Which brand of camera do we use the most?

[Ole]

in 35mm (2% of total): Pentax MZ5n, FED 2
MF(70%of frames): Bronica ETRS, Zenobia, Voigtländer Perkeo & Bessa, Zeiss Ikon.
LF(28% of frames, 95% of time): Linhof Color 4x5", Linhof Technika 5x7", Voigtländer Bergheil 9x12cm.

 

[juan]

The few times I use 35mm, it's my Nikon F - usually with the Nikkor 35mm lens. When I use it, it's for street shooting - I figure I can use the camera as a weapon if someone bothers me.
juan

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

Juan

Woise choice!

A long time ago I asked to a photo teacher which was the real difference between a Nikon F and a Spotmatic.

"Both will take good photos, very hard to say which is better.
Now, if someone tries to steal you Nikon, you grab it by the strap, hit the thief - and take a photo of it"



Jorge O

 

[BobF]

Some of you guys are incredible. Do you really know what percent of use each camera sytem gets or are ya just guestimating. If you actually know the stats how did you compile them; per frame, per scene exposed (bracketing), per square inch of film, per hours of use. Does looking at the ground glass but not tripping the shutter count?
Inquiring photogs want to know? Just kidding!!!!

Actually I do have a real question for those that have indicated they no longer use their 35mm much since going to MF and LF. How many of you like me use the 35mm a lot for scouting shots to come back to? I have even thought about a digital for this use. If you count carrying an Olympus XA with me almost 100% of the time I guess that could count as most used.

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

I think this LF x 35mm thing is a matter of priorities.
If the best print quality possible is top priority, then LF, ZS, Azo, PMK makes a lot of sense.

If you priority is easy of use, to be able to shoot quickly, then 35mm, compensating development are the way to go (besides it's easy on the backbone...).

And if seeing results at once is the priority, then nothing compares to digital.

Just a note: beside the Pentaxes I use a Coolpix 2000 (birthday parties and the like) and have not used lately an Olympos Superzoom 330 - very good for vacation photos.

Jorge O

 

[Robert]

Actually the point about 35mm weight and size is something that's been talked about before. Modern 35mm cameras aren't that light. Add in all the lenses that 35mm users seem to want to carry and something like one of those light 4x5 field cameras seems easy to carry.

 

[Silverpixels5]

I use my 35mm for snapshots, street photos, and as you said...scouting. Usually when I do use it to scout its because my MF or LF gear would be cumbersome to just wonder around with looking for shots. Then i can come back later if need be, with the larger cam and get the shot. Although lately it seems as though I never come back because I'm perfectly satisfied with the 35 negative. I find a lot of my pictures are of the 5x7 size and I can enlarge to that w/o seeing any loss in quality.

 

[Ole]

The 35mm camera is used if I need a 35mm negative for ease of lab processing - or a 35mm slide for projection. For ease of transportation, I'll take the Zenobia any day - also for scouting, although I don't go scouting much.
The Bronica gets an outing if LF is too cumbersome (like boat trips), or I need commercial copies of top quality (weddings etc).
"Street photography" is an equal mix between 35mm, Bronica, Perkeo and the Voigtländer Bergheil plate camera (!). It seems people feel less threatened by what they perceive as an "antique" camera.

As to percentages, I just looked at the great big heap of negatives and guesstimated from there

 

[Joel Rainville]

Nikon. This is all I can afford.

F50 and F80 with 24mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.8 and 180mm f/2.8.

Badly want a 105mm f/2 or 85mm f/1.4

 

[Eric Rose]

digital = polariod without the mess for scene setup. Well camera setup for the scene, you know what I mean.

 

[PhotoPhred]

An interesting question.

35mm Nikon F2 and FE w/ 4 lenses - travel, informal
Hasselblad 500c w/ 4 lenses - the 'in the car' camera
Calumet CC402 w/ 4 lenses - when I'm in the mood
Bender 8x10 with classic TR triple convertible - getting the hang of it
And (horrors) a little Fuji Finepix for scouting and sharing snaps.

Undoubtedly lifetime emphasis in pounds of film shot etc is 35mm, after all that's what I really learned on. Favorite shots of all time are probably 50% medium format, 25% 4x5 and 25% 35. I know, I know, that's an entirely different question.

 

[RAP]

For 35mm, I own two fossilized Nikon F''s and an Nikkormat FT2. I think the meters work but I do not use them anyway. Exposure is usually by feel. 35mm lenses are 55 EL Nikor Macro, 28mm Nikor, and a 200mm Nikor. I use 35mm mostly for street work in NYC which can be alot of fun. Do not worry about what you can afford, work with what you have.

Side thought to share, I was reading from that other website about an ICP seminar given by a Magnum darkroom tech. Apparently they use alot of TRI-X developed in Microdol-X 1/3. Very fine grain and very sharp according to the comment about 16x20 prints.

 

[Eric Rose]

Geez I use to use that combination 30 years ago! Can't do N+ or - with it very well though.

 

[Konical]

Favorite: Calumet 4 x 5 View with 90, 135, 150, and 210 (not used as often as the other equipment, but leads to a much higher percentage of negatives which I eventually end up printing as personal material).
For times (meetings, conferences, conventions, weddings) when a tripod is impractical or I'm just too lazy to lug the 4 x 5 stuff: Koni-Omega with 58, 90, and 180; Yashica-mat 124G; recently-acquired Fuji 6 x 7 rangefinder which could easily displace the Koni except for lack of interchangeable lenses and backs. Overall, my 120/220 exposures are probably at least several times those in all other formats combined, but most of them are done with other users in mind instead of for myself.
For slides, notetaking, casual work, or situations when I know that one-hour color prints and/or nothing beyond 8 x 10 will be needed: Olympus OM-1 and OM-2000's with 28, 50, 100, 200, and a terrific Kiron 105 macro; several old Mirandas (by far the best design because their front-mounted shutter buttons allow squeezing and not jabbing downward--why doesn't every camera have this design?) which I use now only with 50mm or on a microscope because my old Miranda telephotos have oily diaphragms and don't stop down promptly.
Just for fun: Franka 6 x 9 folder and Seagull 6 x 6/4.5x6 folder.
Just-in-case camera: Canon G-III 35mm rangefinder which isn't far from needing new sealing foam but still gives excellent results.
Wish-I-had-but-can't-justify-buying: Makina 67 or 670!

Some of equipment has been with me for over thirty years; maybe I'll still be using some of it thirty years from now.

Konical

 

[SteveGangi]

Since this is in the 35mm section, I will just mention what I use in 35... Canon FD, namely the FTb and AE-1

 

[bjorke]

I still use my FD-series Canon's -- A1 and a pair of AE1P's (the F1 was stolen, boohoo). I have most of the lenses between 20mm and 200mm.

I also have a Contax G2 with the stock 3-lens kit: 28/45/90 with the 28 getting the lion's share of the shots. Had a borrowed 21 for a while, I'd buy one but the A-1 with a 20mm just barely fits in my big jacket pocket. Sometimes I supplement the Contax with a Canon Leica-like from the 50's.

TMax 100 60%, Delta 400 30%, Ektachrome 100G 10%

I use 35mm for 90% of my shooting, digital and MF for the remainder.

 

[radiodude1460]

The first shots I squeezed off were through the lens of a Pentax K1000 in high school for Yearbook. After Grampa died I inherited his Nikon N2000 with 28-70 and 70-210 lenses. When those were stolen from me last summer (if I ever see the person who stole them, they better have good running shoes), I went without for a few months until I found another N2000 used for a good price. I got the body and a 50 mm lens, and I've been using it ever since. I just got an 80-200 zoom lens for it.

The one drawback with my N2k is that the tripod mouting hole isn't in the middle, but I work with it pretty well.

 

[removed account4]

umm ...
i guess i should say pentax me super, pentax k1000 (the metal body is now held together with duct tape), a leica m3, pentax auto 110, speed graphic (4x5), a szabad 5x7 and a szabad 8x10 camera for days that i ate my wheaties

lastly - the yashica t4 does the family snapshot thing ..

 

[Lex Jenkins]

Hard to say. My first 35mm SLR was a Miranda. Second was a Ricoh in the Pentax K-mount - used that one as a photojournalist so it got a lot of use.

After leaving journalism I photographed mostly for pleasure. It took me longer but I finally took more frames with the Canon FD system I eventually migrated to.

But in the past year and a half I've run more frames through the Nikon system I've finally settled on for my "serious" work than I did during the previous several years with Canon. Mostly that's because I've been back in the b&w darkoom doing my own processing/printing and burning through a lot more film.

I also tote an OM-1 fairly often for pleasure jaunts but don't actually shoot as much with it as with the Nikon gear.

 

[Black Dog]

Used a Pentax MX for many years-a really nice little camera which stood up to a lot of abuse. Sadly it got nicked but I'm replacing it asap-getting one of those little pancake lenses to stick on it. Camera makers these days seem to have forgotten how to make small 35 mm cameras...

 

[Lex Jenkins]

Camera makers these days seem to have forgotten how to make small 35 mm cameras...

Ditto. That's why I haven't been able to part with my OM-1 and Zuikos despite having switched to Nikon for most of my 35mm work. My FM2N isn't much larger than the OM-1 but my 49mm filter thread type Zuikos are definitely smaller and lighter.

 

[fparnold]

I just had a Pentax H3 repaired. Lenses are smallish, body is a little more compact than my F or F2, and I can leave it in the desk at the office. 50mm and 105mm w/ 49mm filters are very compact, and almost pocketable, if you have a decent sized coat. Pity that old Pentax wide-angles tend to the bulky.

 

[bjorke]

Canon FD A-cameras are actually lighter tan the OM series from the same period, but larger (plastic bodies). I've found that they fit in a large coat pocket even with a fat 20mm on board.

That said, almsot everything these days is Contax G2 -- I usually just bring the Canons for the 20mm (which I need to replace with a Biogon!) and longer lenses (135 f/2 FD is sweet but huge).

 

[Lex Jenkins]

Some of the Canon FD gear was fairly lightweight - my T50 and T70 bodies were about the same weight as the OM-1. And they're weren't much larger.

The FD lenses were usually larger tho'. Even the "new" FD mount lenses like the 50/1.8 with 52mm filter threads, tho' smaller and lighter than the earlier breechlock lenses, were still generally larger and somewhat heavier than the Zuikos with 49mm filter threads.

I've carried a lot of different 35mm SLR systems. Nothing quite compares with the OM system for portability in mostly-metal gear, tho' some Pentax stuff comes close.

 

[Meryl Arbing]

Many years ago I fell in love with Zeiss lenses and so I use Contax and Zeiss Ikon cameras exclusively.