Vintage Camera Sightings

[ksmattfish]

I see vintage cameras in the strangest places...

I saw a vintage Leica on the cover of Seventeen magazine a few months back.

Today I was watching The Muppet Show on DVD with my kids. It was the George Burns episode. There was a reporter muppet toting a Hasselblad 500 series camera.

 

[terri]

I remember seeing that magazine cover. I was standing in the checkout line of the grocery store and had to tilt my head and look again to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

I watched some TV pilot (can't even remember the name of it now) a couple months back, and there was a character who was a photographer in it. His *issue* was some kind of artistic block. Ultimately, something inspired him (naturally) and he went for his camera and I remember thinking, "Oh, this oughtta be good." But it was a Leica, too, as I recall, and he got into the darkroom and everything. Impressive!

TV photogs are usually shown using film, probably cause the darkroom scenes look so sexy on TV. :razz:

 

[Big Mike]

In the movie 'One Hour Photo' with Robin Williams...Connie Nielsen's character (the mom) uses a Leica.

 

[ksmattfish]

In the movie Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow Gwyneth Paltrow's character uses an Argus brick, although it's been digitally futurized.

 

[markc]

I can't remember the details, but I seem to recall seeing a movie where one of the characters was using a Rollei TLR. The Foley people used a shutter/film advance sound from modern SLR for it. *cringe*

 

[ksmattfish]

I remember seeing that magazine cover. I was standing in the checkout line of the grocery store and had to tilt my head and look again to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

That's where I saw it. I picked up the mag, and got the kid's name (can't remember it now). He was some sort of musician, I think? Anyway, I tried looking him up online to see if he was into photography, but I couldn't find any info suggesting that.

I noticed that Ben Folds (musician) had some albums or songs or something (I'm not a huge fan, just aware of him) called "Sunny 16" and "Speed Graphic". I searched online, and did find some photos of him using vintage cameras, including a 4x5 Speed Graphic, and a list of his hobbies that included photography, but not a lot of real info or examples of his photography.

 

[terri]

Ha! I'm not a big Ben Folds fan, either, but it's hard to argue with song titles like that.

Oh, and even though it got completely panned, the movie "Fur" shows Nicole Kidman, playing Diane Arbus, reverently upwrapping a Rollei and lifting it up like a piece of gold. I imagine that Rollei closeup was the best part of the movie.

 

[Jeff Canes]

Ben Folds that a name you don’t hear a lot. Folds along with Ben Kweller and Ben Lee made a four song album under the name The Bens, It very good. I’m not fan of Folds but am of Ben Kweller.

Back to camera talk

I can't remember the details, but I seem to recall seeing a movie where one of the characters was using a Rollei TLR. The Foley people used a shutter/film advance sound from modern SLR for it. *cringe*

I recall seeing and hearing that too, also you see a lot of Leica M series in both TV and movies

 

[ksmattfish]

...playing Diane Arbus...

I heard that they loosely based the character on her, but other than that it has nothing to do with her life. It's more like a Beauty and the Beast story. It's been called a "fictional biography", which seems like an oxymoron to me.

 

[danalec99]

In 'Closer', Julia Roberts is a photographer who uses a 'blad and a Leica M6.

 

[terri]

I heard that they loosely based the character on her, but other than that it has nothing to do with her life. It's more like a Beauty and the Beast story. It's been called a "fictional biography", which seems like an oxymoron to me.

heh - no doubt that's why it got panned. You hint of a Diane Arbus biography and show trailers like the one I saw, and I was ready to be entertained by at least a moderately good tale with reverence paid to Rolleis, Hasselblads and the artistry of photography in general. But it was not to be, unfortunately. It was severely panned.

Someone needs to do better! :x

 

[Digital Matt]

This is not necessarily vintage, but I'll go on anyway. The person who lived in our apartment before us was a mail order junkie. We now get catalogs from stores I've never even heard of, sometimes 10 or more per week. One of them is Sundance catalogue, ala the Sundance Film Festival, ala Robert Redford. The catalogue has mostly clothes, rugged outdoor, mountain clothes, for women and men, and also some very overpriced leather furniture. On the cover of the current catalogue is a woman standing in front of the theater where they show the movies. She's holding a Seagull TLR. I was intrigued, and opening to the first page, I find they have them for sale, for the amazingly expensive price of $295. B&H sells them for $139.

Another reference. If you've ever seen Big Fish (great movie), the son's wife is a journalist and she takes some pictures of the old man (Albert Finney) with a Leica.

 

[Don Simon]

Going even further off-topic here, but the bit about the Rollei sounding like a modern SLR reminded me of other movies and TV shows where people wander round taking shots with mechanical cameras without ever focusing or touching any other dial or button but the shutter release... and people taking rapid continous shots on cameras without a motor drive. And no-one ever seems to use fixer... you'd think people working in the film and TV industry would know a bit more about photography

 

[ksmattfish]

I remember a lot of darkroom scenes in the old, live action Spiderman show when I was a kid. It would be interesting to watch them again. I wonder what camera Peter Parker uses?

 

[terri]

I remembered another one. In "I Heart Huckabees" Lily Tomlin's character runs around with an SX-70 Land camera.

That movie kinda sucked as I recall, but I DO remember that part.