What camera you own makes you feel "creative"?

Eric Rose · Jul 19, 2009

I've worked with a lot of different cameras over the years but the one camera that always seems to have a special "feel" and "energy" to it when I pick it up is my Rollei TLR. Have no idea why but when I'm out with it things happen and I come back with usually my best stuff in ages. It's not just the format as I have a Blad as well, it's something else. Nothing that can be quantified, rationalized or anything like that, it just comes from within.

Do you have a special camera like that?

Alan W · Jul 19, 2009

Mamiya 330 professional S.It's not my "best" or "favourite" camera but it's always been a great camera for photographing my children.I like how it sits in both hands,maybe its the square format-there never seems to be anything to crop.

doomtroll · Jul 19, 2009

All of my cameras make me feel creative, some in different ways.

f/stopblues · Jul 19, 2009

For some reason, anything with a waist level finder gets me in the "zone" so much quicker and more thoroughly than prisms or rangefinder viewfinders. My running theory is that I can see the image in the viewfinder as a final print more effectively than in other cameras. The moment I strap a tripod to it that magic goes away, so LF doesn't have the effect for that reason.

I have ended up with the most unconventional and personally satisfying photos through a WLF, mainly my Bronica GS-1. They feel the most "me" if that makes any sense.

brian d · Jul 19, 2009

3 way toss up between a graphic view II, speed graphic, and a minolta 800si of all things

panchro-press · Jul 19, 2009

Graflex Super D

Sirius Glass · Jul 20, 2009

My Hasselblad, then my Nikons.

Steve

mooseontheloose · Jul 20, 2009

Using any one of the TLRs, Holgas, or pinhole cameras that I own often stirs my creativity, although there aren't always a lot of keepers. But the photos of mine that I like the best all seem to come from my TLRs and Holgas, so there you go. I also like my panoramic Horizon 202 although it unfortunately gets left behind way too often. Since I've gone square I find I'm much more creative than I am in a rectangle. I don't know why.

Ian Grant · Jul 20, 2009

Each camera brings something a little different, but no less creative,

I'd guess my Wista gets used most creatively, but my Yashicamat or Rolleiflex aren't too far behind, likewise the 6x17

Ian

Jeff Kubach · Jul 20, 2009

It all depends on how I feel about each camera at that time.

Jeff

jp80874 · Jul 20, 2009

For me it has been the other way around. I found an idea that I wanted to pursue and then looked for a camera that would best capture that idea. For two and a half years I have photographed the OH & Erie Canal and its environment in its evolution from trash heap of the 1940s-70s to recreational park and tourist playground of 2007-9. A Phillips 7x17 allowed me to capture the detail, shapes and perspective of the project.

John Powers

markbarendt · Jul 20, 2009

Well two, my 4x5 and my FE2.

funkpilz · Jul 20, 2009

TLRs make you feel pretty creative.

Paul Jenkin · Jul 20, 2009

Of my current film cameras, my OM1 and 35mm f2.8 combo seem to suit me best. I have an F100 with a 35mm f2 which feels almost as good but I sort of prefer the slower and more deliberate speed of working with a fully-manual, manual focus camera.

Of all the cameras I've ever owned, I think my favourite would be a Mamiya 7. Trading that camera was a mistake - I just used to get narked with it when trying to change film when it was mounted on the tripod. If I'd persevered with it and treated it like a bigger version of an M6, I'd probably still have it now.

PhotoJim · Jul 20, 2009

I wouldn't say any one camera makes me feel particularly creative versus any other.

However, I definitely feel creative when I mount my 16mm f/2.8 fisheye to one of my Nikons. You have to be creative to get good images out of a fisheye! Perhaps that's one of the reasons I love this lens.

scootermm · Jul 20, 2009

more than anything else... my 12x20 Folmer and Schwing. But more recently, my 8x10 camera has been amazingly inspiring.

Sirius Glass · Jul 20, 2009

Generally, the larger the view finder/ground glass the more creative one gets.

Steve

naeroscatu · Jul 20, 2009

Couldn't really give credit to any camera in particular; looking back at my best pictures (the ones that people liked and some bought) it is a variety of 35mm from Practika MTL3, Pentax ME to Nikon F100 then MF on Yashica D TLR and Hasselblad 500 C/M. I usually choose the camera based on the subject I want to approach. The subject steers my creative flows.

Sirius Glass · Jul 20, 2009

naeroscatu said:
Couldn't really give credit to any camera in particular; looking back at my best pictures (the ones that people liked and some bought) it is a variety of 35mm from Practika MTL3, Pentax ME to Nikon F100 then MF on Yashica D TLR and Hasselblad 500 C/M. I usually choose the camera based on the subject I want to approach. The subject steers my creative flows.

I agree, but as I posted before the smaller the viewfinder the more likely I will take more snapshots. The larger the viewfinder, the more likely I will be to really slow down and think about the exposure and the composition.

Steve

removed account4 · Jul 20, 2009

mostly the graflex slr ( 4x5 )
but century portrait camera (11x14 ) is a close second ...

fotch · Jul 20, 2009

When I feel creative, I then visualize the end result and choose the tools that will achieve this end. Could be any one of my cameras. Maybe this is backwards?

Markok765 · Jul 20, 2009

My XA. It's like the little camera that makes professional results.

glockman99 · Jul 20, 2009

I would have to say that my Nikon F4s makes me feel the most creative, as there are so many different ways of using it.

Eric Rose · Jul 20, 2009

It seems some are missing the point, but hey that's all part of the it. I suppose we could get into all kinds of discussions centering around locus of control, whether you are internal or external, does this lend itself to be swayed by the camera rather than the creative thought process blah blah blah.

Indeed if I have a certain idea and it needs a specific camera for the job I use it. On the other hand whenever I pick up my Rollei it just seems to infuse me with creative energy. Gee do I have a Rollei fetish or maybe it's the smell of the leather case LOL.

Sirius Glass · Jul 20, 2009

Eric Rose said:
Gee do I have a Rollei fetish or maybe it's the smell of the leather case LOL.

A Rollei fetish is much more socially acceptable than other fetishes you could have had!

Steve

What camera you own makes you feel "creative"?

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