Less gear choice = Better results

ItsReallyDarren said:
Just do it. Just try everything. Carry every configuration and as many systems as you want. Sooner or later cause and effect will kick in and you'll know what you want to carry.

Carry 2 M's, a screwmount, 3 lenses, a TLR, a light meter, and a dozen rolls of film. Also pack a jacket, a bottle of water and some trail mix in your bag.
Then go shooting for 9 hours. Think you'll get tired? If so, cut back.

Just carry as much gear as you want, if your exhausted then you've brought too much.
Cut back, repeat.
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Beautifully put.

Cheers,

R.
 
bmattock said:
Thank you. Until now, I was unaware that Germany had ever produced a comedian, let alone comedy. Do they indeed have a sense of humor, then? My experience up to this point had indicated they did not.
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It's just a trick. Secretly they laugh at you all the time. 🙂
 
I used to lug around several pieces of equipment, but now I just contemplate my stratagy & carry the best equipment to do the job. When I'm out wondering about I like to carry one camera & a couple of lenses, 35 & a 50. The best times out with a camers & some of my best work is when I'm out with my Bessa L & 25/4. That combo is sooo much fun!
 
I used to carry around a lot of gear never knowing what I was going to need. At this point I've found I can make do with just a 35mm or a 50mm (and occasionally a 28mm). I just pick the one I want to use and put it on the camera that's loaded with the right film for what I have in mind. So, I guess I use the one lens one camera at a time approach. Of course, I have other cameras for other purposes and use them appropriately. I just don't like walking around like a pack mule.
 
ItsReallyDarren said:
Just do it. Just try everything. Carry every configuration and as many systems as you want. Sooner or later cause and effect will kick in and you'll know what you want to carry.

Carry 2 M's, a screwmount, 3 lenses, a TLR, a light meter, and a dozen rolls of film. Also pack a jacket, a bottle of water and some trail mix in your bag.
Then go shooting for 9 hours. Think you'll get tired? If so, cut back.

Just carry as much gear as you want, if your exhausted then you've brought too much.
Cut back, repeat.
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That really wasn't the point of the O/P's statement. He claimed that having less gear makes one a better photographer, not that carrying less gear is not as heavy. Granted that carrying things that weigh a lot are heavier than things which do not.
 
bmattock said:
That really wasn't the point of the O/P's statement. He claimed that having less gear makes one a better photographer, <snip>
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Actually Fdigital's original post closed with "I'm interested in other's thoughts on the topic - how does this sort of thing work for you?" To be fair, he did say that less gear worked for him. But I cannot read where he implied it was for everyone.
 
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Bob Michaels said:
Actually Fdigital's original post closed with "I'm interested in other's thoughts on the topic - how does this sort of thing work for you?" To be fair, he did say that less gear worked for him. But I cannot read where he implied it was for everyone.
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The title was "Less gear choice = Better results," was it not?
 
Vince Lupo said:
I recall having seen a Cartier-Bresson book a few years back entitled 'Portraits', or something along those lines. The book contained some of the most beautiful and compelling portraits I've ever seen. At the back of the book, one the notations included the following:

"Equipment Used: Leica and 50mm lens".

Just goes to show....
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If all you are shooting are portraits, then a single lens will work just fine. If you're walking the streets or you're on a trip in an unfamiliar place, then more lenses would be prudent. Cartier-Bresson most certainly did not, contrary to myth, use nothing but a 50.
 
bmattock said:
People feel their shortcomings and look for reasons that don't involve "I guess I just suck" to explain them. Looking for excuses. I have shortcomings too; I just don't blame them on my kit.
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I agree with you on this Bill. A lot of guys here seem bewildered if they own too much stuff because they don't know how to use it. The slution is to practice with different lenses till you get the feel for what each can do.

I also think some guys push the one lens/one body mantra because that's all they have and they are unwilling to spend the money or cannot afford to buy more gear (understandable, this stuff costs a lot and some of you guys have big mortgages and car payments and wives to support).
 
bmattock said:
The title was "Less gear choice = Better results," was it not?
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Bill, you are correct with the title. There was no punctuation. However, I read the post text to be that less gear worked for him while asking if it did for others. See the question in the closing paragraph I quoted earlier.

Yes, if someone read only the four words in the title and not the actual post, they would erroneously assume that FDigital implied that it would work for everyone.

To be fair, the Ken Rockwell article the OP references goes beyond what works for him (KR) and does clearly state that everyone should do the same. But that is Ken Rockwell's style.
 
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Hmmm busy thread for a saturday morning. I want in =D

Well i recently went to Egypt and Cambodia. Brought 2 bodies and 3 lenses with me. Used my 35mm and 50mm 99% of the time - easily covers everything for me. Brought along a 28mm just in case. Used it a few times but could have easily made do with 35mm.

Less gear or more gear...i think either way it is a compromise. Better or worse picture - it is up to the photographer.
Personally i'd prefer to have less gear with me - lighter, mobility, less things to worry. Again, good or pictures......depends on me i guess........ my 2 cents.
 
bmattock said:
If your camera controls you, see a doctor.
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My...my camera controls me ! It obliges me to turn the crank advance to go to next picture to expose, it imposes me to turn the focusing whell to focus... Even my light meter forces me to check the EV settings...Arrgh...And I can't resist turning the aperture and speed dials...

But finally it allows me to take a picture; I'm the camera's slave. I only have control upon the way I compose the image...😛
 
I will be off to the Belgian Ardennes on Sunday, for a week. Packing the M6 with 28 and 50 Hexanons, 135 Komura. Promised myself (and the wife) one day of shooting with the new-to-me Horseman with Topcor 105/3.5.

When shooting streetscenes, I carry both Ms, M6 with 35, M3 with 50. Kodacolor and Fomapan mixed up, 200 or 400ASA, in summer 100 and 200. I only keep track of ASA since the M3 has no lightmeter. Most of the time, I do not know what film is which camera.

I have a modern and a 'vintage' set and when doing a shoot I choose what I think the shots with this particular model and setting will benefit from, or just what I feel like shooting that day. The Horseman will get busy with model shoots when days lengthen again.

The dark days before Christmas have passed, minutes more daylight every day! YAY!
 
I'm not sure if Rockwell would take better pictures had he only a Leica M6.

I enjoy the experience of using different cameras like I enjoy traveling to different places. But I'm very familiar with only a few cameras that I use frequently and I think it's important. I do go out taking pictures when time allows.

Maybe it's just me but I find it a little pretentious to state something like "all photos made with a Leica and 50mm" or "those are not posed shots" etc..., as if not mentioning them would degrade their skills of photography.
 
I am a one camera/ one lens guy.
M6 + 50mm, M8 + 35mm or Hasselblad + 80mm.
I owned and used every other focal length from 15mm to 90mm but somehow 95% of my shooting is with a 50mm lens (or equivalent).
Strangely in my (d)slr days a 70-200 zoom was on my camera 98% of the times.
 
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