Besides a Leica

[Ronald M]

I got rid of all except my Leica M and R stuff and my ZoneVI 4x5 and 6 lenses.

Have a Nikon D200 for quick stuff, 2 zooms and 7 primes

 

[oftheherd]

I don't own a Leica other than a Mini Zoom. I don't do professional photography and haven't since I retired from the US Army. That didn't and doesn't put me in a league with any of the pros here.

My most pocketable camera has to be my Sony Cyber Shot D50 with a nice Zeiss Zoom and 6 megapixels. But I still enjoy film and my Fujicas are rather easy to carry, whether the ST 901, 801 with 50mm lenses, or AZ-1 with a 43-75 lens. The Canonet is easy to carry as well.

For MF, I love my Super Press 23, but it is not a pocket camera for any clothes I own (might be for Paul Bunyan). My Welta 645/6x6 is. I have 4x5 and 8x10, but have yet to use them other than the 4x5 with a 120 back. Someday ...

 

[sirius]

My workhorse: I use a Canon 20D, EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM lens, and an older speedlight. The glass is lovely: sharp, great colour, and fixed aperature. I love the image stablization in the lens as it lets me take shots I never could have before. My SLR is great. It gives me a lots of creative control. I can experiment and grow by testing techniques and seeing if they worked. When working, I also know if I got a needed photo and can move-on to the next subject. I had other lenses but sold them---this lens seems to do everything I want (except maybe I'll get a small light and wide fixed focal length). I'm really impressed with the advancements made with the 40D: greater tonal range, very usable high ISOs, and better focusing abilities. Yes, I'm always thinking about equipment but much more about how to make better photos.

I have a Ricoh GRD for fun. It has a 28mm equivalent fixed lens. I like the pictures it takes, it's small and portable, and I can work quickly with it from picture to computer.

All of my cameras are great to work with. Leica is actually the most challenging because of the degree that it challenges me to think rather than just react. I've had good photos from all my cameras though the GRDs small sensor can only go so far with enlargements.

 

[jan normandale]

Own an M4-P... Shoot mostly MF tho, in the bag, Mamiya 6, Fuji BL G690, Rolleiflex TLR 2.8 / 80

All day carry around and the most popular camera on this thread an Oly XA! I still haul my Yashica GSN out because I love it's glass.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Don't Olympus cameras resonate well with Leica people?

The XA and the OM are very popular choices.

 

[Bill Pierce]

Just doing a quick count over the morning coffee, none of the "non rangefinder" camera catagories trumps all others. A slight edge goes to the bigger cameras.

Medium format use just about ties with all the larger format sheet film users. Two interesting trends emerge - Clearly, folks who own Rollei TLRs love them; they don't just like them; they love them. Among the sheet film users, almost a third are using really big film - 8x10 and larger.

A majority of the respondees, or whatever we are, have a small pocket camera, presumably so that we are never without a camera. If medium and large format cameras have a slight numeric edge on the "pocketables" it may be because they have been around a lot longer.

Many folks who have a DSLR or SLR system say that they use it for their professional work - a tribute to the sheer versatility of those kits. And a lot of dyed-in-the-wool rf users have a reflex body for long lenses, macro and, sometimes, portraiture.

Boy, did I goof when I asked what folks used besides Leicas. It's pretty obvious I should have said rangefinders.

And bless the pinholes, the Holgas and the Minoxen. They are obviously still making photography fun.

Bill

 

[Finder]

I just assumed "normal" cameras. I do use custom scientific digital cameras like the Diagonostic Instruments Flex camera - it uses pixel shifting technology to make 4mp, 16mp, and 64mp native images from the same chip. I also have an Olympus C-35 and C-35 AD4 and well as a 4x5 Olympus body - all film microscope cameras. But since you asked...

 

[jan normandale]

I just assumed "normal" cameras. I do use custom scientific digital cameras like the Diagonostic Instruments Flex camera - it uses pixel shifting technology to make 4mp, 16mp, and 64mp native images from the same chip. I also have an Olympus C-35 and C-35 AD4 and well as a 4x5 Olympus body - all film microscope cameras. But since you asked...

Pix from the microscope cameras ? I'm interested.

 

[Finder]

Here is a Daddy Long Legs and a fractured crystal under cross polarization. The depth of field is great because 50 (bug) and 11 (rock) images were stacked together. There is another bug image in the Show Me thread.

 

[Finder]

Here are two film images of bug skin using DIC (Differencial Interference Contrast). The color is due to the specimen causing a phase shift to the light. They would appear white without DIC. (Sorry about the quality as they a grabs from a QuickTime movie.)

 

[BillBingham2]

When I’m not carrying my Leica, today it’s a Bessa L. That’s about to change tough, I’m going to the Darkside, digital, a GR-D, there, I said it, digital. None interchangeable lens, some manual control, small in size, fast to use and a kick butt lens.

Actually what I want is a digital Bessa L with a 25/4 equivalent on her. So much so I am doing an independent study for my Marketing Class in my MBA program on what it would take to bring this sort of camera to market. I’m sort of this analog type of guy that believes that you should be able to have as much fun with a digital camera as you do with a film. Same way I can enjoy Kodachrome and Tri-X at the same time, just for different things. I enjoy listening to my iPod as well as being on the lawn at Ravinia listening, different but both a lot of fun. The GR-D is close, MKII is a bit better, but I think I can do better, simplify, simplify, simplify. It should drive the cost down a bit too.

IMHO there is way too much post processing going on these days with many digital solutions. Leica is trying to get away from some of this by encoding the lenses to have some processing done in camera. I like the level of control and effort it takes me to shot, soup and print a frame of Tri-X. Applying filters to remove distortion or adjust for vignetting, etc. even if it can be done with macros just does not feel right. Using wide angle zooms that are almost as big as my old 70-210 Vivitar Series-1 just does not feel right.

I think there is something bigger than a niche out there for a Pen-F/OM-1 without these massive lenses. Size does matter, but I wonder if anyone is listening.

My beloved Bessa L / 25/4 combo will be for sale soon. I have the lens on my S3-2000 and while it’s not as small (size or weight) as the L, it will handle my film needs in a most excellent manner. I'm not selling my first Leica, the M4-P, but the M6 Classic will be on the market shortly.

B2 (;->

 

[Dogman]

I have a lot of different cameras but I mostly use Leicas. Although I have several lenses, you will usually find 35mm and 50mm Summicrons on the two bodies I have. My tastes have simplified over the years and Leicas satisfy most of my needs these days. I also like the look I get with prints from Kiev rangefinders. Pretty amazing for a $60 camera. For long lenses, zooms, macro, etc., I use Canons--EOS 1n, A2E, a Rebel 2000. Medium format is taken care of by a couple of Pentax 645s and several lenses. Sometimes I use one of my old Mamiya TLRs. I've used Mamiyas for over 30 years--the cameras look like hell but still produce good photos. I have a couple of Nikon F2 bodies left over from my PJ days but I haven't used them in years--the lenses have all frozen up due to solidified lubricants. I only kept the Nikons as a way to remind myself how happy I am not to be a working photographer anymore.

I also have a Canon DSLR. I haven't warmed up to it yet and it generally get little or no use.🙄

 

[JNewell]

IMHO there is way too much post processing going on these days with many digital solutions.

Feel the same way about enlargers. Too much cropping. Too many tricks like dodging and burning. I'm glad to see the view cameras in this thread. Let's make contacts from 8x10 negs and forget this manipulation stuff in the darkroom.


😉

 

[photobike]

Leica and other camers

Leica and other camers

]I use a Contax G1 that I carry on my bike its easy and auto focus, NikonDLSR, Deardoff Field Camera 4x5, Hassablad and R Leica my favorite is the M7.

 

[willie_901]

For my personal work, when a SLR is called for, I use a Nikon F3 with an assortment of AI/AIS lenses. The Nikon DW-3 "waist-level" finder accessory allows one to compose from a low point of view and with out raising the camera to the eye. I also use a 38 year old Mamiya-Sekor SLR occasionally.

For commercial work I use a Nikon D200.

 

[Chuck Albertson]

A Hasselblad 501 that I bought used a couple of years ago, when people started dumping them for digital gear. I use it for portraits and anything else that won't move, when I want the detail and tonality you can get with a bigger negative. It's also lighter than I thought it would be, and packs pretty well into a corner of a Domke bag, so I travel with it more than I expected to. I just wish someone made a rubber lens shade for it, as the plastic one is somewhat fragile for cramming into a bag.

 

[jan normandale]

Here are two film images of bug skin using DIC (Differencial Interference Contrast). The color is due to the specimen causing a phase shift to the light. They would appear white without DIC. (Sorry about the quality as they a grabs from a QuickTime movie.)

This is pretty amazing stuff. It has an 'abstract' feel to it until you know what it is. I forgot how interesting things get under microscopes. Thanks for the posts.

 

[Scarpia]

I use my Rollei 35S alot. I have a little Optech belt bag that holds it nicely and it has a primitive but useable meter- and the Sonnar lens is ocassionally stunning! Lately I have been using My voigtlander Bessa 1 6X9 (i love pulling that one out and popping the lens!)and am itching to use my rolleicord IV. I have far more cameras than a sane person should have. I was carrying my little Contax T2 for awhile as I love the lens on it as well but I find that my pictures suffered from automatic everything syndrome- poor framing, throw away shots and too many shots of the same old boring things!

I very recently picked up a Rollei 35S at a good price and can't agree more with Pakmanpdx about the quality of the lens. I carry it in a Lowepro belt holster which is very convenient.
Kurt M.

 

[Harry Lime]

A Hasselblad 501 that I bought used a couple of years ago, when people started dumping them for digital gear.

That's one good side effect of the dawn of the digital age. I picked up my 503cx around the same time as you did and paid about half of what they were just a few years ago. Oddly enough I recently noticed that prices have rebounded a little.

Even Rolleiflex TLR bodies have come down in cost. Sort of.

 

[nightfly]

The other 143 cameras, including the Pen W half-frame and Gandolfi Universal 12x15 inch, I really should get rid of...

Yeah, you really should get rid of that Pen W, I'd be happy to help you with that.