Decision Time - Which Camera(s)?

Strappy

Strappy

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Dean
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I've built up quite a collection of cameras and lenses over the last some years and while I used to subscribe to the notion that the ideal number of cameras is n+1 where n is the current number of cameras ( :whistle: ), I've come to realise that I'm never going to use all of them. So, like all parents I've concluded it's time to pick my favourites and ensure that those ones go to college and we won't talk about the others once they've left home unless someone asks.

But which? They all have positives and negatives (depending on which film I load ...
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) and while I'd like to think I'm consulting with open-minded and balanced peers, I'm aware that you're all brand-obsessive nerds like me so rather than a discussion, please tell me which of these you'd keep based solely on your irrational personal preferences and which I'm totally stupid for not having sold already. Bonus points will be awarded for insulting @Andysnap in inventive ways that I can steal and claim as my own for the next meet we both attend.

Anyway ...


































... I typed up a long list of pluses and minuses for each option and realised that all I needed to do was exactly that to get things straight in my head. Apologies for the misleading build-up but here's what I'm keeping so at least you can tell me how wrong I am.

Canon P - fully manual rangefinder that I absolutely adore and can't believe I considered selling. I may sell the 35mm and 100mm lenses that I bought to go with it, however, on the basis that I don't use them. Or I'll start using them because they're rare and hard to get hold of. Certainly not going out in the first round of sales.

Canon T90 - yeah, EEE and all that. I wanted one of these for so long and found this one shortly before I went to Australia in 1999 so it's got history. Some of the lenses might not be quite up to Nikon's standards (an argument I don't want to get into, thanks) but they're cheap because they don't fit EOS cameras and I think the physical size puts off a lot of digital adaptor shooters. I've got a wide range of lenses and accessories for that reason so I may as well use them. I'll keep an eye out for a working body that could potentially be used for parts in the event of catastrophic failure.

Fuji X-Pro1 - the digital option. I was going to sell this but it's an early one so only attracts a low-price. May as well hang on to it and viola, I have my digital needs covered, can use manual lenses on adaptors and it's so much better than the D70 in low light that it's not funny. I'll certainly sell most of the lenses I've got for it though, I think I only really need the short zoom and maybe the 35mm f/2 lens for a travel option that's not as bulky as the 35mm f/1.4. But digital, in this section ... I have no shame.

Medium format is covered by the 'blad and the Ensign 820 folder, large format is something I've struggled to get into but that's more to do with my lack of drive than any failing in the gear I have (Sinar P2 monorail). No more excuses, time to get to it. Grrr, bring it on, let's go, manly noises, etc.


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I'm also keeping both my Billingham bags because I know how much they annoy @Woodsy (y)
 
Ha ha... that Andysnap, what an eejit. Do I get a bonus point?
 
The list sounds good except for the T90, obviously.

So, what's going?
 
Andysnap said:
Ha ha... that Andysnap, what an eejit. Do I get a bonus point?
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Yes but you lose two for the faux self-awareness. This is 2017, buddy, we have standards. Except Mrs. Strappy because there's no other explanation of why she's still here. :muted: :muted:


ChrisR said:
The list sounds good except for the T90, obviously.
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ChrisR said:
So, what's going?
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I'm going to be posting some sale threads soon so I'm getting everyone pumped up with some viral marketing.
 
Strappy said:
Except Mrs. Strappy because there's no other explanation of why she's still here. :muted: :muted:
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I know someone else that fits that description.
 
Ditch the T90 - it's as ugly as an ugly thing.

Why anyone would be seen dead (let alone alive) with one is beyond me :)
 
You've scratched the itch for the T90, and having a system doesn't necessarily mean you should continue to give it a home. You've got cameras if you want to shoot film (all of them except the Fuji), cameras if you want something bulky ('blad, Sinar), and cameras if you want something more automated (Fuji) - so where does the T90 fit?

Sounds like the Sinar should also be on the chopping block.

p.s. this is from someone who should have rationalised gear several years ago!
 
kendo1 said:
Ditch the T90 - it's as ugly as an ugly thing.

Why anyone would be seen dead (let alone alive) with one is beyond me :)
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Are you making the same mistake that Andy has made repeatedly and confused the T90, designed by Luigi Colani working with Canon engineers and based on his bio-form factors, essentially setting the standard for SLR and DSLR forms from the late 1980s to the present day, with the T70, an angular brick styled by Lego in colaboration with Blake's 7?


stevelmx5 said:
What's that, you're selling the Canon P.... ;0)
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If only you'd shown some interest in one of my previous wobbles, I'd have put it to one side for you. Now you're going to have to wait until I change my mind again ... so it probably won't be long.


freecom2 said:
You've scratched the itch for the T90, and having a system doesn't necessarily mean you should continue to give it a home. You've got cameras if you want to shoot film (all of them except the Fuji), cameras if you want something bulky ('blad, Sinar), and cameras if you want something more automated (Fuji) - so where does the T90 fit?

Sounds like the Sinar should also be on the chopping block.
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Not just scratched an itch for it but also found some rarities, such as a 15mm f/2.8 with built-in filters for B&W because the front element is too curved to allow for a filter to be fitted in front of it. I love the system, I love the unusual nature of a fully-automated camera that's still manual focus. I've tried various different cameras and I've put it in the 'sell' pile so many times and yet every time I pick it up again, that's all forgotten. It fits my hands, it's been around the world with me, been bounced around, dropped and given a soaking and it keeps on going.

Thinking with the head instead of the heart, it has all the features I look for in a more manual camera while still giving me enough to do to stay engaged with the process. My F100 is a fantastic camera but really the only thing for me to do is find nice things to point it at and then repeatedly focus because it keeps locking on to the wrong thing. It's great to take out for a day but it's not long before I find myself wondering why I'm not using a digital camera. That's a criticism I've put to the T90 as well but I have a wider system so more choice of what to play with.

As for the Sinar, that's definitely in the 'maybe' pile. I really like the idea of large format but wouldn't be surprised if I ended up hating the time it takes to take a single frame. If I'd bought a folder 5x4, I'd already know whether it's for me or not but this was such a good price when it came up that I'd have been daft to skip it. This one needs me to put on my big boy pants and find out for real.:runaway:


steveo_mcg said:
Im having the strangest sense of deja vu...
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I deserved that. :oops: :$

Stay tuned for the next trip around the block, when I decide I'm only going to shoot film with one-shot cameras that I've re-loaded with expired film using sweet wrappers as filters. Then sack that idea off in favour of a large-format pinhole camera made out of an old Scout tent. Then decide that's too much work and announce I'm going digital only.

Honestly, if I spent as much time taking photographs as I do talking about talking photographs, I'd probably have some idea of what I'm doing.
 
The T90 comes a close second to the T70 :)

To be fair, I've never warmed to Canons, apart from the AE1 and that wasn't ideal.
 
Strappy said:
If only you'd shown some interest in one of my previous wobbles, I'd have put it to one side for you. Now you're going to have to wait until I change my mind again ... so it probably won't be long.
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I've always liked the look of the Canon P/7 but to be honest Dean, I've bought and then sold that many 35mm rangefinders/SLRs (because I don't really like shooting 35mm!) that I'd be mad to buy another one.
 
kendo1 said:
The T90 comes a close second to the T70 :)

To be fair, I've never warmed to Canons, apart from the AE1 and that wasn't ideal.
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Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder, I'll agree with that. I've always thought Nikon rangefinders look like the sort of lash-up that steampunk cos-players churn out, a little bit of brass paint and a some wood-effect stickering and it's job jobbed.


stevelmx5 said:
I've always liked the look of the Canon P/7 but to be honest Dean, I've bought and then sold that many 35mm rangefinders/SLRs (because I don't really like shooting 35mm!) that I'd be mad to buy another one.
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Making a decision and sticking with it? Is that allowed?! Why wasn't I told about this years ago??? :eek:
 
More info on the T90 for unbelievers:-

Prior to the arrival of another new breed of cameras, the AF types, it was safe to say, there isn't any camera that was built to be as versatile as the T90. No camera had ever combined so many sophisticated features to become so superbly operable. The physical design of the camera was treated with as much thoughtful care as its complex mechanisms and advanced functions within. Two approaches were combined into a single achievement. Industrial design was considered both as an art form and as an example of advanced ergonomics. The T90 was going to be tactilely gratifying, subtly textured, physically so beautiful. Some of its original designs has a direct impact on modern camera design and to some extend, copied and duplicated by some, that includes its own manufacturer,

http://www.mir.SPAM/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/canont90/htmls/concept.htm
Thinking, Canon probably lost a lot of money developing it then dropping it so soon to play catch up to Minolta etc for AF.
 
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It comes down to which cameras you like using and take out. If you don't like using them then there is no point really keeping them. There will be cameras you always reach for first. Keep those. Any you think you ought to take out but really want to take out a different one are ones that should be on the out pile. I've had the n+1 phase as well and it's useful to try out several then you find out exactly what cameras you prefer but you have to have too many first :)
 
excalibur2 said:
More info on the T90 for unbelievers:-

Prior to the arrival of another new breed of cameras, the AF types, it was safe to say, there isn't any camera that was built to be as versatile as the T90. No camera had ever combined so many sophisticated features to become so superbly operable. The physical design of the camera was treated with as much thoughtful care as its complex mechanisms and advanced functions within. Two approaches were combined into a single achievement. Industrial design was considered both as an art form and as an example of advanced ergonomics. The T90 was going to be tactilely gratifying, subtly textured, physically so beautiful. Some of its original designs has a direct impact on modern camera design and to some extend, copied and duplicated by some, that includes its own manufacturer,

http://www.mir.SPAM/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/canont90/htmls/concept.htm
Thinking, Canon probably lost a lot of money developing it then dropping it so soon to play catch up to Minolta etc for AF.
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There was a time when I lusted after the T90, but you're right about bad timing. I bought a Minolta 7000 and tried it side by side with the T80 (Canon's AF camera at the same time) and in was embarassing for the Canon. Then they brought out the EOS series that *looked* a bit like the T90 and had AF that actually worked: only hiccup was that the camera had essential buttons hidden & required the user to RTM before it was usable compared to the Mino which was like any other camera but with buttons instead of dials and a 'panic' button that reset everything in the top plate.

Still quite like the idea of a T90, but would rather have an FE2.
 
srichards said:
It comes down to which cameras you like using and take out. If you don't like using them then there is no point really keeping them. There will be cameras you always reach for first. Keep those. Any you think you ought to take out but really want to take out a different one are ones that should be on the out pile. I've had the n+1 phase as well and it's useful to try out several then you find out exactly what cameras you prefer but you have to have too many first :)
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I think part of the problem is that I'm not really sure what I'm looking for in a camera: portability, sturdiness, lens quality, metering, film size, etc. This isn't helped by my going through everything for previous clear-outs and selling the easy choices, so the ones I have left are all the cameras I was already in two minds over.

What also isn't helping is having bought so many different things over the years (and taking far too long to accept that having a wide range of kit is no substitute for ability), I've lost track of what I've actually got. I opened a box last night and discovered two Fuji digital lenses I'd completely forgotten about. I don't like to think about how many FD lenses and accessories are hiding in other boxes. :oops: :$

And now I've picked up the F100 and keep playing with it. Have I ever mentioned that I'm my own worst enemy? :facepalm:
 
Then I might suggest a radical solution. Box it all up and send the lot to FFordes to sell on commission. If there is anything you'd die without then they can always post you that back.

For dual choices then the old flip a coin and go with your gut instinct is a reasonable way.

Or do the poll thing with one choice for each category of camera and list all that fall into that category. Most votes and you keep that one. That way someone else decides and you can blame them for their poor decisions (or secretly be grateful as they're actually spot on and it's annoying)
 
Great ideas, Suz, thanks! (y)

Unfortunately, however, reason, good sense and I are not friends. We're hardly even passing acquaintances. So I'll be basing my decisions on snap judgements and blame you lot for not stopping me, as usual. Especially that Andy, he's a bad influence.
 
:wave: buy more cameras....buy more cameras.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Send me the F100 - I'll look after it for you. ;)
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T'missus went to have her hair done earlier today and told me via text that she was having various colours put in on the underside. My first thought was that we should go out tomorrow and get some good pictures of her hair in the sunshine, hopefully with a bit of a breeze blowing, some Portra would bring out the colours nicely and so on.

Straight away, I picked up the F100 and started checking it over, making sure the batteries were fully charged, etc. ... and then there was this creeping realisation ... :facepalm:
 
The slr mount on nikon has always been the F mount. The only awkward lenses to fit on later bodies are known as pre AI,which lack the indexing tab on the aperture ring. (and even they can be converted) The later AI-s lenses are very similar to the AI lenses that came before them with a few additions to work in tandem with the new (at the time) FA body.

If you like canon FD, but the T90 reliability is an issue, take a look at the F1-n. I've got a mind T90 that shows the EEE problem now and then. Very annoying as I loved that camera.
 
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Kei said:
If you like canon FD, but the T90 reliability is an issue, take a look at the F1-n. I've got a mind T90 that shows the EEE problem now and then. Very annoying as I loved that camera.
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Mine had the shutter mechanism replaced a few years ago after it developed the EEE fault. The repairs bloke cleaned it initially but that didn't solve the issue so I took it back and he left it on a shelf for over 3 months, forever telling me that it was next on his list.

I eventually emailed him asking for the return of my camera so I could take it elsewhere and two days later he'd replaced the shutter, the camera was ready to collect and I wasn't charged anything on top of the initial cleaning charge. I think it was genuinely down to him taking on too many jobs at the time; I believe he was winding down his business as a sort of semi-retirement but hadn't yet learned that it was ok to say 'no' to customers or give them a long (but realistic) wait-time.

Since then, every time I pick it up I rattle off a few shots to keep things moving and it's not given me any problems.
 
I don't really have much of an opinion either way (I try to cover all bases with gear too) but I will chime in to say that the T90 is an affront to anyone with eyes.
 
Philistines.

canon-t90.jpg


Not ugly.

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Ugly.

http://www.mir.SPAM/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/SLRs/canont80/images/canont80.jpg

Oh, dear God, my eyes!!! (Please note how I've spared you the true horror of the T80 by including a small picture.)

Not my pictures, credit to the copyright owners, photos included here to show these philistines how wrong they are. Although I'll grant a pass to anyone using an SLR or DSLR built since, say, 1990, if they ring a bell every time they go to take a photograph and shout, "unclean, unclean" to warn the public of what they're about to see. :punch:















Also, I've had beer.
 
For what it's worth, this is what I'm working on rationalising towards.

Nikon F80 + 24mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8, 100mm f2.8 macro
Olympus 35sp
Olympus XA
Olympus XA2
Rolleicord
Bronica SQ-B + 50mm, 80mm, 110mm macro
Fuji X100s
 
I don't shoot much 35mm any more but I have fourteen 35mm cameras.

I have a problem.
:(

Only four 120 cameras though so that's ok.
:)
 
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