OT - !@#$%^&*()! throwaway society

Okay, this is totally off-topic, but I’m mad at our modern, throwaway society.

I worked my way through college as a photographer. I used to own a boudoir photo studio. I still have the Nikon FM my parents gave me in high school: it works PERFECTLY. But serious photography adopted digital (with good reasons) but unfortunately also adopted the annual upgrade model of replacing cameras.

Yesterday, my 5 year old Nikon D90 died. Long story short, the digital card reader/writer has gotten flaky. Nikon wants $250 just to LOOK AT IT, and they can repair it IF they have the part still in stock. Please note the “if” here. And googling the issue, it’s all over the Internet that the D90 had a problem with its card reader. And also looking at the Internet, the repair success rate is about 50%.

The used value of this camera is about $400. So I could plunk down $250, plus the part, and maybe have a camera that works. Maybe. And only a 30 day warranty. What did I do? I plunked down $1000 and bought a new Nikon D7100. Yes, I gave in.

I have a refrigerator in my garage that is older than me (for real). Works great to store cokes and bottled water, plus “extra” from the kitchen. It’s ugly, but dammit it works. On the other hand my “new and modern” refrigerator lasted exactly one month past the 5 year warranty before failing. I paid a repair tech $85 to come look at it: the controller board was fried. His advice? “Buy a new one, it’s cheaper.”

What the hell is wrong with us as a society that we don’t fix things? That we don’t expect more for our money than a constant progression of replace, replace, replace?

I still have my old Nikon FM. I photographed George Bush with it, and Mother Teresa. Countless football and basketball games. Pet of the week, politicians, advertising. It has a superbly designed mechanism, fantastic engineering tolerances. It was built to last.

Like I said above, it works perfectly. If I could find any film. And if there was any place in central Arkansas (besides Bedford’s) that would develop it. Bedford’s won’t develop photos with any bare tits, and dammit, topless women are my favorite subject to photograph!

So now I’m sitting here with the new camera, and a 1000 page technical reference trying to learn how to use it. When what I really want is to get the old FM out of the curio cabinet, load up some Kodachrome, and get a woman in front of it, topless.

My problem is with yard tools. Lawnmowers, weed eaters, blowers etc. I had a yard service but got rid of them cause I didn't like the way there mower cut the grass.


I guess they make shit not to last so we keep pumping money into the economy.

Cell phones is what pisses me off everytime you get the new IPhone by the time you make it home you turn on the T.V and there already coming out with a new one.

The answer in a word..........GREED!!!!!!! How much did you spend on repairing the old camera that works as compared to being forced to buy a new camera? It's that way with everything now a days. You take the everyday person with "normal" lawn care needs. It's better to buy a cheap weed eater use it till it messes up, throw it away and go buy another cheap new one. The gasoline we are forced to buy now days will ruin any small engine long before you will actually wear it out. Just my .02 worth.

Well, I have to admit I like the new camera, even though it has gazillions of "features" I'll never use. The most important thing is that it will use my existing lens collection.

Now I need to plan out a shoot to test it out. Maybe I need to hire MaryBeth's alter ego!

My dad would tell me often after the Ford Tempo/Mercury Topaz came out " boy, this has became a throwaway world"


As I had a classic Chevy setting in the drive way, I would just chuckle but man was he right. Wish I could go back and tell him so.

. . . . When what I really want is to get the old FM out of the curio cabinet, load up some Kodachrome, and get a woman in front of it, topless. Originally Posted by Slingerland

I feel your pain. I have 3 Nikon bodies and a buttload of lenses that won't fit the new digital crap. Got laid lots in college taking pix of some good looking women. . .

I feel your pain. I have 3 Nikon bodies and a buttload of lenses that won't fit the new digital crap. Originally Posted by MrHappy4u

If your Nikkor lenses are AI or later, they will fit on the FX sensor bodies (D610, D750, D810 and of course, the mucho-$$$ D4.) Your metering modes are limited and autofocus doesn't work of course, but I still have an AI 105 Micro that I use for copying old photos. It worked great on the D90.

But if you're still in the F2 world (and yes, I still have one) the old "rabbit ears" won't meter with any body made after the mid 1990s.

Got laid lots in college taking pix of some good looking women. . . Originally Posted by MrHappy4u

Amen to that! Photography was a great way to loosen a woman's inhibitions. And her top .

It's called engineered obsolescence. http://tinyurl.com/76v2kc4 Years back, I had a Ranger pickup. The EFI system needed 12 psi of fuel to feed the engine. The fuel pump would deliver more than 18. A fuel pressure regulator was used to reduce the fuel pressure to what the EFI needed, and divert the rest of the fuel back to the tank. It was explained to me that the reason for that design was that the fuel pump could begin to fail and still deliver enough fuel pressure to run the system- until after the end of the warranty period. Then of course, you're on your own and Ford was off the hook for repairs. At the other end of that spectrum, I have a push mower that is nearly as old as I am, and it runs fine and will start on the first or second pull every time. There's no gimmicky safety handles, no primer bulbs. It does have a real throttle, and I can leave it running without holding on to the handle. This one is a keeper.

I say pull out the old FM (which I have several of) and run 10 rolls of film through it ... not Kodachrome sadly, but make each image the best it can be ... even if it's black and white. Plenty of labs online that will do much better than Bedfords (not hard) and will develop anything you throw at them. Better yet, grab the equipment online for pennies and develop it at home.

The beauty of our craft is in the art ... not the technology ... just saying.

Nothing in the world more beautiful than the curve of the female form ... even if you capture it on a pinhole camera.