Riding the Rocket

[RBSinTo]

Taken in Chinatown here in Toronto, a few weeks ago.
I was walking on Dundas Street when a streetcar (commonly known in Toronto as a Red Rocket) came abreast of me and stopped because of the heavy traffic. I liked the interesting interior scene of the passengers and took this shot.
motorized Nikon F3P
Vivitar Series 1 135 2.3 AI manual focus
Ektachrome 100 ISO colour slide
2.3 @ 1/500th

[Tronhard]

I like the divisions of the image: by seats and by the window structure, rendering each area as a sort of scene in itself. Even the person with their head down on the other side of the tram and the half-seen image of the person assumedly waiting to cross. I really like this.

And good on you for using F I L M!!

[RBSinTo]

I like the divisions of the image: by seats and by the window structure, rendering each area as a sort of scene in itself. Even the person with their head down on the other side of the tram and the half-seen image of the person assumedly waiting to cross. I really like this.

And good on you for using F I L M!!

Trev,
Thanks for the kind comments.
And as for the "good on you for using film" comment, I've never even considered going Digital.
I love my clunky, old Nikon manual focus film gear and am very old friends with colour slide film, and as long as my eyesight holds out and I can get my slides developed, I'll stick with what I know and love. If it ain't broke......
Robert

[Tronhard]

I love digital, but I often regret letting go of my great Nikon F3's and Canon A-1's. They and their lenses felt SO solid. One had many fewer settings to manage with film. The good thing is that it is still available and I hope you will be able to enjoy using it for a long, long time.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[RBSinTo]

I love digital, but I often regret letting go of my great Nikon F3's and Canon A-1's. They and their lenses felt SO solid. One had many fewer settings to manage with film. The good thing is that it is still available and I hope you will be able to enjoy using it for a long, long time.

How many settings do I need anyway?
Film speed, shutter speed and aperture and I'm pretty much good to go. And on my gear those are all in plain sight. Shutter speed dial, on the body and aperture ring on the lenses. No screwing around holding buttons while scrolling through menus to find what I need.
Four of my ten bodies (Nikon S3s (2), SP, and Nikon F don't even have meters, and that's just fine.
Robert

[mknittle]

How many settings do I need anyway?
Film speed, shutter speed and aperture and I'm pretty much good to go. And on my gear those are all in plain sight. Shutter speed dial, on the body and aperture ring on the lenses. No screwing around holding buttons while scrolling through menus to find what I need.
Four of my ten bodies (Nikon S3s (2), SP, and Nikon F don't even have meters, and that's just fine.
Robert

My 7D is digital and the mentioned buttons are in plain sight no fishing through menus.

[RBSinTo]

My 7D is digital and the mentioned buttons are in plain sight no fishing through menus.

Mark,
Thanks for the heads up.
But as I said before, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Robert

[Tronhard]

How many settings do I need anyway?
Film speed, shutter speed and aperture and I'm pretty much good to go. And on my gear those are all in plain sight. Shutter speed dial, on the body and aperture ring on the lenses. No screwing around holding buttons while scrolling through menus to find what I need.
Four of my ten bodies (Nikon S3s (2), SP, and Nikon F don't even have meters, and that's just fine.
Robert

It's always hard to gauge the subtleties of meaning just from the written word, but there was no criticism implied or intended in my comment about fewer settings required, yet I sensed (perhaps incorrectly) a degree of defensiveness in your response. Let me assure you that as I said loved my film cameras and regret letting them go. As you correctly said one had to deal with basically three body settings: ISO per film, aperture and priority.

For my own situation (and not in any way yours) I love digital, but I DO harken back to the days when those 3 settings were all I had to think about. I know you love film and I can see why, so I absolutely support your choice to stay with it and enjoy its benefits. I see there is a lesser range of film than there once was, but I am glad to see what appears to be a resurgence in interest in its manufacture. Have you noticed an improvement in the range of films available?

[IzzieK]

No matter what sort of camera you have, it is the end product that is most important. And this image you have here is no exception. I love it for what it is, the framing, the almost shadow of the guy on the frame -- all of it. It is just beautiful. I will keep this one in mind when I go to Melbourne for a visit because there will be some opportunities for street shots like this over there compared to here...

[John 2]

Trev/Robert, just for interest, I keep my eye on a local Auction House. Occasionally, there are items of photographic interest. My recent computer problems meant that I only caught up with a recent sale last evening to find that a Nikon F3 plus 35mm/50mm/135mm lenses was sold last week. The pre sale guide price was for £30 - £50/$45 - $75 US. It's a long time since I last used film but I would have been sorely tempted.

http://www.gerrardsauctionrooms.com/...0211/A1364.jpg

[RBSinTo]

Trev,
Currently the selection of available slide film stocks is very poor with no high-speed (400 ISO or higher) even available.
However there is a company in Italy that is beginning to produce slide films again and it appears that they will be producing many of the now unavailable stocks again in the near future.
Here is a link to a thread at Rangefinderforum where you can read about this:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/foru...d.php?t=154531
John,
As we get further and further into the Digital Era, the value of most Film equipment continues to plummet.
With the exception of certain collectibles ( for example, F2 and F3 highspeed, Nikon S36 motor drives, black S3 and S3 bodies, S3M bodies, DP-12 finders black DE-1 and F meterless prisms) most of the other stuff is available for nickles and dimes, which for people like me is wonderful.
Izzie,
Thanks for the kind comments.
Yes the end product is most important, but liking the gear you use to achieve it is also very high on the priority list, which is why I stick with the equipment I know and love.
Robert

[Sergio M.]

Robert,

A very interesting scene that has been well seen, executed, and framed.
A well captured moment of people going about their everyday lives and business.

Sergio

[John 2]

..............................................

John,
As we get further and further into the Digital Era, the value of most Film equipment continues to plummet.
With the exception of certain collectibles ( for example, F2 and F3 highspeed, Nikon S36 motor drives, black S3 and S3 bodies, S3M bodies, DP-12 finders black DE-1 and F meterless prisms) most of the other stuff is available for nickles and dimes, which for people like me is wonderful............................

I know Robert and it's sad given what these optical instruments represent in terms of manufacturing excellence. For that reason I have my OM 2 plus a number of lenses displayed in a cabinet in the study. I couldn't bear to part with them for the money they would fetch.

[RBSinTo]

I know Robert and it's sad given what these optical instruments represent in terms of manufacturing excellence. For that reason I have my OM 2 plus a number of lenses displayed in a cabinet in the study. I couldn't bear to part with them for the money they would fetch.

John,
That is a common sentiment among my now-digital friends who still have high-end film cameras. They'd rather keep them instead of selling them at what they consider to be a great loss.
I disagree with their logic.
Unless one is a collector, and doesn't care about it's market value, their film gear will simply continue to depreciate until it is virtually worthless as is the case with much of it. The time to sell it was years ago when people were still vacillating about switching completely or shooting both Film and Digital. But that time has long passed. Other than the Hipsters or we Luddites, few want old film gear.
Better to face reality and trade or sell it for something Digital and useful.
Or give it to me, as so many of my friends have done.
Robert

[Tronhard]

John,
That is a common sentiment among my now-digital friends who still have high-end film cameras. They'd rather keep them instead of selling them at what they consider to be a great loss.
I disagree with their logic.
Unless one is a collector, and doesn't care about it's market value, their film gear will simply continue to depreciate until it is virtually worthless as is the case with much of it. The time to sell it was years ago when people were still vacillating about switching completely or shooting both Film and Digital. But that time has long passed. Other than the Hipsters or we Luddites, few want old film gear.
Better to face reality and trade or sell it for something Digital and useful.
Or give it to me, as so many of my friends have done.
Robert

Hi Robert:

I sold my film cameras back in 2004 when I decided to go digital and got enough money from them to fund my first generation of DSLR gear. At that time I had not really used that gear for some years, and being packed carefully away it was still in mint condition. I couldn't really afford to keep both film and digital gear so I had to sell the film stuff. Even then however part of me was sad to see it go, not so much for the technology but for the memories of using that gear over years of travel and many places. If I had my druthers I would have kept one body of each type and a single lens and I would have kept them for the emotional value that I assigned to them. And maybe, just maybe, I would have fired them up every now and then...

I am glad you have kept yours and that you still make great images with gear you know well and love using. Surely that is the core of the joy of photography. in the digital world we are so often driven to re-invest in upgrades for the latest change in technology, but tech does not make us better photographers, and it often means we don't get to know our gear as you obviously do.