The camera gear thread

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by rllink

My son came home for Christmas a few years back and left with my old Nikon film camera and three lenses. That's fine, I hadn't used it all for years and was glad to get it out of the way. He seems to think it is some kind of long past throwback vintage thing and is having a good time with it.

Two years ago I watched as our art center dismantled their beautiful fully loaded dark room that had at least five enlargers and one large enlarger. Being a person that used to do it all with my own dark room years ago it really saddened me. I watched as people gave them old photo equipment that their parents used that were professional and hobby photographers. Only to have them throw it away. Allot of really awesome beautiful equipment that I used to pine for years ago.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

Two years ago I watched as our art center dismantled their beautiful fully loaded dark room that had at least five enlargers and one large enlarger. Being a person that used to do it all with my own dark room years ago it really saddened me. I watched as people gave them old photo equipment that their parents used that were professional and hobby photographers. Only to have them throw it away. Allot of really awesome beautiful equipment that I used to pine for years ago.

I spent many hours in a darkroom in the early 70s - both at school, and at home. My Dad and I set up the downstairs bathroom in our house for me - foam-edged panels to blackout the windows, folding shelves to fit over the toilet and the sink for the Durst enlarger and all the trays for developing, fixing and rinsing prints, and my Mum making room in the cupboards to store all the chemicals. Power ran through the wall from a neighbouring room - IIRC, electrical outlets in bathrooms were pretty much non-existent in English bathrooms back then.

I don't miss it in the slightest. I hated grappling with the darn tank to load the film in for developing. The chemicals stank. Tearing it down, and setting it up became a royal pain in the you-know-where.

I look back at some of the prints I still have from that era, and, frankly, they're not very good.

I couldn't face the step-up to colour processing, and pretty much gave up at that point.

Good luck to those who derive some pleasure from the process, and enjoy the nostalgia kick - just not for me any more. Digital gave my photography a new lease on life, and, now, something to focus on in retirement.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

A little off topic but does anyone know of a company that prints archivable black and white pictures?

I used to do so for a living up till the end of '12. From film only, though.

[Fogducker]

I've got some real "buggy whip" stuff! A circa 1956 Leica IIIg SM outfit, with a bunch of Leica lenses. I guess this is something like owning a D-28 "Bone" and not playing.

Fog

[LeDave]

I used to have a a7iii w/ 70-200 f4 G and a 28-70 kit lens but had to sell it a bit over a year ago due to financial difficulty. Now days I just use my crappy phone.

[CarolD]

Sony RX10 mIV. I’m into wildlife and birds, so the 600 zoom in a small package is pretty incredible.

[Birdbrain]

Originally Posted by dhodgeh

I'll be the oddball here....

Pentax K1-MkII, with a full complement of prime lenses covering 14mm - 500mm and everything in between.

I have not been shooting much lately, though we have week planned in the Smokies during October, hoping to catch to leaf color.

D

Pentax- The "Acoustic" digital camera. Pleasingly primitive. I love 'em! Lately it's a K-1 with the impeccable 31 Limited, and a K-3 with the splendid DA 50-135. These two unique lenses give the sharpest photos with the best colors of anything I've used. Plus a DA 300, a Sigma EX 12-24, and the DFA 28-105. And an FA 50 Macro. I swear I'm done buying lenses now!

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Birdbrain

Pentax- ..... These two unique lenses give the sharpest photos with the best colors of anything I've used.

When I had worked at Bel Air Camera & HiFI in the late '80s, one of our many pro clients was Panavision. They bought a whole slew of Pentax lenses from us.

[Daniel Grenier]

My 2 cents. I used to be heavily involved in film photography way back in the 70s to the late 90s. I had large format cameras from 8x10' to 7x17". Then, I got bored with it and sold everything to buy guitars (no regrets). Anyway, I recently have been using my wife's new iPhone 11 to take pictures and videos. That thing is crazy good and far better/sharper/cheaper/easier/fun than any camera I ever owned.

Me thinks Apple is missing out on a huge market by not offering some kind of dedicated camera (photo/video w/bluetooth and GPS kind of thing with hi-end lensing....).

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Daniel Grenier

My 2 cents. I used to be heavily involved in film photography way back in the 70s to the late 90s. I had large format cameras from 8x10' to 7x17". Then, I got bore with it and sold everything to buy guitars (no regrets). Anyway, I recently have been using my wife's new iPhone 11 to take pictures and videos. That thing is crazy good and far better/sharper/cheaper/easier/fun than any camera I ever owned.

Me thinks Apple is missing out on a huge market by not offering some kind of dedicated camera (photo/video w/bluetooth and GPS kind of thing with hi-end lensing....).

True on how good they've become and helped by the 3 lenses on back that also just improved with the 12 models.

The market for the high end stuff is really small compared to the phones where the phones are already accessories and parts of photo and video work flows. Where I work we have part-time photo and video staff member. It's interesting for me to know how much of our stuff is done on an iPhone with tripod and optional mic. Traditional camera gear is mostly for lighting, extremes or content that will also be printed.

I'm certain the new RAW format they announced along with video features will change how much an iPhone also becomes a professional imaging tool. I know it doesn't really compete with what some systems can do but that's not the same. Little of the marketing work the firm does is ever in print the way it once was.

I'm quite certain I'll order the 12 Max as soon as Verizon or my Apple Business account allow it. I like the aesthetics of the round edge phones but get the function of new design.

Imaging was my path or what became IT admin and as said, I worked with the beginnings of all this stuff. It's very entertaining when I realize my phone is a multi factor security device, enterprise network admin tool, and what used to be schlepping a lot of photo or video gear too.

The new phones don't seem very expensive when I recall we had to insure the first DSLR backs for $15,000 - $17,000 back to Kodak and look what Kodak is now.

[KevWind]

My equipment is modest and use specific.
Now days because it's alway in my pocket, 90 % of photos are my iPhone 10

I still have an early Cannon EOS Rebel XTi and a couple lenses .

And for underwater I have a now discontinued Olympus mirrorless E MP1 and matching waterproof case and some light racks , which takes decent photo's but is still relatively compact especially compared to if it were full size and it actually all fits in one Lowepro soft case that qualifies and fits for under the seat Airline carry on

Cam and case looks this

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by KevWind

My equipment is modest and use specific.
Now days because it's alway in my pocket, 90 % of photos are my iPhone 10

I still have an early Cannon EOS Rebel XTi and a couple lenses .

And for underwater I have a now discontinued Olympus mirrorless E MP1 and matching waterproof case and some light racks , which takes decent photo's but is still relatively compact especially compared to if it were full size and it actually all fits in one Lowepro soft case that qualifies and fits for under the seat Airline carry on

Cam and case looks this

I’d love to have an underwater setup for surfing photos, but haven’t been willing to shell out the dough.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by KevWind

My equipment is modest and use specific.
Now days because it's alway in my pocket, 90 % of photos are my iPhone 10

I still have an early Cannon EOS Rebel XTi and a couple lenses .

And for underwater I have a now discontinued Olympus mirrorless E MP1 and matching waterproof case and some light racks , which takes decent photo's but is still relatively compact especially compared to if it were full size and it actually all fits in one Lowepro soft case that qualifies and fits for under the seat Airline carry on

Cam and case looks this

I'm still bummed that we lost our Olympus camera we used for snorkeling and resort or nothing major dives. This is probably one of the last photos from that camera. Not the most spectacular photo but I remember the day for recognizing how strong and adventurous my kids became in the ocean and in general.

At this point I'd rent a specialty camera, and we use the newer generation GoPro under water.

[magirus]

Canon 5D original and Canon 1D MkIII, both bought used but mint condition with low actuations. Along with Canon lenses 17-40L, 24-105L, and 70-200 f2.8L IS/USM.

[RedJoker]

As a side tangent, I do a fair amount of computer vision and automation. I was talking to one of the new engineers about some software techniques that he was struggling with and I point out that what he really needed was a photographer. He needed someone that understood lenses, light sources, reflections, etc to give him a good base image. Then the software work is MUCH simpler.