One camera/one lens...check this out

[horosu]

http://www.smague.fr/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmanuel_smague/

This guy shoots with a M7 and 35 Cron Asph. That's it. A schoolteacher turned photographer.

I wanted to post this link as:
a) I feel very motivated that people like this still exist
b) Sometimes discussions around here are too much about gear. OK gear is indispensable. However, I feel that more important is your artistic journey= what you shoot with your gear, and your desire to improve yourself.

If this isn't the right forum for this, I apologize and hope that an admin will move it to the relevant one.

Best, Horea

 

[mllanos1111]

Wow beautiful pictures! This guy could probably shoot with a cell phone and still get wonderful pics.

 

[bmattock]

Excellent photos. I don't see what having one lens has to do with it.

 

[gb hill]

Horea, I feel your sentiments. It would be such simpler to just be able to not bog yourself down with so much. When I go out I try to carry one camera with me. My problem is which one. BTW I like your photos on flickr & added you as a contact.
cheers, gb

 

[horosu]

Well to me it has: I just wanted to say that someone manages to get this kind of pictures with one body/lens and that we spend too much energy discussing gear. Gear is a tool. Your artistic vision is what ultimately matters...I don't want to offend anyone and wanted you to present this Leica M film photographer.

 

[horosu]

Thank you gb

 

[ampguy]

very inspiring, makes one want to go back to just b/w.

Anyone else notice the lack of distortion, present in most all other 35mm RF lenses??

 

[dcsang]

Anyone else notice the lack of distortion, present in most all other 35mm RF lenses??

That's always the FIRST thing I look for in any photo...

Dave

 

[shadowfox]

Excellent link, Horea, thank you (also for the sentiment).

One RF camera, one lens, and it happens to be a 35mm... yep, this guy is definitely cool! 😎

 

[bmattock]

Excellent link, Horea, thank you (also for the sentiment).

One RF camera, one lens, and it happens to be a 35mm... yep, this guy is definitely cool! 😎

Or a good photographer, and the fact that he uses one lens and one camera is irrelevant. Nah, couldn't be that. Must be the 'one camera' ethos. :bang: That's what made him so good. :bang:

 

[bmattock]

Are people in awe of the one camera(film, rangefinder)/one lens photographer because they can't imagine leaving the house without their DSLR and 18-200mm zoom?

No, because every no-talent hack believes that there is a magic bullet out there somewhere. First, they believe that the answer lies in more stuff. Then, disillusioned, they believe that the answer lies in less stuff.

Never do they contemplate that perhaps they just suck.

 

[dcsang]

I sometimes don't agree with Bill but he's got a point (even if it's there may be a less cantankerous way of getting it across) 😉

The photographer has a good eye.

I think the photos evoke the type of photography that a lot of folks aspire to but few rarely come close to.

That said, he could use any camera (or lens) he has at hand and probably get equally well composed and evocative shots.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[horosu]

My point was: gear doesn't matter that much. I didn't imply that less gear makes you a better photographer. Here is an interview with him http://www.urbansand.com/?p=1588

Horea

 

[bmattock]

My point was: gear doesn't matter that much. I didn't imply that less gear makes you a better photographer. Here is an interview with him http://www.urbansand.com/?p=1588

Horea

My apologies. We've had about eleventy-dozen threads in the past several months on how great it is to 'limit yourself' in order to 'expand your horizons' and other such pseudo-philosophical claptrap. I guess I was too quick on the trigger. Sorry.

I agree with your last statements. What makes a photographer good is their own talent. Better quality gear can help - a sharp lens is sharp, etc. A person who finds themselves overly distracted by shiny things may discover that having less of it allows them to concentrate more. But for the most part, photography is what the photographer does. There are no magic bullets that give people 'vision'. It's flabbergasting to watch people run about in search of the zeitgeist of gear - more or less - as if someone has the answer to all their ills. Like watching people play the 'what's your favorite diet' game. Nobody believe in eating less and exercising more - no, there must be a magic secret elixir out there somewhere.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

His photography is good stuff -- he has an excellent command of the frame and quite a consistent "feel" among his pictures. I think that having a single lens helps with this, but does not guarantee any particular outcome.

Ben Marks

 

[back alley]

Well to me it has: I just wanted to say that someone manages to get this kind of pictures with one body/lens and that we spend too much energy discussing gear. Gear is a tool. Your artistic vision is what ultimately matters...I don't want to offend anyone and wanted you to present this Leica M film photographer.

what about those of us who lack artisic vision and or talent?

gear is all we have...

 

[horosu]

Well, we strive to improve upon things that we hope can be improved isn't it?

 

[bmattock]

what about those of us who lack artisic vision and or talent?

gear is all we have...

That and practice. I can't make the kind of photos the guy in the OP's like makes. I'd like to, but mine don't look like that. That's OK, I do what I do, and I try to learn and make better photos. What I don't do is beat myself up over it and wonder if maybe it is his use of one lens that makes him good instead of maybe he's just good.

I also buy what I want to buy if I can afford it, and don't beat myself up over that, either. The continued hair-shirt wearing over 'too much' this or that gets on my nerves. Well. Perhaps I've said that already.

So my advice is buy what you want - or get rid of it if it torments your anguished soul. Practice if you want to get better.

 

[kxl]

No, because every no-talent hack believes that there is a magic bullet out there somewhere. First, they believe that the answer lies in more stuff. Then, disillusioned, they believe that the answer lies in less stuff.

Never do they contemplate that perhaps they just suck.

You know me so well... If you don't mind, I am going to quote you on my profile...

 

[dcsang]

I think practice is the key - I think many of us here, not all but many of us, have the day-to-day mundane jobs that allow us (or enslave us may be a better term) to be stuck to a desk and computer for the bulk of the day - so instead of being unfettered and being able to shoot with reckless abandon to get that practice, we are not nearly as skilled or not nearly as "at one" with the gear we do have.

There is a balance in everything in the universe.

It would only make sense that a balance to, as Bill stated, what you own and practice is what will help you become better at the type of photographs you aspire to.

Just my 2 canuck cents,
Dave