The need for different cameras

[frank]

Horses for courses. Different cameras have different strengths, weaknesses, and uses. Just as a carpenter has more than one saw or more than one hammer for different purposes, it is logical for a photographer to have more than one camera.

So, some categories to consider:

35mm
Point and shoot, compact, electronic -
Compact mechanical -
Electronic SLR -
Mechanical SLR -
Electronic RF -
Mechanical RF -

120
SLR -
TLR -
RF -

4x5
Press type -
Field type -
Mono rail -

 

[cowanw]

Plus a backup in each category, of course.

 

[frank]

Plus a backup in each category, of course.

In various brands!

 

[Xmas]

black paint and silver chrome

 

[cliveh]

Horses for courses. Different cameras have different strengths, weaknesses, and uses. Just as a carpenter has more than one saw or more than one hammer for different purposes, it is logical for a photographer to have more than one camera.

So, some categories to consider:

35mm
Point and shoot, compact, electronic -
Compact mechanical -
Electronic SLR -
Mechanical SLR -
Electronic RF -
Mechanical RF -

120
SLR -
TLR -
RF -

4x5
Press type -
Field type -
Mono rail -

So what purpose do you want to consider?

 

[Dan Fromm]

Just as a carpenter has more than one saw or more than one hammer for different purposes, it is logical for a photographer to have more than one camera.

Really? Why?

I ask because although I have more than one type of 35 mm camera (SLR with interchangeable lens, rangefinder with fixed lens, viewfinder with fixed lens, AF point-and-shoot with fixed lens) the SLR does all I need. The others stay home. In 35 mm, SLRs are as close to universal cameras as we have.

I went up in format to 2x3 because I couldn't get the images I wanted -- basically flowers in their settings with adequate fine detail in the flowers, this is impossible with 35 mm still, the format's too small -- with 35 mm. I went to 2x3 press cameras, cheap and cheerful Graphics. I have 6x6 and 6x9 fixed lens pocketable (they say) folders in the closet. They have no advantages over my Graphics except less size and weight and that isn't enough. I also have a couple of 2x3 monorails, one with a 4x5 rear standard so that I can shoot 6x12. I shoot the Graphics and monorails from tripod, focus on the GG, and don't often use much in the way of movements. The monorail with a 4x5 rear standard has advantages over the Graphics. It can shoot 2x3 and 6x12 and it can use longer lenses than the Graphics can.

As far as I know there are no good equivalents to 35 mm SLRs for formats 2x3 and larger. Yes, I know, Arca Swiss Reflex, Graflexes, Mentor Reflex, Plaubel Makiflex and Pecoflex and lotsa ancient SLRs that are much like Graflexes. None syncs electronic flash, very few have automatic diaphragm, all are slow-working. In fact I have a 2x3 Graflex modified to function as an SLR module on my 2x3 monorails. Wrong camera for that job, its mirrorbox is rectangular and vignettes badly with the long lenses I hoped to use with it. Makiflex, perhaps, but still without the 35 mm SLR's advantages.

I have no need to go to a larger format.

I'm surprised you didn't mention formats larger than 4x5.

 

[Xmas]

or sub miniature

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Thread moved to "Miscellaneous Equipment."

"The Lounge" is for off-topic discussion, unrelated to analogue photography.

 

[thegman]

Sure, lots of people need more than one camera, but generally it's just because we want them. We want shiny cameras.

 

[M Carter]

You know what I want (OK, this is digital, but a man's gotta make a living)... a digital view camera that's price equivalent to a mid range DSLR. $1k - $2k.

Yes, there are tilt-shift lenses. I'd like a small tilt-shift camera, even an APS-C sensor, that I can use all my lenses on. Id' love something like that for basic lower-budget product shooting. Make it with Nikon F and EOS mounts. Doesn't need AF or auto-anything.

I'd guess that might require something like a speedbooster optic to add some flange distance to make movements meaningful. (Yes, I've seen the digital backs for 4x5, which require image stitching and preclude much wide work).

Well, a guy can dream...

 

[snapguy]

Don't think so

Your categories are arbitrary and silly. You would want a "different" camera if the one you had doesn't cut the mustard. The film does not know if the box is electronic or Caveman-style You should look at the job the camera needs to do and go from there. My Nikon F doesn't get anything different than my Nikon N70 but the latter is nice when I am feeling too lazy to manual focus.

 

[David Brown]

I'm sorry, what was the question again?

 

[Pioneer]

Having a lot of different cameras to work with certainly keeps me from getting bored...

...but I don't think it has made me a better photographer.

 

[frank]

Having a lot of different cameras to work with certainly keeps me from getting bored...

...but I don't think it has made me a better photographer.

I certainly never claimed that. This was meant as a light-hearted rationale for my ridiculous collection of cameras.

 

[summicron1]

i remember a donald duck comic book once where he was dealing with a camera smuggler who needed all those cameras because he needed one for color, andone for black, and one for white, and one for closeups, and one for far shots, and one for near shots, and one for daytime and one for nighttime....and on and on.

Pretty much my excuse, too. The wife doesn't even ask any more.

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

Pinhole too

 

[NedL]

Pinhole too

or three, or ten

 

[TheToadMen]

The need for different cameras

You mean "need" as in "craving" but not "necessity" ??

 

[Theo Sulphate]

When I was 19, I bought my first serious camera: a Pentax SP500 with a 55/2. For the next 15 years that was the only camera and lens I used. At some point I realized I could buy a second camera. Now, I just buy them because I like and appreciate them. Yes, I do use them all.

 

[darkosaric]

Just look how small photo bag from HCB was .

What I/you/we need: one camera and one lens.
What I/you/we can have and should have because it is golden age of film photography and equipment is cheap and fun to have and use: long list of cameras.

Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Nuff]

I'm on the way to minimising and rationalising my collection of cameras and lenses. Selling everything that's not needed. And I had nowhere near the collections some of the people have here. That includes lenses and bodies. But I still might get tempted to get second leica body and a rolleiflex.

 

[benjiboy]

Some people don't know the difference between want and need and will do anything to rationalize their acquisitiveness, however it's their money and if it gives them pleasure who am I to judge.

 

[frank]

Some people don't know the difference between want and need and will do anything to rationalize their acquisitiveness, however it's their money and if it gives them pleasure who am I to judge.

Exactly.

 

[Jim Jones]

Over many decades I've accumulated and used most of the types of cameras discussed in this thread. Just one camera and lens would have captured only a fraction of my photographs taken in that time. A talented photographer certainly can make a career of using only one camera and lens, but even Henri Cartier-Bresson sometimes used other lenses. Before the latest digital cameras, carrying both a color and a B&W camera was important for quality image making. Of course both types of sheet film could be used in one camera, but that camera wasn't practical for wildlife and sports photography. The comparison between multiple cameras and multiple saws is apt. Before the proliferation of power tools, a master carpenter and cabinet maker might have and use a dozen saws and as many planes. The old master mechanics had hundred of tools, from large metal turning lathes to jeweler's screwdrivers.

 

[BrianShaw]

I certainly never claimed that. This was meant as a light-hearted rationale for my ridiculous collection of cameras.

I didn't understand that from the original post either, Frank. Given some of other posts I must be "slow" or reading way too literally this morning. Thanks for clarifying your point.

And with that understanding... are YOU happy with your gear?