of all your cameras, which one do you use most often and why?

[removed account4]

so many people here have more than one camera. they picked them up cheap at yard sales, at flea markets,
at goodwill, off of eBay, from friends/family, an impulse buy or maybe it is something self-made, like
a frozen turkey pinhole camera ..

we've all read the nikon brag thread and seen how many nikon camera bodies we own, or the
camera porn/brag threads about hasselblads or exotic antique/vintage optics or xyzzy large format
camera bodies ...

you can't use all the cameras at once, and obviously there are formats and lenses one gravitates to.


what is the camera you use most often and why ?

mine is one of 2 box cameras i feed with sheets of paper ( a delmar that takes film holders, and
a cyclone #3 that uses "falling plate" septums ) ... i use them because i have too much expired photo paper
and i like their menisucs lens optics.

what about you ?

 

[Alan9940]

Though I own many cameras (too many, actually) my most used is my 8x10 Deardorff; no bragging intended...I bought it new 35+ years ago and continue to enjoy that format to this day. I don't know if I can explain why I like it the most, but it all has a lot to do with viewing the image on the gg at final print size and those resulting contact prints on fine B&W paper such as Lodima or Adox Lupex. I can't explain it, but something "happens" to my brain when viewing that gg that doesn't happen with any other format! Of the 30 or so images in my portfolio, only a couple were made with 4x5.

 

[mooseontheloose]

Consistent use - my Nikon FE. It comes with me on every trip and almost every outing. However, I don't shoot with it as much since I prefer the larger neg of medium format. But when it comes to MF, the cameras change based on what I'm shooting (and how I'm feeling). Most recently it's been my Rolleiflex that comes along for the ride, but before that is was my Autocord (until it developed a lens problem), before that my Mamiya 6 (but even it became too heavy with my back issues), and for the longest time before that, my Bronica SQAi (which really had to be abandoned because of my back problems). However, now that my back seems to be getting better, I may take the latter two out for some shooting, as it has been a while since I've used either (years in the case of the Bronica).

 

[winger]

I'd have to say my Pentax 645N. And I think most of my keepers came through it. I do use the 4x5 a decent amount, but I still feel like I'm learning that format. I'm also more conservative in what I shoot with it for cost reasons.
If I'm going on a trail I haven't been on before, I'm likelier to take the P645N and a d thing as my "exploratory pack."

 

[NedL]

I use my simple can and box pinhole cameras a lot, not any particular one though.
Past couple years, my Zeiss Ikon ercona ii is the film camera I use the most. It's a simple scale-focus 6x9 folder.
I can't explain why, I just like using it, and I like the 6x9 negatives.

 

[Cholentpot]

Canon A2 and Nikon F3.

The EOS system covers what I need for fast autofocus. The F3 covers what I need for sharp lenses and a dependable camera.

 

[Jeff Bradford]

I keep coming back to my Nikon FE2.

 

[papagene]

Lately, it has been the Bronica S2a. It's fun to use and I like the results I have been getting.

 

[hdeyong]

Rollei B35. Incredible portability, good 40mm Zeiss lens, take it almost everywhere.

 

[flavio81]

For me it's difficult to settle on one camera, having so many at disposal, but the one I use the most is probably my Canon New F1.

Why? Excellent viewfinder, tough, sleek, excellent metering indication, dependable, smooth operation, and beautiful.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I use the Hasselblads the most. The Nikons are the next most used.

 

[sportster44]

Tough one because I try to use them all. My Leica M4 - P has had the most rolls through it this year, but the New F1 is right up there as is Rollei 35se.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Typically an F5 Nikon. After getting my FM2n back recently after a really long wait it's been getting used a good bit.

 

[dpurdy]

Outdoors photography it depends on whether I am in the mood for squares or rectangles. Squares is a Rolleiflex 2.8f, Rectangles it is a Pentax 67.
For still life in my little room I always use a zone 6 8x10.

 

[R.Gould]

For 35mm it would be a choice of Ambi sillette or Voightlander Vitessa T for MF it is either my Microcord or my Balda Super Baldax with the Compur shutter and Ennit lens

 

[MattKing]

Good thread subject John.
Because I can't figure out the answer.
Which really drives home the fact that I need to consider downsizing the collection.
If ones choice of camera on a particular day is motivated by the feeling that one should be using a camera more, and not because one wants to use that camera that day, then one has too many cameras.

 

[eddie]

I tend to work on specific projects, looking for consistency in the prints. As such, I end up using a single camera for the duration. Anything from half frame to 5x7 these days. Recently, it's been my Fuji 6x9s and my Dianas. Then again, I've also been making photos without a camera/lens, probably more than with them the last year or two.

 

[LeftCoastKid]

Good thread subject John.
Because I can't figure out the answer. Snip...

.

+1. But, perhaps, for an entirely different reason: My interests in photography tend to be pretty catholic; I never really have a shooting agenda. That said, the cameras/lenses I do tend to use most often are as follows: Hasselblad 500c/m with (most likely) a 50mm/100mm/180mm lens (if I happen to be hiking/shooting nature); either a Leica M4 or an M6 (Tri-X or HP5+) with a 50mm Summicron (walkabout camera that is always with me, in the city); or a Nikon F2AS with either a 28/50/85mm lens (always loaded with slide film) if I happen to be shooting color. "Favorites," aside, I do manage to rotate through my equipment inventory on a fairly regular basis - the above just seem to be used the most...

 

[chassis]

Mamiya RB67 Pro SD, followed by a Toyo 45AII. The Canon FX comes in third. Love color/C41 lately.

 

[Craig75]

Olympus xa2 and minolta 16 ii

 

[michaelorr]

Deardorff 8x10 with my 450 fuji and 240 Docter Optic lenses. Everything @Alan9940 said ditto for me. I take photographs to be able to use my deardorff - maybe some day i will make a negative i really really like.

Deardorff going to NH White Mountains next month! Primary objective of trip to hike 3 of the over 4k peaks, my last three, of the 48 but i hope to find one or two waterfalls that will work out in between arriving and hiking.

Most enjoyable, though, is my Chamonix 4x5. Such a fun camera to work with! Same two lenses. But i save this camera for stuff i cannot quite work out with the 8x10. I actually bought it to photograph in the White Sands National Monument, which became a trip that fell through in connection with work. Hard for me to get away from NJ otherwise.

Favorite lens - my Schneider Symmar 210 5.6 - first LF lens i ever owned and an absolute dream lens to me. It is mounted on a cambo board for use with the SCII monorail. Use that around the yard, house, for staged studio-like stuff, and local parks. Looking to do one or more "still life" styles sometime if i see something in my imagination that raises my interest.

I am having some fun with roll film both 120 and 35mm from time to time, but i do not process roll film at home, and have no way to scan or to print at the moment.

 

[Pioneer]

It kind of depends on what I am working on.

Lately the Leica III and Leica M-A are my current favorite carry cameras. With collapsible or pancake lenses I can just slide them in a pocket and go.

But I am actually using, not just carrying, my Intrepid 4x5 field camera more because I am doing quite a bit of work with direct positive paper and paper negatives. Since I am still learning, the 4x5 format is the easiest and least expensive to use. Of course I am actually shooting more "frames" with the 35mm cameras, but I don't consider it that way.

6 months from now, who knows what I'll be using.

 

[Chan Tran]

Uhm! The camera I use most often is a D....

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I have lots of fancy cameras, but the reality is the camera I probably use the most is a Contax TVS. I can put it in my pocket, use it with one hand, and it does everything else just right including mounting filters and has exposure compensation right on the top. It is set for the flash to be off as a default so I never have to deal with any button pressing. Just turn it on, and go. The lens is as good as a modest zoom (28-56) can be for a point and shoot which is good enough for an 8x10, and even larger if the light is bright. It is also Titanium housed so I never have to worry about it bumping into things.

The second most used camera is a Hexar RF. Not quite as convenient as the TVS, but I carry it on a climber's sling so it is always there behind my right arm when I have it with me. Can't beat the lenses either.

 

[Sirius Glass]

For the narrow winding very old streets in Greece the SWC has been terrific.