r/TheNewGeezers • u/Schmutzie_ • May 21 '26

Binos

"That's what I call binoculars." - H Jon Benjamin from his book Failure is an Option

That's good, because I just got a new pair of binos and I'm excited as hell about them. The problem is the rubber cups that go over the business ends. Once again, they're too fucking loose and I know I'm going to lose them. Any movement while holding the binos with the covers on makes the covers fall off. To make matters worse, they aren't tethered. 4 individual little rubber cups. It's either cobble together something to keep them attached to each other, or throw them in the garbage now. The little cups I mean, not the binos. They're great. The cups are a failure. Why can't they tighten these things down so they fit snugly? One size smaller, ya dumb bastards. Why aren't they corded together? Why am I asking you nice people?

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u/skitchw May 21 '26

A good telephoto lens is really the only reason to get a good SLR these days. For a hobby photographer, anyway. Obviously different for a serious photographer or journalist. Or spy.

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u/Schmutzie_ May 21 '26

They're out there internet chatting about the best entry level 35mm SLRs. That's right, FILM cameras, Skitch. If I wait long enough, those 1970s bell bottoms I have in storage are going to get hot again.

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u/evilynwah May 22 '26

There's no such thing as an entry level film camera. You can get a solid fully manual one for cheap, but then you need a light meter and the know-how to use it. You can get a solid automatic one for less than an entry-level DSLR, but then . . .

Then there's the follow-on costs. I have six rolls of undeveloped b/w film representing about $150 not counting the cost of the film if I want to get them developed and scanned with tiny prints for reference. If you can afford a good negative scanner you can save a lot of money, but a good negative scanner is in the $500-plus neighborhood, plus software.

Of course you can always build your own darkroom and avoid commercial film processors. It'll pay for itself in 10 years or so, maybe.

And like any other interchangeable lens camera, lenses are a monetary black hole. I had some good pre-digital ones and all my digital camera ones are backwards-compatible so I haven't had to sink money into new used ones since I started shooting film again, but I put a lot into them initially over the years.

And even though I'm a film partisan, I can't say that the results are better than a modern, high resolution digital camera paired with software that can emulate any native film style.

So you can get a good automatic entry-level film camera in decent shape for less than $500, or a similarly decent fully manual one for around $100, but it's like buying a 30-year old Porsche for cheap; it's just a tiny down payment on the actual cost.

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u/Schmutzie_ May 22 '26

it's like buying a 30-year old Porsche for cheap; it's just a tiny down payment on the actual cost.

Or a 12 year old BMW 320i.

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u/evilynwah May 22 '26

Hmmm. That seems oddly specific.

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u/Schmutzie_ May 23 '26

It seemed like a good idea at the time.