Do any of you have only one camera by choice?

I downsized a lot of gear recently, as I just wasn't using it. I could live with one camera, one lens, I suspect. But I'd rather not.

I have one medium format camera I use most of the time, a couple of decent 35mm cameras, a few cheap vintage curious, and a digital point and shoot. Total value of all, less than an 'enthusiast' level dSLR and a good zoom. So I'm not laden down with huge amounts of expensive gear, and while I know which of my cameras I'd keep if forced to have only one, I'd prefer to have a couple of choices.

Matt
 
As an amateur, I have the luxury of not needing to rely on my gear to make a living. As a result, I don’t need to be completely practical in my choices; they can be based on curiosity or simply pleasure of trying something new. People go to different places for holidays to be refreshed, read books, and relax in a variety of individually chosen ways. In the same way, I like using wonderfully made mechanical devices that happen to coincide with my interest in making photos. Using different gear is part of the pleasure of the process. I don’t need to use the “right” lens or camera for a given situation, whatever that may be. I like exploring the effect of using an old folder and getting those lovely pastel colours, or in another case, the sharpness of a modern lens. Many people on this forum are experienced professional photographers and have a completely different perspective on their equipment. For me, one camera and one lens would not give me the experience I am looking for.

Steve
 
I'd think "one camera one lens" for all (and I mean absolutely all) photography is as exciting as "one food one flavor" for all nutritional needs.

"One city one route", "one record one speaker", "one writer one book", or "one girlfriend one date" certainly sound like a challenge, and kudos for the enlightened road of discipline.

Simplicity may focus the mind, but too much of everything (including simplicity) is an excess that is not appetizing to me.

I like to choose one of the cameras and one of the lenses for a given period of time, but not for all periods of times (Newtonian or otherwise).
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
"one girlfriend..." certainly sound like a challenge.


I like to choose one of the cameras(girlfriends) and one of the lenses for a given period of time, but not for all periods of times
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does your girlfriend know you hold these views? hahaha


seriously though. I like this phrase of yours.
Gabriel M.A. said:
Simplicity may focus the mind, but too much of everything (including simplicity) is an excess......
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68degrees said:
seriously though. I like this phrase of yours.
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Excesses are the reprise of downfalls. The sun would explode (or implode) otherwise. It will (both) at some point, though (first by a simplicity and then an excess of simplicity).

No, I've never hit the bong ;)
 
I have more than one camera on and off (because I like to try new stuff), but I always strive for having only one. The reason is that I can't handle choice in this context. I prefer having only one option, because that is the only way I don't have to care about what options I have.
 
I did have til I joined RFF. Well not quite right, I had one Rf camera & an SLR. Now I have a couple of FSU's a couple of Bessa's & a few others. My GAS pains have subsided & I'm content with using what I have. The 2 most used are my Canonet QL17 & my Bessa R with the Bessa R as my main camera for going everywhere except to my work. I usually carry the Canonet to work.
 
This whole "one camera, one lens" sounds like just another personal choice/preference sort of thing, albeit one that not many choose. Whether it is right or wrong depends on the wants and desires of the individual.

For myself, well I like to dink around with old film cameras of all sorts and formats. I have in my mind nothing more serious than that.
 
This whole "one camera, one lens" sounds like just another personal choice/preference sort of thing, albeit one that not many choose. Whether it is right or wrong depends on the wants and desires of the individual.
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...exactly.

:cool:
 
Iestrada said:
Actually, I have all of them by choice not just one! ;-)
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Some of mine have come to me as surprise gifts, I didn't chose them. Most of us know how it goes.

A friend, workmate, relative, or other acquaintance says;

"I know you like old cameras, I found these in the closet, thought you might like to have them before I toss them."

My latest addition that came like that is a Konica FS-1 with 28mm f3.5, 50mm f1.4 and 80~200mm Hexanons. The body was DOA but a minor 5 min. repair set that right.

So some are not chosen but arrive as strays.
 
If I were to have a Nikon F, Minolta SRT 201, Pentax MX, Canon F-1 or Olympus OM-2 and all had a 50mm 1.8 lens mounted would that be the same as One Camera, One Lens...???
Depending on my mood I might grab a Nikon F one day then a Spotmatic the next...they both pretty much function the same but may produce slightly different images...
Now, I can also grab a Yashicamat 124 and head out...not only do I get a different format but I also have to change the way I actually shoot...the image is reversed, I'm looking down into the camera, I focus with a knob and push the shutter button in instead of down...
I don't want to limit my shooting to just one style, format or focal length...
 
Uh...that would mean to bet that neither the camera nor the lenses ever ever break... I use mostly one type of camera and always the same two lenses but I have them with redundance and I bring two bodies and two very similar lenses for any of the focal length I use always in the bag. I also happen to have other cameras which don't contribute much to my photography but I keep them for different reasons such as nostalgia or because they belonged to dear people who passed away. I think the very minimum to be reasonably sure to go home with pictures are two identical bodies and two zooms with a large overlapping or four primes with the same overlapping or two identical speciality lenses if one is doing something very technical such as macro or architecture.

GLF
 
I tend to shoot with the same body, the same lens, and the same film almost all the time. But it is not an absolute like some religious thing. I do it because that simply works best. Still, I have no problems putting a different lens on for the day when I think it will yield better photos.

I differ from most here in that I almost never shoot for an individual stand-alone image but for several ongoing different bodies of work. There is a consistency in film formats within each series. All my Cuba work is 35mm usually with a 28mm lens, while what I shoot in the Mississippi Delta region is almost exclusively 6x7. Almost all my South Apopka - religion series has been shot with a 40mm Nokton because that is the only f1.4 lens I own and it is dim inside those churches. All of those are on Neopan 400 / Tri-X. But I shot nothing but 120 Fujichome for six months back a few years ago when I did a series in color. And I have no problems pulling out my X100 when I do a small body of work that I think will work best in color.

While I do have consistency, I abhor any constraints such as "one camera, one lens". That would drive me batsh*t.
 
68degrees said:
Is thre any virtue in one man one camera, disconnecting from 'gear' and just making it not about the camera and gear and not just saying it but actually living it by only having and shooting one camera by choice?
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I don’t think about what camera I should use that much. I just pick up the one that looks nicest on the day
- William Eggleston
 
I have several cameras and several lenses and that is my choice. I do tend to use one camera and one lens for a period of time but, I will pick up another when the urge strikes. I do need to clean out some of my cameras that are just sitting on the self for a year or more. - jim
 
I think the one camera, one lens philosophy works for street photography and personal photography (among a few others). There are many genres where it would be silly to use one lens.
 
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