So, How Do You Decide?

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ktmrider

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I suspect that I am not alone among photographers who are members here in owning more cameras and lenses than can be justified by any rational means.

Presently, the 35 film cameras I own are a Leica 3f, Leica M2, and Nikon F. I own lenses from 24 to 135 in M mount, a 55f3.5 Micro for the Nikon, and a collapsable 50 Summicron for the 3f. In digital I have a FujiX100f and a Leica MP240 and we will not even go to medium format or light meters, camera bags, tripods etc. Non photographers ask with some justification and puzzlement "Why do you own so many?" And I could easily live with my M2 and a 35 and TriX.

So my question is how do you decide which to take with you for anything from a local walk to a trip around the world. I have seen myself pack and repack the camera bag half a dozen times before leaving for a trip. No matter what I take I find I am usually willing to live with my choice. On a walking trip across Northern England, I carried one camera with a fixed 28 FOV lens. A year later I took a digital Leica with 35/90 combo and was happy with that combination. I tend to carry digital for travel just because the results can be accessed so easily.

I suspect most of us select our gear based on the phase of the moon, what we have that may be new and novel (in my case a recent Leica 3f), and perhaps what is just a bit unique which might attract a stranger to engage in a conversation on photography or cameras. Anyway, my next trip in a couple weeks is to the Dominican Republic for diving and my GoPro7 in a waterproof case is the only sure camera going along. Am thinking the MP240 and 3f as well but they could easily be replaced by an M2 or X100F depending on the phase of the moon.

How do you do it?
 
I quit from traveling jobs. My tax rate and multiple taxes over income and what we are getting here as return and have to still pay for most doesn't allow my family to travel. Just short trip to nearby USA. Before C happened. Even if we would be able travel now, nobody want to. Until C is over by the vaccine. It is two weeks quarantine on return here for now.

I like to have one, maximum two cameras with me. All the time. Every day.
Switching between digital M, film M, LTM, SLRs and DLSRs. Even tiny P&S is in regular use. Don't know why I'm doing this. Just because it is entertaining.
 
Just assign the name of a month to each camera that you have and use it in that month ..if you own more than 12 cameras flip a coin or eney meeny miny moe them and make that camera work for you no matter what.. macro photography could be difficult with an RF Leica but accept it as a challenge.
 
I hate to be the lucky one but I guess I am. Right now domestic travel is being encouraged here in Japan. The government is subsidizing domestic tourism and we (my wife and I) are taking advantage of it.

Note: All travel requires the wearing of masks, constant hand sanitizing, social distancing, checking body temperatures, all sorts of precautions. It’s not a walk in the park but when everyone cooperates and works together it’s not a big pain in the rear end either.

Having said all that, my choice of travel cameras is easy. I specifically bought two digital cameras for use when I’m on vacation style traveling. The Fujifilm X100V and XF10.

I primarily use the X100V but the XF10 with the wide angle macro lens is very handy. Also, since the XF10 doesn't have a viewfinder I can toss it to my wife and ask her to take pictures and I don’t have to worry about readjusting the viewfinder diopter for her vision.

I’ve been on 3 trips now with this two camera combination and I’m very happy with the results I’ve gotten (I get) whatever.

And lastly, both the X100V and XF10 are small enough to toss in my backpack but still have the ability to take excellent quality pictures.

All the best,
Mike
 
I have an Epson and a Leica M9 and an X Pro 1 that sit on the shelf for the most part. I get to feeling guilty and neglectful so I will take out the one that has sat the longest to go play.
 
Presently US citizens can travel to approximately six countries due to how well we have handled Covid 19 (NOT). The Dominican Republic is using the rapid Covid test on arriving passengers and my understanding is results are available within ten minutes. Why other countries have not adopted this approach, I don't know as it seems a good compromise between total lockdown and no restrictions at all.

Now, looking at the NY Times (I know fake news!) the US has 12-13 cases per 100,000. Canada is about 5.5/100,000, Mexico is less then Canada and the Dominican Republic is 2.3/100,000. So it is 5 to 6 times safer to be in DomRep then the US. Am I missing something?
 
I have different, but not that many cameras, which do not quite overlap. Digital and 35mm SLRs are the "general use cameras" but I like my big Texas Leica Fuji 6x9. It, however, only comes when I know I will have time and will to shoot more deliberately. Only went to a trip to Malta, aside of shorter weekend and long visits to family locations.


In general: Phone, a digital camera (might have the tele zoom on) and a film camera with a wide-normal.





Ko.Fe. said:
I quit from traveling jobs. My tax rate and multiple taxes over income and what we are getting here as return and have to still pay for most doesn't allow my family to travel. Just short trip to nearby USA. Before C happened. Even if we would be able travel now, nobody want to. Until C is over by the vaccine. It is two weeks quarantine on return here for now.
Click to expand...
Corona has changed the way of travel. I am taking (if, IF there are no drastic changes) a short trip home, which is within Europe. One doubts to do so even. No quarantines but going to folks, so being careful, and when there I will just visit our places and do family traditions. Wish I would take my MF, but thankfully I have a Nikon F90 which stays over there.
 
Sometimes the choice of camera is dictated by what I want to do or by the subject.

I take only one camera and one lens for short trips (less than a day's drive from home). For multi-day or longer trips, I've never taken more than two cameras. Usually the second camera is very compact, like an Olympus XA or a Ricoh GR-1. This is because I hate being burdened with equipment.

Of the many cameras I have, I simply choose the next one to use based on whether it's been a while since I last used it or perhaps based on a whim.

In the past, when I'd buy a camera, I would play around with it at home, without film, then set it aside for actual use later. This is a mistake. It's best to use the "new" camera immediately - not only for enjoying your new camera, but also to discover any non-obvious issues such as light leaks.
 
My cameras are all Fuji and Nikon. I decide what to use based on how heavy of a camera I want to take.
 
I have 4 cameras that I use... Fujifilm X-H1, X-Pro3, X100V, and the X-E3. I use the X-H1 at night or indoors when I need IBIS. I prefer the X-Pro3 with a 50-85mm FOV for the streets in the daytime, so this is my favorite camera. The X100V is for when I want to use the 35mm FOV on the street or for times when I want to bring something small and silent. The X-E3 is my bad neighborhood and the travel camera I will use when I don't want to worry about theft since it is my cheapest (but it is still high quality). My next camera will be medium format since I have all 2:3 bases covered. I'll use that for portraits and urban landscape.
 
arthritis permitting...on a serious shoot i like 2 bodies of the same camera with 4 small lenses...2x xpro3
for a walkabout town i like one body and one lens though i often cheat and add a second lens...xe3
i recently added a new fixed lens camera and am enjoying it immensely...x100v

lenses from 16 to 90 fill my bags
 
I have accumulated a number of cameras over the years but the only ones I use these days are my Barnack Leicas. The IIIc and IIIf bodies and the 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and 135mm lenses are pretty much interchangeable. But I only use the IIIg with the 90mm Elmar and vice versa. I rotate through the IIIc and IIIf bodies to keep the shutters happy.


The camera I took on my last weekend at the shore was pretty typical - a IIIc body with a 50/1.4 Canon LTM lens and a SBOOI viewfinder.
 
Film cameras - Nikons, Contax Gs, Rolleiflexes, and two folders, a Voigtlander Perkeo and a Zeiss Nettar.

Digital cameras - two Nikon D700s and a D800. Also my latest whiz-kid, an as new Lumix GF1 with two lenses.

Street shooting was never my preferred sport, I did a lot of it during my years in Sydney and Melbourne. Gave it away in the early 2000s when socially-culturally Aussies began to resent having cameras shoved in their faces in public and we photographers had to deal with confrontations, some not at all pleasant.

For many decades I carted a big bag full of gear on my overseas travels. In the '80s and '90s I saw most of Southeast Asia with a Nikkormat kit, a Rollei and on one not soon forgotten journey, a Linhof with two lenses, two film backs and a tripod. Never again. 95% of my shooting was Kodachrome or Ektachrome in the 'mats with a few rolls of B&W 120 film in the Rollei. The Linhof stayed in my hotel room.

Even with digital I tended to carry too much. Backpacking across Sabah or Sarawak with a D700 and battery pack, a 20, 28, 60 and 180 isn't what I now consider as fun. Eventually I pared down to the camera, 28 and 85, and found the wide angle lens did almost all the work for me. Many lessons learned there.

Being over 70, I no longer do long country walks - the joys of recording lovely bush scenery or copses of peeling eucalyptus gum trees have worn thin. Occasionally we do a longer trip, one we'd planned for mid-2020 was a week in the Western Victorian desert but Covid undid that. 2021 will see us back in Asia, I hope, a family gathering in Malaysia and shoots in Indonesia, Laos and Cambodia before the property developers turn their bulldozers on the last of the charming old colonial buildings in those countries.

At my age light cameras are the best way, the only way. What fits into my backpack and if I can still lift it and carry it, is what I take. The D800 and two lenses will suffice for a two months travel trip. The new (to me) Lumix GF1 is a delight - minimalist with acceptable quality (I shoot RAW) of the smaller images, an unexpected surprise to one used to morbidly obese D800 RAW images.

Nowadays I rarely shoot film. When I do, it's usually B&W Ilford film in one of my Contax G1s, which give me nice negatives easily enlarged to 8x5 (= an 8x10 sheet cut in two pieces). I like the panoramic effect of these and the Zeiss Biogon 28 on my G1 gives me all the quality I want. But as I said, I now almost never use film. Sad in some ways, but time passes and things change.

On occasion after listening to my gripes about heavy gear, my partner politely suggests I should dispose of every camera I own and start afresh with at most, one camera and two lenses, hoods, clear filters - that's it. The idea tempts me greatly - ease of travel, less fiddling with gear, more time to enjoy the moment and not peer at the world through an optical viewfinder. Sensible. But then partners usually are,, having learned from the experience of living with us.

Indeed, if I had to sell or dispose of everything photographic I own and finish my time with only one camera, I would most of all miss my Rolleis, then the G1s, lastly my Nikkormats (not used for far too long, I must take them out, dust them off and see if the batteries still function - I'll do that next week, maybe). The two folders are shelf queens now, resting regally in my camera cabinet.

And a replacement camera? Most definitely Fuji digital.
 
I find it simple. I just think about where I'm going, what kind of photography I might be in the mood for, and grab one of the plethora of cameras and lenses sitting on the shelf. If I'm in that kind of mood, I grab another, very different camera. And whatever lenses/accessories I think I might need to accomplish what I might be in the mood for.

Once grabbed, I don't think about the choice business at all until the next trip.

G
 
I used to carry a canvas bag with two cameras (one a backup), 5 or 7 lenses, a set of b/w filters, some for color, and close up as well. A light meter, lots of film, a lens hood for the 28mm and another for the 18mm. There were usually some other odds and ends that I usually never used. If I could still lift the bag I would search for other things to carry that I would probably never use. :D I might likely have a MF such as a TLR of my Super Press 23. It could be a heavy load but I could handle it and it made it unnecessary to make gear decisions. :D :D

I can't do that any more. I have two back issues, either of which make it so I can hardly walk, much less try to pretend I am a threat to Atlas holding the world.

Now if I take my XA I feel well equipped.
 
I have had my share of GAS but, over the years, successive camera purchases (and sale of previous cameras) have sort of iterated on what I own until now I feel like my current cameras are each specialized for their own usage style and quirks, as well as output to an extent. I now own a Pentax KP (DSLR), a Ricoh GR III, a Voigtlander Bessa-T and a Ricoh 500G. They each have a lot of individual "character" - the DSLR is a chunky, weather-sealed camera with all of Pentax's quirkiness, and the little DA primes to go with it. The GR is the ultimate snapshot camera, and I use it for some street photography as well, but it's less traditional western capital-S Street and more Moriyama-esque snap photography on the street. It's also capable of fantastic landscape and just "moody" shots, due to the highlight-weighted metering and great JPEG styles.

On the film front, the Bessa-T is my most-used street camera lately. It's disarming in its look, with a tiny 35mm Skopar, and is great for zone focusing and quickly metering with the top-down view of the meter, and framing with a hotshoe finder. I love shooting on the street since I can control everything including focus zones by glancing down at the camera and adjusting, then when it comes to the actual raising of the camera to my eye, nothing gets in the way. Just raise, frame, shoot, lower.

The 500G is just a fun, small and sharp rangefinder. It has that particular style that is hard to emulate in its 40mm lens. It's a good small film option when photography is a secondary aspect of the day.

So, what makes me decide which camera to pick up? The kind of photography I expect to do, plus the kind of interaction I feel like having from the camera. Don Springer names his cameras - I think I'm close to doing that. I like their personalities.
 
Got it down to two systems, three bodies.


A Nikon D800E fulfills duties previously manned by my medium format film cameras.
Two Fuji X Pro 2's for everything else.
 
I choose equipment based on what I plan to shoot. For street style travel photography it’ll be Rolleiflex TLR or Leica MP with two lenses. For road trips it would be large format. For walking around I’ll take something small like a Pen F half frame. And if it doesn’t matter it’ll be digital. For travel I often walk 10 miles a day so a TLR is perfect. If I knew the city well and knew what I wanted I would take a 4x5. Go to any city and start shooting at 6am you’ll have the place for yourself.
 
Digital cameras to each his own task. A camera for scanning, one for general photography and then action cams, one of which I occasionally use as general cam because of its light weight.
Naturally I also use the phone when I am without any cam.
Film I have so many so fantastic cameras that I am not able to make preferences (except for weight, I am 75).
Thus what I do is to cycle them. As soon as I finished a roll in one I load a roll in the next.
I know it is not professional (I am an hobbyist). But, believe me, it is a lot of fun!
 
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