Let's be honest - one camera & one lens...?

[wlewisiii]

I'm just going to take a moment to thank everyone who has participated in this little passing fancy of mine. It's been enormous fun to read every-one's responses even if I am in the SLR heretic side of things 😉

I like the film question that has come up since I started this. As long as C41 processing is available my one film would be Fuji Reala. Medium speed, low grain, nice saturation for landscapes while still handling skin tones and mixed lighting sensibly - just my favorite "shoot anything anytime" film. If _I_ need to dunk it, then it's Plus-X at EI400 in Diafine 😉

Thank you, again, everyone!

William

 

[alan davus]

yashica tl electro with yashinon 1.9 lens. Of course i've usued much better cameras (reliabilaty wise if not optically ) but the yashica was the first real camera I owned and it was my constant companion on 7 years of travel around the world in the 70's. Without a doubt it took the greatest photos I'll ever possess because the world is much more difficult to explore than it was 30 years ago. With hindsight if only I'd been introduced to rangefinder photography in 1974. But when your'e young the latest technology is where you should be .(Ah! as George Bernard Shaw said youth is wasted on the young . So I might add `Wisdom is wasted on the old`

 

[hth]

While I can (and have) answered what camera and lens, film is another matter. It depends on what I do. If really pressed into selecting one, it would be Neopan 400, but doing that would make me feel slightly uneasy.

I often use slower B&W film (FP4+ or Acros) and sometimes I just go with color (Centuria 400 is my current favourite here). I like Tri-X too, and buy it whenever it is cheaper than Neopan 400, which seldom happens.

I am just not able to use one film, which is why I have more than one camera body, to switch film without finishing it or taking it out.

In reality I often use the one camera, one lens and one film approach, but switch setup depending on light and mood, like after dinner or at another occasion.

/Håkan

 

[visiondr]

The classic combo:

Leica MP + 50 'lux ASPH (both chrome) + Neopan 400

Ron

 

[oftheherd]

I like the answer about changing the rules. 😀 I have many cameras because I can and because I believe there is value to each one.

If I could only have one of the ones I like, I think I would be like others and revert to an SLR. Nothing wrong with some of my 35mm rangefinders, but I don't think anything will ever change my love for my Fujica ST 901. Very innovative in its time with automatic exposure and LEDs in the viewfinder telling me the shutter speed. And the 50mm f/1.4 lens was and is superb! After 30+ years it still takes the greatest photos I can think of to challenge it with.

If this had been made an rf only choice, I guess it would be the Canonet 17. What a great little camera. Small and yet auto exposure and a great lens. But it wasn't, so the Fujica reigns for me.

Film? I don't know if I could choose one. I love Kodachrome but it doesn't have the versatility of negative film. No color film has the low light capability of Tri-X for me.

 

[HuubL]

I would have a hard time here loosing all the stuff I gathered in years. So I'll make three choices:

Of the digi kit: 20D + 24-105L. The 17-40L, 24-70L, 100-400L and the 100 macro may go. Actually, I would sell them with the 20D to get a 5D. The 24-105L with the superb IS is tops!

Of my RFs I would keep the M4 (metal levers) + 50 DR cron

Of the film SLRs I would keep the Canon EF for it's almost M-like build and beauty, with an FD 50 1.4!

 

[narsuitus]

Narsuitus, which ONE kit among the five you mention could you live with forever? 🙂

Dougg,

You are asking the hard question I was trying to avoid.

I could live with any of the five on my list for the rest of my life. However, if I had to choose just one, I would choose in the following order of priority:

1. The Nikon F2 titanium 35mm SLR with a Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 is my first choice because I have been using a chrome F2 since 1971 and am therefore very familiar with it. I have also owned two titanium F2 bodies but sold them for a substantial profit. The 35mm f/1.4 is not only my favorite wide-angle lens but is my favorite lens—period.

2. The Leica MP 35mm rangefinder with a 35mm f/1.4 is my second choice. The only reason it is not my first choice is because I have never used one and have never been able to afford one. Plus, I have never really needed one because my F2 with 35mm f/1.4 has been doing the job for me.

3. The medium format 6x6cm Rolliflex TLR with f/2.8 normal lens would be my third choice. I have never used this camera because the 6x6 Mamiya 220 TLR with its interchangeable lenses better met my needs. However, since I am restricted to using only one lens, the fixed-lens Rolli will do just fine. The main reason it is not higher in the list is its relatively slow f/2.8 lens.

4. The APS-sized Nikon D2X or D200 digital SLR with 28-70mm f/2.8 auto focus is my fourth choice. The only reason the digital SLR is not higher on my list is because I have a bias against automatic/electronic cameras. Please don’t misunderstand me. I own and use automatic/electronic cameras. I just prefer manual/mechanical cameras.

5. A large format 4x5 camera with front and back swings and tilts and a normal or a slightly wide lens is my fifth choice. I love the detailed images I can produce with it. However, the thought of carrying the heavy and bulky camera for the rest of my life does not excite me.

 

[s.giannuzzi]

M3 SS + 50 1,4 Asph + Tri-X + Adox/Calbe A49 1+1 (EI 400 to 1000 with excellents results)

Now I'm testing the VC 50/2 Heliar Collapsible... It's a very interesting lens!

 

[Shuperta]

m7 + ZM35, that's what I am using now and my favorite... 🙂

 

[FrankS]

I"m hoping that this thread was jsut an exercise in naming the most essential/favourite gear you have (1 body, 1 lens) and not a suggestion that one has to actually limit oneself to them. It would be foolish IMO to not include (in my case) a 35 and 90mm lens and even a second body with faster or different film, in the camera bag to go with the one body and 50mm lens. A photo opportunity may present itself that requires a diff focal length, or if the photo opp is an occasion that won't be frequently repeated a backup camera is a good thing to have.

Like I said, an interesting exercise, but why limit yourself?

 

[rbiemer]

I"m hoping that this thread was jsut an exercise in naming the most essential/favourite gear you have (1 body, 1 lens) ...

Gee, maybe William is pondering a career as a gentleman cat burglar and just starting to make up his "shopping list"😀
Between this thread and that other one about how we store our gear...
Rob

 

[Alex Krasotkin]

M7 + 50/1.4 Lux pre-asph

 

[kvanderlaag]

Leica M2 and Summicron-C 40/2.

Agfapan APX 100.

No contest.

 

[mike_j]

One camera only

One camera only

Well, I have to opt for the Ricoh GR1 = superb lens, excellent controls and so small I actually carry it.

 

[bmicklea]

It is great to now have all the tools that I couldn't afford as a kid but I think I'd like to really know what each tool is fully capable of to better know which to grab for a given situation. Maybe spending a month using only one lens will help this.

A couple friends and I have been meeting up periodically to shoot and lately, to challenge ourselves and each other, we're only allowed to bring a single camera, single lens and single film to the location. It's been hard, but fun and has helped me to get to know my equipment a little better. It's not ideal everyday, but once in awhile it's fun to strictly limit yourself.

Back to the question - if it's something that I have then it'd have to be:
Bessa R2a + 35 1.7 + Tri-X

If I can be permitted to dream:
Leica MP + 35 'Lux ASPH + Tri-X

 

[GeneW]

I agree Frank. Use whatever you like and enjoy your gear. But I will say that after my heart attack I go with a very lightweight kit and often take a single cam with a single lens, sometimes two. But when I'm back to full strength I'll be packing two cams and maybe three lenses.

Gene

 

[Dougg]

I almost always go out with just one camera and lens, very rarely with a second lens, and too often without even another roll of film. 🙂 Some of the fun is choosing just WHICH camera and lens...

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

A 35mm camera and a 40mm lens.

 

[Andrew3511]

I"m hoping that this thread was jsut an exercise in naming the most essential/favourite gear you have (1 body, 1 lens) and not a suggestion that one has to actually limit oneself to them. It would be foolish IMO to not include (in my case) a 35 and 90mm lens and even a second body with faster or different film, in the camera bag to go with the one body and 50mm lens. A photo opportunity may present itself that requires a diff focal length, or if the photo opp is an occasion that won't be frequently repeated a backup camera is a good thing to have.

Like I said, an interesting exercise, but why limit yourself?

Well, like all exercises in limitation, it's to explore the possiblities of what you have limited yourself to - e.g. the interest of a drawing over a painting or a string quartet over a symphony orchestra. I'd take the M2 and a 50mm, probably the non-A Summilux. I've not used any of the SLR gear for a year now since buying the 1st Leica and most of my best pictures are with 50mm lenses and always have been.

 

[Jon Perry]

Bronica RF645 & 65mm/f4 Zenzanon with Ilford HP5. 🙂

Jon