Hi, I’m Nathaniel.
I started Outside the Shot for two reasons.
The first was to save people from hours of frustration. Information on discontinued cameras can be difficult to find.
Digital decay is real. Helpful images in old forum posts are gone, deleted by image hosts that fell out of favor.
The second reason was to try different web frameworks and hosting options. Eventually things break, which is why things currently look the way they do. I’m currently porting the site for a fourth time.
The Technology Divide
Using vintage digital and film cameras is an eye opening experience of using technology frozen in time. So many functions and features simply don’t exist.
Auto first meant automatic aperture stop down. Now the default is to assume that means auto focus.
Popular film cameras I’ve written about include:
Learning about photography is more fun when it isn’t a frustrating experience. Finding replacements for mercury batteries, making sure memory cards are compatible, and understanding lens changes can all be time consuming processes.
Great camera lenses that apply to other models with the same lense mounts:
- Canon AE-1 Lenses
- Pentax K1000 Lenses
- Nikon FM2 Lenses
- Nikon FE2 Lenses
- Canon A-1 Lenses
- Olympus OM-1 Lenses
- Minolta SR-T 101 Lenses
- Minolta X-700 Lenses
Finding information on vintange cameras and lenses can be difficult. Websites that used to contain that knowledge have been gone for years. Even finding memory cards and card readers can be a challenge.
Books can be out of print, expensive, and hard to find. Many publishers are no longer in business. Things are more difficult than they were.