Psychological hang-ups regarding cameras - anyone else?

[BillBingham2]

I did carry a BIG bag-o-stuff on vacation till I realized I was not having fun unless there was a camera in my hand. Wide range of lenses, multiple bodies, motor, flashes, table top tripod, and more. I cared more about the safety of the camera stuff than anything else. Would it be safe when we went to dinner?

I sold most of it and went Leica M. Worked fine for years. Had to sell the Ms and glass now I have a Ricoh P&S and could not be happier. Yes I can not reach out the way I could with my 300mm, but you know it's OK. When I really feel the need I pack the kit, F2 body, 28/2.8 AIs, 85/1.8, 300/4.5 ED-IF and my trusty L-318 meter.

Less can be much more but it takes acceptance that you will never be perfectly prepared for everything all the time.

I might be on a different path along the same journey.

B2

 

[steven_e007]

I have 5 X 4 which I'm very fond of... nice set of lenses, too. My psychological hang up is that whilst I love the camera and using it - I hate being the centre of attention and really don't like the crowd of gawpers it atracts or their often sarcastic comments. Last Sunday I went to a local wood to photograph some trees. I was mainly doing test shots to try out some new lenses I had mounted. Next thing I know two couples I have wandered over to see what is going on and their young kids start climbing all over the tree I've just focussed on....

After it was clear they intended to claim it as their own, I wondered off to find another tree. Two mininutes later and more kids have made a bee line for it me and my tree and started climbing on it, gawping at me and generally GETTING IN THE WAY :-(

Yes, I am a miserable sod.on

Two teenagers come up to me on BMX bikes. "What are you taking pictures of?" they ask. Demand, really.

I am in a wood. Surrounded by trees. My camera is pointing at a tree.
"Trees" I said.
"Well, that camera looks like a ****ing dinosaur", they said.

Ba, humbug...

The thing is, with a digital, no ones cares because you are just the same as everybody else. I'm sure that has a LOT to do with their popularity, it isn't always comfortable to be conspicouus...

 

[BillBingham2]

.....and their young kids start climbing all over the tree I've just focussed on....

Two mininutes later and more kids have made a bee line for it me and my tree and started climbing on it, gawping at me and generally GETTING IN THE WAY :-(

Yes, I am a miserable

"Trees" I said.
"Well, that camera looks like a ****ing dinosaur", they said.

Ba, humbug...

...

Learn these words and problems like this you will not have........

I am taking pictures of the poison ivy over there. It's a particularity strong subspecies, kind of rare actually. I want to document out for the DNR.

B2

 

[mr.datsun]

If I take the 35mm GR1v I have no problems.

If I take the ETRSi then I have to choose between three lenses, take ten minutes to decide and then always take two and then a bag to put them in. If I take the bag then I might add the GR1v and then ....

btw. This one year, one film thing - do we get a 24 exposures film or a 36 exposure film? I think it could make a difference.

 

[maliha]

Isn't that normal?

Every camera has it's own purpose, and if you want to have a certain look then one would work and the other wouldn't... in my opinion. I'm not much of a street photographer, so it may be a bigger dilemma for those who do street, may be you should find a camera that comes with variable lens option and just carry different lenses. Assuming you do only 35 or only medium or only bigger format... but if you want to change the format as well, then I guess you will just need a big trunk in your car...??

 

[Roger Cole]

I have 5 X 4 which I'm very fond of... nice set of lenses, too. My psychological hang up is that whilst I love the camera and using it - I hate being the centre of attention and really don't like the crowd of gawpers it atracts or their often sarcastic comments. Last Sunday I went to a local wood to photograph some trees. I was mainly doing test shots to try out some new lenses I had mounted. Next thing I know two couples I have wandered over to see what is going on and their young kids start climbing all over the tree I've just focussed on....

After it was clear they intended to claim it as their own, I wondered off to find another tree. Two mininutes later and more kids have made a bee line for it me and my tree and started climbing on it, gawping at me and generally GETTING IN THE WAY :-(

Yes, I am a miserable sod.on

Two teenagers come up to me on BMX bikes. "What are you taking pictures of?" they ask. Demand, really.

I am in a wood. Surrounded by trees. My camera is pointing at a tree.
"Trees" I said.
"Well, that camera looks like a ****ing dinosaur", they said.

Ba, humbug...

The thing is, with a digital, no ones cares because you are just the same as everybody else. I'm sure that has a LOT to do with their popularity, it isn't always comfortable to be conspicouus...

Humm, get that sort of thing here in Georgia sometimes, but back around my hometown in Tennessee there are hundreds of square miles of National Forest Service land with publicly open trails but very light usage. With just a little hiking it's easy to get to places you're unlikely to see another human and have only snakes and, in some places, bears to be concerned about. OTOH I find that unlike humans neither make snide remarks or ask stupid questions, and both are prone to leave you alone if you announce your presence (kick the ground a lot for snakes, just talk quietly to a friend or yourself for bears!)

I increasingly find that I like taking the 4x5 back to TN but have little in this area I want to photograph with it.

 

[brian steinberger]

It's funny cause I was actually thinking of starting a thread similar to this. I struggle with this at times as well. There's no doubt that I can be more productive with just one camera system and a few lenses. I often try to carry two camera systems and often this is just too much. I think I may struggle more with which cameras I want to move forward with into future. I am certainly a MF rangefinder man. But for certain things (telephoto, close up, portraits) I've invested in an SLR 645 system and it's great but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to incorporate it into my normal shooting with MF rangefinders, and I feel my photography has suffered a bit lately.

 

[steven_e007]

Humm, get that sort of thing here in Georgia sometimes, but back around my hometown in Tennessee there are hundreds of square miles of National Forest Service land with publicly open trails but very light usage...

Living, as I do, on one of the most densely populated island on the planet... I am VERY JEALOUS.

Of course, there is that chap who posts here on APUG sometimes who uses a 5 X 4 for street photography in Los Angelese. Must have an extremely thick skin

 

[Bill Burk]

IThe best example is the Rollei 35, I think. Great camera (no matter the lens) but I usually get those nagging thoughts before leaving the house: "what if I want to do close-focus/wide-open?", "what happens when the sun goes down?", etc, etc ...

Funny, I read the thread from the bottom...

I have the same exact hangup.

What if an eagle flies by? Rollei 35

http://www.beefalobill.com/20060700_h/source/image/6908-08.jpg

 

[Roger Cole]

Living, as I do, on one of the most densely populated island on the planet... I am VERY JEALOUS.

Of course, there is that chap who posts here on APUG sometimes who uses a 5 X 4 for street photography in Los Angelese. Must have an extremely thick skin

Well I have to drive about four and a half hours each way to GET back to my hometown, so it's not like its out my backdoor. But my fiance and I make that trip every couple of months or so for a weekend. It's beautiful country.

 

[Toffle]

Not that I would ever want APUG to emulate facebook, but there are times when a "like" button would really come in handy. There are so many great posts in this thread.

I am often guilty of taking too much gear on outings, but I tend to use most of it in a reasonable window of time. My 8x10 kit always has a 35mm along for incidental shots.

"Make it work" is a great kickstart for creativity. I occasionally grab the "wrong" camera and head out shooting, with surprising results. It is seldom the wrong camera after all. (as opposed to taking the "perfect" camera and looking for that perfect shot with perfect light and all conditions perfectly under your control - a certain recipe for disappointment.)

As to psychological hangups, I don't think I have any, but when I hit a slump (don't we all at some time or other?) it is my Rolleiflex that is my best cure. This is the one camera that never seems to let me down. A couple of rolls of Rollei therapy and I'm usually back on track making images the way I see them.

One final point... My APUG posting stats are waay down over the last couple of years. Since I began the 365 day challenge (in January 2010) I have made a conscious point to shoot more than talk. (or write) Nothing against APUG; it is still my first and best photographic resource, but I find I take much better pictures when I am not sitting. I believe I am approaching 600 consecutive days of shooting in the next week or so and I feel as creatively invigorated as I did in the very first month of the challenge.

Cheers,

 

[Paul Jenkin]

I've never, ever considered buying a Minolta camera. Why, I just don't know. They produced excellent kit but, for some unknown reason, their charms were invisible to me.

I'm also having some angst about what camera to take on holiday in November this year. Assuming that the flood situation in Bangkok and Cambodia (Siem Reap / Angkor Wat / Banteay Srei) gets no worse, we're off there (and to Krabi) from 7/11 to 23/11. I want to travel light but I also want to take 6x6 (Hasselblad preferably or Rolleiflex).

I've sort of decided my M6TTL (or R3 Mot) + 3 lenses will be coming with me but is it really worth lugging around a 500c/m with 40mm and 80mm lenses as well?? It's been bugging me for the last 6 weeks or so and I'm slowly coming to the realisation that "light is good when the conditions are bad". Maybe I just need less gear....

 

[keithwms]

Does anyone else have this problem or is it only me?

Well, you love TLRs.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I've never, ever considered buying a Minolta camera. Why, I just don't know. They produced excellent kit but, for some unknown reason, their charms were invisible to me.

I'm also having some angst about what camera to take on holiday in November this year. Assuming that the flood situation in Bangkok and Cambodia (Siem Reap / Angkor Wat / Banteay Srei) gets no worse, we're off there (and to Krabi) from 7/11 to 23/11. I want to travel light but I also want to take 6x6 (Hasselblad preferably or Rolleiflex).

I've sort of decided my M6TTL (or R3 Mot) + 3 lenses will be coming with me but is it really worth lugging around a 500c/m with 40mm and 80mm lenses as well?? It's been bugging me for the last 6 weeks or so and I'm slowly coming to the realisation that "light is good when the conditions are bad". Maybe I just need less gear....

The more you think about the cameras, the less you'll be thinking about the pictures. If you have the choice of Leica M6, Leica R3, and Hasselblad 500 - either one is going to do the job very nicely. Just pick one and don't worry so much about it.

 

[guitstik]

I am of the opinion that the best camera is the one you have with you. I spend most of my time at work so taking a MF/LF camera is out of the question, tho I have done it. My biggest quandary comes at that time just as I am getting together to leave for work. I check to make sure I have my wallet, pen, lunch and other sundries that I need, then I spend the next 30min decicing if I am going to take a camera, I usually do but which one. I usually end up taking the F with the 24/2,8 the S2 with the 35/2,8 and the Minolta XE-7 and the 58/1,4. They don't always get used but I have them just incase. The times that I have elected not to take a camera with me, I felt as if I was nekeed and regretted the decision, so now I have at least one camera with me at all times and of course it has to be loaded, usually with Kodak 400TX.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I imposed a bit of that "one camera, one lens" discipline on myself this last vacation, although I did bring 4 lenses (just in case...). I ended up using only two of them, and one was used for 94-96% of my photos (2 or 3 out of 43). I still almost killed myself dragging around gear because I took about 25 5x7 film holders with me. Even with half of them being "light-weight" wood ones, I swear I must have had near 40 lbs of gear in my carry-on bag. That got winnowed down significantly when I was out and about with the camera, so I was only hauling around 10 lbs +/- plus the tripod when in the field. Did I see images that I would have liked to take, but couldn't, because I didn't have the right lens with me? Sure, but was I completely happy with what I did take? With those two lenses, absolutely! It was a real learning experience, and it's inspired me to winnow down some of my surplus gear and focus on the cameras I really like to shoot. I still shoot too many formats (everything from 35mm and digital, 6x6/6x7, 5x7, 5x12, 6.5x8.5, to 14x17, and an 11x14 that may be coming online next year if I can get the money together to finish rebuilding it). It is VERY hard to be jack-of-all-trades, and even harder to do it well. I think limiting yourself really helps you concentrate on your personal vision. It also helps you get to know your subject matter - with one specific kit tailored to shooting that subject or small group of subjects, you really get to know what you're shooting and it makes a big difference.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

Thomas, you are right of course...!!

In some ways, the decline in film usage has fuelled the dilemma as it is so (relatively) cheap to pick up quality film kit at a fraction of its price pre-digital. Now, I can afford cameras I could only dream of in years gone by.

I've decided on the Leica R3 as I can see all of the frame (no lens cutting into the viewfinder all the time) and I have 3 very nice lenses for that body. I will take a 120 camera - my Voigtlander Perkeo I which has a great lens and it's tiny. As I'll be taking a tripod, getting good quality shots at slow times shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Helinophoto]

I've found that the more options I have, the more kit i bring.
Usually this is typical when I bring my Canon 1v with me, I always end up bringing lenses covering everthing from 17mm to 200mm and a few prime lenses in between.
- And flashes, polarizers, the cokin-p's etc....

But, after I got hold of my medium format cameras, I only have two lenses, so I bring the camera an my two lenses and some film and off I go, much easier =)