Photography was not a hobby of mine, till the early day of trekking. Having a snapshot for memory sake, was a luxury. The early photos from my cycling trips were taken on my friends Isoly, which was 110 mm film camera.
My early experiments were on my Dad's Pax Junior. It was an old Japanese aim and shoot camera with 35 mm film. It had shutter speed and aperture setting, I guess the aperture itself had timed exposure. I was too poor to afford a Film. Even a B and W roll had to be used carefully, so that each frame was perfect and yielded in a good print. Each bad print meant print cost+ x/36th of the film cost (x=number of wasted snaps).
For my first experiment I set 1/125 and F5.6 to shoot all of them. The focus had to be guessed manually, there being nothing for parallax removal. Owing to a malfunction in shutter spring my entire roll was overexposed.
My early adventures, includes the Rajdher 350 ft Wall climb were without photographic "evidence".
I went off to Basic Mountaineering course in 1985 without a camera. It was the most cruel thing to go on a Himalayan climb with no camera. (These were the years when Hotshot camera appeared in market). During my return from basic course we were wandering in Pahadgunj specifically looking for Mountaineering equipment, i.e. haversacks. I remember, we had 1 hr to catch the train and we were in this small shop bargaining for second hand Polish make Tourist frame-haversacks. The deal was made and he asked. "We have two SLR cameras."
My heart beat wildly. My friend and I were so excited as we handled our first SLRs.
It was a Zenit 12 XP model. 1/500 max shutter speed 1/16 Aperture. Ground glass focus. "Rs 1000/ camera". The deal was made, rushed to the station and the train moved.
The two dots inside the camera told me that exposure was OK and I could shoot. A heavy clang of the guillotine like shutter made sure that every one heard the shot.
It was a heavy camera (2KG) that I used on Mt Kedarnath and Mt Matri. I think the body was brass like. The camera emerged with winning colors on two accounts
1) A fall on Dhak Pinnacle..The camera banged on the rock
2) A slipped rucksack on Mt Matri glacier approximately 50 ft fall, the camera took at least 3 direct hits in the moraine of granite like shrapnel
After Matri, I felt I should buy a lighter camera for Alpine style climbs. I sold my old one (again for 1000INR). On a trip to fort, Mumbai, in one of the shady looking shops that sold "imported stuff" and I bought Olympus OM10. It had a Manual adapter sold separate.
Several rolls and many frustrations later, I cursed myself for having parted with my Loyal Zenit.
The OM10 shutter response was too- slow and always burned all my films.
Especially, it is a big pain and anxiety making many stabs at my patience when I am eagerly waiting for the results of a climb after 1 month only to know, the result is overexposed.
There were no shops to repair the camera. To the few I visited told me "All IS WELL".
I went back to another "shady shop" to barter my OM10 for another used camera. This time I chosse NIKKORMAT. It was similar to Zenit. Completely MANUAL..(By now I detested anything automatic). It came with a faulty Exposure meter, but who needed one! I had developed expertise to a good level by then. A few snaps from my Pre-Everest expedition to Manda and Mt Bhagirathy were satisfactory and I was pleased. Most unfortunately, the mirror of the camera lost the coat and the location of exactly on the focus.
A lot happened to my life after Pre Everest. I was not on the final team. I was down with money. But I was on another team that planned a Alpine style expedition on Satopanth. After pooling in money I had enough to swap my Nikkormat with a NIKON FM10. From the camera shop, I took my new toy, and visited the Everest team at their packing site in Mulund. I think they were too surprised to see a castaway show up.
The castaway had found his true love and Everest sorrow could be drowned on Satopanth, Alpine style.
Satopanth slides were beautiful. FM10 was a good and light camera. But, Satopanth was also my last large expedition. I changed my Job. I had twice the money, but I had no heart for the mountains. The photos were now restricted to my family trips and my Growing son and daughter. I purchased a Sony DV CAM. A 3.4 mega pixel Fujifilm during a official trip to Japan.
Few years down the road, at age of 40 I again attempted a small mountain and the main reason was to use my Handycam and Fujifilm. (These were during the years when 5MP camera had started selling in market at very high cost)
Few years later I bought a D5100 from Singapore. A 28-200 Nikon lens from a store in Japan. Unfortunately, these new "liabilities" were not used as I completely retired from climbing.
I have lost my "affinity" for camera now. I and many of my age, have gone through pretty much the same course of expenses towards photography, few of us have spent lot more. Only to realize today that a snap costs almost nothing. 13MP can be taken on a Mobile.
In almost 20 years, I may not have more than 10 "selfies" from SLR, even with auto timer..and now many people think they are extremely essential to survive.
I know the "value" of photography as I have been paying for the evolution, a cost that many have not even imagined.
But wouldn't it be worth a try for some days, to photograph such that each frame pays back a dividend? Please do not shoot because it is free. Shoot minimalist. Shoot what is best. Make every frame speak for the quality of choice that you make.
My early experiments were on my Dad's Pax Junior. It was an old Japanese aim and shoot camera with 35 mm film. It had shutter speed and aperture setting, I guess the aperture itself had timed exposure. I was too poor to afford a Film. Even a B and W roll had to be used carefully, so that each frame was perfect and yielded in a good print. Each bad print meant print cost+ x/36th of the film cost (x=number of wasted snaps).
For my first experiment I set 1/125 and F5.6 to shoot all of them. The focus had to be guessed manually, there being nothing for parallax removal. Owing to a malfunction in shutter spring my entire roll was overexposed.
My early adventures, includes the Rajdher 350 ft Wall climb were without photographic "evidence".
I went off to Basic Mountaineering course in 1985 without a camera. It was the most cruel thing to go on a Himalayan climb with no camera. (These were the years when Hotshot camera appeared in market). During my return from basic course we were wandering in Pahadgunj specifically looking for Mountaineering equipment, i.e. haversacks. I remember, we had 1 hr to catch the train and we were in this small shop bargaining for second hand Polish make Tourist frame-haversacks. The deal was made and he asked. "We have two SLR cameras."
My heart beat wildly. My friend and I were so excited as we handled our first SLRs.
It was a Zenit 12 XP model. 1/500 max shutter speed 1/16 Aperture. Ground glass focus. "Rs 1000/ camera". The deal was made, rushed to the station and the train moved.
The two dots inside the camera told me that exposure was OK and I could shoot. A heavy clang of the guillotine like shutter made sure that every one heard the shot.
It was a heavy camera (2KG) that I used on Mt Kedarnath and Mt Matri. I think the body was brass like. The camera emerged with winning colors on two accounts
1) A fall on Dhak Pinnacle..The camera banged on the rock
2) A slipped rucksack on Mt Matri glacier approximately 50 ft fall, the camera took at least 3 direct hits in the moraine of granite like shrapnel
After Matri, I felt I should buy a lighter camera for Alpine style climbs. I sold my old one (again for 1000INR). On a trip to fort, Mumbai, in one of the shady looking shops that sold "imported stuff" and I bought Olympus OM10. It had a Manual adapter sold separate.
Several rolls and many frustrations later, I cursed myself for having parted with my Loyal Zenit.
The OM10 shutter response was too- slow and always burned all my films.
Especially, it is a big pain and anxiety making many stabs at my patience when I am eagerly waiting for the results of a climb after 1 month only to know, the result is overexposed.
There were no shops to repair the camera. To the few I visited told me "All IS WELL".
I went back to another "shady shop" to barter my OM10 for another used camera. This time I chosse NIKKORMAT. It was similar to Zenit. Completely MANUAL..(By now I detested anything automatic). It came with a faulty Exposure meter, but who needed one! I had developed expertise to a good level by then. A few snaps from my Pre-Everest expedition to Manda and Mt Bhagirathy were satisfactory and I was pleased. Most unfortunately, the mirror of the camera lost the coat and the location of exactly on the focus.
A lot happened to my life after Pre Everest. I was not on the final team. I was down with money. But I was on another team that planned a Alpine style expedition on Satopanth. After pooling in money I had enough to swap my Nikkormat with a NIKON FM10. From the camera shop, I took my new toy, and visited the Everest team at their packing site in Mulund. I think they were too surprised to see a castaway show up.
The castaway had found his true love and Everest sorrow could be drowned on Satopanth, Alpine style.
Satopanth slides were beautiful. FM10 was a good and light camera. But, Satopanth was also my last large expedition. I changed my Job. I had twice the money, but I had no heart for the mountains. The photos were now restricted to my family trips and my Growing son and daughter. I purchased a Sony DV CAM. A 3.4 mega pixel Fujifilm during a official trip to Japan.
Few years down the road, at age of 40 I again attempted a small mountain and the main reason was to use my Handycam and Fujifilm. (These were during the years when 5MP camera had started selling in market at very high cost)
Few years later I bought a D5100 from Singapore. A 28-200 Nikon lens from a store in Japan. Unfortunately, these new "liabilities" were not used as I completely retired from climbing.
I have lost my "affinity" for camera now. I and many of my age, have gone through pretty much the same course of expenses towards photography, few of us have spent lot more. Only to realize today that a snap costs almost nothing. 13MP can be taken on a Mobile.
In almost 20 years, I may not have more than 10 "selfies" from SLR, even with auto timer..and now many people think they are extremely essential to survive.
I know the "value" of photography as I have been paying for the evolution, a cost that many have not even imagined.
But wouldn't it be worth a try for some days, to photograph such that each frame pays back a dividend? Please do not shoot because it is free. Shoot minimalist. Shoot what is best. Make every frame speak for the quality of choice that you make.
