the RF Culture

[mawz]

I have an admiration for well engineered simplicity, be it modern or classic. My watch is a modern Seiko, my cameras are mostly 70's era stuff. I don't drive much, but my bicycles are quite simple setups (barcons and 9speed kit on the old MTB, singlespeed on the new one). My taste in cars is decidedly minimalistic although I do like some modern stuff.

I'm not really into 'classic' per se, I just don't like over-complex stuff, especially if it has poor reliability.

[johank]

Film cameras, Rf and SLR, yes there are a few Digitals too.
TB and E-type are classic. As my CB750 from 74. Bikes made to size are great, mine are from the -80s. My wife claims I'm a collector maybe she is close......
Taylor made, shoes and suits makes you keep your size.
My farm orgins 1600 so.....YES!

[d_ross]

I don't wear a watch, I have a mobile phone on me any time I need to know the time, which is rarely. I drive a Nissan car, I enjoy looking at old cars and motorbikes etc if I come across them, but would never seek them out. I listen to any music thats on and own a wide variety of it. I read, being a man it's always autobiographical or art history. And life and art have always been one for me. I have several cameras including a point and shoot digital. But the camera I use for the majority of my work is a rangefinder! I cant really explain it but apart from the obvious advantages of the RF for certain types of work, I see and think differently when I use one!

I think perhaps the thing that unites RF users is our having the ability or nouse to use the tool that's best for the job, and not just accept the advertising hype of the canon and Nikon corporations etc saying that the latest is actually also the greatest. I use digital when digital suits!

[DSikes]

A common thread I find with film users in general is an appreciation for tangible things you can hold in your hand (i.e. negatives, prints, records, etc...) Most of the people I know that shoot film (in real life and online) also are comfortably co-existing with digital technology. They may buy records but they also have a mp3 player and a cell phone. They also tend to appreciate quality. The reference was made to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; Trying to define quality drove the man mad. I can't define quality, but I know it when I see it/feel it.

There is something about the straight forwardness of a Rangefinder that I find really appealing. The less is more aesthetic. It's a quality that is shared with a lot of old cars/bikes. Everything you need and nothing you don't...

[lightshot]

I had to laugh over the initial post! I do prefer steam trains and drive a vintage 230 SL! Too funny!

That's in part what turned me towards vintage cameras and film photography - the desire to go use the older equipment that will not figure out how to take the picture for me.

Sure it's nice to have the convenience of a DSLR for photos on the fly, but it is so much more satisfying to look through the viewfinder on my Yashica and compose the picture, after carefully adjusting the F stops, the focus knob, and the shutter speed. Then you gently wind the film advance crank and then pull it back to set the shutter for the next one. Ahhh.....

[mph]

I dont have a (digital)/rangefinder-i cant afford any...
I got (digital)cameras with rangefinder soul (canon G5, ricoh GX100, panasonic L1)

I got an automatic-analog Hamilton watch and a plastic swatch skin)

I drive a 2007 Fiat Punto but I really love old cars and motocycles

I am almost always dressed on casual clothes

I usually listen to music on my rega P3 turntable and on un internet radio when I am home, and on my i-pod touch when not.

I dodnt really like reading books, but I love poes and good films.

I listen to many kinds of music, including classical.

I play classical, acoustic and electric guitar, as well as some percussion and tzoura (greek folk instrument like boozooki)

and yesser! I am a Bauhaus lover!!!

[docolmo]

Funny you asked. I listen to rock music of the 70's (Frank Zappa), but also have appreciated jazz music before my time (John Coltraine, Blossom Dearie). I listen through a Jadis vacuum tube amp but with a digital CD player. Wish I still have my Linn Sondek and SMC arm (but have given away all my vinyls). Started cycling after age 50 on modern carbon racing bikes, but contemplating getting an old threaded steering tube steel bicycle. Have an old Merc. I rotate every two or three months to wear my three automatic (mechanical) watches. I only trust my leather sole Loake shoes as they easily last ten years with proper maintenance and repair. And, of course, the Leica M8. However, the MP and M3 sit in the dry box in immaculate condition.

[Dave Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by docolmo

Funny you asked. I listen to rock music of the 70's (Frank Zappa), but also have appreciated jazz music before my time (John Coltraine, Blossom Dearie). I listen through a Jadis vacuum tube amp but with a digital CD player. Wish I still have my Linn Sondek and SMC arm (but have given away all my vinyls). Started cycling after age 50 on modern carbon racing bikes, but contemplating getting an old threaded steering tube steel bicycle. Have an old Merc. I rotate every two or three months to wear my three automatic (mechanical) watches. I only trust my leather sole Loake shoes as they easily last ten years with proper maintenance and repair. And, of course, the Leica M8. However, the MP and M3 sit in the dry box in immaculate condition.

......WOW!.....amazing....and so impressive!!

[rodfelici]

I think that you get the point.
I have a lot of vintage Rf cameras (Xa, Retina IIIc, Canonet GIII QL17...) that use everyday, but I use digital for work, D200, and I have a lot of digital cameras too; I have a 1970 Super Beetle Cabrio that I use every day, but a peugeot 206 for long trips and work, I like Hendrix, Mozart, Beethoven, Genesis etc., and I hear it on mp3, but I have a lot of vinyls...
I think if you TRY (I try, I do not know If I succed) to match art and life toghether, then you can appreciate beautiful pieces of design and art of any time in history.
And, obviously, there are a lot of things that are beautiful pieces of design and art if you look back in the past, for a statistical reason.

[piazza63]

This an awesome bike! My buddy just picked up a Grand Sport off of Craigslist a couple of weeks ago and it's beautiful, full of high quality components.

[mrisney]

Working as a software person. I grow weary of digital. Like vinyl records, film is something special. I like all mechanical rangefinders (M4-P) and my C220 TLR, as they are camera's that have no dependency on much of anything prone to failure or running out. Maybe its the romanticizing of the 'Off the Grid' concept- but isn't really practical. My little outdated fuddy duddy cameras give me a taste of freedom I yearn for, in someplace in my soul. Plus, the images, just rock, I can't explain it, but my Portra 160NC negs. always make me smile, and pause and examine each one, whereas I zip through my digital RAW files, without much emotion, looking for a keeper.

[edodo]

In Japan film shooters are increasing relatively. I bet this will spread to the entire world once every photogs will get tired of digital rendering! Let's say in about 10 or 15 years film will be back!

[Pickett Wilson]

edodo, the only way film will "be back" is if Walmart puts film processors back into their stores and sells new film cameras again. Who makes consumer P&S film cameras anymore? Film's trajectory is hardly in question.

[Ezzie]

6/10

I've always loved things that are good (IMO) industrial designs. Another Land Rover driver/owner, have several, the newest being 1974MY. Have not thrown out the vinyl yet, and do listen to classical music, choral/vocal stuff especially - Requiems don't get me down, they lift me up. I like timekeeping pieces, classic cars, classic cameras, historical/fantasy/sci-fi literature, knives, torches (flashlights) and have been known to pick up a guitar and flex the vocal chords. I wear traditional clothing on fine occassions even (kilt - should have ticked off another box).

[nathanp]

Originally Posted by mrisney

Working as a software person. I grow weary of digital. Like vinyl records, film is something special.

I can relate to that!

In addition, having grown up in the 80s and 90s, with everything automated and digital I find that I'm really comfortable with, and understand, digital technology. When it comes to mechanical matters it's a different thing entirely - the concept of an entirely mechanical camera seems almost like witchcraft to me and that magic appeals to me.

[Al Kaplan]

Nobody is going to make two trips to Walmart just to get a roll of film processed. Too dang far for most of us! The neighborhood Walgreens or CVS? most of them still promote One-Hour service and they all seem to process and print. They seem well stocked with film in both their own house brand, as well as Kodak.

[kshapero]

I have an RF Camera
I like John Cage
I ride a bike
I have owned Saab's since 1971
I hate repairing them.
I love Brussels sprouts

[raid]

I used to own a 1976 Mercedes 450SL. It is gone since one year.
Vintage cars are cool, but repairing them is so uncool.

[PeterL]

Very strange poll.

I "like" several of the items mentioned above and several other things in life, too. But I have/collect/frequently buy/study hardly any of them. For me, all of them are actually the same. If I want to buy a camera and I have plenty of time, I'll read up on it, make sure I understand the different types, the better ones of each type and then decide which one to go for. If ever I'd be wanting to buy a vintage car, I'd do the same. But the same is valid for kitchen furniture, washing machines, coats, cigars and hamburgers, to mention just a few. Some of the latter objects are of much more interest to me than the ones mentioned in the poll, but unfortunately, I couldn't select them.


Peter.

[varjag]

Not really into vintage. Never owned a turntable, and no way am ever going to wear vintage clothes. My occupation is developing embedded computers and software, so you'd be hard-pressed to find a Luddite streak in me.

Don't really see how literature and playing instruments relate to the rest, it's not like it's now any more out of fashion than before.

[TheHub]

I voted for RF, timepiece, literature and Bauhaus.

Most of my cameras are RFs; I dislike the asthetics of SLRs.
I have a wind up Swiss watch; I don't like quartz watches, especially Japanese ones as they almost killed the Swiss watch industry. Seiko releasing classic looking watches just added insult upon injury.
I like old books. "Around the World in 80 Days" is a good one, for example.
I'm a big fan of Bauhaus design (furniture, type, etc.)
Vintage clothing is nice, but I don't own any (Western antiques are exhorbitant in Japan.)
Sorry, no interest in cars or motorcycles. Steam trains, neither.

Howcome there's nothing about old airplanes? Constellations, Stratocruisers, 707s?

[jsrockit]

I simply like to use Leica rangefinders... it isn't a status thing to me or a lifestyle thing. It is just the camera that feels most comfortable. I'm a photographer, not a hipster / elitist / throw-back.

[cnphoto]

I like the feel of Leicas, and other simple all mechanical cameras built to a similar standard (Hasselblad, old folders, late 60's early 70's SLRs etc). they just feel great, confidently solid. I always have used the digital cameras I have owned in Manual mode anyway, I didn't use the Auto or semi-auto modes. Simply because I liked to use my cameras manually. I also prefer focusing with a rangefinder.

I played bass for just over 10 years, but arthritis in my hands made it uncomfortable in the end and I couldn't play at the standard I wanted I used to so I stopped. When I played, I always owned Fender P Basses. one new and one late 70's model. That older bass felt great. not the most versatile of instruments, but it does what it does well and feels like a tank - running through an old tube head cranked to 10 that sound cannot be beat.

When money permits and after we purchase a semi-newish small car for my fiancée I'll be looking to get an older car for me to drive around in. Have seen some beautiful MG's for a decent price lately - I like driving old cars, no fuss (unless they break), and I like to tinker under the hood a little too. Our home has moslty old furinture, my fiancée likes an older aesthetic. I do want to get a bike too, but have made a compromise by getting an old car (she isn't a fan of bikes, has had a few family members on the wrong side of bike crashes). if I could get a bike, it'd be a Triumph Bonneville - the old man rides a Harley and all of his mates ride old bikes.

[Bob Helmond]

Grew up in the 1950s with a Perfex 44, an inexpensive Chicago, USA-made rendering of a Leica with a fixed 50mmƒ3.5.

Once I got the money, I picked up a IIIc and a IIIf rd and some lenses, then later on I got into a user M2 & M3s and finally in 1985 brand. spanking new M4-Ps and NEW lenses. These I will use until I have no further use for living.

[jjovin]

I think the following question also fits the list:
Do you listen to tube audio?