Interestingly, I found myself wondering the same thing and for similar reasons. Upon further consideration I kind of found myself swinging back to the manual side of the equation and ended up recently selling some camera equipment I already had, possibly something I'll come to regret eventually, but I decided to approach it with a minimalist view and start from the beginning with just the basics.
There was certainly a sentimental aspect to my decision making here as well, but I ultimately decided to sell my Minolta X-700 with 50mm lens and a Leica/Leitz/Wetzlar 40mm lens I've been sitting on to a local camera shop and restrict myself to a fully manual Yashica "J" model rangefinder that belonged to my father, a hand me down Polaroid Spectra AF, and as a bonus some cheap plastic fixed lens Meikai branded film rangefinder a friend's father once gave me that I never even opened... still in plastic wrapping... until my 2 year old son just recently got his hands on it when he woke from his nap to find me going through a box of my camera stuff and insisted we open it! haha. The friend's father was a flea market/yard sale/garage sale hunter and often gifting random little things which were always appreciated but often ended up sitting in the closet or back of a drawer somewhere. It was definitely worth keeping this one around all these years just to see my son's excitement with what is now his first film camera at only 2 years old. I had a few old rolls of Kodak color film as, loaded one up and spent the day shooting away. Should be interesting to see how his first roll turns out (I admittedly took most shots as he was generally just holding it up and verbally going "CLICK!" and not letting me advance the film again anytime he actually snapped an exposure but was having a blast anyway. I have low expectations between my own recent lack of film experience and the toy camera construction (and not even sure the film advance was fully engaging at times) so not sure we'll put much more film through this particular one. Anyway, it was a fun day, and a much needed one, and hopefully we get a decent pic or two between his roll and the one I'm now halfway through on the Yashica as a little memento. Otherwise I plan to run through the remaining few rolls of old expired color film and get more familiar with the old Yashica and see where to go from there. But back to camera selections. I had a few important realizations to really drive that particular decision: 1: I needed some cash and had been looking for unused items to unload/downsize before a recent move- the Minolta X-700 and that Leica lens were the only two worth anything to the local camera shop. 2: I was unlikely to commit enough time in the short term to make the most of the X-700 SLR and all it's features, nor would I have the funds in the near furture to expand on either platform. For the Leica lens. a 40mm Summicron C - originally from a Leica/Minolta CE - I've had a lens with no body for years and no justification or budget to invest in a Leica body - I'd considered selling everything except the Leica lens and saving for a body to pair it with, maybe even a new Voigtlander Bessa (forget which model but one has 40mm framelines) but ultimately decided I'd rather play around with something immediate and selling the less desireable stuff hardly seemed worth the effort. And just as Teague noted above - I wanted to avoid buying/selling on ebay for the exact same concerns.) 3. With a lack of confidence in my camera skills after many years of dormancy and generally mediocre results even when I was more active with film I'm interested in the challenge in making the most of the Yashica's limited features. Plus no other immediate expenses or concerns such as a need for fresh batteries, etc. I guess I'd try to compare it in a way to how I rediscovered something new from something old in cycling kind of like I did by trying friction downtube shifters for the first time when I scored a free roadbike nearly 10 years ago or exploring fixed gear riding a few years back. I'm hoping to learn from and be surprised by whatever I get from these next few rolls of film run through the old camera with little to no expectations. 4. I had to keep the Polaroid just for fun and will eventually order some Polaroid Originals film packs. We acquired this at some point prior to getting married and I loaded up on some boxes of the Impossible film that was available at the time and everyone seemed to have fun with it at our reception, although almost all outdoor shots got overexposed with everyone leaving them face up while they developed : ( Best of luck on your search and re-entry into film and I'll be curious to see what you decide on in the end. Keep us posted. I could probably go on for days about a bunch of thoughts regarding our digital age and how/why I kind of burned myself out on photography altogether, got sick of trying to figure out the multitude of features of our digital camera and decided I'd prefer to just spend my time living in the moment rather than constantly trying to capture moments, etc. but I am now coming to regret the fact that what little documentation I do have of our son's first two years is mostly just in digital format on my iPhone. I now find myself wanting to find greater balance with all this stuff and find a way to capture some milestones while somehow experiencing more pleasure in photographing his childhood in general... while eliminating all the urgency/pressure/immediacy and distractedness of the digital/social media age, if that makes any sense? Sorry, none of this answers any of your direct questions nor provides any actual recommendations. I clearly needed a little distraction from a hectic work day but where I still can't fully escape the screen. Guess you could say my recommendation is to consider what's more valuable to you: Investment in better quality stuff up front but that might come with a higher premium? Or start small/within a budget but with the possibility of being disappointed or quickly wishing to upgrade at even greater expense later on? This is exactly one of my own concerns but I've ultimately decided to put more value for myself on the experience of re-learning to shoot with a very basic and limited feature camera I already own in the hopes that it sparks more joy/curiosity for the process. I've realized the more advanced x700 was just 'more camera' than I needed right now and heftier/bulkier than I'd want to be lugging around (after having done so for a few years back when I bought it used to replace a broken Pentax.) I've essentially chosen to limit myself to one film camera and try to learn all there is to learn from it and see where it goes from there. Brian Cole Lawrenceville, NJ On Friday, August 16, 2019 at 12:14:14 AM UTC-4, Drw wrote: > I think this is on topic. I’ve been semi inspired by all the camera > content, but moreso, after having a kid, I’m becoming more interested In > having hard copy documentation of things (I have a printer. I never print > anything), for him to have when he gets older. > > I know my way around the operation of cameras, not expertly, but I’ve > taken some classes etc. what I have no idea about is what brands, models, > years are good. > > Is there something between a full manual and a full automatic? I think I’d > probably not end up using a manual slr at this point in my life. A point > and shoot may be better, but something in between would be cool if it > exists. > > So what do people like for good quality, durable, quick/easy to use > cameras? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/64726688-2568-4918-bf96-d39fc916c2f4%40googlegroups.com.
