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Author Topic: A Matter of Character  (Read 73016 times)

alban

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #60 on: April 18, 2013, 07:26:13 pm »

I thought the X-Pro was (is) a fine camera but I couldn't stand the amount of buttons crammed in such a small space. Too bad.

And where is that Mamiya 7 ?


Cheers
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WalterEG

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #61 on: April 18, 2013, 07:33:41 pm »

Looking at it now, the Bolex H16 (I don't think that one is the Reflex 'Rex") smacks of the similar Euro industrial design as the Linhof ..... and the Hasselblad.
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Christopher Sanderson

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #62 on: April 18, 2013, 07:41:54 pm »

And now that the Questar has found 'Kepler 62', I'll be off there with the Bolex  ;D

and while I am on flights of fancy, check out Chris Hadfield's latest moonrise photo (a very sweet tweet)
« Last Edit: April 18, 2013, 07:51:46 pm by Chris Sanderson »
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redkev

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #63 on: April 18, 2013, 09:55:41 pm »

Leica red dial 3f, Leica M4, Hasselblad 500c, original Canon F1, Canon A1, Cambo view camera. I have still not met a digital camera with soul. I have owned many digital cameras but I am still searching for "the one". I currently use a Olympus OMD 5e, and have an assortment of other Panasonic micro 4/3's bodies and lenses. I like the Oly but I have not really connected with it in a way I did with the various film cameras mentioned above. I am waiting for the update of the Fuji, version 2' not just a software update. Meanwhile I will make due with the Oly.
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maxgruzen

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #64 on: April 18, 2013, 11:11:43 pm »

Deardoff 4x5......Lovely wood
Linhof 4x5 handheld......beautiful german machining
My Leicas of the '50 & '60's
My Merrill DP2......ugly as sin
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OnlyNorth

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #65 on: April 19, 2013, 02:05:31 am »

Here in East Europe,for those,who had not relatives in the West,there were Exakta Varex 1000 with its two buttons for exposure time and detachable prism and Flektogon 4/20mm lens and the huge Pentacon Six  6x6 both from East Germany.Near them was wonderful Czech Flexaret VII 6x6,4.5x6 and 35mm ::)... in a single camera.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2013, 02:13:03 am by OnlyNorth »
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acoljub

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #66 on: April 19, 2013, 03:55:02 am »

Topcon Re-2 with Topcor 1.4/58mm. In 70-ies. Those were the days...
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Sareesh Sudhakaran

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #67 on: April 19, 2013, 04:02:55 am »


I agree with the F2; had the F, F2 Photomic, the F4S and then sold the latter to go backwards to a simple F3. The best, IMO? the F2 because it had more comfortable rounded edges and corners. The FM and FM2 were okay for higher synch, the only use I gave them, but not in the same league at all. I, too, detest battery dependence. But today and digital - what choice can one possibly have?

Rob C

I have an F2AS, the AS is dead. I also have an FM10, not built like the F2, but totally battery-free! What a joy to use - it's like a boy who was brought up on computers is suddenly given an abacus.

Why can't we have solar powered cameras, like Swiss watches+Eco-Drive? The shutter mechanisms are already available, we just need to drive a sensor for 1 fps or so. Doable?

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Ernst Dinkla

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #68 on: April 19, 2013, 09:00:37 am »

The Iskra 6x6 folder that I have has character while it is actually an improved copy of the Agfa Super Isolette. The Polaroid Pathfinder roll film cameras, like the 160 that I have, belong to that group, modified to sheet film or not. My Canon 5D MK II does not have it. Some Olympus Pens, digital and film, have it. Almost all Fuji's medium format film cameras have it but that ugly MF SLR.

The Fuji digital reviewed by Michael has it though it does not have the extra features I also had foreseen in 2009: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/32926676

--
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December 2012, 500+ inkjet media white spectral plots.
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tjbates

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #69 on: April 19, 2013, 09:35:10 am »

I think film cameras (movie and stills) have more character than digital cameras. Why? Because for me at least they provide(d) a more sensory operational experience than the polycarbonate menu driven cameras of recent years. There was a certain smell, a certain sound, a certain touch. Cameras with character are for me cameras that operate mechanically more so than with a menu based system. The Bolex was and is such a camera. The Arri SR, ST, B&H 70DR Eclair ACL (not the CP16!) and for stills, my late father's humble Pentax K1000.
After shooting aerials of my high school back in 1976 on a Bolex I was hooked. Now many years later after a career shooting broadcast news, I still remember the scent of the film, the sound of the shutter and feel of cool metal nestled in my hands.
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dvinez

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #70 on: April 19, 2013, 09:51:49 am »

Michael: I've owned several no-character cameras,  the Nikon Em, Canon A2, Panasonic FZ30, Nikon D80 and now the D7000. The only cameras I've owned with character have been the Nikon Ftn Photomic,  Nikon F3 & the  Minolta Dimage 7Hi (really). I'm currently using a Nikon V2 and it has potential,  believe it or not.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2013, 09:56:56 am by dvinez »
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Peter McLennan

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #71 on: April 19, 2013, 09:57:37 am »

[
I think film cameras (movie and stills) have more character than digital cameras.

For that reason, I'll add to your list the rackover Mitchell and the Arri IIC.  Beasts, both.  Seminal cameras. Real characters.


For still cameras, I must add the Pentax 6X7.  Nobody who's tripped the shutter on that giant SLR can forget the experience.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2013, 02:41:31 pm by Peter McLennan »
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iowa mike

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #72 on: April 19, 2013, 10:02:21 am »

 :)
  Character would be defined as the camera I might run back into a burning house to save. For me that would be an ancient Rollei 2.8f that has been my favorite camera for over thirty years.
  I should also say that while it is my favorite camera it is also the one I probably use the least anymore, sigh. Love, go figure?
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JeanMichel

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #73 on: April 19, 2013, 10:03:55 am »

and since I like taking at least 24 little pictures every second, my favourite camera of all time was the Bolex: Sweet Swiss clockwork precision.



My first professional outing was to shoot 4 different vehicles converging simultaneously at the centre of a 4-way split screen.

Equipped with a matte box with a three-quarter frame matte - plus a few mm for borders, I carefully rewound the film to the same start point for each of the four exposures. When the workprint came in from the lab, I couldn't believe that it actually worked. From that moment on I loved the Bolex  :-*

(I still have the Gossen LunaSix Pro meter I used then...alas the camera was never mine)


Ahhh! I owned the same but in the 8 mm version, with a a beautiful Angénieux zoom with a silky zoom handle that could be me moved in and out with my pinkie! That was such a joy to use compared to the school's 16 m Bell and Howell's. Wish I'd kept it.
Jean-Michel
« Last Edit: April 19, 2013, 11:09:05 am by Chris Sanderson »
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rasterdogs

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #74 on: April 19, 2013, 11:48:22 am »

I'm inclined to view this in regards to the digital cameras I've experienced
I find the X-pro1 and X-100s to be the digital cameras I've used that bring back the fun I had using film cameras (Nikon F, Nikkormat, Hasselblad 500C).
The Fuji cameras with their hybrid viewfinders (used in OVF mode 90% of the time) provide great capability in non-obtrusive, form factors that are a joy to use as I wander around looking for pictures.
The user interface is less 'computer-ish' than what I've experienced with my Canon DSLRs.
For me these cameras are a joy to use.  Fun tools.
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Rand47

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #75 on: April 19, 2013, 12:01:58 pm »

From the film world:

Leica M4 (wish I still had it - it was a dream come true to be able to buy it new in 1968.)
Olympus OM1 & OM3Ti - the 3 had the best metering system I've ever used.  The OM3 Ti was what a Leica SLR should have been, just superb in every way.

Digital:

Sony a900 - a purpose-built still image machine with much of the best from film days.  The solid feel, the ergos, that wonderful viewfinder that allows easy manual focus even wearing glasses, the IQ - just a very satisfying photograpger's camera.

Sigma DP2 & 3 - I echo Kip Peterson's comments about the thrill of making prints from these files and the forced deliberation of working with the camera's clunkiness.  I'm in love with these little bricks.

Fuji X-100 - which "is" a character rather than having character.  I have an absolutely love-hate relationship with this one.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2013, 12:04:14 pm by Rand47 »
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Rand Scott Adams

Thingo

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #76 on: April 19, 2013, 12:17:40 pm »

An interesting concept.

There are cameras I think of fondly, for a variety of reasons:
  • Olympus XA - durable, eminently suitable for taking everywhere;
  • Canon PC1001 digital Ixus - 2.1Mpx of fun, my introduction to the wonderful world of pixels;
  • Sony W1 - after 14k exposures, mainly pensioned off, following a mishap with water dripping onto the screen at the fire brigade training ground;
  • Pentax *istD - my introduction to thoughtful photography, rather than just point and click;
  • Sigma DP1 - with which I was able to achieve much, sometimes; and
  • Leica S2 - which vanishes in my hands, only to snap back with great annoyance if I leave it unattended on the tripod for too many minutes.

But character, that's along a different spectrum. For me, the funny little *istD has real character. There were lots of additional control combinations that fell easily to hand, just waiting to be discovered: since they weren't in the owner's guide. But once discovered, never forgotten, each truly useful. The *istD is "well sorted".
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ErikKaffehr

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #77 on: April 19, 2013, 01:43:13 pm »

Hi,

For me it was always about a camera that would do the job and do it well, my milestones:

Minolta SRT 101 a good camera that happened to be my first SLR

Minolta XM the first modern Minolta as good as the 101

Minolta Dynax 9Xi, pretty close to what I wanted

Pentax 67 was a decent MF camera I liked a lot, apart from viewfinder reminding me of a black hole

Sony Alpha 700 was a pretty good camera that I probably made my best pictures with

Sony Alpha 99SLT - this is the first camera I can make work as I want, and it even makes decent pictures



Best regards
Erik
« Last Edit: April 20, 2013, 11:27:34 pm by ErikKaffehr »
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Erik Kaffehr
 

Peter McLennan

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #78 on: April 19, 2013, 07:15:22 pm »

Chris,

... began a long and torrid affair with the Arriflex 16 ST...
Walter

Todally.  Nothing to beat an Arri S with hundred foot loads and a Zeiss 8mm Distagon up front.  My weapon of choice for many a shoot.
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tomsi42

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Re: A Matter of Character
« Reply #79 on: April 19, 2013, 07:36:32 pm »

I too liked this article, and with the thoughful replies, decided to register to the site forum.

I read the initial rveiws of the X-Pro here, and got confused as many seemed to like it; but your reviews seemed that it was just a strange camera. I had that feeling when I had the original Sigma DP2; so I decided not to pursue Fuji further.

But a few months ago, I was able to try out the X-E1 for two weeks (with 18-55mm and 35mm /1.4); and I was surprised to find a very nice camera with good handling, and a great character (I installed the latest firmware). The RAW support was still flaky; CaptureOne 7 was still the only real choice. That has now been solved - I get great files with both LR4.4 and C1 v7.1.

The thing that really struck me, after returning the X-E1, is how much I miss the camera (I shoot 4/3 and µ-4/3 currently; had Canon earlier). So it will be my system of choice in the future.

I like telecentricity's comment on a camera's soul. Looking back at my photographs. My take on the subject, is that I to get the best results with characterful cameras, not soul-less machines. The favourites during the times are the Olympus XA, Fuji S-304 (!) and Panasonic GF1.

A few photos from my X-E1 adventure (processed with LR 4.4RC, so trhey could be better).






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