Bipod

Speaking of pretentious -- it's too bad the sky never actually looks like that---full of magnitude -5 stars--
at least not on this earth.

And Mt. Shasta is actually a nice-looking mountain, though you'd never know it from that overblown
production.

But it does look a lot like the poster for Close Encounters of the Third Kind (minus the flying saucer).
https://monovisions.com/carleton-watkins-biography-pioneer-19th-century-photographer/

Bipod

There were many good film rangefinders, not all of them expensive.

It was possible to manufacture a mechanical camera in modest numbers
with a modest investment of capital and still get the unit-cost down. They
weren't built with robots or a wave-soldering line.

Electronics manufacturing is a different ball game. There are huge economies
of scale --much larger than in mechanical or electro-mechanical manufacturing.
Thie means that mass-market cameras are much less expensive than specialty
cameras (i.e., anything Joe Consumer doesn't fancy).

So photographers end up having to buy mass produced digital cameras, because
those made in smaller numbers (Leica, Hassalblad) are just too expensive.
It's a consequence of the digital technology: extremely large capital investment,
but low unit cost in mass production.

When image-sensor maker Micron bought Zilog's vacant 8-inch CMOS fab
facility in 2006, the price tag for the outdated facility in Nampa, Idaho was
only $5 million--very inexpensive by today's standards.

Anybody here ever have a custom digital camera built for them?
There are still few companies that will build custom film cameras.

Several photographers make their own photo paper (e.g., Beth Moon).
Nobody makes their own inkjet printer -- let alone their own image sensor.

Technology isn't neutral--if you pick a big-cap technology you are going
to have to buy off-the-shelf -- and unless you are rich, you are going
to have to buy a mass-produced product.

And cheap to buy isn't necessarily the same thing as cheap to own.
I've been using the same rangefinder since I was a kid: a German-made
Kodak Retina IIIc. But in the last 20 years alone, I've gone through a
dozen digital cameras. Seems like all digital cameras die after a while
and then aren't worth fixing.

Your digital photography is limited by what Joe Consumer (and his uncle,
Bob) want to buy. If they don't buy it, then the giant big manufacturers don't
make it. You may be able to get it from Leica or Hassalblad, but it will be
very, very expensive. And you are going to have to keep re-buying your
digital camera ever few years (or when the warranty runs out).

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

That is a beautiful image, and there is quite a story there, as well. Those look like apple boxes, being loaded into (or unloaded from) a small boat on the Columbia river in 1867. I find that pretty interesting. Thanks.

Mike

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Welcome to UHH patman, and Merry Christmas to you.

The word "Leica" seems to elicit some pretty strong reactions. I like your approach, which, if I understand you, can be summed up as keep it simple, go for the quality lifetime tool, and ignore the marketing hype about the latest and greatest.

Mike

patman1 Loc: Pataskala, Ohio

Thanks Mike, see APOLOGIES.!

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

My camera of choice for smaller than 4x5 was unquestionably my Horseman 985, which was 6x9 and also able to receive RB67 rollfilm backs. Wider choice of lenses made it more practical for me.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

"I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail. [Abraham H. Maslow ]. . . . Just sayin'

Bipod

There's a place in Washington State that can only be reached by boat where they grow apples.
It's at the upper end of 55-mile long glacial Lake Chelan. About 80 year-round inhabitants.

I was given a book about it, Stehekin: A Valley in Time, a memoir by Grant McConnel,
first published in 1988. Wonderful book. American used to be resourceful, independent people,
capable of self-sufficinecy. In a very few places, they still are.

Or were--by now Stehekin probaby has satillite Internet, on-line gaming and Russian malware.
Nothing can be left unsullied.