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How many cameras do you need? (and why?)


Whatever you do at your yard sale John, don't try to sell any Leicas for $20.00.
 
I like having a 35mm and a medium format, it doesnt matter which. I mostly like developing the film.
I have a few nikons and canons (eos and fd) XAs, epics, a yashicamat, some folders, some boxes and even couple leicas but i could ditch em all for a $20 point and shoot and enjoy the hobby just as well.


Typos made on a tiny phone...
 
To satisfy my desires I need 3 cameras.
An 8x10 for still life and sometimes portraits for contact printing in pt/pd.
A 120 roll film camera that shoots 6x6 because sometimes I see in squares.
A 120 roll film camera that shoots in 6x7 because sometimes I get sick of squares.

I need to keep my 4x5 system because it used to be so important to me that I identify with it.. although I almost never use it.
Dennis
 
If I actually could ever figure out what I needed my life would certainly be a lot easier.

I no longer worry about it.

Whatever is in my hands or on my tripod at the time must be the one I need.

Whatever is at home in the drawer must be something I'll need sometime in the future. Else why would I own it?

And if I don't actually need it then it must be a backup for one I do need.

And if I am cruising the classifieds then I must not have everything I need yet.
 
I could live with one. That would be an F3. However, I need two of them so that's how many I have. Also, sometimes I need something faster than that so there is an F100 sitting next to the two F3s. And then sometimes I need something quicker so there is a Hexar AF sitting there as well.
So, four?
 
"Need!?"

I use a Hasselblad system for the majority of my landscape/nature and "fine-art" photography; I use my Leicas for street and candid work; and I use my Nikon system for just about everything. My photographic interests, I believe, are a little to broad to be served by one camera/one system (in the words of my hero Jay Maisel, "I don't have an agenda"; I always carry a camera of some sort and I photograph things that I find interesting...).
 

Let's see. You have a Hasselblad kit, a Leica and a Nikon kit. It sounds like you really "need" a 4x5!
 
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Just like with d*g*t*l, I only really need an SLR to take with if I'm heading someplace for the express purpose of taking photos, and something pocketable to keep with me the rest of the time just in case the opportunity to take a photo suddenly presents itself.
 
Personally, I need all of the cameras in all of the formats.
I have OCD
 
How many cameras do I need? Always the one I don't have with me. Dangit.
 
a leica M2, with a 50mm and 35mm, a cheap SLR with a cheap 28mm (AE-1+FDn 28mm).

I know exactly what I shoot: I shoot candid/documentary in black and white (HP5) and very occasionally color still of urban scenes (AE-1 28mm with velvia 50). I don't shoot street on day one, portraits on day two and maybe some landscape on day three... therefore no long lenses no pentax 67s for me whatsoever. My M2 kit is more than enough for me, though I do have an M3 as a backup or when I want to feel more HCB on a specific day.
 
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Every time I buy a camera I say that is it, I don't want any more, the last time ws last Thursday, I was looking on line and there it was, a beauty, a Rolleicord VA2, just what I neaded to go with my Rolleiflex,
Richard
 
Some people can't differentiate between "need" and greed.
 
When people use the word "need" in the context of threads like this, it's understood that it's not a real need like food and water, and is meant tongue-in-cheek.

Also, a collection of related objects (stamps, fountain pens, watches) is hardly unusual.
 
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It's still acquisitiveness.
 
Hi Ben,

You say that like its a bad thing. What's wrong if a hobby of collecting related items is a pleasant pastime for someone?

Is it as deep a satisfaction as gained through introspective meditation, working towards self realization? No. It's quite superficial, but so is watching TV.
 
People who are truly content with their choices in life don't need to validate them by running down the differing choices of others. Just sayin'.
 
Want and need are spelt different.
It is not like black jack were there is a penalty.
Unless there is a higher authority.
At bed time I was sent upstarts and toys left on living room floor.
Next day they were in box in under stair cupboard.
Cept when they vanished cause mum thought they had not been used...
 
I personally find deep satisfaction in acquiring a new tool. I personally have over 20 cameras but my passion for photography started as a collection and just appreciation for the cameras themselves
 
I've always struggled between want, need and practicality. The need part is easy to understand... I need none. The want part is easy to understand... I want many and I want the very best. The practicality part is a bit more difficult to understand due to the myriad of enabling and disabling factors... money, time, storage space, travel ability, health, etc.

For now, I'm paring down to a single lightweight 4x5.
 
I have the cameras I need. There are other cameras that I want. I have listed what I have before.
 
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