What outfit would you put together for ± $4000?

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Thomas Turnbull

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Film and/or digital, not too heavy, optional need for weather resistance (children on both coasts,) one body & lense or many, but all this prioritized for wonderful images.

I start with thinking the kit would either major in 120 and/or finer 35mm film and minor in a small carry around digital for exploratory exposures or, somehow, the other way around.

I have excellent film scanners available but no darkroom, and would have to mail film out of town for developing.

Basically, I'm looking for something(s) to make images that I fall in love with.

All contributions gratefully accepted!

All the best,

Thomas Turnbull
 
It seems that about all I've been shooting with for several years now is a second hand Bessa L with a second hand 15mm Heliar. I sold off the Leicaflex/Leica R kit, the Hasselblad kit, the 4x5 view camera and lenses, the Century Graphic and lenses. I still have my Leica M kit, 3 M bodies plus a Visoflex II along with lenses from 21 to 400mm and I still have a CL. I also have a Rolleiflex T and a really beat up Minolta Autocord L that somebody had literaly ripped the meter off of it. It works fine though.

I doubt that I paid $4,000 for the whole lot of it. These days I'd be happy with just a used Bessa L and a 15mm Heliar. I AM happy with it. I think I paid about $400 for it. My money goes for film, processing, darkroom supplies, cigarettes, coffee and women. The house is paid for.

For $4,000 my kit would consist of the Bessa L, 15mm Heliar, some Tri-X, and blow the rest on the proverbial "Wine, Women, And Song".

http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com
 
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You've given very few parameters to guess from. Given that you've posted to RFF I'll assume you have at least some liking for RF cameras and, from your comments, can at least live with film for some things. Given that and suggesting only things I have and use, what I'd get is:

Any Canon APS-C digital SLR and the Canon 17-55mm f2.8 IS lens for colour/digital work. I'd note that a Canon 40D might be about the "sweet spot" for the camera, but any of their APS-C bodies will do. What you want is a platform for that lens, which is fast, fast-focussing and optically excellent. Just right for tracking fast-moving children/grandchildren.

For the RF I'd personally use a Konica Hexar RF, and get the Hexanon 28/f2.8 and 50/f2 lenses. That'll handle film work just great.

I'd also add something small like an Olympus XA or XA2 (or even an Oly Stylus Epic, though it's larger) as an "always in your pocket" camera.

Add other lenses to taste (longer, wider, whatever) and you're good to go.

...Mike
 
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Do you prefer SLR or RF? Are you shooting portraits, street, landscape, etc? It'd be fun to dream up a $4,000 shopping list, but I think the choices depend so much on your expectations and personal style.
 
$4000? My entire camera collection (LF, MF, SLR, RF) and all my darkroom equipment. Took me 10 years to spend that much.

Seriously, though, you can't get images you will 'fall in love with' by throwing money at it, even that much.
 
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I did this seven years ago, and for roughly $1k less:

- Konica Hexar RF (2, new, one as part of kit)

- Konica M-Hex 28mm f/2.8 (new)

- Konica M-Hex 50mm f/2 (new, part of kit)

- Konica M-Hex 90mm f/2.8 (new)

- Konica HX-18 flash (new, part of kit)

- Nikon SB-20 flash (used)

This has been my Main Axe kit ever since. But that's simply my preference.

As someone mentioned before, you haven't stated much in specifics, so the options are wide open. If you stick to 35mm RFs, you can go a long way with one or two Bessas and two or three well-chosen lenses, and fit the whole thing in a bag that won't clobber your neck/shoulder muscles. And, you'll have some bucks left over for a decent scanner, or, if you've got one already (you don't mention whether the scanners you "have access to" are yours or not), you can go for a decent photo printer...or maybe just a nice stack o' film.

Keep asking questions.


- Barrett
 
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amateriat, that line at the bottom of your post and the story it links to should be required reading for all photographers.
"Print 'em both, kid." - Frank "Cancie" Cancellare, to a UPI courier, after tossing a 20-exposure roll of film to him.

(There's a clickable link in amateriat's post.)
 
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That buys all the gear that I have, including the scanners, the D200 + AF lenses, the M2 and lenses and all the old analogue 'junk' I collected. A cupboard full of excellent Nikons, Leicas and Canons + a lot of glass. Some of it isn't even third party.

But with 4000, I would probably buy a Summicron 90mm, a Hassy 500 C/M kit and an Olympus E-P1 + a nice holiday.
 
Thank you all so much for taking the time and trouble to give me your thoughts so immediately. I'm thinking about what you've offered and will be more specific tomorrow.

Cheers,

Thomas
 
Get a Leica M4 with a set of lenses. Personally I love the M-Hexanon lenses, they are as good as any Leica lens but only half the price if not even less.

I own the M-Hexes 28mm, 50mm and 90mm. The 35mm I found too large for its focal length, although it was similar in size to the 28mm and the 50mm. I would consider a 35mm Summicron f2.0.

No darkroom? Not necessary! I shoot Fomapan, developed in 1:100 Rodinal stand development, just need a dark place to get the film into to the container, the rest is done in the kitchen.

Just throwing the money at it and sit back will probably not be the best way to get shots to fall in love with. Self developing does help there. Compiling a kit you love takes time as well, I've bought and sold for quite a while to get a kit to my liking, which is fun in itself.

Good luck shooting!
 
As others have already said, that sort of money would buy every piece of kit I've ever owned including all the stuff I've later sold. Second hand prices are low enough that $4000 buys a lot these days and there are so many combinations of classic gear that you could put together for that.

Unlike most of the recommendations on this thread, I'd personally be thinking in terms of a combination of 120 film and digital/35mm. The route I definitely would not go down is 35mm film only. I really like using 35mm film, but, for me, it doesn't really offer any performance advantage over digital, so the choice of wether to shoot 35mm at all would come down to personal preference in terms of shooting style. 35mm rangefinders are a great combination of size and performance if you like using them but they aren't a given purely on performance grounds.

For me, personally, that'd probably mean a Rolleiflex with a full-set of accessories, and then there'd be money left over for both a decent digital compact -- maybe the new Olympus micro 4/3 offering, or something similar or even the LX3 -- and a 35mm rangefinder like one of the Bessas (or even the Contax G series). Or a moderately priced dSLR if you prefer SLRs to rangefinders.

Rolleiflex + Olympus E-p1 + Contax G and 45mm lens [or a Bessa + Color-Skopar], to take one sample kit, would easily come in under $4000 with money left over. But there are so many other combinations one could put together -- there are so many good 120 format RFs, for example.
 
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