how many cameras do we really need ??

removed account4 · Dec 4, 2010

i know there has been a desert island thread
and a fess up , how many cameras do you own thread
and a what was your last piece of gear you purchesed thread ...

i am just wondering in the end how many cameras do we really need ?

i am not really one to talk about using just one camera.
i have too many but i can't really get rid of them because
i keep telling myself i use them all them all the time
in different situations so ... in the end i keep them.

i don't know how many cameras i really need.
maybe one, that would be perfect, but unfortunately it is hard to
stick a sheet film camera in my pocket and wander around with it,
and even harder to do contact prints with a 110 or 1/2 frame 35mm negative.

as much as i want to only have 1 camera i find myself torn, torn between
what i want my final print to look like, ( teeny vs big )
and between portability.

i guess i answered my own question, we need as many cameras as we need.

tkamiya · Dec 4, 2010

Probably, there isn't a good way to define how many WE need. I can tell you how many I need though.

For a practical sense, I need two of every format that I use. One as a primary and one as a backup. Or - one with normal lens and one with something else. So two.

How many I need in terms of enjoyment is something entirely different. I LIKE trying out different cameras. I LIKE using different cameras. That's part of how I enjoy photography. Yup, I like equipment. So for that sense, as many as I have a budget, time, and space to enjoy them.

Eric Rose · Dec 4, 2010

It depends on which one of my personalities wants to go out photographing

benjiboy · Dec 4, 2010

There's a difference between need and want John, I rationalized my inventory of equipment years ago, and have managed to keep to an outfit that makes sense because all my SLR bodys and lenses are Canon FD and all the lenses fit and work on all the bodys , but I still have nine cameras ( two are T90s which were gifts from friend who had gone digital ) but I try to use them all.

SuzanneR · Dec 4, 2010

I tend toward one format.. one camera and one lens, with a back up, though I use two different 6"x7" systems. I find it hard to think about how I want the pictures to look when I change gear a lot, so I don't. Of course, I have some 35mm gear and a 4x5 kit on hand, but haven't used them in awhile. I think if I did, I'd use them to the exclusion of the 6x7 for a good long time so I would get quite used to them again.

papagene · Dec 4, 2010

Since I do photography for my own enjoyment, I need (and enjoy) them all!!!!!!!

Focus No. 9 · Dec 4, 2010

I ran out of fingers and toes

along time ago and yet obviously, I haven't reached my limit.

Q.G. · Dec 4, 2010

None.
You either do something properly, or you don't do it at all.
That from the to-how-few-can-we-reduce-the-number-of-cameras perspective.

Else, as many as you like.

Steve Smith · Dec 4, 2010

I don't need any but I have about thirty.

Steve.

Schlapp · Dec 4, 2010

you need 12. No more or fewer

Jerevan · Dec 4, 2010

I agree with Suzanne on the iffy-ness of changing gear a lot. It takes a lot of energy and time to "get into" a format for me. I fuss way too much about which camera to use. So, yes I have more than I need.

M.A.Longmore · Dec 4, 2010

jnanian said:
i guess i answered my own question, we need as many cameras as we need.

.
You Should " Ask Chris "

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

lns · Dec 4, 2010

I always seem to need one more than I have.

At least it's an arithmetical progression.

-Laura

Sirius Glass · Dec 4, 2010

More! More! I need more!

Jeff Kubach · Dec 4, 2010

I never have enough cameras!

Jeff

Moopheus · Dec 4, 2010

jnanian said:
i
and even harder to do contact prints with a 110 or 1/2 frame 35mm negative.

No, that's easy, just stick the film under the glass and expose. The hard part is viewing them after.

tim k · Dec 4, 2010

If you are over 50, I think two of each is appropriate.

If your over 75, one of each should be about right.

Those young kids may need more.

Have I offended everyone?

Dan Fromm · Dec 4, 2010

John, it depends.

I can justify having a 2x3 Pacemaker Speed Graphic and a Century Graphic for 2x3 'cos the Speed can use barrel lenses and longer lenses than will work on the Century and the Century can use shorter lenses than will work on the Speed. The two together with a tiny bit of hardware make a tandem camera that works with lenses up to around 480 mm. My other two 2x3 Graphics, acquired for the lens and parts, respectively, just gather dust.

I can justify my 2x3 Cambo SC 'cos it is a real view camera, unlike the Graphics. Also because it will work with lenses longer than can be used on the tandem Graphic and because, if I can ever get everything involved to work properly, it is the basis of a 2x3 "Baby Bertha" SLR. Yes, there's a 2x3 Graflex in there somewhere.

I used to be able to justify having two Nikons, an FM2n and another -- there have been several, the current one is a N8008S -- with aperture preferred auto exposure. I used the FM2n at 1/250 with KM and flash for closeup shots in the field, the auto exposure capable alternative with, depending on the situation, a b/w emulsion or an ISO 100 E-6 emulsion. Also used the auto exposure body behind a mirror lens, for that application continuously variable shutter speed is handy. But now KM is no more and the N8008S also has a 1/250 flash sync speed. Unless I'm going to shoot two emulsions there's no need for the FM2n.

When I was shooting S8 I always needed several cameras, eventually refined the kit to a pair of Beaulieus -- 5008SMS to use cheap short-dated sound film, 4008ZM2 for high and variable framing rate, both for C-mount lenses --, a Nautica for underwater and ultrawide shots, and a 310XL for whenever it could be used. The 310XL is unlovable because it is hard to control and communicates nothing to the user except "its too dark" but when it could be used -- 18 fps, focal length needed in 6 mm, 8.5-25.5 mm -- it took better footage than the Beaulieus. I'm not shooting S8 anymore, no longer need any of them.

If I ever make the move to 6x12 I'll probably be able to justify a 4x5 Crown Graphic. If ...

David A. Goldfarb · Dec 4, 2010

Schlapp said:
you need 12. No more or fewer

I think that answer works for me, depending on how one counts.

Christopher Walrath · Dec 4, 2010

I think I will answer, Ron. But as I am not in the tongue-in-cheek thread, I might try a more serious approach.

CJ has an article 'Advice for Aspiring Photographers'. To paraphrase: 'perfect the equipment you have and don't get caught up in the next piece of equipment to come down the pike.'

This is not a one camera, one film, one dev, on paper mentality; not for me anyhow. I have a few cameras and have settled on a couple as my gonna use one or the other. I do not do professional work, have not for a few years. Then it was delusions of grandeur. f I ever were to do so again, it would be form a different perspective. For what I do I don't need alot. I honestly have held it down to one camera in the last year plus. The 4x5 Press. And I absolutely love it. I still have the Minoltas and I drag them out every now and again to remember what they feel like.

I guess I say all that to say this. Hobbyists generally have a couple or a few that they use regularly and with love. Collectors will have dozens, even scores of bodies (with a few favorites). Pros probably have duplicate systems for redundancy. It all comes down to the individual as the responses have thus far implied.

David William White · Dec 4, 2010

Just One. Seven emergency backups though.

benjiboy · Dec 4, 2010

SuzanneR said:
I tend toward one format.. one camera and one lens, with a back up, though I use two different 6"x7" systems. I find it hard to think about how I want the pictures to look when I change gear a lot, so I don't. Of course, I have some 35mm gear and a 4x5 kit on hand, but haven't used them in awhile. I think if I did, I'd use them to the exclusion of the 6x7 for a good long time so I would get quite used to them again.

I agree Suzanne, I feel that my best cameras are the ones that I'm most used to, the ones I can operate without thinking, which is why I've had almost all of my cameras more than twenty years and am still happy with them, constantly changing the tools and working methods is counter productive.
I realized long ago that it's not the quality of the cameras and lenses I have that's holding me back from being a brilliant photographer just my lack of talent .

Vaughn · Dec 4, 2010

I don't have just myself to think about...I have three 13-yr old boys. They have very different personalities, so having just one type of camera available for them won't do. I am in the process of getting a Mamiya 330 system together in case one decides to go medium format, plus I already have a Graflex TLR for lighter travel. I have an old Speed Graphic (wood front standard and a list of 24 different shutter speeds!) in case one wants to go 4x5 (it has a nice looking Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 150/4.5 in a Compur), and I have a Nikon N2000 and some lenses if one wants to play with 35mm. I have a "spare" 8x10 (2D with 8x10 and 5x7 backs and a barrel lens) that they can use -- with supervision.

So I need all this extra gear in case they show some interest!

If they want to go digital, they can buy their own -- one boy saved his money and bought a Canon P&S digital. I never have had a darkroom at home, so the boys have not been exposed to that much. I hope to get them into the darkroom some this summer. They do get involved in my work on the other side of the lens.

Two images with boys
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
Scanned 8x10 pt/pd prints

Jim Fitzgerald · Dec 4, 2010

All of the cameras that I've built and the one I have not built!!

Jim

phaedrus · Dec 4, 2010

If I can afford it (and luckily I can) one for every mode of working and perhaps a backup. So it changes with the way I work, which makes the industry and Ebay sellers happy.

how many cameras do we really need ??

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