The golden age
The best time for photography in my lifetime was probably sometimes in the 60s for a few simple reasons.- there was a good choice of 35mm cameras, digital and compact, from various countries and makes.
- they operated without batteries, which meant they were always ready to shoot;
- medium format (6x6cm, etc.) was quite popular too; more bulky but gave better quality;
- there was a good choice of film, in colour and black and white;
- it was quite easy to process and enlarge black and white at home with simple equipment;
- colour film came in various formats, various makes and you could buy slide film;
- slide projections wee quite common, providing superb quality on large screens.
More and more sophistication
Then the industry decided that cameras needed built-in light meters, and automatic winders, which all required more power; hence the batteries.The big change came with autofocus, popularized by Minolta. Which of course required even more power and stronger batteries.
And then came the programmes, which were in fact computer chips embedded in the body of the cameras. Those became more and more sophisticated too, requiring more juice.There was no going back. The latest reflex cameras had more computing power than PCs on most people's desks.
And everybody dreamt of going digital all the way. Which did not take long and there is no going back.
In the meantime, some of the good old films that we loved are gone, like the iconic Kodachrome.
