camera greed?

[catem]

as lene lovich says: gotto have a new toy (oh ay oh) to keep my mind expanding ...

That's very true. But anyone using an RZ hand-held for portraits will know where I'm coming from, why I'm thinking....the Mamiya 7 seemed like a good option but I am very put off by the lack of close-up focus which I wasn't aware of.

So, with frustrations around working practice come doubts and questions, and thinking of alternatives, and then you put the alternatives in perpective...

To be fair, I've never been one for 'toys' , certainly not for 'the boys' in my case.

 

[rbarker]

That's very true. But anyone using an RZ hand-held for portraits where I'm coming from, why I'm thinking....the Mamiya 7 seemed like a good option but I am very put off by the lack of close-up focus which I wasn't aware of.

The design "limitations" of a rangefinder tend to make both close-ups and critical close focus problematic. The rangefinder focus patch is seldom where you want it for portraits, and shifting the camera to recompose also shifts the focus point. It's not impossible to overcome, but it's problematic. The Leica with the (legendary) 75mm/f1.4 or the 50mm/f0 demonstrate the problem quickly when shooting wide open, for example.

To be fair, I've never been one for 'toys' , certainly not for 'the boys' in my case.

Ah, the traditional problem of the gender-neutral handle. Absent some clue to the contrary, most folks will assume a photographer person to be male. Unfortunately, they'll be right in a majority of cases.

 

[SuzanneR]

That's very true. But anyone using an RZ hand-held for portraits where I'm coming from, why I'm thinking....the Mamiya 7 seemed like a good option but I am very put off by the lack of close-up focus which I wasn't aware of.

So, with frustrations around working practice come doubts and questions, and thinking of alternatives, and then you put the alternatives in perpective...

To be fair, I've never been one for 'toys' , certainly not for 'the boys' in my case.

The lack of close-up focus, as Ralph says, is problematic, but can be overcome. Bear in mind, the negatives are so big and beautiful, with the Mamiya 7, that cropping a small area out of the negative is quite doable for up to 8x10 printing. That said, I hate to shoot things that I'll need to crop later, but it is an option.

There is a close up adaptor for th 80mm lens that works great for close-up focussing. Fine for still life, but it might scare off young children as it's quite the contraption. Haven't tried it with my kids, yet!

Sounds like sticking with what you've got is a great choice for now... but I always enjoy stimulating the economy whenever I have a little extra cash burning a whole in my pocket. Of course, that doesn't happen nearly as often as it should!

 

[catem]

Ah, the traditional problem of the gender-neutral handle. Absent some clue to the contrary, most folks will assume a photographer person to be male. Unfortunately, they'll be right in a majority of cases.

I did use the word 'gear' a couple of posts back. Funny, it's not a word I usually use and I think it's possibly a word men use more. I kind of felt there was something odd about using it.

You're right about people assuming your male, unless it's stated otherwise. The worst thing is, many women find themselves doing it too.

Suzanne, thanks for your imput - it's been very helpful.

 

[JohanV]

I find I can get infatuated with cameras, mostly older ones, like the Contessa I saw at the camera show and just had to take home.

I once took home a contessa, but her husband didn't like it....

 

[Gay Larson]

I am terrible about wanting to buy "new" cameras. I think it's because people are getting rid of them to indulge in technology and I see them as unloved cast offs. I want to rescue all of them and use all of them. I absolutlely love cameras, I have antique unusable cameras on my shelves and a large number of useable cameras. I just can't seem to find a way to use them all. Maybe I should stop buying. I know my husband wants me to.

 

[rbarker]

Gay - just tell your husband to look into the eyes of those once-sad and dejected cameras, and tell you they weren't worth the rescue effort. (sniff, sniff)

 

[jonnyboy]

But the point is, I'm not a lad.

There's a lot to be said for pushing what you already have to the limit, and I'm not sure I've done that yet - this has been helpful in clarifying that, thanks.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! I must be denser than I thought. Sorry, I ass-umed from an earlier post that you were male.
As to pushing limits, photographically speaking, I seem to recall that Steichen made the statement that no photographer was as good as a box camera. Meaning, of course, that no one had/has explored every possibility inherent in any camera. His intent was to get across the idea that one didn't need fancy or exotic equipment to make good/great photos. In the end, he minimilized to the point of shooting out of a window of his house using an old tree in the yard as subject. I am not aware of his choice of camera for this project. Well, personally, I am no master shooter so I'll go on acquiring and using various cameras that I really don't need, if only to satisfy my curious side. Besides, what fun is it if ya can't shlep around with a good 40 or 50 pounds of photo shtuff hangin' off of yer body? Damn good excercise, that. Impressive to the Great Unwashed, as well.

Jon
from Deepinaharta, Georgia

 

[catem]

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! I must be denser than I thought. Sorry, I ass-umed from an earlier post that you were male.

No worries

Thanks for the last few comments - I was beginning to feel consumer guilt..

 

[tony lockerbie]

Great to read Gay's post, I thought I was the only freak buying heaps of old cameras to save them, from what I don't know, but save them I do! Shelves are bulging and the bank balance is falling, but hey- youcan't have too many can you?

 

[Tony Egan]

My wonderful wife has said to me three times in the last week "have you bought that new camera you want yet?". I haven't; I'm wondering what she wants that's worth 3 grand to ensure the balance of payments remains in tact...

I used an OM2n and 3 lens for 15 years as my only camera during poor, prime child-rearing years and took some wonderful, personally satisfying images. I have gone a bit crazy with GAS (see above) in the last 5 years and my image taking has improved in the sense that I have more appropriate equipment to achieve a desired outcome in certain circumstances. e.g. big fast lens on autofocus 35mm for live music available light shooting etc.

God help me I now want 4x5 or 5x7 for landscape work. Will I be able to resist the ULF demons in the next few years?

 

[colrehogan]

Great to read Gay's post, I thought I was the only freak buying heaps of old cameras to save them, from what I don't know, but save them I do! Shelves are bulging and the bank balance is falling, but hey- youcan't have too many can you?

A guy I work with gave me his Olympus OM-1 w/50 mm lens and I took it for pretty much the same reason you give. To save it - a camera that's in great condition (except it needed new seals) - from the trash bin.

Of course, this is also how I've acquired a lot of my antique cameras, I was saving them from being thrown away.

 

[BruceN]

A guy I work with gave me his Olympus OM-1 w/50 mm lens and I took it for pretty much the same reason you give. To save it - a camera that's in great condition (except it needed new seals) - from the trash bin.

Of course, this is also how I've acquired a lot of my antique cameras, I was saving them from being thrown away.

Should you decide that OM-1 needs another new home, my OM addiction is reaching legendary proportions (according to my wife...)

Bruce

 

[raucousimages]

Cameras are just tools, use the right tool for the job. Some times I shoot 35mm other times I shoot 8X10. Right now, between myself, my wife and 3 kids there are 41 cameras in the house and one on loan to a friend. The right tool can be nothing more than it "feels" like a Leica sort of day.

 

[alien]

I am at about 20 (cameras) now, with a steep rising curve ahead of me....

 

[MattKing]

Do we have to limit the count to cameras that are working?

:rolleyes:

Matt

 

[Kino]

I have always had 20 to 50 cameras on-hand at any one time, but now I feel that I am acquiring a definitive "set" of about 10 must-have, working cameras, and should be able to divest myself of the others and get down to the business of making images, not collecting cameras.

It has been a LONG time coming, but I am glad it is here...

 

[Magnus]

I don't have this so much with cameras ... however lenses is my weak spot ... I have 37 50mm Leica M mount lenses, form very old to brand new.

As for Cameras, I have 3 M series to accomodate my lenses, 2 screw mounts leicas, more for having them than actually using them, a Hassleblad 501 and 2 Mamiya 7-ii

 

[Iskra 2]

An inexpensive Iskra ("Spark") could help relieve your GAS for MF. They are a tough old folder that can/will match your skills. The red felt interior attracts much attention when the case is opened.

 

[rbarker]

... I have 37 50mm Leica M mount lenses, form very old to brand new. . . .

Gee, and I was feeling guilty for having three 50mm Leica lenses. Whew! I feel like a free man!

 

[Dan Fromm]

Gee, and I was feeling guilty for having three 50mm Leica lenses. Whew! I feel like a free man!

Only three? All the same?

That's not many. Haven't you ever got a lens at a good price and then got another of the same at a better price as a spare in case anything bad happened to the first one?

I wonder whether Magnus is a collector with a plan or just an accumulator. Magnus, neither, um, term is pejorative. If it pleases you to have that many of the same lens, well, then, I'm glad you're happy. And if it doesn't please you, well, then, I expect that in time you'll find new homes for some of them.

Ralph, the sky having fallen recently, I find I have four little 6" process lenses, two identical except for serial number. And four 12" process lenses, two identical except for serial number. Some of those little piggies have to go to market. I thought I'd been making good progress, sold many of my "surplus to need" macro lenses but here I am again.

 

[DBP]

That's not many. Haven't you ever got a lens at a good price and then got another of the same at a better price as a spare in case anything bad happened to the first one?

Yes, a Jupiter 9 in LTM while I was having my first calibrated. It was delivering beautiful results of things about 3 feet in front of where I was focusing. Been fine ever since - lovely lens.

 

[rfshootist]

Every now and then I get huge yearnings to buy a new camera. I already have a Mamiya RZ and a Nikon. I am sorely tempted by the greater MF spontaneity offered by the Mamiya 7ll, and am also tempted by a Leica. (I have to confess a desire for a Hasselblad also comes into the equation but I realise this is the wrong forum for that). I take mostly portraits and still lifes.

This has nothing to do with greed I think. I second Randys and Claires opinion tho, keep the acqusition always related to the intended usage.

It does not make sense either to work with too many different systems (RF, 35mmSLR, MF SLR) at the same time, because the change always needs
time for the adaption.
The best tool is not the one with the right name but the one which by the time gets something like the mechanical extension of your personal , biological
perception system. At this point not all cameras are suited for everybody.

And don't let you talk into this nonsense of GAS beeing an unavoidable phenomenon. GAS is an euphemism for a severe mental illness, a flirt with the own helplessness of those who have lost their creativity completey (if they ever had some) and now spend their photographical life at evil-bay and with "test shots".
As long as one can say one needs a camera for a certain purpose or a project it should be o.k., at least as long as one does not invent a purpose to justify an acquisition ! Have been there, got the t-shirt !

Regards,
Bertram

 

[Uncle Bill]

Art, I think you hit the nail on the head

Us boys and our toys. And one girl, so far!

We're just talking traditional camera toys here on this site. But I know sites for digital camera toys, car toys, fishing toys, boat toys, home DIY toys, computer toys, sound system toys, SCUBA toys, mountain bike toys, ... and the list goes on and on.

Regards, Art. (One can get very greedy!)

I collect as well as use cameras and I use what I buy. I find the gearhead disease to be a largely male affliction, to make a gross generalisation, most female photographers I know go for what makes the best picture, they will have a camera system that will achieve that with a minimum fuss and not accumulate gear or suffer equipment lust.
In my case I am lusting for another Leica M body with kit of lenses and a Nikon FM2.

Bill

Bill

 

[Ole]

Gee, and I was feeling guilty for having three 50mm Leica lenses. Whew! I feel like a free man!

When I was looking for a lens for my FED, I ended up buying 12 collapsibles for the price of one. I still have 8 of them, having passed on the best ones except for the one I use. And then there's a couple of non-collapsible Industars and whatnot, too.

I also managed to get down to only three 150mm LF lenses, but now I'm back to five. And three 135mm's, three 180mm's and a 165mm...