Proper Old School

Huh! Well I didn't have the sound on but no wonder his gear looks "worn"....for me in my travelling back pack, wrap everything up in bubble wrap to stop gear bumping into each other but I only carry two cameras and 3 or 4 lenses.depending where I'm going.
 
I take much more care :D

I have Nikon lenses from 24 to 85mm and I have an earlier Nippon Kogaku badged version of the 50mm f1.4 he has, these lenses have amazing build quality. On thing that I don't like about Nikon lenses is that the controls work the other way compared to my other lenses.
 
I was a press photographer for a number of years back in film day, my gear wasn't like that.

I think it maybe mostly just comes down to individuals and how they handle and look after "stuff." From your post I think you took care of your gear and so did I. I looked after anything I was issued with during my working life as if it was my own. Some people obviously aren't bothered about kit banging together in a bag.
 
Yes, his kit is a bit beat up. But for me that is part of the story. If you're romantically inclined and given to flights of fancy, I can imagine them being used in a high pressure environment, in the crush of a press crowd. Where you have to think quick and take your shots while you can.
 
That Neyekon compact is an MJU, but the reason its there is the same reason one lives in my kit.
It doesn't matter what the kit is, it could be 120 Mamiya/Bronica or Nikon 135 or whatever, If space is tight, I leave a lens out of the kit to keep the MJU in it.
There's a certain measure of honesty in kit that's seen some action, especially old school Nikon, I'm more likely to buy that than pristine plastic..:)
 
It makes more sense if you listen to him explain how it worked. They belonged to the paper and were used by all their photographers. And he did say that his bag did have dividers.
 
Yes, his kit is a bit beat up. But for me that is part of the story. If you're romantically inclined and given to flights of fancy, I can imagine them being used in a high pressure environment, in the crush of a press crowd. Where you have to think quick and take your shots while you can.
Having worked in wholesale in the 1980's / 90's serving some of London's finest, a bag of kit like that looks very real.
It may look beat up but it was paying the rent and buying the next round of drinks.
Most would have a Nikon L35AF or Canon equivalent for those an SLR makes you a target for an unruly crowd moments, think inner city riots.
 
Last edited:
Having worked in wholesale in the 1980's / 90's serving some of London's finest, a bag of kit like that looks very real.
It may look beat up but it was paying the rent and buying the next round of drinks.
Most would have a Nikon L35AF or Canon equivalent for those an SLR makes you a target for an unruly crowd moments, think inner city riots.

I see what you mean. It's something I can't say I'd thought of, but a compact would make more sense.
 
That sort of kit would be available to a small subset of UK press photographers.

Far more worked for local or regional newspapers and would be well off if they owned (or were issued with) one SLR and three lenses. The great majority were part timers like myself and used what they liked or could afford, which was as likely to be a thirty year old Yashicamat as anything else.
 
Back
Top