Lean and Mean (Gear Reduction)

[Bike Tourist]

Since getting my M Type 262 I hadn't even released the shutter on my Nikon D810. What a beautiful camera it was, now sold along with its attendant lenses. But its sacrifice enabled this retiree to pay off the 262 and 50mm Summarit M.

To abandon the Nikon and its complete range of lenses is not smart, I thought. To embrace RF photography and its limitations and to pay a huge price to boot is just nonsense. But at my age I realized I would never become a notable photographer. The microstock industry was deteriorating as fast as it destroyed the conventional stock industry several years before, so I didn't really need all those lenses just for personal work. And there was the nagging nostalgia for those happy mid 20th Century days when I worked as an army photographer in Germany and acquired my first Leica, an M3 with DR Summicron.

You know those challenges or experiments you see on the web where somebody shoots with one camera and one lens? Well, that's me. I don't consider it a challenge and I'm having a good time!

 

[Roger Hicks]

Gear reduction: you mean like putting the 12x10 inch, 8x10 inch or whole-plate reducing frames in the plate holders for my Gandolfi 12x15?

Cheers,

R.

 

[Bike Tourist]

Well, Roger, I guess it's just a matter of scale!

 

[Godfrey]

Since getting my M Type 262 I hadn't even released the shutter on my Nikon D810. What a beautiful camera it was, now sold along with its attendant lenses. But its sacrifice enabled this retiree to pay off the 262 and 50mm Summarit M. ...

I'd amassed quite a lot of equipment before I retired and I've been working at selling off all the excess for quite some time now. Lots of wonderful stuff that I enjoyed the heck out of but no longer want to be burdened with.

I'm keeping a small selection of Leica gear for shooting anything "serious" and a few fun things for, um, fun and nostalgia (Minox submini, Polaroid, etc). What I'm keeping has been paid for for years so there's no cost to me at all any more.

Who says you have to be looking for fame to enjoy making photographs, and what says that you can only do this with a heavy bag full of gear? I'm about to depart on a six week adventure to the UK and across the USA ... I'm only taking one camera and two lenses to keep it all light and mobile. Seeing is much more important than carrying a load of photographic gear, and weighs nothing. 😀

Enjoy your M! It's a lovely piece of equipment. But moreso, enjoy making photographs! They're the important part.

G

 

[Roger Hicks]

Well, Roger, I guess it's just a matter of scale!

Dear Dick,

Nah. Scale focusing is REALLY difficult with 12x15 inch.

Cheers,

R.

 

[filmtwit]

Get a 50mm nikkor-sc f1.4 (or the 2.0) to go with that M262, it will be like you still have the Nikon on hand.

 

[Eric T]

Nice idea for a thread.
I am going to be in Brazil for 36 hours next week. I am taking only a Sony A7rII and a Sony 24-240mm lens. Although I have seen this lens panned in reviews, it works for me.
Of course, with this camera, I will need several batteries.

 

[Ronald M]

Had a 35 mm Waltz Envoy in 1960 as a college camera. 50 mm Nikkor permanently on it. Drove me nuts.

Skipping to 2018, I am getting old and do not want to carry much. M plus 1,2, or 3 lenses at most is best I can do. Usually one.

 

[Mute-on]

[ ... ]

You know those challenges or experiments you see on the web where somebody shoots with one camera and one lens? Well, that's me. I don't consider it a challenge and I'm having a good time!

That’s really all that counts, isn’t it! If you can’t have a good time doing what you want with whatever you like, what would be the point?

Good for you!

FWIW I solved the problem of more than one lens per Leica M body by acquiring more Leica M bodies ... of course this is mostly pure indulgence. Give me an M2 and 35 Summaron, and I’m happy as can be 🙂

 

[Bike Tourist]

Interesting, hearing everybody's unique approach. My goal is to hold out with just one lens, at least till year's end.

 

[Photog9000]

Interesting, hearing everybody's unique approach. My goal is to hold out with just one lens, at least till year's end.

I sold all my Nikon gear on retirement and went the mirrorless (Fuji) route. I still (at times) miss all that gear but it is the change in images that is really different. I was fortunate late in life (1998-2008) to be a shooter for a small weekly newspaper before the recession ended that career change. Having all the gear that was needed for day-to-day shooting was a requirement in my eyes but all good things must come to an end.
Today, I have only the X100S with its WCL and TCL lenses. The TCL, which gives the X100S a 50mm focal length, has been on the camera for over a year and I am just beginning to see (photographically speaking) at that FL. Shooting with just one camera and one lens takes me back to my first "real" camera, an Olympus OM-10 and Zuiko 1,8/50mm lens that my wife bought me in 1978. Take time with your current setup and remember that Henri Cartier-Bresson shot most of his career with just a Leica M and 50mm.

 

[Roger Hicks]

. . . remember that Henri Cartier-Bresson shot most of his career with just a Leica M and 50mm.

Dear Rich,

And screw-mount cameras before that, and 35mm and 90mm lenses as well, as reported in the New York Times.

Cheers,

R.

 

[airfrogusmc]

I think finding equipment that matches the way you see and work is what it is all about. I tend to see at a 35mm FoV and in tones, shapes and moments so an MM and a 35mm F/L fits perfectly for my personal work at this moment in time.

For color personal work it is the M 10 and also a 35 F/L.

Even in the professional world about 60% of what I shoot is with a 35 on FF.

I like to keep it simple. I find it to be just the opposite of restricting. I find it very liberating.

My usual travel kit is a 35mm and my MM. I might bring my M 10 with a 24 but I don't do that all the time.

 

[Mcary]

Own several lens for use with my M9 but generally head out the door with 1-2 lens for daily/local shooting and maybe 3-4 for travel depending on what type of possible subjects that I may come across during that trip. I look at it this way instead of worrying about having lenses to cover every given situation just concentrate on getting the best images with what you have.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I think finding equipment that matches the way you see and work is what it is all about. I tend to see at a 35mm FoV and in tones, shapes and moments so an MM and a 35mm F/L fits perfectly for my personal work at this moment in time.

For color personal work it is the M 10 and also a 35 F/L.

Even in the professional world about 60% of what I shoot is with a 35 on FF.

I like to keep it simple. I find it to be just the opposite of restricting. I find it very liberating.

My usual travel kit is a 35mm and my MM. I might bring my M 10 with a 24 but I don't do that all the time.

Exactly. Simplicity is good. Blind obedience to an intellectual construct (One Camera, One Lens or for that matter Mine is the Only True God) is probably not quite so good.

Cheers,

R,

 

[jsrockit]

But at my age I realized I would never become a notable photographer. The microstock industry was deteriorating as fast as it destroyed the conventional stock industry several years before, so I didn't really need all those lenses just for personal work. And there was the nagging nostalgia for those happy mid 20th Century days when I worked as an army photographer in Germany and acquired my first Leica, an M3 with DR Summicron.

Good for you... it`s always nice to down size and really enjoy yourself. Have fun.

 

[willie_901]

Less is more.

 

[leicapixie]

Simplicity is not always good..
Leica-M digital with lengthy journeys for adjustments, sensors etc. could sure put a damper on your enthusiasm.
I have heaps of old cameras and lenses.
Most are the "walking wounded" but satisfy me!
I shoot for my pleasure and longer do any pro work.
All the best, but i like a change in seeing..

 

[Bill Clark]

There is nothing wrong using one camera and one lens.

Matter if fact, I’m having lots of fun making photographs with my iPhone 6s.

Hope you have fun with your approach to the stuff you use.

 

[0luke1]

It was such a relief to finally sell off my Nikon gear. It was so HUGE compared to the M10 and assorted lenses I bought. My favorite is the collapsible elmar 90 f4. It’s good enough to take a picture and then zoom in on the lcd while sightseeing.