how many cameras do we really need ??

Laurent · Dec 10, 2010

jon falth said:
Married males really have an easy time computing the number of cameras needed...

We, those of us that are truly experienced in the wanting department, simply count the number of 'outfit's the little lady has bought over the years, subtract one from her total numnber of outfit's she purchased, and thus we technically have our upper boundary of our camera 'want' list...

I CAN'T agree on this. I'm a married male, I own a few cameras (that is : my "historic" AE1P, the T90-to-be-repaired-some-day, the EOS-3 system, the Rolleiflex, the 4x5 Tachihara( (does the Canon weather proof P&S count ? ) and got rid of some in the past years (a Sinar I liked but almost nevere used, a couple of Yashica Mats that doubled the Rollei) but I can't keep up with my wife getting rid of more and more outfits.... So please, make sure this non sense does not get out of APUG

Laurent · Dec 10, 2010

OTOH, even with this limited number of cameras, seems SWMBO can't remember how many I own

R gould · Dec 10, 2010

As mamy as the wife will allow me to have,currently around 21, but I always need just 1 or 2 more, I have a very understanding wife,Richard

LCEL · Dec 10, 2010

I use,
one Minolta SRT 101 for 100ASA film,
one Minolta SRT 303b for colour slide film,
one Minolta XE 5 for 400 ASA film,
one Minolta XE 1 for 50 ASA film,
one Olympus OM 2SP for macro with 50 ASA film,
one Yashica Mat for landscape with 50 ASA film,
one Kowa 6 for portrait with 200/400 ASA film,
one Hasselblad 500CM is away for CLA,
one Mamiya C330 for arms photography with 50 ASA film,
All the others are for backup/spares and collecting, about 25.
The enjoyment of craftmanship, when they were made, in those camera's allows you to have as many as you can afford.
At 55, for me it is a sort reliving the past.

Best regards.

David Brown · Dec 11, 2010

LCEL said:
The enjoyment of craftmanship ... in those cameras allows you to have as many as you can afford.

Hear, hear.

stradibarrius · Jan 1, 2011

I have basically asked the same question. In an effort to reduce the capital tied up in different cameras, film, etc. thinking along the lines of "swiss army knife" of cameras.

mablo · Jan 1, 2011

Personally I think I need one good SLR, one TLR, one rangefinder and another fixed lens rangefinder as a pocket camera. Probably a 4x5. That's all I need.

(please, don't ask how many cameras I have...)

Laurent · Jan 2, 2011

mablo said:
Personally I think I need one good SLR, one TLR, one rangefinder and another fixed lens rangefinder as a pocket camera. Probably a 4x5. That's all I need.

(please, don't ask how many cameras I have...)

So... how many do you have ?

M.A.Longmore · Jan 2, 2011

.
I Can Not Enough ...

I added a Kodak 66 Model III, and a Kodak Autographic 3-A to the collection last week.
But, My XE-7, and X-570 died last week, so now I'm playing with the Canon Sure Shot,
and Canon ELPH APS. Can't wait to get the Olde Bastards repaired !

.

Ces1um · Sep 26, 2017

I only really need a single 35mm slr camera and a handful of lenses. Don't ask me what I actually own though.

E. von Hoegh · Sep 26, 2017

I like to take pictures, even though the only ones hanging are hanging on other peoples walls; I almost never show them to anyone.
So, I use 35, mf 6x6 & 6x7, 4x5, and 8x10. I guess I could get by with a Contax II and Nikon F2 both with lens outfits for 35, Rolleiflex Automat and 6x7 roll back to fit 4x5 for mf, Linhof & lens outfit for 4x5, Deardorff V8 and two lenses for 8x10. That makes 5 cameras. But, all of this stuff is old, even though in good condition, so keeping spares is wise. Then, I have four 16mm Minoltas I'd like to try out, some 42mm screwmount stuff includind a pristine SP1000 that I like to use occasionally, a pair of Kievs with 35-50-85 lenses that I enjoy using, a Kodak Bantam 4.5, a Canon Ftb that I want to get a lens for just to try it out, an 11x14 Hoffman that I need a filmholder for, and a Rollei 35S to use when perversity strikes me - gorgeous lens, but awkward even for me who hunts close woods with a 53 inch long Schmidt-Rubin straight pull from 1915.
People keep giving me cameras, sometimes really nice ones, and Ilike cameras just as much as making pictures. I guess I need them all.

tessar · Sep 26, 2017

I really need only a 35mm SLR or RF cameras with their lenses, but I also have MF and LF cameras because I like to shoot in larger formats where it is practical to do so.

Sirius Glass · Sep 26, 2017

There is a big gap between want and need.

E. von Hoegh · Sep 26, 2017

Sirius Glass said:
There is a big gap between want and need.

We NEED food water and shelter. All else is optional. Yet another puerile thread.

Chan Tran · Sep 26, 2017

jnanian said:
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.

I really need NONE! I want many!

juan · Sep 26, 2017

I need all of them.

Theo Sulphate · Sep 26, 2017

As I stated elsewhere: I don't buy cameras to improve my photography. My reasons seem to be a combination of enjoying different cameras for their features, mechanisms, appearance, or viewfinder, and also because of the enjoyment of researching a camera and its place in photographic history.

benjiboy · Sep 27, 2017

I would think for practical purposes for 35mm S.L.R's 2 good condition Nikon F, F2''s or Canon F1 bodies and whatever lenses they choose for them should do everything that most photographers require as far as quality, reliability and backup are concerned and possibly. an additional medium format camera and lenses would be all most people would need.
. I have recently sold a lot of my cameras, lenses, light meters and other photographic equipment I'm not using on a regular basis and I have found the experience strangely liberating because she less stuff you have the less you need to worry about protecting, I used the money to buy my wife some new warm winter clothing and boots which she richly deserves for putting up with me and my photography for the last fifty-four years.

MartinCrabtree · Sep 27, 2017

I enjoy the variety of equipment I have. I could live with just one camera/lens. But why should I if there's a choice?

Jim Jones · Sep 27, 2017

Several years ago a friend and I carried five Nikon and Nikkormat cameras, several Nikon lenses, a Spotmatic because we had a good 400mm lens for it, and my Leica kit on an extended photo expedition to the Great American West. The cameras were loaded with color transparency film, Tech Pan film for high contrast shots, and two or three cameras loaded with ISO 100 and 400 film. Redundancy paid off: one Nikon died.

grimp0teuthis · Sep 27, 2017

I have one camera in every format I shoot: 35mm, 120, and 4x5.

I don't believe in buying cameras you don't need to make your art/tell your stories/run your business. One backup is OK, 2+ only if you're being paid to shoot and failure is not an option. You can "need" any model of camera you want, you don't have to buy a Yashica Electro instead of a Leica -- definitely pick the one that's right for you.

But collecting working cameras or buying them for aesthetics, etc., drives up prices (for all cameras, not just the collectors' items) for people who want to use them, takes them away from those film photography classes still available, and generally raises barriers to entry for film photography when we should be encouraging new blood to try it. Do you really need a Hasselblad 501cm, 503cx, and 201F? They are 90% the same. Why should you have a Minolta CLE, an M3 in several variations, and an M6? You also probably don't need a rangefinder and an SLR in the same format. If you want to try something new out, try it! But then pick one to get rid of after you've done so. These things aren't jewelry, they are tools for making art, telling stories, and running a photography business.

And no, it's not romantic or "paying your dues" for someone to get stuck with a Holga or Lubitel; It's just discouraging people. I met an artist and photographer the other day who wanted to try medium format, but couldn't afford anything in decent shape on the bay and worked too much to rummage through estate sales. You might say "try a cheap folder," but not everyone can handle those ancient, meterless cameras with patchy bellows, dark viewfinders, and uncoupled rangefinders. He just shrugged his shoulders. I tried to give him names of some less sought-after models... I hope he finds one.

Don't just accumulate cameras. Lend out your collection to artists and students long-term. Put them in the hands of people who will use them. If you do, our niche will grow in talent and vibrance, demand for film will increase (hello Ektachrome!), and maybe -- just maybe -- companies will find it worthwhile to manufacture new film cameras.

summicron1 · Sep 27, 2017

n plus 1, with n being the number I have now.

I'm a collector as well as a user, you see, and my desires always change, as do my needs and wants.

Plus, it's only money.

Theo Sulphate · Sep 28, 2017

The world is awash in film cameras at low prices. People collecting what they want doesn't change anything.

I bought a mint condition perfectly functioning Canon FTb for $10 last year. Prior to that I bought a Canonet 28 for $1 and an Agfa Silette for $1.

For years perfectly good Nikkormats could be had for $5 and still sat unsold.

Any student or artist wanting a film camera is now living in the perfect time to buy it at unprecedented low prices.

AgX · Sep 28, 2017

How many cameras we need?

Apply my Rule of Three :
one sample for use, one identical sample as immediate substitute and one sample as donor for spares.

BMbikerider · Sep 28, 2017

I have just had a bit of a rationalisation of my camera 'fleet'. I have just sold 2 x Minolta bodies plus 7 lenses a Nikon D90 and one lens and a Bronica ETRSi plus 3 lenses. They were not being used and just gathering dust
I now have 2x Nikon Digital (D300s and a D700) and 2 x Ninon Film (F6 and F601) plus lenses to cover all focal lengths from 20mm right up to 450mm. Really I don't need anything else except perhaps a good Macro lens.

how many cameras do we really need ??

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