'Old fashioned' cameras ?

[tgtaylor]

I get asked that question quite a bit also - especially when I'm out with the 8x10. But I tell respond that these are new models which can still be purchased new which is the case for all of my LF cameras except for the ROBOS. The design with the bellows I agree is "old fashioned" but a bellows is necessary, I tell them for the camera to deliver the optical precision which it is designed for. True, I continue, it takes a film back but it could just as easily take a digital back if you have the money for one. As far as the camera is concerned, it could care less if you have film or a digital back.

Thomas

[ic-racer]

The 'old-fashioned camera' label is nothing new. 1948 reference to E. Weston's 'old-fashioned view camera.' http://youtu.be/J8S4HoxuDzw?t=7m39s

[tgtaylor]

With respect to cameras, "old fashioned" was/is a designation employed by the general public lacking the familiarity and understanding of how cameras work.

Thomas

[Drew Wiley]

It always amazes me how much respect a view camera gets in this area, but how many sneers it gets once I cross our little demographic "continental divide"
between the coast and our version of the Midwest, the Central Valley. Welcome to watered-down coffee, soggy pancakes, "environmentalists" being routinely
burned at the stake, and being suspected of being a government spy for using a tripod. Once past that, up in the Sierras, you garner respect once again for the
ability to lug the things over the hills. Of course, someone might mistake you for a five-legged deer and shoot you. But having your head stuffed at taxidermy shop and mounted on a nice lacquered wall shield ain't so bad as long as they take the trouble to match the wood finish to your camera, with it neatly atop the fireplace mantle beside you. And you'll be in company with their other big game trophies, like the angus bull they mistook for a black bear.

[John Kasaian]

My Speed Graphic must be old fashioned--whenever you see one in a movie, everyone is wearing a hat.

Of course LF cameras are old-fashioned--they haven't been 'current fashion' for many decades. They're still in use, and you can still buy them new, but they're definitely old-fashioned.

Since the general population of the US is growing disproportionately older, and as a result, balder, I wouldn't be at all surprised if hats (real hats) came back in fashion. Then your Speeder will look state of the art LOL!

[Drew Wiley]

I still have all my hair, and it would be quite an inconvenience to have to wear a XXXXX Stetson hat just to read Zone V, and an even more expensive XXXXXXXX
cowboy hat to shade the lens for Zone VIII exposures, etc What if the film has a range of twelve Zones. That's a lot of hats to wear at one time! I should go back and read that hat and beard chapter of AA's Basic series just to make sure I understood the Zone System correctly in the first place!

[John Kasaian]

I still have all my hair, and it would be quite an inconvenience to have to wear a XXXXX Stetson hat just to read Zone V, and an even more expensive XXXXXXXX
cowboy hat to shade the lens for Zone VIII exposures, etc What if the film has a range of twelve Zones. That's a lot of hats to wear at one time! I should go back and read that hat and beard chapter of AA's Basic series just to make sure I understood the Zone System correctly in the first place!

LOL!
I'm waiting for someone to post the question--"who made the cowboy hat Ansel Adam's wore?" Or that "Weston had to wear a Bailey because he couldn't afford a Resistol" The soft-focus fans might trade in their cowboy hats for Atget inspired berets. The EU might even see a surge in the demand for Borsalinos. Ten new magazines dedicated to tutorials explaining digital hat filtration will appear at the supermarket news stands.
Freestyle might start selling accessory Mickey Mouse ears for Holgas.
This could have global implications, Drew!

[Drew Wiley]

I know that EW couldn't afford a real Dorff, so used a knockoff. Therefore he couldn't have afforded a Stetson either. These facts explain much of the reason why he was unable to adopt the Zone System. You have to have the right gear. That's why I have real US Kelty packs and want to replace the ash handle on my broken old ice axe, even though there's not much ice still left up there! Something in the universe will work correctly again, even though I'm actually using modern trekking poles these days. The fate of light physics is now dependent upon us. If we fail to uphold our role in all of this, the entire world risks no longer looking upside down !!