Poll: Gearheads?

Poll: Gearheads?

  • I'm a gearhead. I don't take pictures all that much.

    Votes: 5 1.4%

  • I'm a gearhead. I use a few of my cameras to take pictures.

    Votes: 18 5.2%

  • I'm a gearhead. I use most of my cameras to take pictures.

    Votes: 47 13.5%

  • I'm a picture taker. And I'm a gearhead.

    Votes: 135 38.9%

  • I'm a picture taker, but I'm concerned about carefully picking the gear that I like to use best.

    Votes: 131 37.8%

  • I'm a picture taker. I'm not interested in gear all that much.

    Votes: 11 3.2%
  • Total voters
    347
I bought my first Leica, a IIIa, in 1952. I now have a IIIf also, along with an accumulation of SLR, LF, and now digital gear. I accumulate gear at a very slow pace. I also take a few pictures.

Jim N.
 
I am a gearhead, but the gear has to be usable...I love fixing cameras and taking photos with them. I do collect more than I use, but that's only because I have to work!! :D I have used all but 2 of my collection of over 70 RF's and Medium Format cameras..
 
Nachkebia said:
I want to know who will be the first and only person who will hit button :D
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Well, I've been feeling like that recently. Due to various sundry reasons I haven't been taking very many pictures lately. I didn't click on that button because it would be a bit too depressing, I think.

This Friday I'm going to build a film dryer with a friend, then I should be all set to mix up this package of Xtol that just recently arrived. I've already got a couple of rolls of Neopan 1600 I'm waiting to develop. I hate taking pictures out and about with a film that I haven't developed yet to get a sense of what it'll do when I expose it.

Next, I need to figure out what to do about a scanner.

At least after many years of not playing with a camera, I find myself these days spotting pictures. Just yesterday I noticed a back alley (not the moderator here) behind some old buildings and thought: "I've got to return here with my camera." I haven't had a thought like that in a long time, so perhaps there's hope.
 
kuvvy said:
I can't seem to find any subject matter to inspire me. Do you guys ever have this problem and is there a cure?
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a) An attractive member of the opposite sex often will do the trick.

b) If that ceases to inspire, marry the attractive member of the opposite sex and have children with him/her.

c) When the children outgrow being inherently photogenic, buy a pet, a motorcycle, or a sports car.

d) By the time you get past that, you should be on to the grandchildren stage.

e) When the grandchildren outgrow being inherently photogenic, return to (a). Lather, rinse, and repeat as needed.
 
I certainly started out as a gearhead, procuring collectible Leicas and the like but I guess I'm shooting more these days and have since unloaded quite a bit of my collection. Still, 50 cameras is still a bit much for some people.
 
Having a project or two at hand keeps up the dedication to shooting, I think. I see most poll respondents here at least *claim* to be more into shooting than fondling. :D In the past couple years I've been hit by GAS attacks with the rationale that the gear of interest is either getting too cheap to pass up, or disappearing as new items from the channels and therefore I better grab while I can. Brief periods of sane restraint squeezed among budget-ruining GAS episodes... How much longer will Tony Rose have that cool Zeiss gear at such attractive prices? Better go for it... :)
 
I´m a gearhead for sure (duh look at my avatar) but since i run 3-10 Rolls a week on a regular basis and try to improve my skills I think it´s not uncurable ;) ... I´m not uploading many photos tho.
Using the gear for what it was build and giving my body a hour walk every day is the part thats most interesting and important ..not fondling with it in the evening sitting in front of the TV... :angel:
 
I would have to say I'm both. I've been shooting since I was 6 years old when my granddad gave me a Leica IIIa with Summar. I have collected cameras etc for well over 30 years and use most of them.. :rolleyes:
 
“I'm a picture taker, but I'm concerned about carefully picking the gear that I like to use best.”

I voted for the above option because I am a user who tries to pick the best tools for the job at hand.

I have never been a collector (gearhead has such a bad connotation for me).

However, if I were a collector, I would collect Leica and Nikon rangefinders and Nikon F2 SLR titanium bodies. I have never owned a Leica or a Nikon rangefinder but I did once own a Leica M1 (not a rangefinder) and two Nikon titanium F2 bodies. I sold them for a profit when their value increased far above what I had paid for them.
 
Double Whammy! I am thinking alot about unloading gear lately though. Or at least only learning a few lenses and improving my metering.
 
Both a photographer and a gearhead. I haven't purchased any new camera gear for months, which is definitely a good thing. In fact, I packed up almost all of my cameras several months ago and the only one I have out and ready to use at a moment's notice is my Bessa R. I just need to take the next logical step and sell off the cameras I'm not using. Besides, I need to save money towards a shiny round thing for my girlfriend's finger :D.
 
I'm focusing on perfecting my Canon P kit. I'm also buying a few projects here and there to keep me occupied over the winter. The first is the Ikoflex...after that comes the mother of all projects: the 6x14 pinhole panoramic. I may grab a couple more folders that are different than the one I have: a 6x6 coupled rangefinder and a 4.5x6 coupled rangefinder. I thought about finding the Bessa II as well so that I could have a 6x9 with a coupled rangefinder, but I saw one go for well over $500 recently and there's NO way I'm paying anywhere near that for a 50-60 year old folding camera regardless of how great it is. This is mostly to get me used to medium format enough to warrant me getting something more serious in that size...an SLR or a Mamiya rangefinder, perhaps. But that's far into the future.

I think finally becoming happier with my gear and realizing how much I love photography has pushed me to make lots of decisions regarding equipment and what I do and do not need in my life to be happy. Carrying around a camera that I'm proud of makes me happy. Making images with that camera that I'm proud of makes me even happier. Printing the images that come from the camera will make me giddy.

I think that, for the most part, my gearhead days are over. I admit to lusting after a few things (the 35mm Nokton comes to mind) but I also know that I really have no use for them right now. My plans for the next year are pretty much set unless something I can't refuse falls in my lap.
 
I'm both. I don't want to be, but I am. I really want to be just a picture taker. But then I start thinking about the pictures I could be taking, if I had different gear. That's dangerous thinking, and I've suffered the consequences. My recent discovery of rangefinders hasn't helped at all.

...Mike
 
picture taker... a good 85 - 90 percent of my shots are with two cameras costing less than $100 ; a Canonet GIII QL17 and a Yashica Electro 35 GSN. I have two others I use a Yashica Lynx 14e and an expensive Mamiya 6. But the last two see the least use though they are good cameras.

BTW I think 'gearhead' is derogatory , I prefer 'equipment driven' to describe the situation ;- )
 
Unfortunately, I am much more adept at buying gear than taking quality photographs. I figure if I take enough photographs I might occasionally get one where the composition does not totally suck.
 
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