KISS

[Mongo]

Disregarding digital, is there really anything new under the sun for film photography?

Enlarging heads for Azo. New developer formulas seem to come along every month or two. Occasionally new film emulsions (i.e., J&C Pro 100). A few new ULF lenses last year. New LF cameras on a fairly regular basis. The Nikon F6.

It's not the wave of new stuff from the 1970's, but it's far from a dead field. (And the stuff that's coming out today kicks butt compared to the endless wave of cheap zoom lenses that were the hallmark of the '70s.)

[k_jupiter]

I'm sorry Ian, but the sage old advice never made much sense to me. I am an equipment junkie, and I am proud of it. If I wanted to keep it simple, I would go down to the bookstore and buy every photography book I saw and look at others photos. Doesn't get any simpler.

I own equipment and I know how to use it. I didn't learn by keeping it sitting in the closet while I took one camera and one sheet of film out. I learned by using it and making mistakes. And not making mistakes.

At any one time out in the field, I will have one format with two lens, and a backup format with one or two lens. Imagine hiking three hours and having your Copal jam on you. Makes you want to do violence to things. Now if you have another lens, voila! Or you have the light. Oh damn, I just shot my one sheet of film. How stupid could you be?

One of my favorite days was taking four 3x4 and two 2x3 cameras out with a couple of lens for a couple of them and boatloads of both cut and roll film. Just a day to do equipment tests, film tests, develooper tests, see what was what. I had a great time shooting in the marshes on the south side of SF Bay. Did I learn alot? You bet. Did I shoot some nice images? Oh yeah. How long would it have taken me if I shot one sheet of film per day in each and every camera with all those different lens?

So have a great time developing your one sheet of film. I have photos to take.

tim in san jose