She said "How did you ever do it before digital?"

The usual question I get is, “Is that digital, or is it an SLR?”

I only ever seem to be asked, which Nikon my camera is. They’re always taped up.

Here everyone will simply refuse to work with you if you say that you are going to use a film camera for shooting…..they think it very amateurish to use a film camera.

good story Jonathan!

It’s right up there with a group I was shooting, and they walked up to me after, and said, “Let’s see what you got!”, as I stood there with my M6. I faced the back of the camera to them as they approached.

It was classic.

I like my M4 because I don’t have to remember to turn it off.

Joel you just hit on one of my “modern photography” sore spots: the “Let me see the photo!” reaction by subjects. They are so used to chimping the photo that they forget that there was a time that the way that they saw “the good one” was when they read the story in print. Now everyone expects that instant gratification. I gotta tell ya that sometimes I don’t want to show them the screen and wish that I was shooting film just so they wouldn’t bug me about it. In the film days they trusted you to know what you were doing. Now they expect you to show them if you are “pro” by letting them see your work right after you have made the photo.

I think that one of the interesting aspects of our lovely digital cameras is that the mystery is gone.

.... and then print it off as they chat….................. http://www.demo.com/demonstrators/demo2007/91378.php

I’ve had the weird experience of watching someone’s lip curl with distaste for how they look on glancing at the back of my camera, yet when I’ve spent 5 minutes with it in photoshop, they’re ecstatic. Mind you, people prefer themselves in b&w…

I’m into digital now for few months .. and I hate it ! I use it only because It’s faster and smoother for me to send those pix to my agency, but I still use my M6 & other analogue equipment for assignments where I have the time ..

People often ask me how the hell I can do any photographs with that little funny camera (Leica M6) .. ;)) The funny thing is that when I look @ my best pix, all are done with analogue, old-school cameras on film .. Digital is only faster & lighter to work with ‘cause you don’t have to have an extra bag with a cooler & tons of different films & of course you see right away whats goin on. And all those 10MP’s .. you don’t need them .. All assignments I’ve done for the agency & some mags, are done with old-school equipment..

My first assigment on digital was with an SONY DSC R-1 because I had to shoot in an highly secured prison, where I had to be very quiet and the prisoners should’nt see me shooting them (the camera is like the 6×6 Hasselblads, looking from above) .. The quality on this camera is unbelivible close to my M6, but again .. we don’t need all those pixels ;)) One mag here in Croatia (Digital Photography) wants to make an interview with me because I still use this old cameras, the editor told me that people won’t belive what you can do with that “can” .. Of course that was an compliment for me, but it’s sad that people are more using their cameras to think insted of them ..

I am still 100% film, so whenever I need to take a break on a job to reload my camera, brows are usually being raised curiously.

I was shooting for a medical mag a few months ago, and one doctor asked: “So you’re still shooting film? How do you know you got the shot?”

It cracked me up. Isn’t that what we’re here for? I told him “Well, we’re all trained to get it, even without a preview.” 4 seconds of silence. “Aha.”

On the other hand, when passers-by ask what kind of camera I’m shooting with, and I say “It’s old school, film.”, they often say “Oh, so you’re a real photographer …”. And while I don’t think using film makes me real, the sentiment always makes me smile. :)

The most beautiful hing with film is that after having taken the picture you look into the eyes of whom you have in front, instead of looking at the back or your camera, esp. the younger people is surprised by that. Cool feeling. Connection.