The conundrum of cameras and lenses

I don't stress this at all. I pick up and use whatever one seems funnest to use that day... unless a particular tool works better for a pre-planned situation.
 
Like others, I've found that this gets easier as I get older. No, my Leicas won't do everything -- so I live without the stuff they won't do (very long lenses, for example). Two Leica bodies and three, four or five lenses (a mixture of Leica, Zeiss, Voigtländer and Kobalux) is plenty, unless I'm doing something quite specialized, or unless I want MF or LF quality.

EDIT: Perhaps I should add that I normally use only two 35mm systems, Leica-compatible and Nikon-compatible, and I don't feel the need for other systems, though I have a couple of Pentax SVs and a few lenses for reasons of nostalgia (my first serious camera was an SV). As a result of historical accidents I have rather more kinds of MF and LF cameras, but as I say, they're kept for their special qualities.

Cheers,

R.
 
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I find it quite challenging to grab one camera + one lens, one or two rolls of film and trying to make the best out of my given choice. 🙂

EDIT: Choice of film is more challenging than choice of gear, IMO.
 
I carry a camera with me everyday to work, which has been my Nikon SP with 50/1.4 since I got it, and before that my S3 with 35/1.8, but when going out to shoot it always seems to take me at least 15 minutes to decide what camera(s) to take.. Sometimes I want to us the Nikon RFs (SP with the 50, 85, or 105 and the S3 with 35), sometimes I want to use a Nikon RF and my F (35 on the S3 or 50 on the SP and a different focal length on the F), sometimes it's the Contax I with 5cm Tessar, or sometimes I want go with medium format and dust off the Ikontas.. So difficult! 🙄
 
Paolo I understand your pain. Spring is here in NZ and I will be out most afternoons for a walk through the city and surrounds and my normal choice would be M6 + M9 ZM, 50 Sonnar on M6, 35 Summarit on M9 and 90 Summicron and ZM21/2.8 in my bag. But some of my best 35mm B&W comes from my Xpan, and then there is the panorama aspect and I am often stunned by results from my Fuji GF670. Then sometimes I think it should be film only. To many thoughts and I have to counsel myself to just commit to what I have in the bag
 
If I'm just going out for a walk and take a camera along for some photography, I've realized that I'll almost never have the *right* camera/lens/whatever combination for that perfect shot (framing, filtering, film type etc.). Life happens too spontaneously. It doesn't even wait for lens changes. However, I can get some photos that I like with almost any of the gear I have, but each combo will produce a different look. That's part of the fun. Making something nice with what I happen to have. Choice is great; rotate through what you have, there will always be something to photograph with what you have in hand, and always shots missed.

I like things to be simple, so I have 2 bags: one for MF and one for 35mm. They're always ready. Apart from a few simple lens choices, it's no big deal whether I choose one or the other. My income doesn't depend on these choices, so I focus on the enjoyment they bring.

Enjoy your gear!

Steve
 
Rollei 35S always in jacket pocket (currently with Superia 200). Olympus XA has been in the other pocket recently (Superia 800). In a small Billingham S3 in my daysac is an M2, with 15, 35 and 50mm lenses, plus a meter, cleaning stuff and several rolls of film of various types. Daysac goes nearly everywhere with me.

If going out specifically to take pictures at the weekend, the Leica stuff goes into a bigger Billingham with the IIIf, a couple more 50s and a 90mm, mainly to have the choice of two types of film with the same lenses. It's pretty rare when I choose a different camera system, and the S3/M2 outfit tends to come along in any case.
 
I'm enjoying reading all the replies. It seems quite a few of you have your act sorted regarding the conundrum of cameras and lenses and others still go through the "decision lock" as Lynn put it, whenever the bag needs to be packed.
From what I see, experience shooting those systems plays a big part in finding your groove and making the decision making process a bit easier.
I'm sure the decision lock will not stop entirely but if the replies here are anything to go by, it seems it might get easier the more rolls I shoot or bytes I bight. That is of course if I don't keep buying new cameras that require familiarity. Probably part of my problem is getting a few new cameras and lenses in a short space of time and the lack of familiarity and dedicated favourites is stalling the decision making process before I go out to take photographs.

At the moment I'm starting to get on top of it but i'm nowhere near perfectly comfortable yet. However I do much like the idea of carrying a P&S regardless of the occasion. This is starting to become part of my standardized kit.

As I try to come up with a regimented kit though I find that I'm always failing. The reason being, cameras with film already loaded and the fact that I'm shooting both colour and B&W. So I guess I'll just take the "Familiarity" route and go with the flow. Keep doing what I'm doing and just get more familiar with all the new stuff I own so the decisions get easier, as someone already mentioned, like picking a jacket to wear.
 
If I'm working, there are two sets in the car - a Canon EOS digital with three zooms and one prime for color photography for my newspaper - and a Leica/Nikon mixed set for my own film work. Too much? Probably. When I'm on my own, typically its a four lens, two body Leica set with either 21-35-75-135 or 28-50-80-135. I like having the 135 with me and use it often. On a typical day on my own, I'll use all four lenses. Again, too much? Maybe, but that's the minimum I'm comfortable with and I HATE missing a photo.
 
all my gear fits into a think tank retro 10 bag so i can carry it all easily if i so choose.
one body and 3 lenses fits easily into the retro 5 and i carry this everywhere i go everyday.

by choosing all the cv tiny lenses there is barely a difference in weight in carrying 1,2 or 3 lenses...even 4 lenses. adding my ipad makes a much bigger difference, weightwise.

my favourite photo treks are with one body and one lens.

all that being said...i have decided to save up for a nikon dslr kit as well...
 
I've tried conundrums on camera's and lenses...

I've tried conundrums on camera's and lenses...

Nothing really seemed to work until I discovered Olympus waterproof DSLR's starting with the E-1 and continuing through the E-5. You've never really experienced waterproof technology in cameras until you've showered with an Olympus waterproof body. 😀
 
I had close to 60 fountain pens at one point and now I have three (more than enough.) Have had and sold at least two dozen watches (am now down to one good Swiss watch, a slightly beat up Speedmaster.)

I had at one point an EOS 5DII and three lenses, plus an S95. Sold the digital gear, got an M6, and an M3. Own 2 lenses (Summicron 50/2, Voigtlander 40/1.4.)

If I'm going out taking pictures for me, it's one of the Leicas, generally with the 50mm. If I'm working (corporate events and product shots, mostly for the web) I bring an NEX-5 with a fast prime, and a Panasonic DMC-LX5 with a small tripod for macro (the thing does amazing macro.)

After lugging a full frame DSLR and lenses literally all over the planet, having a kit that even with the stuff for work fits in a small, light shoulder bag is incredibly refreshing 🙂 plus I've started dropping scanned shots from the Leica into the mix for work. Having gone through spasms of unsustainably expensive acquisition syndrome with pens and watches I'm really trying to avoid it with cameras, plus I'm pretty unlikely to find an RF I like better than the Ms anyway. At least, like enough to buy. Though I'd love to find out what shooting with a iiiF is like, and those old Nikon RFs look really cool, and it'd be really sweet to have a CL to stick in my pocket, and the Fuji X10 looks like it'd be an amazing backup P&S. . . uh oh 😉 .

Jack
 
Generally, I reach for a few of a preset number of machines given my situation. Though, if I'm not sure what to expect, I'm likely to bring it all plus the darkroom sink, to coin a phrase.

Generally speaking, with Pentax it's either one or both digital SLRs, 18-55 DA WR, 10-20 Sigma, 70-200 Pushmepullyou zoom, for versatility, or 10-20, 35, 50, 90. I don't have a wide prime, so the 10-20 is almost always in the bag.

With Film Pentax, it's usually 35/50/90, with maybe the 16mm Fisheye and 17-35 Sigma FF ultrawide. That may expand to 24/35/50/90 depending if I like the new sigma I bought today 🙂

With Leica, I only have the two lenses, so it's either Jupiter 8 50/2 and Serenar 85/2, or just the 50. I feel too limited carrying only a tele.

The next kit is a Medalist and a Yashica 635 for a compact MF kit. IF that won't do it for me, It's likely I'll have a Super Graphic with 90/135 lenses, at least until I figure out how to make the 75mm lens I have for that system work easily. My Toyo monorail is an "only if I know i'll use it" proposition.

I need help.
 
Paolo, I feel compelled to respond, since I am in the same boat as you are.

I had an interesting realization the other day, while contemplating how I could go about mastering black & white photography using Zone System principals for low-, normal-, and high-contrast scenes. (Briefly, the principals are: use a spot meter to take readings of the scene, determine how the negative will need to be exposed and processed to keep the shadows and highlights you want, then "expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights").

It dawned on me that I have three OM cameras with spot meters built right in, and that the three bodies are different colors (black, gray, and champagne). So, the black camera can be pre-ordained to take low-contrast scenes (black = too dark mid-tones), the gray camera can be used to take normal scenes (gray = middle gray mid-tones), and the lightest color camera can be designated for use with high-contrast scenes (champagne = too light mid-tones).

I haven't had the chance to try this out yet, but coming up with those color-coded designations did give me a solid feel on how three of my 25 cameras can be used as part of an organized system, and thus make my experiences more rewarding. Maybe you could do something similar?
 
Keith said:
I like many here have more choices than I need ... but when it comes down to it and I can't be bothered torturing myself over what to actually use (it is optional you know) I grab the OM-1 with a 50mm on it and a 35mm and 85mm in the bag.

What I can't do with that combo isn't worth doing and making that choice fairly quickly is my self imposed discipline. Getting rid of most of my rangefinders was one of the best moves I've made because one descision that alway bothered me was the one that always tortured me the most ... "Rangefinder or SLR?"
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I still prefer SLR in 35mm myself, although I don't mind having my XA as my only camera when I go out and don't really expect to want to take a photo. But oddly, I usually have my Kiev kit in the trunk of my car. It languishes there, softly bleating from time to time.


Spicy said:
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Since it's a hobby and not a job, it's a chance to practice, not a blown opportunity. ...
A camera is a camera and a lens is a lens. It's up to the photographer to use put them together and use them in novel/creative ways. If you find you have the "wrong lens" with you, that isn't what the problem is -- it's that you aren't creative enough to be using it.
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I think that is one of the reasons I worry about too much gear, along with still having a slight back problem. It is a hobby now, and I don't use it in my job. But even then, I was younger with a stronger back, and didn't mind having more gear. But I only had two SLR bodies of different brands, and they both took M42 lenses. I began using primes and learned to do what you say, figure out how to make them work. I think that is why I just never could fall in love with zooms. EDIT: Still, it was nice knowing that when I had that big bag of gear, there wasn't much that could come up that I couldn't find a solution to in that bag. Lenses, filters, flash, film, bodies, other accessories, you name it, I had it.

back alley said:
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all that being said...i have decided to save up for a nikon dslr kit as well...
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Ah, then we can all rest in peace, knowing that you are finally done. 😀 😀 😀

Actually, I look forward to seeing what you select and why, and how it suits you. Any special reason not to go with an RF, and for not going with Canon?
 
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..Ah, then we can all rest in peace, knowing that you are finally done.

Actually, I look forward to seeing what you select and why, and how it suits you. Any special reason not to go with an RF, and for not going with Canon?...

done? ha!

i already have the rf that suits me...

i like the nikon d90...many of the locals that i shoot with use it...
but i am also intrigued by the newer sony a77 as well...coupled with a couple of zeiss zooms might also be the way to go.
 
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