How often do you use a traditional camera?

I’m genuinely interested to find out just how many people use a traditional style camera. Film or digital I’m not fussed, just anything other than the Mobile phone cameras of today.

Loads of Slr/Dslr cameras

I posted an item way back in the early days of this site, that gave numbers of roughly how many cameras have been produced up until 2022 and it was a phenomenal figure in the region of 45 Billion. That’s enough for 5.5 cameras for every single person on this planet. Vintage Camera figures

Ok. This figure does include all mobile phone cameras as well as CCTV cameras, but even if you halved this figure there is an immense amount of traditional hand held cameras still out there.

But how often do you see one being used? Where are they all? I must admit the only time i see them in use is if I go somewhere such as Iceland, you do see a lot of the Far Eastern tourists still using them, but when I get home there is nothing seen at all. I must admit when I go out with one of my old cameras I don’t half get some funny looks, as if I’m some kind of weird trend setter, believe me, I’m anything but.

I would just like to do a very brief straw poll as such to see just how often we use a traditional style camera. As I said at the top, I’m not bothered if it’s digital or traditional film, just as long as its sole purpose is to take photographs. So please don’t include mobile phones, computers or tablets. Just a handheld lump, a piece that just serves the purpose of photography. This poll will remain open for a week.

Oh, and I’ve just found out you can do these poll type things on WP so I had to give it a try. Please forgive me as I’m easily distracted / pleased 😂

Have a super day and thank you for visiting…and voting. Much appreciated.

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Author: Balders

Passionate hobbyist, restoring the past, one old camera at a time. iPhone14 Max Pro - Sony A7II and about 80 others from the days of silver halide 📸 Main aim in life - Retirement

7 thoughts on “How often do you use a traditional camera?”

  1. I was involved in nature photography from 1995-2004, back when digital was in its infancy. I started out with a Canon EOS Rebel II (cheap, but it’s the photographer, not the camera, that counts) and moved up to a Canon EOS A2. I was shooting film, of course–Fuji Velvia 50 (best slide film ever, in my opinion). I couldn’t support my photographic activities (shooting film is expensive), so I had to stop. In 2010, I bought a Canon EOS 50D DSLR and never got to use it due to a back injury. It’s still in its box, brand new, as I type. I have a cheap-o Canon PowerShot for random stuff that I rarely use. Digital is cool, but there’s just something more organic about using film. It takes practice and an understanding of technique and exposure latitude and bracketing and a lot of things modern digital cameras do automatically. I guess I’m a purist, but I prefer film cameras.

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    1. I’m with you there Mike, I worked in labs throughout my teenage years and was very much a traditional silver halide lad. I even mass produced film in the time I worked at Kodak in Harrow. The best times in photography in my humble opinion.👍

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  2. Well I KNOW I’m an old curmudgeon but … before the fire wiped out everything I only used real cameras. Several of them. Afterwards I had only a ‘smart’ phone, and hated using it and the results it gave. Now I use an increasingly defective Canon Elph because it’s what I’ve got, and avoid the phone entirely. I am still reluctant to make any sort of significant investment in a real camera because … I was having difficulty using them before the disaster.
    Although technically I did just pass my eye exam. Of course that only means there’s been no significant decrease in vision, not any improvement.

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    1. Top man Michael👍 I often stand and think “what camera should I take today?” When we go on a car trip, much to the annoyance of the wife. Then I remind her she does exactly the same with her handbags. Touché

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