Dedicated Lens & Camera

[mike goldberg]

As I have become increasingly involved in RF photography in recent months, I find that I am NOT changing lenses a lot... as I did with SLR's. The Summaron 35/2.8 stays on the Bessa T, and the CV 25/4 goes along in a small, gray camera bag.

A Bessa R [used from rff member] is in the mail, and let's bless it along its journey 😉 This will be used with a J8 'normal' lens and perhaps the Elmarit 90/2.8. I can't spend the money now, but I'd love to have the Nokton 75/2.5.

And, some carry one RF with slower film... and another with high speed. Aside from issues of personal style, if I stop to change lenses in street photography,
I'm going to miss shots. So, I'm wondering what others do?

Let's hear. mike

 

[FrankS]

There are no worthwhile shots while changing lenses or loading film. 😉

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I'm a one camera one lens person too.

Too much time lost and indecsion with take off the 50mm, put on the 35mm, take off the 35mm, put on the 50mm sort of dance.

 

[mike_j]

I tend to stick to two lenses, 35mm and 75mm and don't change often. Sometimes I take the 25 instead of the 35 but then that will stay on the camera for some time. Don't use the 50mm much at all.

On the dSLR I zoom in and out like a jazz trombonist - can't say the results are any better though.

 

[mike goldberg]

The comments thus far are encouraging, especially... dSLR zooming
does not yield much better results. What I feel happening, is the
development of an RF style.
Thanks, mike

 

[lZr]

Me too - most of the time Bessa R and 35/2.5. I plan the location and expecatation beforehand. Perhaps it is that what limits my lens or I like to be lightweight?

 

[ElrodCod]

Hi Mike,
I'm using a 35mm Color Skopar Classic on my current R2 and plan on purchasing a 75mm Color Heliar for the new Olive R2 from CameraQuest. Unfortunately the second R2 will have to sit idle till funds for the 75 somehow appear out of thin air.😉
As for RF style, I've used the same strategy in the past with SLR's but it was a 105mm instead of 75 on the second body. I found that the "manual of arms" necessary to manipulate a zoom lens was a bit too busy resulting in missed opportunities for the "right" shot.

 

[fishtek]

for day-to-day variation, I generally try to figure out what I'll be seeing, and minimize my load...Usually, either the 35/2.5 or 50/1.8 and the Bessa R. If I'm out looking for pix, and not just packing the camera "in case", then I'll care 35/50/75 in the bag. I'm jonesin' for a 21/4 in a big way...maybe by summer...

Sigh...

Don

 

[charjohncarter]

One camera, one lens; the only time I change lenses in the field is when the camera is on a tripod, and the one I have on the camera is not suitable. Sorry, no zooms for me.

 

[kshapero]

I stick to one lens at a time. Right now, I fancy my 50mm Heliar. If I need a longer lens I step forward, if I need a wide angle I step back. A little crude but it works. Someone once said RF photography is stealth photography, plus you get exercise.

 

[Avotius]

I got a r2a and just two lenses as well, a 35 pII and 50 elmar, works for most everything. Sometimes I wish for something wider but not often, that I really need is faster lenses...

 

[mwooten]

I tend to just carry one extra lens in the satchel. I'll mount the lens I figure that I need onto the camera before I leave, and stick in something longer/shorter.

Michael

 

[Film dino]

I'm using one camera-lens-film combination (CL/40/XP2) to get to a stage where taking the picture is intuitive in terms of controls etc.

 

[amateriat]

The funny thing about switching–wholesale–from SLRs to RFs, is dealing with what I'd call the illusion of choice: all those yummy zoom lenses to screw around with, not to mention AE modes out the yinyang. "More" was supposed to be better, and, for some people, it probably is. Didn't work for me.

What did work–and continues to work–is having two identical bodies with a pair of lenses that gravitate to my common visual gestalt, which was formed toward the end of my SLR-shooting days: that my roughly 95-98% of my most significant work (to my eyes, anyway), was done with lenses between 24mm and 135mm. I also came to see dealing with zooms as a drag, literally and figuratively; my last SLR setup had me dragging around the film-shooting equivalent of the now-typical PJ kit: a pair of Minolta 9xi bodies, one with a 28-70mm f/2.8, the other with an 80-200 f.2.8. Back-break City, that combo. A pair of Hexar RFs with 28 and 50 lenses attached, and a 90 in tow, is featherweight by comparison. And since working with two bodies is pretty much the norm for me about 75% of the time (three, if I'm taking a Ricoh GR1 or the like with me), dealing with fixed-focal-length optics is hardly a "limitation".

If I go out with just one camera, it's usually a Hexar with the 50, or–smaller still–a Konica Auto S3 with its permanently-wedded 38mm f/1.8. Things don't get much simpler than that.


- Barrett

 

[mike goldberg]

RF photography is stealth photography, plus you get exercise.

a pair of lenses that gravitate to my common visual gestalt...

Well, I'm glad that we've got a buzz going here. I've copy-pasted Akiva & Barrett's comments above. Tho' I'm quite new at this shift in Gestalt, so to espeak, I am enjoying it. Every now and then, Ruben and I meet in Jerusalem, and just last week, we had a substantial discussion on the 2 lens-2 bodies combination. Ruben is enjoying a pair of Canonets and a pair of Kiev's.

Of course, if one is working with a 35 or 50, there's nothing wrong with carrying an extra small lens. Frank has noted above,

There are no worthwhile shots while changing lenses or loading film.

In street work, I HAVE lost good shots while changing lenses. It takes time and some practice to get it right. Further, in RF work I've rediscovered the 50mm focal length. Now on to some new images.
Ciao, mike

 

[BillBingham2]

Mike,

I would get a used Bessa L body and put the 25 on it and leave it there. The weight is just a bit more than the rear lens cap (IMHO), just a bit bigger, but it's a great combo.

I tried to switch to a T body a few months back and have decided to go back to my L as the carry everywhere camera. The main reason (and this might sound stupid) is the case I am using for it. The L (no RF on the top) and view finder slide in and out easy (it's a belt case, very small), the T (as it has an RF) gets caught.

I wanted to use a T as my second body in case my M6 died, but I'm going to fly without a net and leave the T back at home most days.

Find an L and a small belt case and take it everywhere!

B2 (;->

 

[amateriat]

Mike,

Glad you're getting something out of this exchange. 🙂

As far as missing shots because of changing lenses and/or film: having two cameras on my person most of the time usually tales care of the lens-changing problem; film-changing often comes down to timing, of being aware of things happening around you as much as possible. Quite often, you can pick the right time to change rolls, although the "right" time might be when you're at frame 30 on a 36-exposure roll, and changing-out that roll, right then and there, might make all the difference. If it means getting the shot, the six frames you sacrificed on the previous roll will hardly matter. ("I know what you're thinking. 'Did he shoot 36 frames or just 35?' Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself.")

I've found that reducing the hardware-count has offered a refreshing clarity of thought to my in-field work. We all (okay, most of us, anyway) keep telling ourselves it's the eye, not the hardware, but I feel that it's only by reducing the quantity of hardware (quality, IMO, is still important, but still contentious) that we get out of our own way and get to the image that matters to us. If, in fact, there is a "rangefinder aesthetic", this point would be practically front-and-center.


- Barrett

 

[tah]

I use RD-1 with Ultron 28/1.9 (FOV 42mm on RD-1) as my only setup. This combo is not perfect for everything of course but for my photography it is all I need. The lens is fast and has very good performance on the RD-1.

 

[markinlondon]

One M2, one 35 or 50mm lens, more often a 50. If I carry more stuff than this I get caught up in the decision process more than the picture taking process.

 

[FrankS]

Sorry for that flippant remark about there being no photo opps while changing lenses Mike, it was something someone famous once said.

For myself, if I've got photography planned during the day (and it's not just a working day when I'll have just one camera with 50 with me) I'll carry 2 bodies, one with 50mm and the other with 35mm.