Vintage things that have REAPPEARED in your lifetime?

[HanauMan]

I've noted that some of the 35mm stuff is going up in price recently as the cameras and equipment slowly slide into the 'vintage' brackets. So, yes, perhaps a good time to pick up a nice 'retro' / 'vintage' film camera. But there is a trend to go back to film by many amateurs (going by the increased sales of 35mm film) and if I had somewhere nowadays to set up a dark room I'd be joining them too.

I still have a old Zenith 11 SLR, the model that I used to teach myself photography a lifetime ago. Like you, I still plan my photos before I shoot 'em instead of taking a dozen shots. As you say, back in the day each picture mattered, financially.

Funny thing about the Russian tubes mentioned above. Back in the Cold War some Soviet pilots defected to the west with their spanking new Mig fighters. I recall that the engineers all sneered at the Soviet technology and how the electronics had tubes, unlike the more modern western electronics. They derided the Soviet technology as 'backwards' but then it was realized that this was done on purpose as the tubes would be less affected by the electromagnetic pulses from nuclear weapons: in other words, when the nuclear mushrooms rose they would fry western electronics but not affect the Soviets as much!

 

[tonyb]

I've noted that some of the 35mm stuff is going up in price recently as the cameras and equipment slowly slide into the 'vintage' brackets. So, yes, perhaps a good time to pick up a nice 'retro' / 'vintage' film camera. But there is a trend to go back to film by many amateurs (going by the increased sales of 35mm film) and if I had somewhere nowadays to set up a dark room I'd be joining them too.

I still have a old Zenith 11 SLR, the model that I used to teach myself photography a lifetime ago. Like you, I still plan my photos before I shoot 'em instead of taking a dozen shots. As you say, back in the day each picture mattered, financially.

Funny thing about the Russian tubes mentioned above. Back in the Cold War some Soviet pilots defected to the west with their spanking new Mig fighters. I recall that the engineers all sneered at the Soviet technology and how the electronics had tubes, unlike the more modern western electronics. They derided the Soviet technology as 'backwards' but then it was realized that this was done on purpose as the tubes would be less affected by the electromagnetic pulses from nuclear weapons: in other words, when the nuclear mushrooms rose they would fry western electronics but not affect the Soviets as much!

My first SLR was a Zenit (yes, without the "h"), a reverse engineered Pentax, as the photography club's faculty advisor informed me way back then. I bought it new for something in the neighborhood of 40 bucks, if memory serves (which it may not; we're talking almost half a century ago now).

I've had Nikon SLRs as well (still got one around here somewhere) but I preferred the early OMs. They're smaller and lighter and easier to use. The controls seemed more ergonomic to me.

A pro I used to work with has switched to a digital Leica as his go-to camera. He rarely leaves home without it.

 

[tonyb]

Heirloom tomatoes.

I hadn't heard of such things until fairly recently. Or, if I had, it didn't make much of an impression. When I was a youngster tomatoes in the garden were red and round. Now, in my own tomato beds, besides the Early Girls and Beefsteaks, I have some that are supposed to produce purple fruit and some with yellow fruit. Got some Romas, too. I'd have to refer to the little plastic tags to tell you what all I got growing back there.

The heirloom varieties never went away entirely, of course. But you rarely if ever saw the seeds or plants at the "regular" garden store or growing in the neighbors' gardens. Now they're everywhere, even the big-box stores.

 

[Captain Neon]

My wife got me hooked on growing tomatoes after we got married. She convinced me to grow a few plants behind our garage so I could have a few BLT. They were the round and red varieties back then that I picked up as seedlings from a big box store. The interest has now expanded to growing mostly open pollinated (heirloom, if you prefer), and a few hybrids. This year we are covering the gamut of tomato colours (green when ripe, white, yellow, orange, pink, red, purple, black, and even blue). I grow varying sizes from cherries to my favourite beefsteak varieties. We eat a lot fresh, give some away, and can as much as we can into salsa, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, and crushed tomatoes. I start from seed, and try to grow a few different varieties. Just to keep me honest on trying new ideas, I ask my wife and two boys to each pick a variety of their choice for me to grow. My wife esp. likes the blue tomatoes, but I have yet to be impressed by a single one that she has chosen: poor yield and boring flavour. She says that she likes the way they look. I learn something new every year about growing tomatoes.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I've got b/w film loaded in three cameras at the moment - Nikon F2, Olympus Stylus Epic, and Minox IIIs. (Also unloaded: another F2, two Olympus OM bodies, a half-dozen lenses for each system, another Minox, and many other cameras, including Yashica TLRs and Graphic 4x5s.)

But I never actually stopped shooting film, so it's not like I've "come back" to it. In fact, I only got my first smartphone with a decent camera a couple of months ago... and while it's amazing tech, and certainly useful for grab shots and documentation, I don't consider it "photography". I prefer to think of "digital imaging" as a separate technology and discipline (though it requires barely any discipline or craft compared to using manual exposure/focus film cameras).

I've still got tons of darkroom equipment from my pro-photographer parents (including an Omega D3 autofocus 4x5 enlarger that I have no doubt works perfectly)… but haven't set up a darkroom, I've just been developing the film in my kitchen and scanning the negs for the last few years. I just don't do enough to justify old-school printing in a darkroom.

I grew up working in my parents studio and b/w photography is just part of who I am. I will probably never stop shooting/developing b/w film, as long as film and chemistry remain available and I can still operate the equipment.

 

[tonyb]

My wife got me hooked on growing tomatoes after we got married. She convinced me to grow a few plants behind our garage so I could have a few BLT. They were the round and red varieties back then that I picked up as seedlings from a big box store. The interest has now expanded to growing mostly open pollinated (heirloom, if you prefer), and a few hybrids. This year we are covering the gamut of tomato colours (green when ripe, white, yellow, orange, pink, red, purple, black, and even blue). I grow varying sizes from cherries to my favourite beefsteak varieties. We eat a lot fresh, give some away, and can as much as we can into salsa, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, and crushed tomatoes. I start from seed, and try to grow a few different varieties. Just to keep me honest on trying new ideas, I ask my wife and two boys to each pick a variety of their choice for me to grow. My wife esp. likes the blue tomatoes, but I have yet to be impressed by a single one that she has chosen: poor yield and boring flavour. She says that she likes the way they look. I learn something new every year about growing tomatoes.

How many plants do you have, more or less?

 

[Captain Neon]

I'm growing 18 plants this year. 13 in the ground, and 5 in pots on our deck. We moved over the winter so this is new ground with new conditions. I was in a community plot the last three seasons. This year, I am growing in my back yard. Learning a lot while trying some new to me ideas in growing.

 

[tonyb]

I'm growing 18 plants this year. 13 in the ground, and 5 in pots on our deck. We moved over the winter so this is new ground with new conditions. I was in a community plot the last three seasons. This year, I am growing in my back yard. Learning a lot while trying some new to me ideas in growing.

This is my fourth growing season in a climate quite unlike the one I knew. Shorter season, far more extreme temperatures, far dryer. That’s the downside. The upside is that it is far sunnier. The tomatoes did very well last year and are off to a bang-up start this year.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^
Should be “drier,” not “dryer.” I hate not being able to clean up those kinds of mistakes. Drives the old proofreader in me nuts.

 

[Just Jim]

I've still got my Nikons and lenses (and all kinds of extra stuff--anyone need a bulk roller?), but haven't shot a frame of film in a years. I do use some of the lenses on my digital Nikon, but really need a better set-up to use manual focus lenses. If I could get a digital back for my F3, I'd be content.

 

[Bugguy]

Perhaps this is a good time to be snapping up "classic" 35mm cameras. I've seen almost giveaway prices on this "obsolete" stuff of late.[/QUOTE]

That's why I picked up a an early Nikonos underwater camera (Nikon 1963 and later). I couldn't afford it when I was regularly diving, but bought it cheap a few years ago. There's a real science to underwater photography thats being lost in the digital world.

 

[tonyb]

Rolled up cuffs on blue jeans. It’s getting to be a common sight, as it was in the 1950s and earlier, if period photos (gazillions of them) are to be trusted.

Let us hope that “high-water” pants lengths remain forever in the early to mid-’60s

 

[BobHufford]

Let us hope that “high-water” pants lengths remain forever in the early to mid-’60s

I thought "high-water" lengths were the current fashion. At least it is among the younger men at my place of employment.

 

[tonyb]

I thought "high-water" lengths were the current fashion. At least it is among the younger men at my place of employment.

Wouldn’t be the first time I got hip to something just in time for it to be passé.

 

[3fingers]

I thought "high-water" lengths were the current fashion. At least it is among the younger men at my place of employment.

Your young fellows may be ahead of the curve. While I am not a fan of high waters, the style among the younger set here still appears to be walking on them until they fray off. Bonus points for embroidery on the back pockets. Also professionally torn and worn with holes on the day of purchase. I would welcome shorter lengths over that ridiculousness.

 

[tonyb]

Your young fellows may be ahead of the curve. While I am not a fan of high waters, the style among the younger set here still appears to be walking on them until they fray off. Bonus points for embroidery on the back pockets. Also professionally torn and worn with holes on the day of purchase. I would welcome shorter lengths over that ridiculousness.

“Distressed” denim is in a class with fake antiques and breast implants. If that’s what you want, well, go on ahead, but don’t expect any cheers from this quarter.

I like faded blue jeans, and patched blue jeans. In my late adolescence and early adulthood, which coincided with the “hippie” era, I patched my Levi’s red tags (aka 501s) until the original fabric wore so thin it just wouldn’t hold the patches anymore. And that took a whole lot of rough wearing, and washing in hot water. Years of it.

Honest wear is, um, honest. Genuine. The real deal. “Distressed” jeans are anything but.

 

[tonyb]

I'm growing 18 plants this year. 13 in the ground, and 5 in pots on our deck. We moved over the winter so this is new ground with new conditions. I was in a community plot the last three seasons. This year, I am growing in my back yard. Learning a lot while trying some new to me ideas in growing.

My tomato season came to a halt earlier this week when one helluva hailstorm blew through and just shredded my plants. It also tore hell outta the tree leaves. The ground was covered with ’em.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ransomware Forces Alaskan Town To Revert To Typewriters.

 

[Edward]

Probably been talked about elsewhere, but vinyl records are making a HUGE comeback. For example, LP sales in the US were around 980,000 in 2007. By last year, they were over 14 million. Part of it is the moronic hipster crowd who think it's ironic to listen to records, part of it the audiofool crowd who claim they can discern a 1 hz difference 47 octaves above a dog whistle. Mostly it's people like me who just enjoy the fuller sound and the listening experience of an LP (short play time, album artwork, etc).

The audiophile crowd never really moved on from vinyl, even if some also compromised on having CDs as well for convenience. It's only in the last few years that a small section of that market have accepted digital. Personally, I'm happy anyone is buying vinyl to listen to (better than than novelty placemats. Depending on the record, obvs...). Often, as with other things I like, those crazy hipsters buying into it is what makes it commercially viable, so. The hifi crowd were always right that vinyl has a warmer sound, even if in many cases you have to have high end equipment to be able to hear the difference (once it gets to a level where it can be measured but not heard by the human ear, I cease to see the point). LP sales have similarly gone up here; you can now even buy asmall range of classic LPs in Sainsburys Supermarkets alongside the CDs, tablets, and DVDs. I'm enjoying that.

Automobile starter buttons.

My first car was a 1961 Morris Mini Cooper, and it had a starter button near the shift lever on the floor. Put the key in the switch and turn it, but to complete the ignition, one had to press the button.

My 2014 Mercedes has one. I hadn't seen one in decades!

They're something I've always associated with an auto rather than a stick, but that may just be the (mostly British, Japanese and European) cars I happened to experience. Little experience with US or US market cars, other than that I know an automatic is the norm there, whereas a stick is very much the standard in the UK.

I had a couple of vehicles with foot-activated starter switches. Those vehicles were older than me.

The best footswitch I ever saw was the dimmer switch in a Morris Minor 1000 - left-foot operated, beside the clutch. Great idea, once you got used to it.

I have a tube pre-amp for my turntable, and the first thing I did when I got it was replace the tube with a Russian-made one. Significant upgrade. I've got a little 15W tube guitar amplifier, and have had my eye on a genuine (that's pronounced gen-u-WINE) 85W Fender Twin Reverb for a while now. Just haven't pulled the trigger. Love that tube sound.

Sovteks especially are superb tubes. If you don't already, best buy that matching detached house miles from anywhere to go with that Twin - or invest in deaf neighbours. Loud beasts! Years ago I bought a Silverface Bassman 100, but I'm going to have to sell it as it's just impractical for me. Too dern loud for an apartment, and I don 't play out at all now, let alone in big enough venues for that...

But I never actually stopped shooting film, so it's not like I've "come back" to it. In fact, I only got my first smartphone with a decent camera a couple of months ago... and while it's amazing tech, and certainly useful for grab shots and documentation, I don't consider it "photography". I prefer to think of "digital imaging" as a separate technology and discipline (though it requires barely any discipline or craft compared to using manual exposure/focus film cameras).

I tend to the opinion that film will stay around for the real hobbyists, while disappearing totally for snaps. Interesting to look at the digital camera market these days, as the generic digital snaps cameras seem to be dropping off as the quality of phonecams rises. The real growth area there is in the digital SLR / SLR-chasing compact cameras which allowing for changing lenses, manual operation, viewfinder use and such.

I take your point about the lower level of skill required to operate a fully auto camera, though some of the most impressive shots I've ever seen have been taken on some surprisingly low-end, all-auto phone cams. I think having an eye for a good picture is always going to superceed to tools used to get it to some extent. Interesting, though, to see the market split between devices for those who just want to capture an image and those who enjoy the process of doing so and want to have more creative control over it. We're seeing, I think, the tech separate those markets out in a way that hasn't happened before.

I've still got my Nikons and lenses (and all kinds of extra stuff--anyone need a bulk roller?), but haven't shot a frame of film in a years. I do use some of the lenses on my digital Nikon, but really need a better set-up to use manual focus lenses. If I could get a digital back for my F3, I'd be content.

Quite possibly a specialist that can fit it out there. I've seen it done with Leicas. The big plus there is you get that lovely weight and feel to it, rather than the industry's obsession with reducing the weight of (digital) cameras. I like a bit of heft to my stuff....

Rolled up cuffs on blue jeans. It’s getting to be a common sight, as it was in the 1950s and earlier, if period photos (gazillions of them) are to be trusted.

I remember turnups on jeans being fashionable in the late eighties (tail end of the 80s does 50s thing, I guess), then it going out. Not noticed it hit the manstream here, though I've been into that look long enough now that uncuffed jeans look weird to me.

Let us hope that “high-water” pants lengths remain forever in the early to mid-’60s

They've still got a bit too much of a racist/whitepower vibe to them in the UK, I think - though some skater shorts are now getting so long.... I have seen them on some of the hipster kids round shoreditch, though, which usually means one of two things - either they're about to be in in six months' time, or they've been in mainstream fashion for a while and are on the way out, so wearing them now is totes ironic.

Your young fellows may be ahead of the curve. While I am not a fan of high waters, the style among the younger set here still appears to be walking on them until they fray off. Bonus points for embroidery on the back pockets. Also professionally torn and worn with holes on the day of purchase. I would welcome shorter lengths over that ridiculousness.

Ha, the last night out my students organised and took me along on, two of them turned up in what were obviously Type 3 / Trucker style denim jackets that were so frayed and holey that I'd have put them in the bin long ago. Seriously worse by orders of magnitude than the similar denim jacket I stopped wearing at twenty four, after a decade of hard wear, because the cuffs were going (these days I'd simply take the sleeves off, but whatever....). Couldn't help but think of Derelicte by Mugatu.

 

[Annie B]

Heirloom tomatoes.

I hadn't heard of such things until fairly recently. Or, if I had, it didn't make much of an impression. When I was a youngster tomatoes in the garden were red and round. Now, in my own tomato beds, besides the Early Girls and Beefsteaks, I have some that are supposed to produce purple fruit and some with yellow fruit. Got some Romas, too. I'd have to refer to the little plastic tags to tell you what all I got growing back there.

The heirloom varieties never went away entirely, of course. But you rarely if ever saw the seeds or plants at the "regular" garden store or growing in the neighbors' gardens. Now they're everywhere, even the big-box stores.

My mom and I had a farmer's market stand in the early 90s that specialized in heirloom tomatoes. People called her "the old tomato lady" lol. They were quite unusual where we were, at least. My favorite customers were the elderly folks who hadn't had a tomato like that since they were kids!