diminished]

Kev

Some nice shots there. I guess there are some parallels in the sax world what with the modern saxes being largely 'in tune' and much easier to play, better ergonomics etc. More chance of us amateurs getting a better sound.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against digital photography - in fact I think it is brilliant and has opened up photography to all. Even my daughter has taken some nice shots (at 10 years of age - she is 15 now).

I was going to turn pro 2/3 years ago but Mrs hd got cold feet and with the pressures on pros what with the less than discerning public and the competition from £400 dslr toting amateur 'wedding 'togs', I didn't do it.

I got fed up with hearing "oh my fiance has a friend who has a dslr and he's only going to charge £500" etc. I know so called 'wedding photographers' who shoot up to 2000 images at wedding in the 'hope' of getting some good shots. Me, I'm in the 'less is more' fraternity.

Here's a candid from a golden wedding anniversary dinner I shot - cute little chap ain't he.

 

[old git]

Why do you wimps use such small gear?
My favourite was the 5" x 4" MPP Micropress with twelve double dark slides, a Langham Flash, five light photoflood, 6 mm x 9 mm rollfilm back, polaroid back and a tripod you could balance Nelson's column on. All owned by the late, lamented Decca Radar who also gave me a 14" x 11" process camera to mess around with.
Now which of you lucky lads and lasses would like to give me a 10" x 8" Sinar with digital and Polaroid backs.

 

[kevgermany]

The polaroid backs won't help, the film's been out of production for a couple of years...

I guess you used to run around trafalgar square with that kit doing pigeon control

 

[kevgermany]

Phil, if you send me a link, I'd love to look.

HD great shot, she's cute! And I hear you on the weddings. Was on the receiving end of that in 1982 - an amateur, tuning pro with a Hassy and an OM1..... The Hassy shots were seriously underexposed, the Oly ones - nothing. He claimed there was no emulsion on the film, but I knew, and he knew, that he'd not put the film in the camera properly, so it didn't wind on... I suppose these days they'll blame it on a faulty memory card.

Scares the living daylights out of me. But I'm thinking of doing some part time portrait work.

 

[Smiffy]

Like the hunt

First SLR I had was a OM 10 with the adapter and Zuiko lens, a great camera

Now I have a Nikon D40x and that is great, in fact I have had more requests for my photos from my daughters wedding than the pro who had a 300

I have also been asked to do a wedding in July

 

[half diminished]

Phil, if you send me a link, I'd love to look.

HD great shot, she's cute! And I hear you on the weddings. Was on the receiving end of that in 1982 - an amateur, tuning pro with a Hassy and an OM1..... The Hassy shots were seriously underexposed, the Oly ones - nothing. He claimed there was no emulsion on the film, but I knew, and he knew, that he'd not put the film in the camera properly, so it didn't wind on... I suppose these days they'll blame it on a faulty memory card.

Scares the living daylights out of me. But I'm thinking of doing some part time portrait work.

She is a he! yeh I know the hair an all.....

Great kit don't mean a thing if you aint got that swing....

As with most things - the more I practice the luckier I get and that's the only way with weddings - know your gear; hope for the best, plan for the worst

No need to be scared, just start of people who won't mind if you screw up - so that's friends and relations. Don't charge other than for materials but get them to agree to you using the images and join a club if you can.

Best job in the work for me so maybe in a year or two I'll make the move.

Might be building an extension and if we do I'm gonna get a studio out of it

Like the hunt


I have also been asked to do a wedding in July

Let me know if you need some advice.

 

[Taz]

I guess you used to run around trafalgar square with that kit doing pigeon control

I don't think it was the square at Trafalgar that OG was running around, more like the Victory!))

 

[old git]

Was a Reprographic Technician with Decca and Plessey in the sixties and early seventies, Victory was a bit too late for me.

 

[Pee Dee]

Interesting talk on this thread, such a nice change from boring old saxophones. Now its boring old cameras. My first slr was a Zenit. All manual, no built in lightmeter, got quite at guessing the exposure.
Couldn't use the flash, as it was out of sync with the shutter, always showed half the shot covered by the shutter half way across, so was forced to use natural light only. Great pics, never liked flash anyway, can't beat natural light. Black and white only by the way. Before that I had a Kodak bellows camera, also took great pictures, good for portraits, can't get the film now, size 127 if I remember right, postcard size. Or was that the Brownie?
With digital, everything getting clinical now, as was said earlier- 'no soul'.
Oh well, happy days

 

[Chris Jones]

I still Use the OM10. Unfortunately I often have problems with the Shutter sticking on occasions. The Jewel in the crown is a Tamron 28-70mm Lens.

 

[half diminished]

My first slr was a Zenit. All manual, no built in lightmeter, got quite at guessing the exposure.

My Zenit had a rudimentary light meter - see the large area below the pentaprism