Random snippets...

The Lurgi is in me, don't come too close to the screen and whatever you do don't lick the monitor when this page is up... So I've had a randomly slow trawl through what the web has offered up to me today and , in the style of something being pre-digested and regurgitated for your perusal...I will begin.
Retro... bereft of originality the first stop off for any designer is to trawl through the past and re-invent something that has long since passed it's sell by date..we are in the realms of the emergence of design features long since discarded by the progress of technology and our need to aquire the latest shiny precious, I am talking about the chunky , clunky, carved from metal SLR body shape and controls from the 60's and 70's. Every manufacturer is launching new tech, well newish tech in some cases, wrapped up in a carapace of Retro design features, each accompanied by an eye watering and wallet emptying price tag. Now , I'll name names.
Fuji, coming to an internet supplier soon is a take on the old ST705 body http://weeder.org/rLHW7VH chunky, square jawed and , I think I will lose all my PC credibility with this....manly!
Nikon, the Nikon Df , chunky, square jawed...you know the rest...but oh my ,HOW MUCH!!!!!  http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/INTERSHOP/web/WFS/Calumet-UK-Site/en_GB/-/GBP/ViewContent-Start?PageletEntryPointID=page.land.nikondf&cm_mmc=PPC-Nikon-DF Okay it includes a lens...
Pentax OMD EM-5 (see above) http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympusem5 mind you price is a bit better
Sony A7 (see, see above) http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/products/sony/alpha-a7-compact-system-camera-28-70mm-lens-89678/show.html
Canon  well still under a white cloth but on it's way http://www.canon-ci.co.kr/microsite/event/201311/index.jsp

Okay more names could be named but lets have a look at this retro thing.... Nikon Df £2,749 with a lens...that's a lot of moolah...so here's an alternative.... What if you really went retro jumped in and got a Nikkormat FT2 from the time that all these Retro design clues are being hoicked from... maybe one for £134 including post and packing..... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NIKON-NIKKORMAT-FT2-35mm-Camera-Case-f2-50mm-Nikon-Lens-1975-/310795763848?pt=UK_Photography_VintageCameras_SM&hash=item485cdf0088  You have all that Retro chunkiness, metal on metal knobs to twiddle and £2615 to spend on film, dev and scanning...yep I'm going to take you up to some High end .Fine Dining lab work here at Ilford so  dev 7x5 prints and a high res scan comes to £26 and a roll of 36 exp film comes in at weighs in at £6 approx...on amazon which from your change on not buying the Nikon Df will allow you to shoot 82 rolls of film,,,,,,, and colour film dev and High res scan bobs along at £10.00 with a roll of 36 exp being about £7  so 17 into £2615 approx  154 x 36 exposures...... 5500 shots......  thats a lot of images.....
So if you shoot once or twice a week or maybe only whip out your camera on those special occasions when the cat falls asleep on the dog or if your kids are walking about in your size 10 shoes then have a real think about what gear suits your needs...film is still with us and probably always will be and of course you could go banshee bonkers and do all your own dev and scanning......

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