a bit of a gear nut ....
a bit of a gear nut ....
Fair enough, In terms of coupled rangefinders 135, I've had the RD-1, Bessa-R, M6, Bronica 645.
The Contax G1, Fuji 645 and Fuji 645 Zi are tweeners not really coupled rangefinders a la Leica, but not SLR either.
My Polaroid 4X5 conversion and Speed Graphic are both range finders. But with a great big ground glass.
I have had a Nikon FM, F100 and F3A.
When I started shooting film, I also taught my self how to develop B&W.
I shot a D50 and a D80 to expected shutter life. Had my wife not dropped my D300, I would not have upgraded to the D7000.
In the mirorless world I have and EP-1 and a G1.
I just signed the PO on a P30+ for my Mamiya AFD-II.
I've added it up for insurance purposes, and its a bit out of hand.
That said, none of these are shelf queens. I use my gear! The issue is that lately, most of my shooting time has been spent in the studio, using the MFDB.
drop into
http://www.private.jonesii.net/dads_index.htm for my studio work, pass is matrix and user is Guest, lots of nudes .... don't go there if you don't like that. In 2010, I did 30 studio shoots, and am on pace for 36 this year. Models, strobes, the whole 9 yards.
I also do almost all my kids sports teams, a sport called cowboy mounted shooting, and on the side, the occasional photography class at Rice university.
All that said, I live in Houston, and the street shooting here simply sucks, it takes people on the street to make that genre work, and we are the AC capital of the know world! That coupled with my day job, and limited shooting time make me wonder if "trading in" an old toy for the new might not get me re-invigorated for street. Done it with the RD-1 and the G1/EP-1, lots of fun. Still would be with those cameras, I do have a Paris/Amsterdam trip this summer, so the trade in question ....
Thanks for all the above responses!
Dave