the RF Culture

[rolleistef]

Hello all,
socio-cultural test : does the average RFFer like old cameras as well as old cars, steam trains, vintage clothing and mechanical watch?
I think we are part of a kind of counter-cultural (not anti-cultural) movement, advocating, not for a less technological world (because our cameras and mecanical watches are piece of high technology) but for a more refined, in which trashable Ipod-pop music is replaced by our 33t of Jimmy Hendrix or Karajan, the latest digicrap by a 40 year-old RF, the all-inclusive-with-carbon-oxyde-wheels-and-blu-tooth-connexion car by a vintage 230SL?
A world where things are bought to last, preferably forever?
A world where art should not be separated from life?
Are we the heirs of the Vienna Secession and the Bauhaus?

Edit : The question "do you like" clearly means, do you like, not specifically do you own

[Michael Markey]

To some extent,you have a point.I use an RF and shoot mostly film. I also drive a Landrover 90,although it is a new one. When I listen to music it is often on a Linn Sondek.I do use digital though, both audio and visual.I guess that the older you get (I am 58) you often become less receptive to new ways of doing things. I am not sure if I would go as far to claim that as a cultural position . More of a can`t be bothered ,happy as I am position.I even dislike this form of communication although ,clearly ,I use it.
A pigeon will be therefore be winging its way across the chanel to you shortly. Just give it some food and send it back.

Mike

[Peter_Jones]

Another Landrover owner - keep the faith, Michael.


I have digital cameras but only use them for specific purposes, various 35mm FRs and Olympus OMs get much more use. I have had several older Landrovers (leaf-sprung) and ride a 1981 Triumph Bonneville. I appreciate things that are built with either durability or "fixability" , and bells&whistles don't impress me much if at all.

Music is on Vinyl, tape and CD, and is an eclectic mix. As to being heirs to the Bauhaus movement ? I doubt it

[sevo]

Well, besides being a formally trained artist and photographer, I have dabbled in music and have been a Techno/House DJ for more than two decades (and hence hoard a few vinyl records). And I do like to read a good book.

However, I don't have (or care for) vintage watches and clocks, motorcycles, cars (if any, our three year old family Fiat Panda might be a indication of a utilitarian mindset) or clothes (neither formal baroque court dress nor the punk rocker outfit I might have failed to shed ever since my adolescence).

[pvdhaar]

Mmm.. vintage cars..

Does a "94 Fiat Panda count?

It's got some dings in the doors, but is otherwise just fine and still does the job like on day one. I've my mind set on keeping it for years and years to come, despite the scrapping subsidies we've got now..

And, I just realized, I got a letter the other day from the RDW (the guys who issue licence plates and collect the road taxes) that my "84 motorcycle is being exempted from road taxes given that it's 25yrs old and therefore now officially classified 'vintage'..

So, officially, I'm in!

[feenej]

I like vintage bicycles. I think bicycle technology peaked in the 1980's (for my tastes). I like old pocket watches.

[Pickett Wilson]

I'm all over the place from 1930's Leicas to 5DMkII's, a 1969 428 Cobra Jet Mach One and a recent model pickup, old Sansui amp to Ipod Touch. I wear an analog watch because it's easier to time development with, play guitar, indifferent to clothes, and have a large collection of classical music, along with lots of rock and blues.

I say I have eclectic tastes. My wife says I just like lots of stuff!

[Lilserenity]

Does a beat up 1988 Ford Escort count as a vintage car?

[Lilserenity]

Anyway on a serious note the only ones I could tick were owning an RF camera, enjoying literature (immensely) and the Bauhaus 'thing'.

[Peter_Jones]

Originally Posted by pvdhaar

my "84 motorcycle is being exempted from road taxes given that it's 25yrs old and therefore now officially classified 'vintage'..

Our (UK) current regime scrapped that rule, which was working fine until they meddled.


Forgot to mention I play Bass Guitar (or rather did - not picked one up for ten years)

[MickH]

So, Richard, it's true that nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

[kid_a]

I'd agree with the threadstarter.. I drive an imported from India vintage Royal Enfield motorcycle, I wear original Rayban wayfarers (Though I do also have new ones because I wanted polarized lenses), I'm not a fan of PDA and instead use a fountain pen with a Moleskine notebook, and although I appreciate mechanical watches, my pockets aren't deep enough to wear one myself, so I choose not to wear a watch at all

Not to mention my RF's, Hasselblad, etc etc, and tendency to shoot film over digital every time.

[FallisPhoto]

I live in the south, where everyone has guns; mine are flintlocks.

[visiondr]

Originally Posted by feenej

I like vintage bicycles. I think bicycle technology peaked in the 1980's (for my tastes)...

You got it, brother!

[sebastel]

if you ask me - bull****.
(sorry for sounding rude)

RFs have a certain style that is not primarily be related to nostlghia, being luddite, or any kind of favouring vintage garbage.

you may as well ask, whether there is a relation between preferring RFs and liking cobblestones.

but that's just my idea.

[uhligfd]

I love cobblestones : easier to walk on than smooth concrete or asphalt ...

I love RF : lighter to carry, better lenses, better pictures

Related, you asked, 'sebastel"? Yes, of course.

Life is best when easy and simple.

[Sonny Boy Havidson]

Originally Posted by kid_a

I'm not a fan of PDA and instead use a fountain pen with a Moleskine notebook

Like me!

I dislike asceptized things so this has consequences:
- Materials: Steal, brass, glass, leather and coton. Very few synthetical materials.
- No sport shoes (Clarks at the moment)
- Microwave oven
- Tape player in my car (well... In fact I had a CD player in my previous car but it ruined my CDs)
- Mecanical watch
- Less and less automatic cameras (and more and more often f/16 rule).
- Fountain pen and almost never a roller

[sebastel]

Originally Posted by uhligfd

I love cobblestones : easier to walk on than smooth concrete or asphalt ...

I love RF : lighter to carry, better lenses, better pictures

Related, you asked, 'sebastel"? Yes, of course.

Life is best when easy and simple.

no objection from my side :-P

[Spider67]

Originally Posted by FallisPhoto

I live in the south, where everyone has guns; mine are flintlocks.

Who obnoxiously ask film camera owners when they will update to modern (=digital) cameras pestering you when you plan to update to assault rifles or Gatling Mini guns?
That thought catches me sometimes when sb who is not that interested in photography tries to make a point

best regards
from old vintage Vienna (Yes where the Secession -now a building- is)

[Sjixxxy]

Do you like vintage clothes?

Check. I bought a wool coat manufactured in 1937 for use last winter.

[Livesteamer]

I have used rangefinders for twenty years now. I also have a 1968 Triumph GT6 automobile. Does that qualify as a vintage automobile or masochism. Maybe that's why I can enjoy FSU cameras. Joe

[piazza63]

I defiantly fit the mold, but not because I'm an RF shooter, but because I'm a product designer. So you have to ask yourself this the RFF culture part of something bigger? Quality? Simplicity? Good Design? Heavy metal objects? I think there is a greater theme.

[FallisPhoto]

Originally Posted by Spider67

Who obnoxiously ask film camera owners when they will update to modern (=digital) cameras pestering you when you plan to update to assault rifles or Gatling Mini guns?
That thought catches me sometimes when sb who is not that interested in photography tries to make a point

best regards
from old vintage Vienna (Yes where the Secession -now a building- is)

Yeah, I do get that sometimes. I tell them that of my 100+ cameras, two are digital.

[jmilkins]

7/10
But I'm flexible: 1930 high chassis Invicta with Van den Plas coachwork. Hexar AF.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2216/...eb439306_o.jpg

[JPSuisse]

Hi all you counter-culture revolutionaries....

I think that piazza63 is on to something. I think that it is about the product and the way certain people perceive the product's attributes. I think it takes 2 things to use a manual focus CRF now: (1) a critical view for products in general and (2) a need for the particular advantages.

I choose a CRF because of it's compact size, the relation of its size to image quality and the fact that I never got the hang of the AF focus on my Nikon D100.

The attitudes above have led me to some strange habits / purchases: (1) I regularly use a straight razor (Rasiermesser) and have since I was in high school, (2) still drive a 1986 SAAB 900 SPG (cool car with a special feeling that I also used to repair myself!!!!) (3) cook on copper, (4) use a MAC ever since Apple switched to Unix, etc.

So far Leica is the only company that, by the way, hasn't directly insulted me with it's advertising strategy. I really liked the advertisement with M8 and the straight razor. They showing the products advantages. Both SAAB and Apple for instance, really almost insult me to the point that I'm ready to change products... Both these companies try to sell with the idea that "different is better." That's just stupid. And by inference, I start to feel stupid carrying around an overprice Powerbook just to be different. (Although at the time that wasn't why I bought the damn thing...) Different is only better, if you find the advantage good for the particular market.

I think here the marketing people need to better understand their customers in many cases. Leica could also improve, but it's marketing department is not too bad.

JP