Member-only story
When I left the rangefinder camera
and succumbed to modern electronics
I love photography, more the act than the product, to be honest. To be out and about, fiddling with composition and exposure while trying not to get run over by a car or fall down a cliff. Photography is hard work, exhilarating, tiring, and not well paid.
I love post-production, which is so easy these days. I love the purity and focus that black and white images convey: one shape, one thought at a time. Film photography is a whole different ball game of experiences and complexities. Film photography is having a renaissance. The entry costs are low; decent film cameras are cheap. Using them makes you feel you honor the greats of yesteryear, and perhaps someday someone will honor you the same way.
Before SLR photography, there was rangefinder photography. This is the realm of Leica. Their marketing is brilliant. Their autofocus is non existent. A rangefinder is a mechanical-optical contraption; it cannot be automated or digitized. There is also no auto-exposure. You must conscientiously decide on the aperture and shutter speed. In film, the ISO is preset; digital rangefinders have auto ISO, and the camera suggests the shutter speed. There is no autoaperture in a rangefinder camera.
