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Danfogel
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Several years ago, I was shooting a mix of film with an OM-1 I bought new in 1979 while in high school. I had always had an unscratched Leica itch. I sold the DSLR on both the theory that when I came back to digital it would be cheaper and better (I was mostly right) and your theory that you are really just renting equipment. I bought an M4-P and found it wasn't to my liking, but the M2 I replaced it with was and still is and is my main camera. I filled my freezer with film as silver prices rose and have enough film to last my lifetime (bearded and in my 50s, so there's that). I scan my negatives and couldn't be happier with the results. Long live Leica M film cameras.
...And the Other Kind of RF
I've been beavering away revising my book The Empirical Photographer to eventually send as a thank-you gift to my Patreon supporters, and I've gotten a little carried away with adding new articles and revising and re-editing old ones. (I keep trying to stop—"just one more and that's it!"—but it'...
I always appreciate the books to which you draw our attention. I am fortunate to live in suburban Chicago and, through the miracle of inter-library loan, have been able to get my hands on some out of print gems that I might never have otherwise seen. One of the member libraries has "Crosstown" in its collection along with other Helen Levitt books and I just reserved a few. I sometimes find myself buying books after first seeing them this way and, again, am glad you are pointing us in the direction of such great works.
A Perfect Photobook
For a long time I was in the habit of looking through a photobook every evening, so my book collection is alive to me—I know it intimately. I noticed the other day that Amazon is listing a few "new old" copies of one of my favorites, Helen Levitt's Crosstown. Just a great book in every way. It...
I think the camera manufacturers do themselves a disservice when they name a camera "Mark II" because it loudly repudiates the Mark I version of the camera. By the same token, you'd be hard pressed to convince anyone of the sanity of incrementally upgrading any of these cameras from model to model. I want to try micro 4/3 and grabbed a refurb'd E-PM2 from Olympus and have been happily using it with the Olympus 17mm f1.8. I want newer features, but I am pretty happy with my super control panel and touch screen focus which works for most shots. I think it is too easy to get caught up in upgraded features sets when most cameras are good enough. Save the money for new glass. Mike, I think you wrote an article once about never getting rid of lenses.
Hottest Camera Deal in the Solar System Today
from Stephen Gillette: "Come to think about it, nobody has ever heeded my advice on which camera or lens they should get either! So of course I have more advice.... "Considering bang-for-buck, the hottest deal in the solar system as of today is to be found at B&H. (I do not work for them, nor...
I don't think the comments do much to change your original point. I primarily shoot film and until a couple years ago, mostly shot an Olympus OM-1. I bought a Leica M4-P and wanted to love it, but found that the multiple sets of framelines in the viewfinder were a bit much. I sold that and picked up the dream camera (my dream), a Leica M2 and I really do love it. I was told early on to embrace the fact that you aren't quite framing what will be on the film when you develop it. I have come to see that as a check mark in the plus column. I do wish there weren't so many people adapting Leica lenses to digital cameras - the prices might fall a bit.
The Secret About Rangefinder Cameras
First, two asides: I mentioned Billy Joel in the "Leicabashing" post, and I just wanted to recommend a great read, Nick Paumgarten's New Yorker profile of Billy, "Thirty-Three-Hit Wonder." Read it from whatever persective you choose—as a Joel fan, as a Joel hater, as someone who's interested in ...
Another vote for black. I bought my first black OM-1n in 1979 (I say first, because I just picked up another one a couple weeks ago) because my father suggested that the extra $40 (a lot of money for HS student in 1979) was worth it because it looked "smarter" (his word) and more professional. Over the years it has taken on a nice patina with the brassing those old black cameras get. Guessing the OM-D won't brass, but that's ok.
Why I'm Buying an OM-D
A number of people have asked me why I'm planning to buy the Olympus E-M5, which is just beginning to enter the sales pipeline. Of course, it really doesn't matter what I buy; I'm not a guru, and I don't work as a photographer (here's what kind of photographer I am: I'm a writer). And, anyway, y...
I just tore open the box of my recently overhauled Olympus OM-1n that I bought new in 1979 and have shot more or less continuously since then. I had the battery changed to something current and legal. I love that match needle meter. Still shooting an OM-2n, Trip 35 and some others. Starting to think I need a TLR in my life, thank you Vivian.
A Few Followups...
Once removed: A few days ago, just for a smile, I posted a link to a picture Pete Tsai took of his girlfriend through Vivian Maier's camera at the Chicago Cultural Center exhibition. First of all, it turns out there's a whole sub-sub-genre of such pictures, called "TTV," or through-the-viewfinde...
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Jan 15, 2011
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