thinking out loud...

back alley

back alley

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...about my set up.

if you've had enough of this, please, walk away now as it doesn't get any better.

my head is a tumble of thoughts and various configurations.

i was thinking i could be very happy with the zi body along with zm 25, cv 28, zm 35, zm 50 and hex 90 and maybe add the zi black body.

then i think the zm 50/1.5 would be nice and my head could live with it because it's a sonnar and should have a different look then the 50/2. this would make the 40 easier to sell and live without. as it is, i like the 40 but since i got it i have been using the 35 much less, so getting rid of the 40 makes even more sense. of course if i buy the 1.5 then the black body is out the window for now as that lens is about 300 bucks less than the body.
the 21 is fun and i can't seem to come up with a good reason to get rid of it, except that i have 2 really sharp lenses in the zm 25 and the cv 28 that are also getting slightly less use.

so, dump the 21, 40 and the 90, along with the bessa l and the cl and buy either the 50/1.5 or a black zi body.
or do nothing.
i almost packed away everything i was thinking of getting rid of to see how that might feel but then decided against it.
i know i could live with one camera and one body if i had to so the exercise seemed moot.

i think i may be addicted to change.
 
Addicted to change. Hmmm, I think you may have diagnosed something yourself, joe.

Change is sometimes (often?) a good thing, as it can shake things up and get one "moving" again, or in a new, exciting direction.

So the question I ask, in friendship and the interest of good photography, is "Have all the recent changes helped your photography? Is the 'churning' of equipment moving you ahead or in a new direction, or keeping you from really being a photographer?"

I'm as much of a gear-lover as most -- just look at my sig line. But the other day I had a bit of a revelation...

I've really, really been seduced by the M8. It would take selling all my gear and then a lot more to get an M8 and even one good lens. But what would happen then? I'd be into a whole new workflow, get fixated on the the digital technology, the gear, etc.

In the last two years I have acquired a modest number of fixed lens RFs. My OMs have not gotten a lot of use. Given that the focal lengths of the fixed RFs spans the awesome range of 38mm to 50mm, this change has meant that I've been focusing on becoming a better photographer within those constraints.

That discipline has been a wonderful and productive experience; I believe I have gotten at least a bit better, and have regained the passion I had put on hold. So even if I had sufficient extra cash lying around, the M8 is out; it just wouldn't advance my work.

I am now contemplating simply selling some of the cameras that, as good as they are, don't get a lot of use, putting the money in an account that I can keep separate, for a bigger change later on, whatever that might be.

So this is a longwinded way (sorry!) of encouraging you to think about the why in context. If I'm being a bit too forward or direct, I apologize. But we are a family here, and lately I've wondered if the whole gear-churning aspect of a lot of us, not just any one individual, is a bit counterproductive. HCB seemed to do well with a 50...

Earl
 
thanks earl, i was hoping for some direct discourse on this whole thing.

..."Have all the recent changes helped your photography? Is the 'churning' of equipment moving you ahead or in a new direction, or keeping you from really being a photographer?"...

i honestly would have to say no and yes. buying the 25 was the biggest positive influence because it showed me that i like and could shoot a wide lens. before this i liked wides but thought they were not for me.
having the 40 and to a lesser extent the 28 has not changed things for the better and the 21 is so much fun but if i was gonna be honest with myself i think a 35 and a 50 are what i would use if i got 'serious' about the art of photography. i'm too insecure to have just one camera body. the pessimist i'm me would worry to death about it breaking down and then i would be without something to shoot till it was fixed. i need a second body.

part of the 'why' for this recent whirlwind is that i have never really allowed myself to be this frivolous before and to just buy/sell/trade with barely a thought or enough time to get to know the gear or get better at shooting. not wanting to get maudlin about it but the heart attack has moved priorities around some and allowed me to be a bit more loose.

but in the end, i lose patience with myself as i do know that it's the image that counts and that i'm not doing myself any favours playing with the hardware and not paying attention to the shot.
joe
 
Joe: Great, great response. I am with you on the redundancy issue. I have multiple redundancies with the OM bodies, even though rigtt now several of them need CLA, and they are so damn reliable it's not a huge issue. And if I hold on to the 35 SPs for the long term, it will plural ... I can't really imagine having only one, of not having a backup in case disaster strikes.

For a long time I was a 50/35/21 guy, then I picked up a couple of Zuiko 28s. I had long ignored the 28 because it's so close to the 35, and for a long time the 35 was like my eyeballs; it was just the way I saw. So when I got the 28s, it was an "eye-opener".

So I really do understand where you're coming from. I just get the sense (and it's a sense/feeling; I'm certainly not telling you what to do), that you've come to a place where you are ready to do some culling and moving things around to pare down to a set of tools that really suits your "work" as a photographer. I guess it sort of depends on whether you get 'serious', as you referenced.

Admist all the gear here, we need 'serious' photographers ... who have fun! Thank God we already have a bunch of good ones. Otherwise we'd be a rangefinder pnet. 😀
 
i have been shooting quite a bit, actually i think i shot more this summer than in many summers past. but the experience has not been better, in fact it has been a bit frustrating.
choosing what to bring...feeling the need to use all the gear instead of being able to concentrate more on the image, having a shooting plan that was centred more on what lens should i take today instead of what might be best for where i was heading.
i love gear but too much of it makes me crazy.
 
I think I can understand that last bit, joe. For me, slimming down my systems of late till I have really only two that see regular use has helped - one RF in the CL & one SLR in my T-90. I have a small but really usable selection of lenses for both and each does what I want to do without much thought. I take whichever suits the style I plan to shoot or else whichever one happens to fall to hand first. Both are truly great cameras though about as diametrically opposed as you can get while staying to only 35mm 🙂 I'm not worried too much about breakage - if one were to go down, I'd just stick to the other till it was repaired.

Too much gear can be a real headache for me. I'd love to be like Gene M and be able to take a different camera out every day and get publication grade shots on every roll, but I'm not. So I'll just continue to try and refine my practice with these two until I begin to get it right somewhat more often than once a month or two.

I think, honestly, that you do really enjoy change for changes sake. As far as that goes, that's cool. By the same token you need to have two M-mount bodies so you have some redundancy for those really nice lenses you have. So keep the ZI and use that second body slot to play with different bodies for your backup role. Ever tried a Hexanon RF, for example? But I'd also suggest that maybe, just maybe, you might want to hang onto that 90/2.8 because that's a very nice lens at a nice focal length. You never know when the desire to do a traditional portrait might hit 😉

No matter, enjoy the experience - all of it; the gear, the process and, of course, the images. That's all that matters in this world.

William
 
To be honest, your kit sounds really nice, but would confuse the hell out of me. I would spend most of my time wondering what to take and the rest of my time shopping for the perfect camera bag to carry it. I assume...

Bessa L - 21/4
Leica CL - 40/1.4
Ikon - 25/2.8, 28/1.9, 35/2, 50/2, 90/2.8

Just for fun.....

You have four lenses 35mm or wider. Can you really make a lot of use of a 21, 25 and 28? I can't. Sell the 21 and the 28. With the 21 gone, you have no reason to keep the L.

Amount raised - I will guess $650. ($275 each for the lenses, $100 for the L)

Considering that you have the Ikon with a great 35 and a great 50, the CL and the 40 look expendable to me. Sell 'em off.

Amount raised - say $500. (Total of $1,150 in the kitty). Add in about $200 for the Minolta lens you are selling and we have $1,350.

You now have a Zeiss Ikon with a 25/2.8, 35/2, 50/2 and 90/2.8 and $1,350. You can...

1) Buy that black Ikon.
2) Buy a used M6 and pocket some money.
3) You can take the Ikon to Florida and sit on a beach with it.
4) Sell the 50/2, buy the 1.5 and take the Ikon to Queens instead of Florida.
5) Buy $1,350 worth of film and then borrow another $1,350 to get a new fridge to hold it all.
6) Have the $1,350 converted to dollar bills and then fill the tub with them. Sit in the money with the Ikon screaming 'we're rich! we're rich!"

Thank you for the chance to sell all of your gear and spend all of your money 🙂
 
Great post, John. I like the idea of sitting on a beach in Floriday in about 4 months!

2 random thoughts:

I think that men are physiologically/neurologically/generally hard wired for change/variety.

If you think worrying about updating camera gear is a problem for you, don't get yourself into digital.
 
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