the RF Culture

[35mmdelux]

I shoot RF Leica, play lead guitar in a rock band, drive a black paint Ferrari, and once dated Sharon Stone. I drink Chivas on the rocks, love my Esprsso, and dine at Mortons (filet mignon please). You'll reognize me by the 2Karat stone in my left ear and my black RayBans (Mick Jagger copied me). I love to dance salsa in Rio.

The RF Leica culture is groovy...

[SolaresLarrave]

Admit it, guys... we're a demographic. There soon will be shopping catalogs for people like us.

[DougFord]

I don’t often take photographs, but when I do, I use a leica. – stay thirsty my friends.

[piazza63]

I must suggest to further my previous point that if you haven't you must read Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. This is great because it touches on like +4 of the questions on this poll. But truthfully I believe that it addresses the idea about the bigger picture. The book explores the concepts of quality, time, and knowledge. And essentially the enjoyment that comes from doing things things yourself and doing them right. All of which I think this culture of RFF is about.

[Livesteamer]

Piazza63 has touched something important. In my 23 years as a machinist, if I had trouble with a job, 98% of the time I had missed something basic. The Leica is all about high quality basic photography. To use the Leica or other rangefinders, you must focus on those basics. It forces me to think and maybe even learn. Joe

[mabelsound]

I hate all cars. I wish that public transportation went everywhere in America and I would never have to drive a car again, and get to read a book while traveling.

I love old cameras, synthesizers, guitars, and microphones, though.

[reagan]

my occupation requires laptop/blackberry/digi-this'n-that/etc. but the keepers in my world are mechanical RFs, play guitar, button down collars & jeans ... and the last time I looked, I still have a Norton Commando and a BSA Rocket.3 in the barn. my wife just calls it "hopeless packratism of old stuff."

[jamiewakeham]

I think I'm just confused. On one side there's the M3, Breitling Navitimer, '78 Strat. On the other the new-ish Nissan, Gap rather than Levi jeans, iPod.

I'd love an Indian Enfield but my wife won't let me...

Jamie

[Brad Maestas]

They're calling the retro movement "throwback" in these parts. This is particularly noticeable amongst the hipsters that terrorize the immediate vicinity (read all of NYC). Collecting vinyl, vintage clothes, old cameras and generally bringing new heights to pretentiousness, most of these folks collect these objects as superficial lifestyle accessories rather than actually consider using them for their intended purposes.

Just last week I saw a guy near Bedford Ave in Williamsburg that had a Fed 3 with a collapsible 50 and when I tried to strike up a conversation about it, he immediately told me that he had no idea how it works and that he couldn't be troubled with actually having to find and load film into it, let alone actually develop it. He said he had a digital P&S for that. The Fed was essentially a necklace. It sorta pissed me off.

With regards to cameras, I am by no means a mechanical B&W stalwart, wallowing in the grainy, vignetted trenches of vintage camera territory but I have been trying to atone for all my previous transgressions. I have been an SLR user since the beginning. I did apprentice with a portraitist that used MF but it was a Mamiya 645 AF so that didn't count. I used an F4e extensively for over 10 years in the 90's and after it was stolen, I replaced it with a Contax RTS III. While still somewhat automated, it brought me back to manual focusing which was my goal in the first place (the Zeiss glass was just a perk ). I went through several Canon EOS bodies, both film and digital, and more than ever I yearned for something even more manual than my Contax so I sold some musical gear and started looking for a RF. I was set on a Bessa R3M kit when I found an M6 with 35 Summicron being sold locally for a great price so I got it instead. I couldn't be happier. I am still saving for an M2, M3, M4 and an R3M and R4M.

I was into vintage and mechanical watches before I got my first camera. In fact, I almost made a career in watch repair! I haven't owned a car or motorcycle in nearly 10 years so can't comment on that although I do love the lines and style of classical autos and motorbikes. I had a stint with some vintage clothes from a local thrift store. As soon as it started becoming popular though I forgot about it. I have always collected vinyl. This is another thing that pre-dated my photo bug. I've always enjoyed reading. I do notice not as many people reading but it still seems popular on the subways at least.

I love all music but classical music is one of my faves, particularly recordings featuring the lute, vihuela, classical guitar and double bass. I am a multi-instrumentalist myself, playing guitar (classical, flamenco, acoustic/electric), double bass, electric bass, piano/organ, percussion, trumpet and saxophone. I make most of my living performing and giving lessons on bass and classical guitar.

With regards to being a Bauhaus heir, I suppose some of that is in me as I do appreciate simple and efficient form and function but I still embrace diversity so I can't say that I ascribe to any "family" of thought or philosophy.

[bkrystad]

I bought a Kodak Retina IIa because my father still uses a Retina IIIc that he bought in Stuttgart in 1956. I made a darkroom in my basement so I could use my grandfather’s Beseler 23C. I own an Austin Healey 100 because on my walk to grade school I admired one that was often parked in front of a house I passed along the way. I live in a hundred-year-old house because I didn’t want to change anything about it. I wear tortoiseshell Ray Ban sunglasses because they were $7 in a bin at a thrift store. I try to buy clothes as infrequently as possible. I don’t have a watch.

I like simple things that work well. Simple things that work well are often beautiful. And if, like an old camera, they can create beautiful things, that’s all the more reason to value them. It’s just a matter of enjoying what you’re lucky enough to find in life while you have it.

Not sure if that’s an aesthetic or a culture. I doubt that it’s either one.

[40oz]

"I like simple things that work well. "

That's pretty much it for me, I think. I'm less concerned about the age of the item, or the "vintageness," as it were.

Using things simply because they are old is as smart as using them simply because they are different, as has been commented. But to me, there is nothing wrong with desiring something different even if it isn't obviously better. I get tired of people knocking companies because what they make isn't the same as what some other company makes. One can easily get stuck in a cycle of "this is good, therefore anything different than this is bad." To me that is the real stupidity. Comes up a lot in regards to cars, in my experience, but applies to almost anything.

[FallisPhoto]

On another forum today, I actually had a guy tell me that "film takes too long to do really well." I am still trying to find words for how wrong that is, on so many levels. It kind of reminds me of the time I was wearing my Vietnam Veteran's cap and a guy told me that "I know what you guys went through. I saw Apocalypse now." It was about two hours after that before I could form a coherent sentence.

[literiter]

Originally Posted by FallisPhoto

On another forum today, I actually had a guy tell me that "film takes too long to do really well." I am still trying to find words for how wrong that is, on so many levels.

"trying to find words"...Do you not know any profanity? Good well placed profanity, and lots of it, does little to illuminate a fool but it does make one feel better.

[Farace]

Those that are subscribing to the elitist/luddite school of thought here are missing something. I drive a '71 Alfa Romeo Spider not because it's old or a status symbol (I don't know, or care, if it is; heck I don't think most people even know what it is anymore) but because I like the sound, feel, and smell of it; it's the only car that's consistently put a smile on my face, and I feel connected to it. I shave with a double-edge razor because I honestly think it does a better job than the many-bladed overpriced monstrosities that are foisted on us (and the Merkur has a pleasant heft to it), and I use a shaving brush and soap not out of some "Art of Shaving" metrosexual pretense, but because I like warm lather. I got really tired of cold goo every morning. I play vinyl because I prefer it, the smell of the sleeves reminds me of college radio, and because there's a kind of almost-ceremony in taking an LP out of its sleeve, maybe finding a bit of dried plant matter in the gatefold (from a previous owner of course), looking for the hidden messages scratched in the run-out grooves, putting it on the turntable, and setting the needle down, and because I think one is more involved with the music when you're required to flip sides every twenty minutes or so than when you can put on hours of digits and not pay any attention. I like fountain pens because they're more relaxed (and they're "green," not throwing a stick of plastic away every time the ink runs out). I like vintage clothing--sometimes--because it suits me (no pun intended). Most of my electric basses are from the '70s (some are older, one is slightly newer), and like the vinyl, I don't collect them, I play them. I believe there's a difference between having something just to have it, and having something to use it. As for RFs, I gravitated to them because they're generally smaller, lighter and quieter than SLRs. I have yet to be comfortable with digital. There's something that just feels very right about my Retina IIC, the way it fits in my hand , the soft snip when the shutter fires, and the way it folds up. Is there anyone making a camera like that now? Well, then, I guess I have to use an old one.

I've come to realize that along the timeline of manufactured items, the best of them are not necessarily at the closest end. Often the best item (and sometimes the only available choice), at least for my purposes, is in the middle. I don't use old for the sake of using old or for some image it may bestow upon me, I use old if it's the best choice for me. It just happens to be old. (I think I came to this realization when it suddenly occurred to me one day that I shop in antique stores not for home decor, but for things to actually use (like the great potato masher in my kitchen drawer; there's nothing modern that comes close).)

[Oculus Sinister]

They just don't make them like they used to, most everything made these days are geared towards planned obsolescence. My love for things "old" applies to most everything that I want to have around me, I love listening to tube audio, playing vinyl records, old firearms, old SLRs(of which my Nikon F2AS is my favorite) and of course my new found love for rangefinder cameras. I now have a Nikon S, a Leica M2 and a Leica IIIf RD and I love them all. This doesn't mean that I have to shun modern conveniences, as I like to drive my SUV, I love to surf the web and like playing online games, I still have my digital photography gear for parties, sports and other large events. It's always nice to have a choice whenever you feel like it.

[pmun]

Originally Posted by Farace

I drive a '71 Alfa Romeo Spider not because it's old or a status symbol (I don't know, or care, if it is; heck I don't think most people even know what it is anymore) but because I like the sound, feel, and smell of it; it's the only car that's consistently put a smile on my face, and I feel connected to it. I shave with a double-edge razor because I honestly think it does a better job than the many-bladed overpriced monstrosities that are foisted on us (and the Merkur has a pleasant heft to it), and I use a shaving brush and soap not out of some "Art of Shaving" metrosexual pretense, but because I like warm lather. I got really tired of cold goo every morning. I play vinyl because I prefer it, the smell of the sleeves reminds me of college radio,

Nice post. Basically it seems that you really appreciate things and are particularly conscious of them. Interestingly all the things you mentioned are traditional, do you think it might be nostalgia? Do you think that any modern conveniences can also induce a lingering satisfaction? (Not trying to make any points here, but genuinely curious to know your opinion).

[Farace]

Originally Posted by pmun

Nice post. Basically it seems that you really appreciate things and are particularly conscious of them. Interestingly all the things you mentioned are traditional, do you think it might be nostalgia? Do you think that any modern conveniences can also induce a lingering satisfaction? (Not trying to make any points here, but genuinely curious to know your opinion).

I don't think it's nostalgia. I've often thought that "nostalgia" sounds like a disease, and that it probably is one. It might also be just me, but I tend to think that one can't have nostalgia for something that one didn't live through, or something that may have been around but wasn't part of your life in the past. I never used a fountain pen before adulthood; I was eleven when my Alfa was new, but I had no appreciation of them then; I don't remember anyone in my family ever using a shaving brush. The vinyl might be a different story, but in comparison, while I sometimes have fun with 8-track tapes, I don't prefer them by any means; LPs sound better to my ears, warmer and more inviting, and I like that the cover art is so much larger than that on CDs. There are qualities that I appreciate in many of these things. The Alfa, for instance, if I take it apart I can sometimes get a sense of the passion of the men that designed it. I don't get that sense under the hood of my minivan. The fountain pens are designed to last and often exhibit the personality of the person that designed it, like the Eversharp Skyline, designed by Henry Dreyfuss (and I also aesthetically like celluloid, which isn't used much anymore); there's often an obvious care that went into their manufacture that I guess just isn't economical now. Do I get the same lingering satisfaction from some modern items, yes; Apple Computer's products come immediately to mind. OS X, though it's not anything tangible, continues to surprise me with its usability and stability (and I've been using Macs since OS 6), and I really like Jonathan Ive's industrial design for Apple. There are electric basses being made now that are just as good or better than the ones I own. Then there's a category of things that I'm not sure whether they belong in the past or the present day; for instance I've handled a fly rod built by a maker in northwest Connecticut that was just stunning; casting it was almost effortless. It is a bamboo fly rod, based on work done by a particular builder a hundred years ago, but made today with amazing craftsmanship and care. Is it nostalgia to want to use it? Is it old because of the design, or is it modern because of its manufacture? Does it really matter? It's an amazing fly rod. (I only wish I could afford it.) Anyway, back to the question, yes, there are modern things that bring the same satisfaction, it just seems there are fewer of them (though I should say there are still some fantastic fountain pens being made). (Or even without the satisfaction, there are modern items I'd rather use over an older one; I'm happy to type--and be able to edit--on a computer rather than on a typewriter, for instance, even though the typewriter exhibits more craftsmanship and will still be working long after this computer no longer boots up.) Bottom line is that if a thirty- or fifty-year-old RF (or anything else) feels right to me, I don't think it's nostalgia that makes me choose it over something more modern.

[pmun]

Thanks Bob, I'm with you on a lot of things there, especially quality of engineering and Apple OS/design principles. That was an interesting point about nostalgia that I'd never considered. I bet you like a nice glass of malt as well

In the digital world, design principles are now more obvious than the engineering values behind film cameras. I do miss dials and levers, but there are some real classic digital designs out there such as the Ricoh GRD series.


www.urbanpaths.net

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by reagan

my occupation requires laptop/blackberry/digi-this'n-that/etc. but the keepers in my world are mechanical RFs, play guitar, button down collars & jeans ... and the last time I looked, I still have a Norton Commando and a BSA Rocket.3 in the barn. my wife just calls it "hopeless packratism of old stuff."

Which Commando do you have? I'm somewhat partial to Nortons, and Dominators in particular. Not that I can afford one!

[Fausto]

I shoot RF Leica, play lead guitar in a rock band, drive a black paint Ferrari, and once dated Sharon Stone. I drink Chivas on the rocks, love my Esprsso, and dine at Mortons (filet mignon please). You'll reognize me by the 2Karat stone in my left ear and my black RayBans (Mick Jagger copied me). I love to dance salsa in Rio.

You may be the only one salsa-ing in Rio. In Brazil they do the samba.

[PhotoMat]

Originally Posted by Pickett Wilson

I'm all over the place from 1930's Leicas to 5DMkII's, a 1969 428 Cobra Jet Mach One ...

O.K., you dropped the teaser. Now... any pics of the Mach 1?

[MatthewThompson]

I find there's something soothing about a well engineered product that you just don't get with most modern disposable crap.

I listen to tube audio, make my own breads & furniture. I'm happy to use hand planes and modern router sets on the same project. I own a couple fedoras and a couple good driving caps. It's not about a fashion or lifestyle, it's just a comfort zone. I like pocket watches and would really like a vintage Breitling or Omega wristwatch, but I see the utility and value in the solar Ecodrive I wear everyday. I use straight and safety razors, but trim up with an electric clipper.

On the other hand, I like newer motorcycles, vehicles and technology too. It's about the empower to decide and choose for yourself. I make money with a 5D, and shoot film for fun.

[franco r]

I love my leica m8; I'd like to come back to analogic but I don't have skill, time and space for a darkroom.
I mostly used to move with an indian royal enfield bullet motorcycle with a davida helmet and googles. An affordable hamilton mechanical watch is always on my wrist. I love my fountain pen, I hate my fountain pen when at a business meeting gets dirty my fingers.
I become attached to few clothes, so generally I wear always in the same way..
I really love to see photo prints, to touch them; even for the books sometime I discover myself my touch the picture like a blind read the braille.

[csouvannarath]

I rather ride my motorcycle than drive my car. I love rangefinder cameras my favorite rangefinder is my Fed 1, I also use an Olympus OM1.

[Gawain Hewitt]

Yes, I tick a lot of those boxes. I think it's because I love good design and good engineering, and hate quick obsolescence in products. I'm a recording engineer as well and similarly love Neumann, Neve but also modern designs like Metric Halo where quality, good design and commitment to product take precedent. When I'm programming music I like hardware sequencers, which are a lot like using a Leica M8 I suppose, a simple, in many ways inferier technology which taps into a deeper creative place and frees up creativity.
My Gadgets:
Leica M8
Tissot Watch
1950's theme wedding
Brompton Folding bike
lots of Vespas and Lambretta's in my past (sadly non at the moment) - used to fix them as well
Clothes - yes vintage although the vintage clothing scene has been hijacked in London recently, much harder to get good stuff at good prices. Also Paul smith (for design), Birkenstock (well engineered) among others
Music - pretty much digital for convenience. I also used to DJ vinyl a lot, but I'm mainly MP3 and CD for pleasure now.

G