Yesterday afternoon I was sifting through hundreds of old photos my in-laws had in boxes. Some were over a hundred only years old, some were less than 40. Several things struck me during this review.

First was the quality of some of the shots. The blacks were stunning! And many of the less dense shots were still easily recognized. However, many of the later color shots washed out to a nearly unrecognizable point. Black and whites generally held their images, even when not well processed.

Old cameras were capable of quite clear photos, though most were small, and probably contact printed. I have a couple of the old Kodaks that were used to take some of these shots, and they are not high-end cameras by any stretch. The zoom was two foot ten, meaning walk ten steps closer to the subject to get a larger image.

I also wondered what my grandchildren will be looking at in fifty years or so. Since I don't print many pictures now, I have lost a lot of shots to software upgrades, hard drive failures, and storage format changes. My whole group of collected wall graffiti is gone, as are many of my other random shots of family, friends, and scenes.

Thankfully I shot film for many years, so I scan old negatives that I can print on paper.

My point? I think I need to print more shots on archival paper with archival inks, and probably in black and white, if I want future generations to be able to view my work.

Frank

My x100 (before the s) takes wonderful pictures. It's my go-to camera for people shots and groups indoors. I bought it after they first came out, and still love to use it.

I was lucky enough, or poor enough at the time, to have purchased Pentax thread mount primes and other lenses that fit the Pentax film cameras I own. Since Pentax has been backward-compatible, I can use them on my digital Pentax cameras when I want to. But that is less frequent now that I shoot digital.

I have used Epson printers for years. I dedicated one to black-only insets, with stunning results.
The Epson Stylus Photo R200 has been a workhorse for me since they came out, and I have an R3000 but not quite as pleased with it. But it's new and I am still working with it.
As a past member of a Black and White only photo club, I can always see when people are using non-dedicated-to-black ink printers.

Most important, to me anyway, is the printer you use. I hate the purple cast of many color printers when printing black and white images.

Martin Simpson, an amazing guitarist. If you haven't heard these on the "tube" then give yourself a treat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQELHWJTdRU

This verbiage makes no attempt to understand both sides. I understand more than you think, but I have learned over my 65 years that you don't debate with parrots.

I'm glad my vote will cancel out his vote. And my wife's will cancel out yours.

Great examples of really bad bokeh. Cropping could help.

Why not use a "cat" lens. I'm surprised no one came up with this. I have one that is fixed at f8 and with enough light inside you could catch the cat with the "cat" without it noticing you.

There is a lot of brand loyalty on this forum, so you should consider that in others' responses. I don't have the SL1000 but I have used used Fuji digital cameras almost exclusively for the last 10 years and currently own and use the X100, XS1, and Hs50. The image quality is always excellent with these cameras, and I love the fact that I don't have to carry around other lenses, I don't have to worry about getting dust in my cameras because I don't need to change lenses, and I find the macro abilities of Fuji cameras to be outstanding. I'm not a pro shooter, but have paid for my cameras with images, and no one has ever asked me what brand of camera I used to shoot them.

I joined a photo club that met monthly. We critiqued our work together, and I learned more from that group than from any other source.

I also learned to print photos. There's a wealth of learning there that will affect how you shoot.

Recently someone gave me a great idea, which was to shoot in both RAW and jpeg for each shot. Why? Because i mostly print black and white images with inks solely for that purpose. So now I shoot black and white jpeg and RAW. If I ever want to print color, I use RAW and print to another printer. Otherwise, jpeg black and white works well. DUH! Why didn't I think of that before?

I have used the Fuji x100 for several years now. It is a very intuitive camera at least for me because I have used Fuji's for digital almost exclusively. The fixed focal length takes getting used to if you normally shoot and compose with a zoom. That being said, I get more good shots in all lighting conditions with this camera, especially in low light.

[quote=tturner]I have a Pentax K 10D, I also have a 1976 135 f/2.5.

I bought my Pentax K100D specifically for the backwards compatibility. With quiet a number of thread mount Pentax and other lenses in my collection, I wanted to be able to use them with a digital body. The thread mount adapter can be a little tricky to install and remove, but now all my Pentax-mount lenses, bayonet and thread, can be used on this camera. Next purchase will be the Leica to Pentax mount. It's good to get some use out of the older lenses in my collection.