how many cameras?

[back alley]

if you had it to do all over...if you knew then what you know now...what number of cameras would you say would be ideal for your shooting habits/style?

i'm just talking about rf cameras now, no slr's or gear for work, only your rf kit.

for me, i'm thinking 2 (assuming the same mount).
one would be the primary shooter, used day in and day out.
the other would be my back up camera, used in case my primary broke down, as a body for a second lens when changing would be a pain or just a camera to use that might be smaller.

i would keep my zi as primary shooter and use the zm lenses and the cl as back up, mostly for size and fun factors.

the hexar af and the m3 would have to go.

joe

 

[JohnM]

My perfect set up would be an M6 (.72) with an M3 in reserve.

M6 strikes me as almost the perfect camera while the M3 is just terrific with a 50/90. I don't see how I could go wrong there.

 

[AOI Photo]

I think 5 (I know ridiculous)
My Bessa R + a backup Bessa r
A fixed lens 35mm rangefinder, to give me somthing portable witha leaf shutter for sync at all speeds
Medium format body and backup body of same

 

[Dougg]

I don't have any problem at all owning more gear than I usually use. 😀 I like having "one of these and two of those", and will just use what seems to fit the circumstances or whim at the moment. Doing it again I'd probably end up with the same stuff I've accumulated now.

 

[back alley]

maybe i really do need therapy but i sometimes feel immobilized by having to choose. other times i'm ok and just pick what i think will work.

 

[rbiemer]

if you had it to do all over...if you knew then what you know now...

Hmm, getting to where I am now has been a lot of fun. Haven't really had too many mis-steps along the way.
I'm currently shooting two of the same camera and have two different backup cameras for those. And have a bunch of other ones I like simply cause they're interesting to me on some level.
One thing I didn't realize until fairly recently is that I prefer (by a large margin) vintage and FSU gear, so I probably wouldn't have got the Bessa. But I certainly do not regret buying it.
I've had to actually try (as opposed to reading about them) all the cameras I've bought so I know which works best for me.

what number of cameras would you say would be ideal for your shooting habits/style?

4. Two Zorkis and 2 back up cameras.
Rob

 

[mattmills]

it's funny, i'm in this situation right now... in the past year I've wrecked 3 camera bodies, and now I'm going to brazil for three months and have to figure out what to do. I'm thinking my M4 with the 50mm lenses I have, and then a Canon 5D SLR, with a 24-105 zoom. The SLR/RF combo seems to work well for me, or at least it has in the past. No backups, other than the redundancy of having two completely different systems.

 

[taffer]

No need to sell anything Joe, you just need to develop multiple personalities. Once you start with it, it's quite easy.

Really ?

Yeah, sure !

 

[richard_l]

Two rangefinders would be enough, something like an M2 and an M6.

Richard

 

[telenous]

Two rangefinders: An M2 and an M3. The M2 with a Summilux 35mm and the M3 with a Summilux 50mm. Both cameras loaded with TriX.

 

[jan normandale]

more cameras more choices : or is that half empty or half full... heh!

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Heh...I'd pretty much have the same cameras I have now except for one addition: a Crown Graphic. I still haven't gotten one yet.

 

[lubitel]

I think I have more cameras than I need but I dont want to give up any one of them. You never know what you might need 😉 and they are pretty.

 

[planetjoe]

Ho Boy.

Ho Boy.

I ask myself this question each day, and I still have something like 16 different camera bodies. Yikes.

I think Stephanie and lubitel kind of said it for me: I like what I have, and yet can't seem to stop wanting more (I'm with you on the Crown Graphic, Steph).

I think I need a support group. Now that I think about it, that's why I joined RFF...that didn't work so well.


Cheers,
--joe.

 

[hth]

I would like to say one, but I have to admit three. One Mamiya 7, one Hexar RF and one Leica. Two 35mm are needed since I load one with ISO 100 and the second with ISO 400 film. I have tried one 35mm body a couple of times, and it is not ideal for me.

In practise, I think I could survive well with one lens for the Mamiya and two for the 35mm cameras.

I have also noticed that I tend to bring two cameras on a trip (plus sometimes also a pinhole camera) and end up using one of them 75-90% of the time.

/Håkan

 

[oscroft]

I haven't been doing RF photography for long enough to know what would be ideal for me, but I think 2 bodies and half a dozen lenses would probably cover everything I need.

But then, I'd still *want* more, because I get great pleasure from using different cameras (especially old ones).

 

[Nick R.]

After trying everything there is, I've settled on two identical M's and a hexar af.

 

[FrankS]

I like vintage, I like variety, and I like the gear itself as well as shooting with it. I would want what I have now, M2. M3, M6, CL, IIIa, IIf, Hexar AF, Minilux, and a couple of Contax IIa's. Also a few fixed lens RF's. I could trade a Contax for a Nikon RF, just to have one of those. It has taken me a long time to get here.

 

[nemjo]

i... the m3 would have to go.

joe

For rf USE just one - now the R-d1s. When even a small bag is uncomfortable, a pocketable one - now the GRD.

But when the m3 goes, ask me...😀

nemjo

 

[ChrisN]

Two M bodies: the M4 to satisfy my need for a vintage classic, and an M7 for modern convenience. As it is I've come as close as I'm ever likely to get: M4 and M5.