I'm Curious Who started out with Film SLR's?

[Bill Borne]

In addition to Peter's ashes going in the cemetery here, I have several film canisters, (without any logo), small amounts of ashes to scatter, they will go in various places:

1. Off his boat in Florida. Going down this coming Monday.

2. Out of a balloon ride this July. He always wanted to give donna and I a balloon ride for our anniversary, he got us tickets last year, it got rained out. Hopefully this year will work.

3. Cannister in with his beloved beagle/child India, buried in the back yard

4. Cannister in St. Augistine cemetery, a quickie superstitious insertion with garden spade.

5. Ocean in Jacksonville beach, a small ceremony with all his florida friends.

They are aluminum, so people with metal detectors will not dig them up.

 

[Evenstar606]

and who has only shot digital?

I was shooting film in 1967

And so was I.

I'd guess that anyone over 40 started shooting with film cameras, but only the wealthiest ones had SLRs. Even back in 1967 a film SLR was pretty expensive. At least for a young person. And remember, only very young people from 1967 would still be alive today! All of the "over 40 year olds" back then are over 90 or gone today.

I think most of us started shooting with P&S film cameras, then some of us moved up to film SLRs, and then those of us who were still are into photography by 2000 or so got digital cameras.

Anyone under 40 probably didn't "start with a film camera" although some may be using them today for artistic, style or nostalgia reasons.

 

[Enders Shadow]

I was also a slide shooter almost exclusively, and my experience was about the same as yours. Transparency film was an extremely demanding medium ... and still is for some even today, I guess. Digital is so easy in comparison.

I was always impressed with National Geographic photographers who shot frequently with Kodachrome 25. That slow speed made it exceptionally difficult for me to use. I usually carried 2 bodies, one loaded with Kodachrome 64 and the other with a faster Ektachrome or Fujichrome. No auto white balance or a huge ISO range to select from. The automation available on today's digital cameras makes it easier to concentrate on composition. But I still believe a good understanding the fundamentals remains important.

Digital has made the basic shooting process easier for me. But the cameras themselves open up a whole new range of complications. I've spent countless hours optimizing AF perimeters on each camera for different types of action photography. So many camera options to wrap your head around. Then there's a ongoing effort keeping up with all the post processing tools. And there's new skills necessary to create today's multimedia presentations. Seems the breadth of required knowledge has increased dramatically. But, many never get beyond shooting in full auto mode.

--
Phil

 

[mike geier]

I was using a Nikon F in 1962-3 and went to an F2 a few years later. I remember loving the interchangeable focusing screens and the wonderful selection of lenses. I loved this leather case that had room for a body and 5 or 6 lenses mounted in Nikon lens mounts at the bottom of the case. A little later, in searching for a more compact camera to carry around I added an Olympus Pen F half frame .

 

[Bill Borne]

I was also a slide shooter almost exclusively, and my experience was about the same as yours. Transparency film was an extremely demanding medium ... and still is for some even today, I guess. Digital is so easy in comparison.

I was always impressed with National Geographic photographers who shot frequently with Kodachrome 25. That slow speed made it exceptionally difficult for me to use. I usually carried 2 bodies, one loaded with Kodachrome 64 and the other with a faster Ektachrome or Fujichrome. No auto white balance or a huge ISO range to select from. The automation available on today's digital cameras makes it easier to concentrate on composition. But I still believe a good understanding the fundamentals remains important.

Digital has made the basic shooting process easier for me. But the cameras themselves open up a whole new range of complications. I've spent countless hours optimizing AF perimeters on each camera for different types of action photography. So many camera options to wrap your head around. Then there's a ongoing effort keeping up with all the post processing tools.

And there's new skills necessary to create today's multimedia presentations. Seems the breadth of required knowledge has increased dramatically. But, many never get beyond shooting in full auto mode.

Now that's a shame IMO

 

[Bill Borne]

and who has only shot digital?

I was shooting film in 1967

And so was I.

I'd guess that anyone over 40 started shooting with film cameras, but only the wealthiest ones had SLRs. Even back in 1967 a film SLR was pretty expensive. At least for a young person. And remember, only very young people from 1967 would still be alive today! All of the "over 40 year olds" back then are over 90 or gone today.

I think most of us started shooting with P&S film cameras, then some of us moved up to film SLRs, and then those of us who were still are into photography by 2000 or so got digital cameras.

Anyone under 40 probably didn't "start with a film camera" although some may be using them today for artistic, style or nostalgia reasons.

 

[Bill Borne]

and who is younger here!!!

Thanks Again for all the interesting comments. I'm sure most who commented read most of the posts

 

[Foto4x4]

Does she own a digital camera?

Post processing digital is as much fun to me as taking the pics

A couple but nothing fancy. I gave her a Sony T100 recently for a short trip. She returned it unused! :-O

I've only recently started a subscription to LR after using a few different freebies but never really gotten into PP until now. I quite enjoy it too.

But my daughter has such a different use of photography, as I said she is an artistic photographer so she is just as likely to cut up images and make a collage from them or she'll sketch a face directly onto a negative or print onto fabric or.... I am frequently amazed at what she will do next! On my wall, I have a series of prints she made by laying organic objects like leaves and twigs onto photographic medium, then adding a culture that bacteria grew on for several hours in the sun. Then photographed them under lights and printed. The reds, golds, blue-greens that came out were spectacular. I absolutely adore them.

Wow! Unbelievable. That's what I call exceptional creativity. Thanks for relating this to us - it's made my day and also made me rather humble.

David

Thanks David, that makes me both humble and proud of her (as if a father would be any other way!).

 

[landscaper1]

I was shooting film in 1959 and moved up to an SLR in 1964.

 

[btolley]

My first 3mm camera was a Zenit E SLR, I think, in 1972.





Brett

--

500px

500px.com

 

[busch]

see my previous post and photo. https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/59669648

I have worked with darn near all types and sizes of cameras. Anyone else shoot with the Canon Pellix? How about a Speed Graphic? Maybe the Mamiya C330? Or a field camera? Those were all fun but my RX10III is a winner for sure!

--
Busch
Take the scenic route! Life is too short to do otherwise.
My Photos

 

[tbcass]

I was shooting film in 1959 and moved up to an SLR in 1964.

How old are you? I'm 71 and technically I started shooting film in the late 50's with cheap brownies and such but I didn't get serious about photography until I found an old 35mm camera of unknown German manufacture in a drawer at my parents house sometime in the mid 60s.

 

[landscaper1]

see my previous post and photo. https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/59669648

I have worked with darn near all types and sizes of cameras. Anyone else shoot with the Canon Pellix? How about a Speed Graphic? Maybe the Mamiya C330? Or a field camera? Those were all fun but my RX10III is a winner for sure!

 

[busch]

LOL! Okay. Guess you Buckeyes are as strong as we Hoosiers.

 

[Birddogman]

In addition to Peter's ashes going in the cemetery here, I have several film canisters, (without any logo), small amounts of ashes to scatter, they will go in various places:

1. Off his boat in Florida. Going down this coming Monday.

2. Out of a balloon ride this July. He always wanted to give donna and I a balloon ride for our anniversary, he got us tickets last year, it got rained out. Hopefully this year will work.

3. Cannister in with his beloved beagle/child India, buried in the back yard

4. Cannister in St. Augistine cemetery, a quickie superstitious insertion with garden spade.

5. Ocean in Jacksonville beach, a small ceremony with all his florida friends.

They are aluminum, so people with metal detectors will not dig them up.

 

[seri_art]

How about a Speed Graphic?

Speed Graphic for sure I was in high school working for my uncle who had a photographic studio and camera shop. Someone came in wanting to sell a 4x5 Speed Graphic. My uncle didn't want it to sell, so I offered $90 for it and got it for myself. I shot with it for a few years and then got a Leica IIIf from the same uncle (wholesale).

 

[elliottnewcomb]

I was born in Auburn, NY, top of one of the finger lakes. If you die in the winter, they have a memorial service, and then wait till the ground thaws to bury you.

By then, everyone's grief is past, so the burial is more like a family reunion, a party, your's sounds like it will be a blast!

 

[Enders Shadow]

...At Ohio State University we students and assistants used a 4x5 monorail view camera, not only in the lab, but also out on the campus. Having to lug that monster and a heavy aluminum Tiltall tripod around really tested your commitment to photography.

Our high school photography class had us shooting with a variety of cameras ranging from a homemade coffee can pinhole cameras up to a 4x5 view camera. One of the standard assignments required hauling a view camera across campus to shoot a series of pictures where the large format didn't provide much advantage. The teacher was a accomplished photographer that worked frequently with Hollywood studios. A great motivator and could be counted on to put together some fun field trips.

 

[Trafford2]

and who has only shot digital?

I was shooting film in 1967

This might interest folks here - another part of my photography history - It's me at a very early age and in my father's arms, with mum next to me. The image was taken near the gates of RAF Shepherds Grove in Suffolk, where Dad was stationed, and the date is late summer 1944. The interest in the image is that it was taken with a Graflex K1 reconnaissance camera fitted with a huge Kodak Aero Ektar lens [FL=7 inches]. One of the duties of the radar team Dad worked with was looking after the reconnaissance cameras...



--
Ed Form

Ed, my first serious camera was a 120 File SLR from Houghton butcher Ensign,

Focal plane shutter with adjustable blind, acquired in 1941 during the war, film was
scarce, got even worse as the war went on, later on surplus aircraft film became
available , so one learnt to save the paper back spools and attach the film in the
dark room. I had a permit from the Local Police to carry the camera, did some
b/w film developing as well, even did a film for may pal's brother who was in the
submarines and did not want to risk having the spool developed at the local
chemist.

All came to halt when I was called up for the army in 1944.

 

[Mark Weiss]

Pentax Spotmatic. 1966.