Analog
I started photographing in the penultimate decade of the last millennium (around 1981) with a borrowed Zeiss Ikon Contaflex and a handheld light meter. In 1983 I continued with my own Canon AE1 program. I mostly used Ilford Pan F (B/W) and Kodak Kodachrome (slide) films. Both films are no longer available on the market today. But since my “analog age” is over, this no longer plays a role. Just as an aside: “Who still knows the song “Kodachrome” by Paul Simon from 1973?”
Unfortunately, I used to lack the space for an “analog” darkroom, so I always had to have my B&W films developed and exposed in the lab – with mediocre results. But I still enjoyed it. What I took with me from the “analog age” was the knowledge and handling of aperture, exposure time and depth of field. These are all things that have unfortunately been replaced by the greatest motif programs in today’s “digital age”. The only thing missing is the famous ” motif bell”.
Digital
I made my first “noisy” attempts in the new millennium in 2003 with an Olympus Camedia C-4000 and then switched relatively quickly to a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30. This camera has a very good Leica lens with an excellent autofocus function and can already produce RAW images. However, it has a poor and much too small chip, so that extreme color noise is prevalent from ISO 200.
In the end, however, I ended up back with an SLR and with Canon, the EOS 40D: Enough weight in my hand and finally taking “almost” real photos again. Anyone who has ever looked through the viewfinder of a real SLR knows what I mean. Incidentally, I also have a “darkroom” today. Half of it is “digital: Lightroom from Adobe. The other half, the so-called D/A converter (i.e. digital-to-analog converter) is called a printer, is from Epson (Stylus Pro 3880) and produces excellent black-and-white and color images, possibly also on baryta paper.
I am now the proud owner of a (second-hand) Sony Alpha 7RII. What a camera. Simply brilliant. I waited eight years to buy it. Initially, this mirrorless camera (body only) cost around EUR 3,500 in 2015. In 2024 I was able to buy an impeccable exhibition piece with only approx. 6,000 shutter releases for less than 1,000 EUR.
Back to Analog
This b&w 110 pocket film by lomography has been on the market since 2012, but I’ve only just become aware of it.