satisfaction?

back alley

back alley

IMAGES
Local time
2:17 PM
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
Messages
41,289
Location
true north strong & free
View My Gallery
leave it to me to start a gear thread in the philosophy section...

been looking at the classifieds and at ebay too...lots of great stuff for sale but nothing really attracting my eye these days.

i have settled down some by sticking with m mount gear and thinking in terms of kits.
i like each kit i have put together and could live with each on it's own.

zeiss ikon...zm 25/2.8...zm 35/2...zm 50/1.5 --- this is a great kit! i love the 25 fov, it's sharpness and ease of handling. the 35 is a near perfect lens for my use and the 50 sonnar is a 'specialist' lens in my eyes.
the camera feels great in my hands, love the meter and the heft, yes heft.
i could almost be satisfied with the body and any one of the zm lenses i have as a full time user.

bessa r4a...cv 21/4...25/4 p...28/3.5...35/1.4 sc...35/2.5...50/2.5 --- i love this kit!! the r4a is a near perfect body with all the framelines i need.
the slower cv lenses are made for use on this body and the fast 35 also fits nicely and i like the speed.
this is a small, very lightweight and comfortable outfit to haul about.

minolta cle...rokkor 28/2.8...40/2...90/4 (on the way) --- a perfect travel kit, a great camera especially now that i have the zeiss grip on it!
sharp lenses that are small. light and sharp. and oh so easy to throw in an everyday bag.

i wonder how long my satisfaction will last?
when it comes to gas my thoughts head to getting a second of something...so no new lenses or bodies but maybe a second cle or other 40mm lenses.
and i doubt highly that i will go that route.

so maybe this is it?

except for the thought of a tri skopar in 25/35/50 i can't think of anything else i might want.

and i have been buying more film lately...

joe
 
Is it fair to assume that this is posted in "philosophy..." because the questions are hypothetical and you don't really expect an answer?
 
back alley said:
and i have been buying more film lately...
Click to expand...
Dear Joe,

Without wishing to be rude, maybe it's age related. I've been finding the same myself, more and more. I recently borrowed a Hasselblad system with the three new Zeiss Classic lenses.

Gorgeous! But would it improve my photography, compare with the (admittedly enormous) range of gear I already have?

Increasingly I think, "Yes, I'd love that, and I might buy it if I didn't already have something similar; but I don't need it, and it wouldn't make me a better photographer."

Then again, there are exceptions. The 4/16-18-21 Tri-Elmar for me, the 4/18 Distagon for my wife. And I'm still in love with the 1.5/50 C-Sonnar.

Cheers,

R.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Dear Joe,

Without wishing to be rude, maybe it's age related. I've been finding the same myself, more and more. I recently borrowed a Hasselblad system with the three new Zeiss Classic lenses.

Gorgeous! But would it improve my photography, compare with the (admittedly enormous) range of gear I already have?

Increasingly I think, "Yes, I'd love that, and I might buy it if I didn't already have something similar; but I don't need it, and it wouldn't make me a better photographer."

Then again, there are exceptions. The 4/16-18-21 Tri-Elmar for me, the 4/18 Distagon for my wife. And I'm still in love with the 1.5/50 C-Sonnar.

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

not rude at all...i kinda like growing old, except for the aches and pains part.
it may also be that i am finally realizing that the gear is not as important to me as it once was.
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
If Garrison Keillor analyzed your photolosophical state of mind, I wonder what he'd say. 😉

Don't let anybody lend you an R-D1 or an M8. Then you'd really not be "done".

Done in, probably. 😱
Click to expand...

i'm not well read enough to 'get' the first comment.

in fact, the rd1 DOES pop into my consciousness occasionally. i might be getting a bonus this summer and i have thought that an rd1 would be a good use for that $$.
 
Yes, Joe I understand how you reason out the gear status. For me it is a question of will and self-discipline, as well as strategy. I write 'strategy' because a minimalist kit actually helps me to focus less on the gear and more on the making of photos. I see it as a type of freedom from distraction.
 
As of late, I find that satisfaction comes with making a lens work properly on a camera that it was not intended for. The 5cm F2 Sonnar in the J-8 mount has been my "pride and joy" lately.
 
Age can work both ways. Most of the time I am content with what I have and know. Sometimes, though, I am tempted by what I wanted twenty or thirty years back but never had.
 
Joe, in my so very limited wisdom, satisfaction is a decision, then an act.

I have one M-body, and one M-lens.

I'm satisfied 😀

... (trying in vain to conceal the recently purchased monorail camera)...
 
Hey Joe, you should use that bonus to travel ... out east! I'm kind of done myself. My last purchases were a couple of camera bags (one used) and a big pile of film. I have a range of gear types and formats that satisfies me.
 
Well Joe,

Nice to have so many kits. But how many bodies and lenses can you take out at one time, especially some of your kits covered the same range?

My experience is that the more gear you have the more time you spent on (i) what to take with you when you go on a certain trip, and (ii) regretting that you should have brought along certain other gear with you when you were on that trip!

Age also works magic on lessening the load. No more Hasselblads as they are too heavy. Even the M3 is beginning to feel heavy. The distractions will go once I have got rid of all 'unable to carry' gear and I can concentrate on the gear I carried with me as I would no longer have to spend time on (i) and (ii) mentioned above! Pictures always come out better when the load is light!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom