thinking out loud...

[back alley]

well john, i just sold the besa L and 21 and the 40!

the cl is up for sale and the 90 has been in the classifieds for most of this week.
i am also selling the 2 half cases i had for the cl's and just might put an mclassic bag in there as well.

florida is too muggy for me and i have some family left in queens but would rather visit friends on the island.

thanks for the chuckle!
joe

 

[back alley]

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.

hey frank, need a luigi case for your cl?

 

[FrankS]

Got one, thanks Joe.

2 more random thoughts:

One doesn't really need an f1.4 lens over an f2 lens in RF photography as the extra speed can be achieved with faster film. With slr's the faster lens is nice because you are looking through it to focus.

Thinking out loud would get me into a whole lot of trouble. I really have to censor my thoughts. They get kind of wild. Does anyone else hear voices in their heads? 🙂

 

[back alley]

Got one, thanks Joe.

2 more random thoughts:

One doesn't really need an f1.4 lens over an f2 lens in RF photography as the extra speed can be achieved with faster film. With slr's the faster lens is nice because you are looking through it to focus.

Thinking out loud would get me into a whole lot of trouble. I really have to censor my thoughts. They get kind of wild. Does anyone else hear voices in their heads? 🙂

you have a case for the cl? don't remember that.
i no longer have a 1.4 lens.
i do some of my best thinking out loud.
joe

 

[FrankS]

I was referring to your idea of selling your f2 50mm Zeiss for the f1.4 50mm (or is it 1.5?)

 

[back alley]

I was referring to your idea of selling the f2 50mm Zeiss for the f1.4 50mm(or is it 1.5??

oh, the zm 50/2 for the zm 50/1.5.
it wasn't for the speed it was because the new zm lens is a sonnar.
i thought i might like having both.

but if i had to choose between a second body and a second 50 i'd take the body. (in black)

joe

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Joe, you remind me of me.

I'm kind of going through the same change right now but in a less drastic way. I'm selling my Canonet 28, the J-9 (it's gone, sorry guys), and the Ansco Speedex (it's gone too) to get something different. I've decided that if I'm going to get something new I'd rather it be different than what I already have because I really LIKE what I have. So that leaves me with, for purpose of comparison:

Canon P with J-12 and J-3
Argus C3 with 50/3.5 Cintar (I'll be replacing the one with the light leaks)
Agfa folder
Meopta Flexaret VI (getting the CLA done on it soon)

I have a bid on something now, but I'm not sure if I'm going to win it yet. If I don't, I'll be spending the money on supplies to create my incredibly ambitious wide angle panoramic pinhole and some fixer/film from J&C. I'm selling other things, too.

I think I've come to a point where I'm pretty happy with what I have rangefinder-wise (I'll be adding CV lenses and giving away the J-12 next year, but that's quite a ways away). It's now time to focus on getting into some other aspects of photography that I've been meaning to dip into: pinhole and large format.

I think that you should do what makes you happy and make sure that ANYTHING you buy will get well used. People here give me crap about buying too much equipment and not focusing on what I have, but change *is* sometimes what you need to really get yourself out there and doing photography again.

 

[tedwhite]

I dunno, Joe. We've all aquired so much gear and so many lenses to the point - in my view - that it actually impedes doing good photography because we end up with our minds cluttered with decisions. Which camera, which lenses... rather than deciding what do we really want to do today in terms of making a photograph.

I've got a pile of perfectly working Spotmatic bodies and Takumar lenses galore, plus a Pentax istDS DSLR, and a Bessa R w/35/2.5. And a Rolleiflex 2.8 Xenotar. Oops, forgot the Yashica T4 Super.

If you told me that I could only have one camera and that I must live with it forever, I'd take the Rolleiflex. Sure, it's archaic, perhaps even gothic. But it slows me down and makes me think about why I'm out here with a camera in the first place. I don't have to decide whether to frame portrait or landscape because it makes no difference.

I mean if you just leave the house each day for one week with the same camera and lens, you get to know it rather well. You adjust to it visually and you learn what kind of picture you can take with it. Finally, you learn what you and it do best. And after you've gone through all your gear you might come to the conclusion that some of it you don't need because you didn't like working with it.

I do this frequently - spending a week with just one camera and just one lens. As I tend to see wide, I really feel comfortable with a Spotmatic and the Super Takumar 28/3.5. It's such a good distortion-free lens that most people who look at an image from it don't immediately realize it's from a wide-angle lens.

The Bessa R with its amazing color skopar 35/2.5 I could also live with, and have indeed spent a week with. As I recently got hold of a 50mm Jupiter 8, it's next.

More than wanting gear, I want to make good photographs. A friend of mine recently bought some sort of ancient German TLR, I think it's an Ikoflex. It didn't work, of course, but he took it apart and fixed it and then went out and took pictures. Some are quite impressive.

Am I tempted by gear? Oh, yes! Do I want a Z1 and an M8? Oh, yes! Can I afford them? Well, if I sell my SO into slavery, sell my Passat and buy a Ford Escort, perhaps. Will these cameras make me a better photographer?

Probably not, any more thanl selling my Passat and buying an Infiniti will make me a better driver.

But the Infiniti would be more fun, and maybe that's what GAS is all about.

Ted

 

[clarence]

PM sent on the CL, Joe.

Clarence

 

[rover]

Wow, whatever you end up with, fast 50 or second ZI....that is going to be a nice kit.

Well, buy the ZI, having 2 50s will drive you crazy.

 

[clarence]

Well, buy the ZI, having 2 50s will drive you crazy.

You'd spend all day just conducting lens tests.

Clarence

 

[Nachkebia]

What ever you do, don`t trade planar with sonnar.... good luck..

 

[Joerg]

unreal!

i just sold the bessa L and 21 lens and the 40/1.4 lens!!

.

😱

Have fun!

Joerg

 

[Rafael]

Wow, whatever you end up with, fast 50 or second ZI....that is going to be a nice kit.

Well, buy the ZI, having 2 50s will drive you crazy.

I agree entirely with Rover. But then, you already knew that. Can't wait to see the new kit (and results) Joe.

 

[back alley]

I agree entirely with Rover. But then, you already knew that. Can't wait to see the new kit (and results) Joe.

at most, the 'new' kit will be the 25/28/35/50/90 plus the black zi.
i'm keeping the 28 for some indoor speed to be better able to continue my winter bar series.

i hope to sell the 90/4 but no takers so far.
the bessa L and 21 are gone. the 40 is gone.
the cl was almost gone and might be gone to another but i am waiting to hear. one of the cl cases might be gone also.
i might sell the 28 if i decide to shoot and process like merciful in the bar. (his was the original inspiration)

joe

 

[thafred]

Hi Joe,

you´re in quite a dilemma here 😉
congrats on your sells but giving the 40 1.4 away i don´t understand 🙁
I understand geting rid of equipment because of too much choice getting in the way of taking pictures but I would hastle getting rid of the fastest lens!
I´m not too keen on my Nokton 50 1.5 (and I have alot or too much 50ies) but I see it has it´s place in my line of lenses because I have no other reliable alternative ready for those low light situations! (also it´s heavily brassed and I couldn´t get something even equal with the money)
Furthermore I don´t get having a second Zi body when your´s is your favorite camera! only you will be punished by more choices! (unless you´re matching cameras with tie-colors...i don´t think you´re that kind of guy tho 😉 )

ok..my take would be: ...drum roll...(absynthe is speaking out of my mouth)

Buy the tasty ZM Sonnar 50 1.5 plus a old very reliable M2/3/4 (budged) as second backup body (CLA´d of course)! the idea is that the 50 1.5 is a very nice low light lens and it´s a hot alternative for the planar signature wise. the price is right for such a nice lens but for a backup body it´s too much donuts for a ZI imho! The Sonnar for 1000 and a M for 500 ain´t too far away from a ZI unless my maths are incorrect (I again blame absynth for that then 😉

Friedrich

 

[back alley]

friedrich,
don't forget i have the 28/1.9 which is pretty fast.
without the cl (& the 40mm fl) i felt little need for the 40.
i am torn, a little, about a backup body but am leaning towards a new camera. and if new, the zi is the best buy. none of the bessa bodies have 28 framelines and that is a priority for using the 28 and helping to guesstimate with the 25.
i have to admit that the 50/1.5 also has a very strong pull and i need to weigh my needs/wants regarding either a camera or another lens. so far the camera is winning.

 

[raid]

Joe: Good luck in your strategy making process. Photography doesnot have to be a complicated selection process. Put some lenses aside for a month, and then return to them the following month. It is great to be able to"change clothes" when needed.


Raid

 

[mc_vancouver]

Joe, and you others who are in a constant quandry about what to keep, trade, sell and buy, I am so glad this forum exists, because I thought I was the only one who could never make up his mind. I don't have much equip at any one time, but I keep selling and buying, and now, on RFF, trading, which in a way is much more satisfying. As it is, I have a Nokton 50/1.5 in mint shape, and a chrome 50mm v/f, that I'd trade...but for what? A 40/1.4 with the accessory lens hood, possibly. Or should I keep the 50, even though I've just bought an R3M and so have the option of using a 40 internal framelines....but then if I got the 40 there's really no need to keep the 35/1.7 and v/f...

Well, I'm open to suggestions. Right now the lens lineup is very modest: 25, 35, 50.

 

[Chuck A]

I dunno, Joe. We've all aquired so much gear and so many lenses to the point - in my view - that it actually impedes doing good photography because we end up with our minds cluttered with decisions. Which camera, which lenses... rather than deciding what do we really want to do today in terms of making a photograph. ...

I mean if you just leave the house each day for one week with the same camera and lens, you get to know it rather well. You adjust to it visually and you learn what kind of picture you can take with it. Finally, you learn what you and it do best. And after you've gone through all your gear you might come to the conclusion that some of it you don't need because you didn't like working with it. ...

I do this frequently - spending a week with just one camera and just one lens. As I tend to see wide, I really feel comfortable with a Spotmatic and the Super Takumar 28/3.5. It's such a good distortion-free lens that most people who look at an image from it don't immediately realize it's from a wide-angle lens.

Ted

Ted makes some excellent points here. I have often found that I do my best photography when I stick to one lens and one camera for a while. Frankly I did some of my most enjoyable work 30 years ago with an M2 and a 50mm only. Since then I have gone through many cameras and lenses but recently I decided to get back to basics and have decided (after some buying, selling and trading) to stick with my current kit for a while. An M6TTL with a 40mm, 50mm, and 90mm.

If I have too many cameras and lenses I find myself distracted by the choices and my images suffer. Lately I am puting one lens on the camera for a while and using it. It makes photography more enjoyable for me.

I don't tend to see wide. The 40mm works well for me when I want a bit more space. I went through my best photos and decided to see what focal length I used for the ones that I really like. I found that most of them fell into the 50-80mm range. I tend to see in that range.

My photography tends to be more exclusive than inclusive. I find myself taking bits away more often than adding them and I think that the longer focal lengths help me with that. I don't know if that makes sense or not.

Anyway I am getting back to one camera with a minimum of lenses. My tiny brain gets distracted if I have too many decisions to make.


Joe, good luck on minimizing your system to fit your needs.