FrankS
Registered User
a thought exercise:
suppose you had to limit your photo gear choice to just one of each of these for the rest of your days. what format would you go with? the mobility of 35mm, the quality of 120, or the ultimate in control with LF? would you go with B+W, colour film, or digital? mechanical or full-featured electronic? would you choose the flexibility of a zoom lens over the quality of a prime, and what focal length? What gear represents the essence of your personal photography?
(assume no difficulty with film availability/processing in your lifetime.)
my choice is my rugged, mechanical, rolleiflex with 75mmf3.5 planar. it is beautifully designed and quality built. while this is not the camera that i take the most pictures with, it would be the last camera i give up. for me, it is small and portable enough, like a 35mm camera, but offers outstanding MF image quality. its wide normal lens is a versatile focal length.
this choice is also affected by my gear-headedness. it's not all about the final image for me. i also enjoy the process and getting involved in the process of manipulating a quality manual camera. i am not an artist, i am a hobbyist. the pure artists among us should probably not choose to participate because for them, this is an irrelevant exercise and they couldn't care less about what gear is used to create their art.
this choice puts me in the film camp, and i'd choose b+w hp5 with ilfosol-s as a fast, versatile/forgiving, no fuss combo. with 400 speed film i can shoot indoors without flash, and there is enough real estate in a 6x6 neg to give high quality enlargements with 400 speed film.
how about you? i want you to really commit to your decision, so the rule is: you may not mention several different choices, just one of each. the more other favourites that you mention, the more watered down and wishy-washy your post becomes. what gear choice is the essence of you personal photography. (not your professional photography, if that applies.)
suppose you had to limit your photo gear choice to just one of each of these for the rest of your days. what format would you go with? the mobility of 35mm, the quality of 120, or the ultimate in control with LF? would you go with B+W, colour film, or digital? mechanical or full-featured electronic? would you choose the flexibility of a zoom lens over the quality of a prime, and what focal length? What gear represents the essence of your personal photography?
(assume no difficulty with film availability/processing in your lifetime.)
my choice is my rugged, mechanical, rolleiflex with 75mmf3.5 planar. it is beautifully designed and quality built. while this is not the camera that i take the most pictures with, it would be the last camera i give up. for me, it is small and portable enough, like a 35mm camera, but offers outstanding MF image quality. its wide normal lens is a versatile focal length.
this choice is also affected by my gear-headedness. it's not all about the final image for me. i also enjoy the process and getting involved in the process of manipulating a quality manual camera. i am not an artist, i am a hobbyist. the pure artists among us should probably not choose to participate because for them, this is an irrelevant exercise and they couldn't care less about what gear is used to create their art.
this choice puts me in the film camp, and i'd choose b+w hp5 with ilfosol-s as a fast, versatile/forgiving, no fuss combo. with 400 speed film i can shoot indoors without flash, and there is enough real estate in a 6x6 neg to give high quality enlargements with 400 speed film.
how about you? i want you to really commit to your decision, so the rule is: you may not mention several different choices, just one of each. the more other favourites that you mention, the more watered down and wishy-washy your post becomes. what gear choice is the essence of you personal photography. (not your professional photography, if that applies.)
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