Coming to grips with people getting older

[guitstik]

Well done Bruce.

[FiatluX]

The people that used them are rare, their cameras are rare, the process is rare and we´re getting rare too, lets pass that rarity on!

Great thread, kinda sums up a lot of important things concerning my "need" for analogue photography and old cameras, its like looking at that very old photograph that makes you feel like that particular time is right there at the tip of your fingers, frozen across generations.. Timelessness and the fragile nature of that same time passing so quickly!

[mark]

What a thoughtful and well expressed thread for a bunch of men!

Uh..er..ummmm..yeah..uh....How bout dem Bears? Spit, Scratch, Adjust


Now I need to carve out time to use the camera.

[Mike Wilde]

I don't have the cameras they used, but do have a ton of slides from my now passed father and grandfather.

Two years ago at a camera show I found the model -a Zeiss Ikon Contessamat- that Grandpa shot so many of the slides on. $10 later it was mine. The hunt for the same fan fold Agfa flasholder continues. I have a largish stash of m2B and M3b flash bulbs to complete the kit.

The selenium meter appears functional and accurate still. I have the shutter working again, but not quite on speed. Another cycle of more solvent, wipe up old grease as it is dissolved, and a drying cycle is needed.

It does sit proudly centred among the other cameras in my cameras and photo ephemera display case.
Right next to it is the pair of double 8 movie cameras that my father shot so many of our memories on.

Hopefully by next summer the little Contessamat will be back to being a user, and not just s shelf queen.

[fmajor]

Since i'm the only one in my family of origin who is into photography or anything artistically creative (1st generation!!!!), i'm reading all these posts closely.

I've two young kids (6 and 8) who are showing a burgeoning interest in photography (as well as my wife!!!). For now, they're enjoying the instant results with our little digi p&s cams. However, they love to look through my larger 35mm/RB67 viewfinders so naturally i'm guiding them toward these options. I'm intentionally educating them about different medium's for different uses so they can have a more balanced approach to *their* creative expression - though emphasizing the nuance of film and the benefits of delayed gratification.

That being said, I'm planning on keeping them more 'hands-on' with my film cameras by taking them with me on my photo hikes and everytime i put a camera to use. I've already been planning on having duplicates of my 35mm gear and maybe as time goes i can pick up another RB67 and lens or two to accomodate my preferred (and maybe theirs....) format.

I'll keep the loading on the minimal side to ease their burden - we are also an avid backpacker/mountain hiker family so they're used to carrying packs.

[rthomas]

My parents used to both be very avid photographers, and I caught the bug from them, and then some. I was the one always "wasting film" on family vacations, with my trusty Instamatic 100 (my first camera, belonged to my grandmother)... Now, I have my Mom's Yashica 635 (and her acoustic guitar), and my Dad's Nikon F kit is at my disposal when I want it - sadly he never shoots anymore. I've tried to get them both to go somewhere interesting with cameras in tow, and even offered to buy the film and process & print it for them. But they just aren't into it anymore. So, I am in a strange pickle, in the sense that I am trying to revive that spark in them, after they kindled my interest in the first place.

I have no children. However, my niece seems very fascinated with cameras... she's almost three. Maybe I can get her interested in analog photography.