satisfaction?

[back alley]

leave it to me to start a gear thread in the philosophy section...

been looking at the classifieds and at ebay too...lots of great stuff for sale but nothing really attracting my eye these days.

i have settled down some by sticking with m mount gear and thinking in terms of kits.
i like each kit i have put together and could live with each on it's own.

zeiss ikon...zm 25/2.8...zm 35/2...zm 50/1.5 --- this is a great kit! i love the 25 fov, it's sharpness and ease of handling. the 35 is a near perfect lens for my use and the 50 sonnar is a 'specialist' lens in my eyes.
the camera feels great in my hands, love the meter and the heft, yes heft.
i could almost be satisfied with the body and any one of the zm lenses i have as a full time user.

bessa r4a...cv 21/4...25/4 p...28/3.5...35/1.4 sc...35/2.5...50/2.5 --- i love this kit!! the r4a is a near perfect body with all the framelines i need.
the slower cv lenses are made for use on this body and the fast 35 also fits nicely and i like the speed.
this is a small, very lightweight and comfortable outfit to haul about.

minolta cle...rokkor 28/2.8...40/2...90/4 (on the way) --- a perfect travel kit, a great camera especially now that i have the zeiss grip on it!
sharp lenses that are small. light and sharp. and oh so easy to throw in an everyday bag.

i wonder how long my satisfaction will last?
when it comes to gas my thoughts head to getting a second of something...so no new lenses or bodies but maybe a second cle or other 40mm lenses.
and i doubt highly that i will go that route.

so maybe this is it?

except for the thought of a tri skopar in 25/35/50 i can't think of anything else i might want.

and i have been buying more film lately...

joe

[Gumby]

Is it fair to assume that this is posted in "philosophy..." because the questions are hypothetical and you don't really expect an answer?

[Roger Hicks]

and i have been buying more film lately...
Dear Joe,

Without wishing to be rude, maybe it's age related. I've been finding the same myself, more and more. I recently borrowed a Hasselblad system with the three new Zeiss Classic lenses.

Gorgeous! But would it improve my photography, compare with the (admittedly enormous) range of gear I already have?

Increasingly I think, "Yes, I'd love that, and I might buy it if I didn't already have something similar; but I don't need it, and it wouldn't make me a better photographer."

Then again, there are exceptions. The 4/16-18-21 Tri-Elmar for me, the 4/18 Distagon for my wife. And I'm still in love with the 1.5/50 C-Sonnar.

Cheers,

R.

[Gabriel M.A.]

i wonder how long my satisfaction will last?

If Garrison Keillor analyzed your photolosophical state of mind, I wonder what he'd say. ;)

Don't let anybody lend you an R-D1 or an M8. Then you'd really not be "done".

Done in, probably. :o

[kbg32]

As the song goes Joe, " I can't no...... satisfaction. And I try.....".

Just don't look at the ZM 21/4.5 or the ZM 18/4. They did me in recently!

[back alley]

Is it fair to assume that this is posted in "philosophy..." because the questions are hypothetical and you don't really expect an answer?

i was sort of musing out loud, but i always appreciate a good reply.

[back alley]

Dear Joe,

Without wishing to be rude, maybe it's age related. I've been finding the same myself, more and more. I recently borrowed a Hasselblad system with the three new Zeiss Classic lenses.

Gorgeous! But would it improve my photography, compare with the (admittedly enormous) range of gear I already have?

Increasingly I think, "Yes, I'd love that, and I might buy it if I didn't already have something similar; but I don't need it, and it wouldn't make me a better photographer."

Then again, there are exceptions. The 4/16-18-21 Tri-Elmar for me, the 4/18 Distagon for my wife. And I'm still in love with the 1.5/50 C-Sonnar.

Cheers,

R.

not rude at all...i kinda like growing old, except for the aches and pains part.
it may also be that i am finally realizing that the gear is not as important to me as it once was.

[back alley]

If Garrison Keillor analyzed your photolosophical state of mind, I wonder what he'd say. ;)

Don't let anybody lend you an R-D1 or an M8. Then you'd really not be "done".

Done in, probably. :o

i'm not well read enough to 'get' the first comment.

in fact, the rd1 DOES pop into my consciousness occasionally. i might be getting a bonus this summer and i have thought that an rd1 would be a good use for that $$.

[back alley]

As the song goes Joe, " I can't no...... satisfaction. And I try.....".

Just don't look at the ZM 21/4.5 or the ZM 18/4. They did me in recently!

thank goodness the 18 is likely too wide for me and that i am happy enough with the cv 21, no need for the extra speed.

[georgef]

If Garrison Keillor analyzed your photolosophical state of mind, I wonder what he'd say. ;). :o

He'd probably suggest some reflecting time spent at Lake Wobegon:D

[thomasw_]

Yes, Joe I understand how you reason out the gear status. For me it is a question of will and self-discipline, as well as strategy. I write 'strategy' because a minimalist kit actually helps me to focus less on the gear and more on the making of photos. I see it as a type of freedom from distraction.

[Brian Sweeney]

As of late, I find that satisfaction comes with making a lens work properly on a camera that it was not intended for. The 5cm F2 Sonnar in the J-8 mount has been my "pride and joy" lately.

[back alley]

'freedom from distraction'...i like that!

[Brian Sweeney]

"freedom from distraction"- I own every lens that I've ever wanted.

[payasam]

Age can work both ways. Most of the time I am content with what I have and know. Sometimes, though, I am tempted by what I wanted twenty or thirty years back but never had.

[shadowfox]

Joe, in my so very limited wisdom, satisfaction is a decision, then an act.

I have one M-body, and one M-lens.

I'm satisfied :D

... (trying in vain to conceal the recently purchased monorail camera)...

[Pherdinand]

sharp lenses that are small. light and sharp.

LOL.
And small as well, i guess. And light. And also very, very sharp.

And small.

[FrankS]

Hey Joe, you should use that bonus to travel ... out east! I'm kind of done myself. My last purchases were a couple of camera bags (one used) and a big pile of film. I have a range of gear types and formats that satisfies me.

[Windscale]

Well Joe,

Nice to have so many kits. But how many bodies and lenses can you take out at one time, especially some of your kits covered the same range?

My experience is that the more gear you have the more time you spent on (i) what to take with you when you go on a certain trip, and (ii) regretting that you should have brought along certain other gear with you when you were on that trip!

Age also works magic on lessening the load. No more Hasselblads as they are too heavy. Even the M3 is beginning to feel heavy. The distractions will go once I have got rid of all 'unable to carry' gear and I can concentrate on the gear I carried with me as I would no longer have to spend time on (i) and (ii) mentioned above! Pictures always come out better when the load is light!

[Roger Hicks]

Age can work both ways. Most of the time I am content with what I have and know. Sometimes, though, I am tempted by what I wanted . . . thirty years back but never had.
Yes, but she'd be older too...

(Sorry, couldn't resist, despite being very happily married).

Cheers,

R.

[Roger Hicks]

Age also works magic on lessening the load. . . Pictures always come out better when the load is light!

Hard to argue here -- unless you have a pick-up truck and assistants/acolytes in the Ansel Adams fashion.

Certainly, as I get older, I care more about content/composition. I still appreciate technique, but more and more of it seems empty to me, even in AA's pictures.

Cheers,

R.

[Al Patterson]

Joe,

It may just be that you have tried so much equipment over the years that you finally ended up with as close to what you want as you can find.

[Al Patterson]

Age can work both ways. Most of the time I am content with what I have and know. Sometimes, though, I am tempted by what I wanted twenty or thirty years back but never had.

That's how I ended up with two A-1s.

[back alley]

Joe,

It may just be that you have tried so much equipment over the years that you finally ended up with as close to what you want as you can find.

what i have i really enjoy.
this morning i was shooting in the market with the cle/grip/wrist strap and 28 rokkor...what a sweet kit.

[akptc]

what i have i really enjoy.
this morning i was shooting in the market with the cle/grip/wrist strap and 28 rokkor...what a sweet kit. Joe, it's pretty clear that the CLE kit is quite interfering with your more complete enjoyment of the Zeiss kit... I would be glad to sacrifice some funds and lighten your gear load some... you know my number :)

[gb hill]

Even the M3 is beginning to feel heavy. Pictures always come out better when the load is light!

Sounds to me it's time to buy a Bessa to carry around.;)

[Brian Sweeney]

We went to the local Gardens for a Picnic and a walk today. Cherry trees in bloom, and many other flowers as well. A lot of people were carrying cameras and some engaging in "gear-talk". I saw Nikon D3's, macro-zooms, Canon's with 300mm lenses etc. I had the Canon VI-T with CZJ 5cm f2 in the J-8 mount. Didn't even think to bring the Micro-Nikkor 70~180 Zoom.

I'm not using the "ED" designator on the Nikkor-Zooms anymore. Prevents them from being fully extended.

[Windscale]

Sounds to me it's time to buy a Bessa to carry around.;)

This is certainly in my mind. At the moment the M3 with collapsible Elmar 50 f2.8 is still OK. The 35 and 90 are not taken out too often. I am awaiting deliveries of a few Agfa silettes, two with CRFs with Apotar and Solinar. Hope they will do the trick.

A few weeks ago I and some friends tested a Silette with Apotar (without RF) against many other cameras including a Rollei 35 Tessar and Rollei Sonnar and, surprisingly, the Apotar beat them all at f5.6 onwards. That led me to selling the Rollei Tessar two days later. Will be comparing them with the Elmar soon. I can expect a drop in performance. But if the drop is not too significant, I may be prepared to compromise this for the lessening load. I have already written about this in another Thread.

[wlewisiii]

Satisfaction? Yes, I think I get where you're at joe.

I realized recently that one of the sillier things I'd done over the past couple of years was sell my Kiev kit and invest heavily (for me at least) in a Bessa R & LTM lenses. I really missed the feel of the mid '70's Kiev 4a & collapsible Sonnar that I'd had. So I sold the whole kit (minus my FSU LTM lenses that went in trade to Brian) for just a tiny bit of a profit & got a really nice mid-70's Kiev 4a with a Jupiter 3 50/1.5.

Then a couple of weeks ago I see a "as is" auction on ebay for a collapsible red T Sonnar. I bid silly high but got lucky and got it for even sillier cheap :) (Turns out to be a 1942 lens that's one of the first production batches of 50/2's that got coated. Good giggles there for me.)

But the real bit is that I'm enjoying shooting that Kiev & Sonnar more than the Bessa R. Even with a superb lens like the 35/1.8 or 50/1.8 on it, it just wasn't as pleasurable to shoot for me as a well working Contax or Kiev. To be sure I have a few things to sell & a couple of lenses I'd like, but tonight I find myself closer to that mythical state of "Done" than at any other time since I joined RFF.

A small bag with a J-3 & a J-12 in it, some film & one camera mounting the collapsible. Or just the camera with the collapsible & some film in my pocket. Yeah, I really am closer to "Done" than I really ever expected to be.

Don't know if this helps you at all, joe, but I'm having fun and that's all I've ever wanted.

William

[literiter]

Roget Hicks suggested maybe it's age related. Perhaps. It could also be that we haven't really pulled out from a really long winter yet. I am not sure.

I look at my modest acquisition of 35mm and medium format cameras and realize that I may have arrived. The only thing I want now is film, and I'm grateful I can still get it.

[Andrew Sowerby]

It's kind of nice when you try something different, realize it's not for you, sell the camera and can then put it in the "nice gear, but not for me" camp. That recently happened to me with a TLR camera.

[alan davus]

I've had three periods in my photographic life. Period one began in 1974 when I bought my first camera, a Yashica TL Electro slr just as I was heading off for what ended up to be 7 years travelling the globe. This one camera with it's 50 lens went with me every where and I learned how to use it so instinctively I didn't ever imagine wanting anything else. When it died after 10 year I entered period two with Nikon slr's, firstly a FA then adding a FM and building a set of 5 lenses between 28 and 200mm. I was so completely satisfied with this kit for the next 18 years I never even looked at mags. etc. to see what was new. Period three began in 2003 when I walked past a camera store in the Adelaide Central Market and saw a Hexar RF outfit in the window. I stood there with my mouth open and a few days later came back and bought it along with the 28 and 90 M lenses. Since then it has grown to include a long dreamed of M6ttl and 18, 21, 35 and 75 lenses. I think satisfaction has entered it's final phase. I'm so enarmoured of this outfit I can't concieve ever wanting to move on from from here. But I'm 56 next month so maybe it's an age thing. Or as I like to say, you only get old and wise by being young and stupid.