Zen Camera

My Bessa-T offers a very "zen" experience. Since the meter and rangefinder are outside of the (hotshoe) viewfinder, I find it very pleasant to preset focus and exposure at the outset of a street session, and concentrate on just finding the shot and framing it through a big, clear viewfinder.
 
konicaman said:
Zen would be a Konica T3 with a 50/1.7 or a TC with the 40/1.8. I have only been shooting digital for the last year or so - no Zen there - hmm... got to go back to basics...
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I'd want the slow speeds, so the T4 would have to be in the running. I do love my Konicas, and don't shoot with them enough!

Back to the OP though, my all-time "zen" camera would have to have been my old original Hexar. It was just perfect and I lament selling it, nearly every day.

Phil Forrest
 
Though not Zen strictly speaking, a former boss of mine knew Trungpa Rinpoche, said he was a keen photographer. In fact, he had a photo of the man holding what appeared to be a Seagull folding camera.
 
The fundamental idea of Zen is that no matter you are Zen master or a temple janitor, there are ways you can be enlighted. Therefore, Zen camera should be a phone camera every people can access and create photos.
 
My zen camera is probably a Leica IIIc with a CV Skopar 50/2.5 lens, shooting TMax film. I’ve shot this combination so much that I hardly think about the gear and instead concentrate on the image, so I guess you could say it becomes an extension of my eye.

Some years ago, I would have said an Olympus XA, and I still love that little camera, but I haven’t shot with one much recently. When I go out to shoot these days, it’s most often with the IIIc and Skopar 50.
 
The one camera that would disappear in my hands would probably be the Nikon F4e with the Nikkor AF 180mm 2.8 ED lens attached...I've actually worn down the crinkle on the paint finish...
It has the MF-23 back and at one time showed I'd taken between 35,000 - 40,000 shots...
Yesterday, I put the 180 on the D3x and I'm gonna leave it there for a bit...
 
Maybe any camera can be a Zen camera. It becomes one when you forget to take the lens cap off. A state of no-mind; picture, no picture, all the same.
 
I'd vote for an Olympus Trip 35 (scale focus) or a Konica C35 Automatic (rangefinder). Both of those cameras were so simple to operate I didn't have to think about anything. Got some pretty good shots with them too.
 
Equal parts mystical calmness and frustration with my Fujica GW690. There is nothing but aperture and shutter speed controls as well as the focus ring. Some are annoyed but the “clunk” that you hear when the shutter fires, but to me it is the sound of a perfect image being produced. That said, the attached lens hood makes adjusting the aperture and shutter speeds rings very difficult at best. This makes using the camera a true yin and yang experience - but the results are worth it every time.
 
Retro-Grouch said:
Maybe any camera can be a Zen camera. It becomes one when you forget to take the lens cap off. A state of no-mind; picture, no picture, all the same.
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That's not my typical problem, mine is not loading the film right and not noticing that it isn't really advancing, I've had some terrific shots that were "all in my own mind" two different occasions that I can remember. Reality is impermanent and perception is everything -- I suppose. :rolleyes:
 
Pál_K said:
It is interesting to see kids playing with these retro toys rather than sitting in a chair with an electronic device. :D
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It is wonderful. A jar of crayons and a colouring book and their imaginations to guide them. Archie is a farm boy and he loves to play with toy tractors and my daughter was my "assistant" for the day. Ten minutes later they were kicking a football outside. Proper childhood deserves recording.
 
Gosh, so much Bouddhistic input.

A good Zen camera is the Contax G1. Entirely auto-everything, not even a rangefinder patch, so every time you snap an image, you get the odd sensation of actually not knowing what is happening at all or even if it will be a success, all the more so if you happen to be using the dreaded Sonnar 90/2.8.

(I am posting this to put the thread back on the frontline of the 'thread-mill' as I consider it is too amusing and informative for it to be lost in the inevitable onrush of new weekend threads and thus forgotten.)
 
Lately I've been trying to do pinhole photography with color transparency film. Is that Zen enough? Is there a "sunny f/135" rule? Truly a fools errand. Why do it? 'Cuz! The essence of Zen, I'd say. Those old roshis enjoyed a good laugh at their own expense, and so I keep myself amused as well.
And Ozmoose, you totally nailed it on the G1 experience.
 
Keeping with the Zen Motif...

Keeping with the Zen Motif...

Monk With a Camera - (Many cameras actually) :p he's one of us :) ...and a right-eye shooter to boot.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISq2jhsqJcc

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