col
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Post by col on Sept 2, 2012 1:15:57 GMT -5
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 2, 2012 4:28:48 GMT -5
Nice Col. The pictures are excellent. It seems, that this old baby can already do the trick  Thanks for sharing. I am always interested in how pictures taken with vintage cameras look like. |
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Sept 2, 2012 9:08:13 GMT -5
Col,
I look at your splendid VPK photos and then I look at my splendid Pentax K-5.
I can't but help wonder if we really have advanced very much, if at all.
Mickey
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 2, 2012 20:53:52 GMT -5
Could have been my words |
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Sept 3, 2012 2:48:52 GMT -5
Sorry, but I don't agree.
There is no advance if all you want to photograph is a relatively static subject in black and white with an average angle-of-view lens. In terms of the final photograph there was no improvement made in the fifty years that the first vest pocket camera came out from what was being photographed in, say, the American Civil War. For many other sorts of photography there have great advances over the years.
The advance that the Vest Pocket made was that it was just that: able to be carried in a vest pocket. The photographs it took would be technically inferior to those a plate camera would turn out, but it would be able to get photos that plate cameras would miss. Thus there was a trade off between portability and quality.
Take photo #3. The car is blurred. Moving at the speed it was it would always be blurred with "old" cameras of the type here. Most "modern" cameras would give the photographer the choice of how blurred to make the car look.
I don't see too many action photos, small wildlife or macro photographs taken with the Vest Pocket, and even less with the plate cameras.
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col
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Post by col on Sept 3, 2012 3:46:37 GMT -5
Sorry, but I don't agree. There is no advance if all you want to photograph is a relatively static subject in black and white with an average angle-of-view lens. In terms of the final photograph there was no improvement made in the fifty years that the first vest pocket camera came out from what was being photographed in, say, the American Civil War. For many other sorts of photography there have great advances over the years. The advance that the Vest Pocket made was that it was just that: able to be carried in a vest pocket. The photographs it took would be technically inferior to those a plate camera would turn out, but it would be able to get photos that plate cameras would miss. Thus there was a trade off between portability and quality. Take photo #3. The car is blurred. Moving at the speed it was it would always be blurred with "old" cameras of the type here. Most "modern" cameras would give the photographer the choice of how blurred to make the car look. I don't see too many action photos, small wildlife or macro photographs taken with the Vest Pocket, and even less with the plate cameras. I guess the bottom line is the images are CRAP!  |
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Sept 3, 2012 6:19:14 GMT -5
Sorry, but I don't agree. I guess the bottom line is the images are CRAP! The bottom line is I, once again, put my foot in my mouth. I wont even try to wriggle out of this. Of course Dave is right. He is just too polite to say "Shut up Mickey." Mickey P.S. I like the images nevertheless. |
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Sept 3, 2012 7:59:17 GMT -5
Mickey, I don't think they are crap images. What they do they do very well.
I would say that certain things about the old are better, but we shouldn't let sentiment cloud judgement. To take a sideways move: old cars.
I like old cars. There was much about them to like. However, as a means of getting from A to B with the least possible fuss, modern cars are way in front. We all remember damp days when cars having rotor arms and points wouldn't start, and when they did they were difficult to stop because of drum brakes without power assistance. We can say what we like about how modern cars are "all alike" and how the old were "more fun" but, as a means of hassle free transport, the old isn't a patch on the new.
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 3, 2012 9:53:42 GMT -5
Definitely. Especially, when it comes to catch fast action ( sports, animals, etc. ), we do have a problem with old fellows like the Vest Pocket. However ... those situations are actually not appearing so often. In most daily life situations, those vintage cameras are still doing a good job ... and often a better job than what people are mostly using today ... cellphones ( or other cameras in "intelligent" auto mode ). If wanting to take pictures of wild birds, fast moving soccer players in a stadium or racing cars, the Vest Pocket Camera would be the wrong tool and not in my vest, but I also made positive experiences with vintage cameras, getting shots, I would have never got with a digital one. The feedback on vintage cameras is very different. People are suddenly willing to pose, asking questions instead of getting angry if some kind "paparazzi zoom" is pointing on them. It's a little bit of a "take a walk with your dog" effect. It works even better with old cameras  Also ... just speaking of me here ... I think, my pictures are often better, if taken with one of those ancient babies. Why ? Because I put more effort in framing, thinking about what I want to photograph and what not. This process of selection can have a positive effect, not related to the camera technology at all. And last but not least ... the fun. Getting an old camera repaired and working again, sometimes modifying a film like Col did here and getting results like this after that. That's like christmas |
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Sept 3, 2012 9:55:48 GMT -5
Mickey, I don't think they are crap images. What they do they do very well. I would say that certain things about the old are better, but we shouldn't let sentiment cloud judgement. Hey! Easy there. I am old. And sentimental. Mickey |
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Sept 3, 2012 15:09:20 GMT -5
Berndt, I have to say that I have found that some people like having their photo taken, whilst others don't. Most of them have no idea about the camera being used. Some are quite happy to have a photo taken one day but not the next, or vice versa: and that is using the same camera. Some people ask to have their photo taken then don't even want a copy.
People have always disliked paparazzi style photography because it invades their space. It makes no difference to them if it's an old camera or one that is modern. It is the method of taking the photo that is the problem.
One can take as much time as one likes setting up and taking a photo with a modern camera. Auto functions don't have to be used. What the modern camera gives us is the option to choose.
Yes, it's fun getting something working and then using it: just as it's fun going back to using my old Oric or BBC computer and realizing that twenty-five years ago they were state of the art.
Mickey, sentiment is fine. Old is merely an attitude of mind. You will never be old.
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col
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Post by col on Sept 3, 2012 19:01:02 GMT -5
" Old is merely an attitude of mind"
So that's my problem.
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Sept 3, 2012 19:57:42 GMT -5
"Old is merely an attitude of mind."
It's good to know that my artificial knee and sore hip and arthritis is only my mind playing tricks on me. I wonder where I can get a less playful mind. ;D We are constantly told these are the Golden Years. Bah! Humbug! Balderdash! Iron pyrites! Fools gold! But there is still much that I want to do so to h--- with my mind. I'll keep on doing with or without its cooperation. Mickey 
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 3, 2012 20:52:28 GMT -5
True ... but most people are especially afraid of the capabilities of digital cameras and cellphones. Candid cellphone shots all the time and everywhere, having a good chance to find yourself on FB, YouTube, etc. later. People know that. Of course, you can get everything on film digitized too, but people are not so much aware of it, I think. And the settings on old cameras takes time ... so nobody is really expecting a quick Paparazzi shot. Sometimes, I already feel like in a gangster movie if am using my own cellphone for just making a phone call  Something like: Take your hands slowly out of your pockets and show them to me ;D That happened just recently to me while being in a public pool. It's of course forbidden to take pictures there - so you better take your phone out of your pocket very obviously, so that everybody can see, that you are just picking up your phone. Same on some beaches or festivals here. But the feedback on vintage cameras is much better ... from my experience. It usually just takes a few minutes and some beautiful girls come and ask, what is that Many young people have never seen a film camera in their life and especially TLRs seem to look so weird and exotic to them, that they can't believe, that it is possible to take pictures with such a device. My favorite quote is: Live every day of your life as if it would be your last and learn as if you could live forever. There is basically nothing, what we should postpone, because we can not expect our condition getting any better , starting from being 20 years old ( as scientists say ). I always lived like that and can't say, that I missed anything in life yet. That's the best attitude while getting old ... and that's what we all do  |
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 3, 2012 21:06:27 GMT -5
Oh ... and I have a nice snapshot, taken last weekend ... watching the watchers ;D The typical digital "camera nerd", a common species here in Japan. A few underaged girls on a dancing festival and they line up with their equipment. Disgusting So I thought, I'd better take a shot of them than of some kids with make up ... but being fare, just from the back. Still a funny shot, I think |
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Thanks for sharing. I am always interested in how pictures taken with vintage cameras look like.
Something like: Take your hands slowly out of your pockets and show them to me ;D That happened just recently to me while being in a public pool. It's of course forbidden to take pictures there - so you better take your phone out of your pocket very obviously, so that everybody can see, that you are just picking up your phone. Same on some beaches or festivals here. But the feedback on vintage cameras is much better ... from my experience. It usually just takes a few minutes and some beautiful girls come and ask, what is that 