Pickett Wilson
Veteran
That's really the key, Al. Whatever you shoot, shoot. Take the camera with you everywhere.
How many of you still keep a 120 camera around? I still have a Rolleiflex T and a Minolta Autocord that I still use on occasion.
First, thanks to all of the responses. I want to assure anyone out there that this is not about giving up film, as I will still be shooting with my Mamiya 7II whenever the film bug hits me. This is about photography.
I like what Al Kaplan has to say. It means to me that it shouldn't matter what cameras I am using as long as I am comfortable shooting with them without feeling like I have an obligation to shoot. I don't want to use an MP occasionally just because it's a Sunday and sunny out. I'm not that kind of person to decide to shoot based on those conditions anyhow. I want my 35mm rangefinder camera to be something I am using because I want to make pictures with it, whether it be film or digital. I made this post because I am questioning whether or not my ideals are so hardlined and purest as to choose the traditional route of film, that I was brought up with, as oppossed to digital with my 35mm rangefinders. I'm finding that with encouragement I am going to do the obvious, what is right for me.
It is about what I know I can do with cameras that fit with me. It's not about what cameras I WANT to fit with me. Anyone want to buy an MP 😉
....I began using digital in the second half of the 90's and was 100% digital by the end of the last millennium. It didn't last long though - I barely made it through three generations of digital cameras when I decided that I no longer wanted to share the same soul as so many other photographers.
Perhaps it's the practical side of me (borne from having to make sensible use of the meager childhood allowance referred to above), but it seems to me that a "desk full" of Leicas is wasteful. I do have four different 35mm SLRs, with one or two lenses each, but i'm in a constant process of trying to eliminate most of them. They were all purchased used, and for little money. But, a bunch of practically identical Leicas? Why? I'm sure you acquired them with a nice story for each, and maybe they each have some sort of sentimental value. But, still - are you a collector? Can you afford that as a hobby? If not, decide which camera is the most practical and efficient, and then maybe choose a backup, and sell the rest to fund whatever digital platform you seem to prefer. I'm not advocating the M8, but why are you not considering it, seeing as how you like the Epson's workflow so much, and so clearly love Leicas?
[Looking at your flickr stream... what's up with the most recent 16 R-D1 shots? Looks like the gamma is significantly different than in your other images. Is that intentional?]