| Because I love looking at photographs and
showing my photographs to people, I carry a camera everywhere I go. Many
are viewable in gallery.
Here are the cameras I use now:
Digital
Sony T 616 Camera Phone - Not impressive quality but it meets
the most important rule of being a photographer: You can't take a picture
if you don't have a camera!
Casio Exilm. Small, thin 1.2 megapixel camera with a rugged
metal case. About the size of a credit card and about 1cm thick, you can
take this camera anywhere. It even shoots movies and has a built-in flash.
Agfa 1280 - As the name implies, this camera takes only a 1280
resolution photo. Battery life is terrible, reaction time is painfully
slow, but the images! Wow they are good. Color and contrast is very good.
Probably because of the lens: it's an Agfa f2.8.
Ricoh 400 - An early digital camera. Was on duty with my sister
and mother for about 5 years doing snapshot duty. Has taken a licking and
is barely kind-of still ticking. Has excellent macro lens and is used to
document mechanical repairs (very dirty and greasy environment) on my
BMW web site.
35 mm
Olympus Stylus - Your typical snapshot rangefinder with built in
flash. This one features a gorgeous Olympus 35mm F1:2.8 35-70 mm zoom lens
and water resistant housing with super tough lens cover. I have taken a
LOT of pictures with this trusty sidekick!
Minolta ST-xi camera body with multi-point TTL metering and
intelligent auto-focus modes and versatile built in flash. This kit is
only three years old and I am still getting used to it. The problem is it
is so big and still only 35mm -- I usually end up grabbing my Mamiya when
I go traveling. Lenses and accessories:
- 22mm f2.8
- 50mm f1.4
- 200mm f2.8 APO
- 2x APO adapter
- 24-70mm f3.5-4 Zoom
- High speed programmable flash (1/4000s)
- Small rectangular multi-pocket case
Minolta SR-T 101
A camera given to me by my father. I completely rebuilt it about four
years ago. Full manual with Minolta's very early multi-point TTL prism
metering. Top shutter speed of 1/1000! I have no lenses for this
camera (my other MC lenses were stolen on a trip with an X700 body a few
years ago and I haven't replaced them).
Medium format
Mamiya 7 rangefinder with built-in meter. This
not-as-big-as-you-would-think camera exposes acres of film with every
shot! Called the "7" because it shoots a 6x7 image (the Mamiya "6" was a
very popular 6x6), this fully manual camera has a functional built in
meter and convenient aperture priority mode. The finder is bright and it
is easy to focus.
Image quality is about as good as you can get from any camera at any
price. I would put it head to head with any Hasselblad in terms of image
quality: color, sharpness, lack of distortion. I mostly take this camera
when I am traveling and have taken some truly breathtaking shots. I have
shot three weddings with it.
Film preferences: For travel I will shoot Fuji Velvia. The quality of
the slides is absolutely startling. Colors and details are infinitely
deep. (I don't do any "Photoshop" retouching -- have never really gotten
into that.) For people and weddings, I will shoot Fuji NPC 400
(Wedding) film over-exposed 1/3 stop.
Lenses and accessories:
- 43mm f3.5 fisheye with hotshoe finder
- 80mm f4
- 150mm f4.5
- Huge old Sunpak side-mount flash and an old belt style battery pack
capacitor system for shooting weddings and other "big flash" events.
- Sunpak shoemount flash for snaps and fills
- Mamiya polarizing bayonet mount filter
- Mamiya 35mm panoramic adapter kit (shoots standard 35mm film
canisters in a 24x70mm format!!)
- Small rectangular multi-pocket case
Honorable mention:
110
You have a 110 camera?? Yes I have two made by Minolta, the undisputed
king of the 110 format which was quite popular in the '70's. One is a long
rectangle shaped rangefinder with pop out flash and macro lens and the other
is a 110 Zoom MkII SLR that looks like a weapon from an episode of
Star-Trek. Both don't get used anymore. Actually, although I do see it in
Walgreen's, I don't think 110 is made anymore.
126
No cameras anymore, but I have to say that my first photography prize was
for a photograph I took on a Kodak "Instamatic" (that my mom-mom gave
me) using 126 b&w film!
16mm
Also no longer in use is my Minolta Minox 16mm spy camera my
father gave to me. Made in the '60's when it could have actually been used
for spying on the Soviets or something...I also have a rare developers reel
and daytime developers tank for it. Maybe I would start using it again if I
could find some film...
Polaroid
Another camera given to me by my father is my X700 folding land camera.
With it's vinyl carrying case, this thing is just too cool. I have a Vivitar
automatic flash for it and it is GREAT for parties!
Video
Sony Digital 8mm. The image quality of this unit is spectacular. I
could probably shoot a movie with it. I thought I would use this thing more
than I do. However I have to admit that I prefer shooting video with my
Casio; the Sony is just too big to carry on the left shoulder when the
Mamiya is hanging on the right. |