back alley
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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
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
Gumby
Veteran
Is it fair to assume that this is posted in "philosophy..." because the questions are hypothetical and you don't really expect an answer?
Roger Hicks
Veteran
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.
Gabriel M.A.
My Red Dot Glows For You
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.
kbg32
neo-romanticist
As the song goes Joe, " I can't no...... satisfaction. And I try.....".
Just don't look at the ZM 21/4.5 or the ZM 18/4. They did me in recently!
Just don't look at the ZM 21/4.5 or the ZM 18/4. They did me in recently!
back alley
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i was sort of musing out loud, but i always appreciate a good reply.
back alley
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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.
back alley
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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.
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 $$.
back alley
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thank goodness the 18 is likely too wide for me and that i am happy enough with the cv 21, no need for the extra speed.
georgef
Well-known
If Garrison Keillor analyzed your photolosophical state of mind, I wonder what he'd say.
He'd probably suggest some reflecting time spent at Lake Wobegon
thomasw_
Well-known
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.
back alley
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'freedom from distraction'...i like that!
"freedom from distraction"- I own every lens that I've ever wanted.
payasam
a.k.a. Mukul Dube
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.
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
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)...
I have one M-body, and one M-lens.
I'm satisfied
... (trying in vain to conceal the recently purchased monorail camera)...
Pherdinand
the snow must go on
FrankS
Registered User
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.
Windscale
Well-known
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!
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!
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Yes, but she'd be older too...
(Sorry, couldn't resist, despite being very happily married).
Cheers,
R.