View Full Version : What you want, what you need, what you like, what you can afford
t's the end of the year, and I am feeling a little philosophical.
In the last year I have over time rationalised my M-lenses and built up then pared down my screwmount collection. I now have a selection of lenses that "read" as follows:
15mm x 1 LTM - Voigtlander
28mm x 1 LTM - Voigtlander
35mm x 2, both LTM - Voigtlander and Leica
40mm x 1, M mount - Voigtlander
50mm x 3 LTM x 1, M mount x 2 - all Leica
75mm x 1 LTM - Voigtlander
90mm x 2, M mount x 1, LTM x 1, both Leica
This gives me considerable flexibility between both M and LTM bodies, with only one f/l (the 40mm) "unavailable" to my IIIc. My fastest lens is the 40, and I don't feel the need for any more speed.
What's missing?
I would like to add a collapsible 90mm Elmar, and I am on the lookout for a nice clean example. This has little to do with practicality, but a lot to do with having a contemporary "set" of lenses for my M2. The collapsible was also my first 90, way back in the last century, and I have regretted selling it ever since.
Next on the shopping list is a late model 135mm Elmar-M. Again, I had one in the past, and regret selling it.
I may consider a 75mm Summarit, but that is a lower priority. I am happy with my Voigtlander, and would only move to the Leica lens if it showed a considerable increase in performance. The trade-off, of course, is that it is M-only, which means I would most likely double-up in that f/l
So, what is the relevance of the title of this thread?
For the most part, I have traded up, down, in and out until I have ended up with the lens "palette" that both suits the way I work and that I want. I am not a pro, so I don't actually need any particular lens \for a specific reason - this is all for fun. Every lens I own I can "justify" to myself for one reason or another.
Equally, I am fortunate in that, generally, in time, I can afford to add what I want. I simply don't have that gap between what I want and what I can afford that in extreme cases leads to envy, dissatisfaction and bitterness.
I don't care about the prices of new Noctiluxes - I've used one on more than one occasion and it just doesn't do it for me. I'm not a collector, so I don't have to sell my soul for something rare in black enamel.
This may sound self-satisfied, but my objective in this thread is to provoke thought. Are you happy with what you have, or do you have that itch for something else? Will you put a hole in your credit card just to have that lens, only to sell it again a year or so later?
Your thoughts...?
Regards,
Bill
What I want, what I need, what I like, what I can afford.
Given that, what I like and have are
25mm CV Skopar
35mm Summaron
DR Summicron
90mm Tele Elmarit
Numerous other lenses greatly exceed my needs.
'Best for the New Year.
yours
Frank Johnston
Time, the only thing I can afford.
2007 has been a very good year for me in fine-tuning my photo gear. I traded away a Bronica RF645 (had 2), R2, CL, and some lenses, sold my M2 and M3, and sold 2 HS Contax IIa's. I added a couple of other lenses, a very nice M5 and a few medium format RF cameras. Now I've got what I want and what I need. The 35mm stuff is mainly for personal/fun use. I have a beater CL, IIf, M5, M6, Hexar RF. In lenses I have CV21, Canon 28f3.5, Summaron f3.5, CV40, CV50f2.5, a bunch of other vintage 50s, a Canon 85, Elmar 90, and Hector 135.
PlantedTao
12-31-2007, 09:35
What I want is a darkroom...
What I need is time and money to build the darkroom...
What I would like is a contractor to come in and install a fully functional professional darkroom...
I do know that I will get the chance to get the plumbing, framing, and electrical done for this project, my goal is to be up and running by the winter of 2008.
So here's to a great New Year!
Jason
back alley
12-31-2007, 09:49
if i were to be completely honest with myself, something i tend to avoid when it comes to gear, i would admit to being totally satisfied with the zi/zm kit and that i could shoot nearly 100% of what i like to shoot with it.
that being said, i really like the cv kit and seem to have more 'fun' when i shoot with it, not really sure why.
as for wants...if i had the money wants...i'd love the zm 85 lens, an r3a, a 40/1.4 and a 40/2.8 rollei sonnar.
i don't use credit so i never go into debt for my gear. i do however sometimes sell something to buy something or just save up till i can get what i want.
I'm happy with what I have now but will also happily add a few more bits and pieces.
Going forward I certainly won't pas up any "great finds"(stuff like the apocryphal $10 garage sale leicas, etc:D ) but am not actively looking for more gear.
Mostly what I need is better criticism than mom's!
'08 isn't going to be about stuff for me but about use. Oh, I guess that means I need more film.:cool:
Rob
ClaremontPhoto
12-31-2007, 10:02
A new camera or lens will not improve my photos.
100 rolls of Reala and a few visits to galleries might improve my photos.
Photography is not about cameras, it's about seeing.
When I get a new camera I take more photos, so in that way new gear can improve my skills potentially. I have more fun taking pictures with cheap (but good) gear. My nicest camera is a Bessa R, but I kind of worry about it when I use it at a bar or on the street. I have been taking lots of pics with a $50 OM-1, and a $40 Olympus RC lately. In the studio I use old Minoltas.
Jon,
For those of us who have to deal with distractions from our photography such as time commitments to employment and family, and energy reducers like employment and family, and for those of us who also live in non-ideal environments (winter cold and NA suburbia) for photography, a focus on the gear helps keep us "in the game" until the opportunity and energy for photography presents itself. Additionally, the gear part of photography is an aspect that some of us also enjoy. If you don't, that's fine, just avoid this type of thread.
thomasw_
12-31-2007, 10:44
If a need is understood as being that which is necessary for a thing, then I have no need for any camera equipment, my only need is for some more developing chemicals and some film. And if I mean by a want that which is desired but not necessary, then my want-list includes a couple of summilux asph lenses; the 35 and 50. I will have saved enough to obtain them sometime in the coming year.
back alley
12-31-2007, 11:10
Photography is not about cameras, it's about seeing.
ever try taking a photo without a camera?
;)
Actually Joe, some people do just that.
Placing obects on paper under the enlarger, a discipline in it's own right.
Rather limited compared to the photography most of us do, wouldn't you agree, Pitxu?
back alley
12-31-2007, 11:21
Actually Joe, some people do just that.
Placing obects on paper under the enlarger, a discipline in it's own right.
not a very practical application for us street shooters, eh?
wasn't man ray the big photogram guy?
joe
back alley
12-31-2007, 11:21
perhaps we should start a camera obscura section?
;)
I want, need, and would like an M8. It's the affording part that I lack :)
Yes, sure, but some guys get off on it. Shoe-box pinholes too.
Ah, but then the shoebox becomes a camera, the pinhole a lens. :)
And I imagine that among pin hole photographers, there is talk of the type of boxes they use. ;)
Me too. And to think it only has to be a light tight box. ;)
All I have in my list of needs/wants for 2008 is...
A coupled CV 25
A 40 for my CL (probably a Rokkor)
An R3A
Apart from that, there really isn't any more RF gear I want. My 35mm SLR gear (OM) is as complete as I want it, as is my MF SLR (Bronica - I bought two more lenses this year to complete my MF desires)
In fact, I expect I'll sell more than I buy during 2008 (in numbers of items at least, if not in value) - I've got some unused FSU gear and one or two fixed-lens RFs that aren't being used and should really find new owners.
projectbluebird
01-01-2008, 14:39
I find that I'm generally happy with what I have.
Then, I'll see something I'd like.
Which turns into something I want.
Which becomes something I'm convinced I need.
And if I believe that strongly enough, I will get it somehow, eventually.
That's how I ended up with my M3. And the DR summicron, the 90 'cron, the IIIf, the... The list goes on and on!
It's amazing what you can pick up if you're patient. I never go into debt to buy things, but I've come close several times.
Right now my want list is pretty modest.
A 50 LTM, f/2 or faster.
an 85. Again LTM, f/2 or faster.
What I'd like:
A fast 50. faster than f/1.4. (the canon springs to mind)
A Goldilocks wide. Something between 15 and 35.
Either digital RF. This is likely pie-in-the-sky territory, but who knows? That's what I said about wanting an M3.
ClaremontPhoto
01-01-2008, 14:47
Take a look at this "wooden box" for only 450 dollars. (without lens/pinhole)
I've got a ZeroImage wooden pinhole camera. Very affordable, and fast delivery.
http://www.zeroimage.com/
PetarDima
01-01-2008, 14:50
70 rolls of EFKE KB 400
15 rolls of EFKE KB 100
15 rolls of EFKE KB 50
developer
fixer
tons of B&W paper
clear mind, loving heart.
equipment (M5 body, the ugliest, most beautiful in same time) will came as a
result of hard work.
ClaremontPhoto
01-01-2008, 14:58
...and for those of us who also live in non-ideal environments (winter cold and NA suburbia) for photography, a focus on the gear helps keep us "in the game"---
I can understand that. And envy you that you have these weather conditions that I never see. You don't know how lucky you are.
Every day here is a sunny day. But I want rain, I want snow. It doesn't happen.
My father enjoys cameras as precision instruments so I do understand you. If you ever meet him he'll show you his Reid (Leica copy) with Taylor Taylor Hobson 2" lens, and his Alpa something SLR with a weird film wind.
Lucky for the change in seasons, but winter time is COLD for photography. Jon, you're still missing the point about the time and energy commitments of family and employment. Your posts give the impression that you are largely retired and no (living with) wife and kids. Once I get to your situation (but with wife) I'll be able to focus more on doing photography.
The fact that I also enjoy gear MAKES ME NO LESS OF A PHOTOGRAPHER THAN YOU. Your posts consistently leave me with the impression that you feel superior to gear-heads who are not as meaningfully into photography as you.
ClaremontPhoto
01-01-2008, 15:23
The fact that I also enjoy gear MAKES ME NO LESS OF A PHOTOGRAPHER THAN YOU. Your posts consistently leave me with the impression that you feel superior to gear-heads who are not as meaningfully into photography as you.
Please, please do not think that.
I've bought and sold in the past and now am now in a position to make photographs, and not need to think about buying and selling. I am very happy with what I have.
I've sold some great cameras and regretted it later. The XA4, the Contax SLR, the Rolleiflex... Even the Pentax K1000.
I do not think I am better than anybody.
I just enjoy photography a lot more than I used to, and would enjoy buying and selling nowadays a lot less than I used to a few years back.
My biggest enjoyment this week will be when (if) my Mario Giacomelli book arrives.
Second biggest enjoyment will be spending some time with the family I have recently photographed when I take them the photos, probably Friday evening.
So Jon, if you have gone through a period of buying and selling in order to be happy with the gear you have now, perhaps that is what many of us here at RFF are presently going through. For myself, I believe that I have finished with this stage, and am now very happy with the gear I am fortunate to have now.
(Just to tease you a bit, I noticed that the ZeroImage website calls its pinhole cameras collectables. Does that make you a collector then? ;))
Even though I have many cameras (by some standards) if I were a collector, I certainly would not have recently sold my M2 and M3, choosing to keep instead my M5, M6, and Hexar RF due to the convenience of having built in meters useful for actually taking pictures.
ClaremontPhoto
01-01-2008, 15:37
(Just to tease you a bit, I noticed that the ZeroImage website calls its pinhole cameras collectables. Does that make you a collector then?
I just bought the one about two years ago and that's it!
It's the 35mm model and has an odd film transport system that ends up with the film back to front in the cassette.
staying in topic, at the moment I only have an M2 and two lenses: an hexanon 50/2 (to shoot in dark environments) and an elmar 50/3.5M (to have sharpness and that retro look, as well as compactness).
I'd like, in the future, to buy a 35mm f/2.5 skopar voigtlander, or maybe a 28/3.5 (the canon 35/2 would be the best choice, but it's expensive and hard to find here in EU). To be able to afford the lens, I'll probably have to sell the elmar.
And then I'll be done (as many here say! ;))
le vrai rdu
01-01-2008, 16:44
I need a ligthmeter for inside photography (and difficult light such as in forest or early morning and evening), I think I will buy a sekonic 308 in january
Having my contax a few reparation (foam and refasten some screw in he lens)
May be a 35 mm on one of my slr (or my kiev, why not)
that all i really need
I would love to have a leica MP + noctilux + 35 mm nokton but unfortunately i am still a student :/
What I want is a darkroom...
What I need is time and money to build the darkroom...
What I would like is a contractor to come in and install a fully functional professional darkroom...
I do know that I will get the chance to get the plumbing, framing, and electrical done for this project, my goal is to be up and running by the winter of 2008.
So here's to a great New Year!
JasonWord for word this would be mine too. I would dearly love to have a wet darkroom. The plumbing framing and electrical I will pay for. I do have the room and I hope to make the money! :)
jolefler
01-01-2008, 17:12
I'm retired, so it seems strange to say, but, more than anything I want more time to use my cameras and darkroom. There's just too much I'm seemingly responsible to care for.
eli griggs
01-01-2008, 17:51
What I want is a second Leica IIIc with a clean lens of any make, something 'fast' in 35mm to 50mm.
What I need, a Tri-x or HP5 bulk roll or two, graded fb paper for printing, small all-weather bag for pair of Leica LTMs w/ lens, decent tri-pod for small/medium camera, BAY 1 lens hood for Minolta Autocord, etc.
What I like, any of the 'L' series lenses for the Canon FD cameras, especially the F1N.
What I can afford, maybe a user grade IIIc without the lens; I don't mind waiting for gear as I have several interest to feed and rotate a limited budget among them.
Cheers
A leica would be nice, but i only just had enought to by my zorki =/
le vrai rdu
01-07-2008, 18:01
I ordered my sekonic 208, having my contax a few reparation, in a week, everything should be okay. I am looking for a 35 mm for my pentax too :)
Pitxu, have you ever used a Leica? (sincere question)
Pitxu, some people claim that they can feel the quality of a Leica, like some craftsmen can feel the difference in a quality tool vs a cheap tool (which would still do the same job.)
Using a high quality tool is a real pleasure. It somehow makes the work easier and more enjoyable.
BillBingham2
01-07-2008, 18:57
There is something about a Leica that transcends the mystique when many hold them in their hands. Perhaps it's knowing that you can find a good repair person to fix your M4-P right and it will stay fixed, unlike some FSUs. Perhaps it's the solid use of metal on the M3 SS unlike the Bessa R.
Lusting for a Leica is not a bad thing, unless it stops you from taking pictures. Unless it stops you from trying to stretch yourself to do things you having. Unless it takes food from children's table.
I own an M4-P, just sold my M6c. Still have my father's IIIa. They are beautiful cameras and perhaps more importantly, they take GREAT lenses from many different manufacturers.
On my watch list this year is a D300 to go with some great old Nikkor Primes I have. I have two wonderful RF system for me, one M4-P, the other S3-2000.
B2 (;->
Where are you going with this Frank. Are you trying to soften me up to buy a Leica?
No. Not me. Use what makes you happy. I was jsut talking about tools like knives, chisels, saws, and hammers.
;)
There may well be only negligable diffennce between a zorki, but almost all photographers are kit fetishists.
Kit fetishists, read "Leica snobs":rolleyes:
Whatever. Opinion has more validity when it is informed. At least try using a Leica before denigrating it or those that do.
gnashings
01-12-2008, 00:31
May I humbly suggest that there is a little more to the GAS (Gear Aquisition Syndrome) than just wanting new toys? Sure, there is that. And yes, I know that there is much truth in the purist approach stating that no one asked Michael Angelo what make of hammer he used when he sculpted the Mona Lisa on a Halfshell on the roof that chapell before he cut off his ear... But, I think that there is something about the camera, the lens, other than just being the right tool for the job - although I think its something mostly intangible, and I would venture exclusive to older cameras (or those new ones that still have the same character of craftsmanship, I would not say that a brand new, hand made LF outfit has no soul!).
Here is what I am getting at: my New F1 with a 50mm and a roll of Trix in open shade and my QL17, with the same film (I am trying to stay within the same format for argument's sake). Technically, if I only have that one lens on the SLR (and often I do) there is very little that the F1 will do that the QL can not (lets not split hairs about lppm, etc). But I know that when I hold each one of those cameras, they put me in a different mood, and the resulting photos are of a different flavor - and it is NOT because of the technical specifications.
My cameras "speak" to me. They're like old friends, each with their own quirks, their own "voice". I have a friend who ridicules me with most of the new cameras I buy: "Why did you spend the money on that thing? What is it letting you do that you couldn't do before? Couldn't you put that money towards something that would open up a new capability for you?". Logically speaking, sure, he is right - but I know that I will buy yet another fixed lens RF that is no better or no worse than the ones I already have. And when I take a walk with it, it will lead me to pictures my other cameras would not and vice versa. I guess that's the "I want" part.
Of course, I may be a crazy person who hears voices...
As far as the original question goes:
What you want, what you need, what you like, what you can afford
I find that the first two are usually unrelated (want/need), the third and the fourth often conflicting with one another (like/afford), but in the end, as long as I can make 2 and 4 (need/afford) get along - and I usually do - I am pretty happy. :) (ok, ok, I've never been pretty - but the happy part is all true!)
Peter.
PS. sitemistic, Frank - the magic, by the way, certainly does not "come from" a Leica or any other camera. It comes from licking colourful frogs from tropical climes.
ncd_photo
01-12-2008, 01:23
I would like some TIME........
Time to edit the thousands of digital photographs and film scans on my computer..
Time to take more photographs of meaning and to get better and better..
Time to build a Darkroom and learn the requisite skills..
and all whilst spending time with the family, work commitments and not incurring the wrath of the wife :-)
ChrisPlatt
01-12-2008, 14:03
I want to get the wet darkroom working and make time to use it.
These are quite attainable goals. Motivation is the problem. :(
Chris
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