I wear my M around my neck

Looking like a tourist may not be such a bad thing. People are generally more indulgent. "Oh? You would like to take a picture of me in front of this thing here? Sure!"
 
intinsifi said:
I don't understand how wearing a camera around my neck equates to being a tourist.

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I get tired of people asking why I am carrying a camera.
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Well, there are these tourists around the world...with their cameras around their necks...I think that's how it equates to looking like a tourist. If you see people with blue hair, it pretty much "equates" to them having used hair dye. There are some cases where the blue hair could be a wig. And that's how somebody wearing a wig would look like they've dyed their hair.

That people don't know the precise background of the reason why you look how you look is their problem, but not their fault.

Having said all of that, I also get tired of people asking why I carry a camera. I guess it's because cameras only mean snapshots for the photo album, where the only theme is forcibly smiling (because you have to, you know? You just have to) to show you're having a good time, no matter what. They'd think it's inconceivable to think everything you're going to take a photo of is someone or something smiling, to commemorate some event.

Again, not their fault they don't know the precise background of the reason why you have that smile-maker around your neck. But that's why they're curious.

That or their dirty mind that you're going to do something on the Internet... so they're only projecting.

What are we talking about? I forgot. But I understand your sentiment.

Edit: naughty misspelling.
 
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I wear mine around my neck often, and sometimes on a wrist strap. But always near my hands so I can use it. Fumbling for the camera out of the bag means a shot , no make that an opportunity, could be lost. I want my camera ready when my eye tells me it is time to use it, say when a person leaps over a puddle... As for the tourist thing, heck, I was a tourist the past three weeks in Japan and everyone knew it-so what. Being a tourist means you are on holiday, a good thing. On a deeper level, sometimes I do feel like a tourist in this world wherever I am.
 
Obviously, he has never run into David Alan Harvey or another shooter who would have one if not two M's around his neck.

I wear it all the time, shoot from the hip, ride my bike into to town with a M8 and a MP-3 strapped to me while buzzing along.

And It's different when you shoot for a living, you are confident, do good work because you have the balls to not give a hoot what people think and get to the meat of it on the spot.

That's how I look at it anyway.
 
I carry my M7 uisng the neck strap around my wrist secured with a girth hitch. I don't so much mind if I look like a tourist, but what I really can't stand is when I feel like a stranger in a stranger land.
 
mmmm...

mmmm...

John Rountree said:
I carry my M7 uisng the neck strap around my wrist secured with a girth hitch. I don't so much mind if I look like a tourist, but what I really can't stand is when I feel like a stranger in a stranger land.
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That's The Doors right? "The End" I think.
 
Personally I wear my camera around my chest like a bandolier. Aka going in a diagnol manner from my left shoulder to my right hip. I quickly pull it up to my eye to shoot when I need to.
 
jbf said:
Personally I wear my camera around my chest like a bandolier. Aka going in a diagnol manner from my left shoulder to my right hip. I quickly pull it up to my eye to shoot when I need to.
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Yep, that's how I wear mine. And thanks, jbf, for reminding me of the correct word! 😱 (bandolier, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandolier)

-Randy
 
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patrickjames said:
Get one of those sling things from leica goodies, or better yet make your own. I carry my rangefinders in my hand, no strap. That way if I want to take a picture, I am good to go. It also makes it easy to change film, open your wallet, drink coffee, whatever. You gotta try it to appreciate it. And you will never drop a camera again since it is attached to your hand, and its hard to drop that!

Patrick
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Is there any chance that the sling will fit other cameras as well? Such as a Zeiss Ikon?

Also, how well does it work? Does it ever get in the way when you need to use your other hand? hehe.
 
bobkonos said:
I wear mine around my neck often, and sometimes on a wrist strap. But always near my hands so I can use it. Fumbling for the camera out of the bag means a shot , no make that an opportunity, could be lost. I want my camera ready when my eye tells me it is time to use it, say when a person leaps over a puddle... As for the tourist thing, heck, I was a tourist the past three weeks in Japan and everyone knew it-so what. Being a tourist means you are on holiday, a good thing. On a deeper level, sometimes I do feel like a tourist in this world wherever I am.
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Bob, there are ways to arrange your bag so the camera would be very close to your hand, my dream bag is the Domke F2, it has a big side pocket which when you carry it (over the head or not), the camera is right there where your hand is.

For other bags that doesn't have the big pocket like the Domke F2, as I said in the previous post, the removable inserts are your ally, you can have your camera vertically positioned on the "front" side of your bag, ready for action.

Sorry if I'm repeating myself, but I think bags are the most covert, protective and can be as versatile as hanging the camera on your neck.
 
intinsifi said:
I get tired of people asking why I am carrying a camera.
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Well how many people you see out on the street with a camera around their necks?

If you live in NYC then they are many, and people from nyc doesn't question people who walks around with a camera on his neck.

However, if you live in suburbia USA, then people will question you ( see my question above)
 
I too wear my black painted canonet around on my chest, sometimes with a flash mounted, and another one pending from my shoulder. No one ever objected, but on two instances I was asked if these cameras are Leicas.
And at a photo store where I go to process color, they aroused great exitment.
Somehow for the "crowd", real photography is still associated with film cameras, while digis belong to the gadgetery MP3 cathegory.

Very soon the Canonet combo will be replaced by a black Kiev combo.


Cheers,
Ruben
 
SolaresLarrave said:
If anything, I prefer to look like a tourist. And when people ask me why I carry a camera I say "why not?"
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The tourist look is the most convenient for the street photographer, as you have the best chances for tolerance. You are supposed to go home and put the pic in an album.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
I always have a camera around my neck! Maybe not while sleeping or at home - but i have never left home without it. Having it around the neck might equate me with a tourist and that often has benefits. most locals ignore tourists and just regard them as obstacles in their way and they really dont see you.
If you are in areas where politics or religion frowns upon cameras/pictures - you are better off looking like a lost tourist than a "pro". As a pro you suddenly become a person of interest to police and security forces. As a tourist you are more often than not regarded as an idiot, with no sense at all and they might frown upon you, but they generally leave you alone!
Countries like Cuba and in the Middle East and certain African nations are sensitive to what and why you take pictures and if you enter as a "Photographer" or in the case of Cube "Journalista" visa, you are forever shadowed by governement flunkies. If you enter as tourist and with an inconnous job-description in your passport, they most likely leave you alone.
Once, going to Cuba, the security at the airport was questionning my plastic bags with 100+ rolls of Tri X and a couple of M2's. "Ah, Journalista!" I vehemently denied this and as luck had it, a Canadian High School Brass band arrived and had HUGE cases for their tubas etc so they lost interest. I generally carry my film in clear plastic bags, no film cans etc and spread it out in my bag. Each bag will hold 10-15 rolls and they kind of dissappear in among shirts, jeans and socks. It is alos handy as you can grab one of these bags and stick it in your jacket or vest pocket and have a days supply handy.
A friend of mine claims, that in case of a car accident, I will be identified due to the M2 embedded in my chest from an exploding air bag rather than the id's in my wallet! One camera is always there, dangling from my chest, wether walking or driving.
If and when I carry two cameras, i usually tuck one under my right arm and one on the chest (shoulder bag on the left shoulder - old fishing bag that looks rather ratty and raises very little interest). Years ago I used to short strap two cameras on my chest, usually a 21/35 combo. The "damage" ratio was high as every time you had to jump aside, the cameras clashed together and pieces fell off!
 
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