At 05:37 5/15/01, Marcus wrote:
Hello Zuikies. I was paging through "The History of Photography" and then
later, "The Keepers of Light". Both books have photographs made with
lenses and equipment that were "technically" deplorable by the standards
in place even before our venerable OM series was introduced. Uncoated,
simple slow lenses, snail's pace film emulsions, and extremely cumbersome
equipment did not deter these photographers from creating some of the most
beautiful work that still holds up today. We get so caught up in lens
quality and acquisition that it gets easy to forget that one lens, a 36
exposure roll of film, and a lot of care is all we really need. I've been
trying to figure out how I could afford another peice of equipment, and
these books kind of floored me with my expensive folly. Very humbling,
indeed. Of course now I think about getting some ancient lenses to get
some of that soft flarey old-timey "look"... oh well, must procure , must
procure... -Marcus
Yes, an old posting, but just read it.
I took a photography class a while back using nothing but a 45 year old
Contax IIIa RF with a 50/1.5 Sonnar (cannot afford the other focal length
lenses for it). Completely manual including a knob winder (no lever;
requires two twists of the wrist to wind it). Did it on a dare from a
friend who asked how much hardware the class would be used to justify
buying (a marvelous thought). The banter escalated to my claim it could be
done with only the old RF. It can be done. Sometimes it isn't easy, and
sometimes it requires much thought to work within the constraints of a
single standard focal length that focuses no closer than 3 feet. It takes
you very quickly to _thinking_ about what you're doing at every step and
taking more care with every shot.
The downside of being able to shoot frames very quickly is just that. It
becomes too easy to use a "shotgun" approach hoping one of the eight is a
good one. I benefitted greatly from the experience; it spilled back into
all my photography. It also left me with a great appreciation for what the
photographers of the 1930's through the 1950's had to do to make their
photographs. Every now and then I find myself slipping back into old (and
bad) habits. When that happens I pull out the Bondage and Discipline RF
and run a roll of film through it.
-- John
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