Anyone with 250 cameras unless he's a museum curater needs his head examining .I was at a local photographic dealer today. I needed some batteries for my OM4-Ti. The chap who runs it is 85 and has known me since I was small. He mentioned a customer who had been in that day who had over 250 cameras. We chatted about why that was and did he actually take any photographs! Then I remembered a camera I had when I was 7 or 8. It was a plastic camera that came with some sort of "Action Man" (GI Joe) set. Plastic, fixed lens, fixed focus, fixed shutter speed. Using Sunny 16 and FP4 I took a picture of the clipper "Cutty Sark" and won a photography competition. OK a competition for kids but beyond a certain point it really is not about the equipment......Anyway we chuckled about that I said to the elderly shopkeeper "for goodness sake don't tell them!"
Ansel Adams warned against getting involved with too many films. If you constantly have to think that this camera has Tri-X in it and this camera has FP4+ you are going to miss shots. I too finally realized the wisdom of one film, one camera. That is why I no longer take more than one camera with me.
IMHO there is a difference between having inexpensive fun trying out unusual, different and often cheap cameras/accessories, and constantly replacing or effectively duplicating one's photographic equipment, in search of the magic bullet.
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Still shooting the same old crap I've been using for the past 45 or so.
... I've never been the one to chase the magic bullet. Just didn't have the time. Like they say if it ain't broke .....
For me it's always been about the image. I could care less about the equipment. As long as it got me what I wanted and didn't break down all the time I stuck with it. Think of cars the same way.
"If only I had camera X, my photography would become so much better!" we sometimes like to tell ourselves. But it rarely turns out to be true.
Actually I was trying to differentiate between the various types of multiple camera people - only one such type (the "magic bullet seekers") are in search of something that will improve their results.You're making an assumption that people who buy multiple cameras, or other things, are in search of something that will improve their ability.
I think I'm in a similar boat, although instead of messing around with cameras it's messing around with theory/science. I enjoy it, but it doesn't translate to better prints. It's just another part of the hobby I enjoy. For me print quality is critical, and I've not found that to depend on much but artistic judgement and hard work.
I do also wish I had the time to focus in the way you describe, which would (at least in my mind) lead to more cohesive groups of prints. But I wrestle even with that notion. Part of me wants that kind of "unity", but another part of me just feels like each image should be treated on its own without influence or context within a broader group - unless there are obvious connections that require a sort of unanimity in printing. It's tough. Some photographers I admire, you flip through image after image and they are all printed in a similar way. Others I admire don't seem to focus on that and things seem much more hodge podge but still effective. Each image gets exactly the treatment it needs. I don't know. It's something I flip flop on and leads to frustration in generating series or portfolios. When it gets out of control it can lead to constant re-printing over time in an attempt to get prints of images made at different times to "match".
[...]and I got infected with GAS only about a year ago! [...]
True, but it does make your camera an attractively designed paper weight.The photograph/negative/print don't have to be everything.
True, but it does make your camera an attractively designed paper weight.
...When I think of all the time, effort and money I spent experimenting w/ this and the gear, it was just wasted...
Analogue jewellery?Or crappy prints good camp fire starter...
... Not to mention that you actually make 11x14 carbon prints!
Analogue jewellery?
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