My wife thinks I'm crazy... is not news. Why, you might ask.

SchwinnParamount · Nov 29, 2015

Like most of us here do, I've got more cameras than I need and barely few enough to count. Many of them were sitting on the top of my low bookcase in the bedroom. They were not being used and taking up valuable random-thing-stacking-space. My local high school still has a darkroom and is short of cameras for students.

No, I didn't donate the cameras to the school. Are you kidding me? Instead, I bought 5 good quality camera bags used, from my local camera shop. Now all of those cameras are off the bookcase and into the bags, and under the bed. Each bag is equipped with a camera body, a selection of lenses, a strobe, and film. At any time, I can reach under the bed, grab a bag, and go out to shoot. Heck, I could grab 4-5 bags and then go out and shoot.

Am I crazy?

Sirius Glass · Nov 29, 2015

No, you are not crazy. I have my two 35mm Nikons [one for color and one for black & white] one with a 28mm to 200mm AF zoom lens, the other with a 28mm to 300mm AF lens and a 20mm to 35mm AF zoom lens that they share. The WideLux has its own bag. The Hasselblad 503 has its own backpack with its lenses, filters, and backs. The Hasselblad 903 has its own backpack. The Pacemaker Speed Graphic has its own backpack. The Graflex Model D has its own backpack. I grab one or two packs or bags, throw in film from the refrigerator and I am out the door.

My girlfriend of fourteen years [we do not know if a marriage will work out because we have never had a fight] says to me, "You have worked your adult life to buy things that others wanted or thought they needed. Now you are at the point in life that if you want something, you will use it and you will enjoy it, then by all means you should buy it." She has always been that way and just said it again about the Hasselblad 500mm lens I just bought. I have always treated her the same way.

The youngun's think that werewolves and vampires are supernatural, they do not understand the concept. Supernatural is over fourteen years in a relationship without a fight.

mdarnton · Nov 29, 2015

Mr. Paramount, Only since you have asked, my feelings about you vary quite a bit, depending on whether I read the first paragraph or not.

bdial · Nov 29, 2015

Am I crazy?

You don't seem like it to me.
:munch:

ToddB · Nov 29, 2015

No.. I have two kits ready to go in my darkroom. I always take a film kit to work with me. Oh did mention... That I'm a photographer for the Air Force? But I prefer to use my film cameras over the issued d800 that I have for non-duty work. Never know what what you'll find on the way home. So no, your not crazy to a few kits ready to go. Instead of having a shot gun under your bed, you have film cameras kits ready to shoot.

Sirius Glass · Nov 29, 2015

Silly me, I thought that the shot gun was supposed to be on the gun rack on the window behind the driver. A shot gun under the bed would be used to shoot nightmare monsters under the bed. I learn new things all the time.

Alan Gales · Nov 30, 2015

My step-son and his girlfriend just drove back to Chicago today. He took with him an old English bicycle that my wife and I picked up off Craigslist for him. His girlfriend said that they now have six bicycles in their small apartment.

At least 35mm cameras are small. Try fitting six bicycles under your bed!

pbromaghin · Nov 30, 2015

No, you're not crazy, but it would be much better if your 35mm bodies were all part of the same system. It just doesn't make sense to have multiple 35mm systems. Decide on one and sell the others to get money to buy deeper into that system. i love Pentax because I started on a K1000 and had a ME Super for years, but I now have 5 Minolta MD and MC bodies along with a ton of lenses. I really have to fight off GAS whenever I see Pentax for sale.

A friend of mine was deeply committed to Nikon Fx and offered all his 35mm gear at a pretty good price, but I had to turn him down because I was so committed to Minolta.

Jeff Bradford · Nov 30, 2015

You're not crazy. I have about ten (I don't want to count them because it could be more) camera bags, each with a complete kit in it, including a spare body or two in some of them. So no, I wouldn't call you crazy.

Xmas · Nov 30, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
Silly me, I thought that the shot gun was supposed to be on the gun rack on the window behind the driver. A shot gun under the bed would be used to shoot nightmare monsters under the bed. I learn new things all the time.

The expression loaded for bear was the trusty double 10 bore mussel loader loaded with double buck shot and choke ball kept handy to front door just in case.

Apparently?

Paul Howell · Nov 30, 2015

I have 6 or 7 bags, three with Minolta 35mm gear, one for travel, second for wildlife and a third for sports, two with MF, Mamiya Universal and second with Kowa 6X6 SLR, and two for LF, a Crown, in a backpack, and a 5X4 Brand view camera in a Coleman cooler. Well then I also have bag with a Miranda EE and lens another with Konica and lens. All the bags are in large plastic trash bags and tied to keep cat hair out.

frank · Nov 30, 2015

PDH said:
I have 6 or 7 bags, three with Minolta 35mm gear, one for travel, second for wildlife and a third for sports, two with MF, Mamiya Universal and second with Kowa 6X6 SLR, and two for LF, a Crown, in a backpack, and a 5X4 Brand view camera in a Coleman cooler. Well then I also have bag with a Miranda EE and lens another with Konica and lens. All the bags are in large plastic trash bags and tied to keep cat hair out.

Hope you air them out regularly. Doesn't sound like a healthy storage environment.

Paul Howell · Nov 30, 2015

Not as often as I would like, the 35mm travel bag and either a MF or LB bag are us ally taken as a pair. I live in the desert, it is so dry that keeping my bags I bags is not an issue and less of an issue than dealing with the dust and cat hair.

frank · Nov 30, 2015

Okay, dry is good!

Sirius Glass · Nov 30, 2015

frank said:
Okay, dry is good!

Start with a Bombay Gin Martini with two olives, stirred not shaken*. Keep the Gin in the freezer so that the Martini will not be poisoned with the ice.

* Ian Fleming screwed up Martinis by using vodka and shaking. Shaking clouds the drink and melts the ice in the drink. Who would want a drink with piss water from ice in it.

DannL. · Nov 30, 2015

It's all quite reasonable. So, now you need to buy five toasters, five refrigerators and five microwaves for the wife and put them in the kitchen. Make sure they are all different in some way, each having unique features. Did I mention washers & driers? What's good for gander . . .

frank · Nov 30, 2015

Let her buy 5 purses and 5 pairs of shoes.

Sean Mac · Nov 30, 2015

frank said:
Let her buy 5 purses and 5 pairs of shoes.

Let her buy another 5 purses and another 5 pairs of shoes, if experience is any guide...

ColColt · Nov 30, 2015

Supernatural is over fourteen years in a relationship without a fight.

They say wisdom comes with age so, here goes. Grab that gal and marry her before someone else does!! You have an orchid that doesn't change, like the roses I found.

Sirius Glass · Nov 30, 2015

What and ruin a good relationship?!?

ColColt · Nov 30, 2015

Being an orchid, she won't change, unlike the many roses that loose their color with time.

Theo Sulphate · Nov 30, 2015

To avoid fungus in cameras and lenses, I'd not want them in a bag in a humid environment. My cameras and lenses are on shelves in an open room and I have temperature / humidity gauges in the room.

Sirius Glass · Nov 30, 2015

Theo Sulphate said:
To avoid fungus in cameras and lenses, I'd not want them in a bag in a humid environment. My cameras and lenses are on shelves in an open room and I have temperature / humidity gauges in the room.

Better yet, live in Southern California where every day we have blue skies and short sleeve weather; and is good for bike riding. In the Fall we can drive an hour so see Fall Colors and enjoy an apple festival. Skiing is an hour and a half drive to Big Bear or four hours and fifteen minutes to Mammoth Mountain. A little longer to Tahoe. By the way never use the same caterer that the Donner Party used!

Theo Sulphate · Nov 30, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
Better yet, live in Southern California where every day we have blue skies and short sleeve weather; and is good for bike riding. In the Fall we can drive an hour so see Fall Colors and enjoy an apple festival. Skiing is an hour and a half drive to Big Bear or four hours and fifteen minutes to Mammoth Mountain. A little longer to Tahoe. By the way never use the same caterer that the Donner Party used!

I lived in Southern California for 26 years, one mile from the beach, went to school there and graduated from UCLA. Weather isn't everything - which is why I left. Many of the toys I legally own prevent me from moving back to the California Republic. But that's just one reason out of very, very many.

I am fortunate to have a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood, about a 90 minute drive from the ocean, real mountains, the desert, picturesque valleys, and a geological wonderland. Right now, humidity in my camera room is in the low 30's at 72F.

Sirius Glass · Nov 30, 2015

Your history is off. California was a territory that became a state. Texas was a republic. We stole Texas far and square.

My wife thinks I'm crazy... is not news. Why, you might ask.

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