Too Many Cameras?

[michael friedberg]

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OK, I know that for many here the subject is an oxymoron...but still I really would solicit your advice. I feel I'm getting overgrown with cameras and lenses, and can't figure out how or what to distill.

 

I should add that I'm a huge Leica fan –I have been since buying my first one, an Anniversary CL in the mid-'70s. Now 30+ years later, I love digital photography; when the M8 came out it was what I had been waiting for. I do a lot of street photography, travel a lot and also like architectural subjects. I also will be taking a major trip this year to China, and definitely want to take the right gear without a huge camera bag.

 

Here's my current line-up:

 

1. M9, together with 28/2.8 ASPH, 35/1.4 ASPH (not the new one) and 75/2.5 Leica lenses. Been thinking of a 50/2 because it's small –I like the 35 for its brokeh but it gets heavy on trips. The 28/2.8 was my favorite on my M8 but it sometimes is a little wide for my work with the M9.
   
2. X1 –been using this a lot, because of its size, weight and newness. Great for what it is, but limiting too. And it's not the M9.
   
3. D-Lux4 –got it at the end of last year. Nice photos, but not equal to the X1 or M9. But it is really small, very versatile and it does have a zoom. I'm not crazy about the Panasonic menus, firmware, etc. But for size/versatility it wins a prize.
   
4. Panasonic G1. Have the 14-45mm and 45-200mm Pansonic 4/3rd zoom lenses with it. Got the adapter for using Leica lenses with it, but haven't been pleased with it....there is a diminution in quality with Leica lenses (as reported here), setting up the camera for manual focus is annoying, etc. But –and it's a big but-- I use the long zoom for nature shots. I live in the woods and it's great to capture a frog, turtle, deer or bird with what effectively is 400mm.
   

So –originally I was thinking that the G1 should go. But then I would have no “SLR” of sorts and no really long lens. So then I was thinking that it should stay, and I should add the small 20mm pancake lens for it.

 

Then the next candidate was the D-Lux4. But it is the smallest and most versatile. It's the perfect “pocket: Leica. And in turn does that mean the X1 is superfluous? But selling the X1 –which I've truly enjoyed-- is close to blasphemy. And it indeed would be blasphemous to depart with the M9.

 

Am I stuck? I thought of getting rid of both the D-Lux4 and G1, and getting instead something like the Nikon P100...a relatively small camera with a huge zoom. But that also seems to be dumbing down. And does going from 4 to 3 really solve anything.

 

So –what should I do? Do I have too many cameras? Which ones should go and which additions, if any, should be made.

 

Thanks --seriously-- in advance.

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[toyfel]

Why don´t you just keep them all? It doesn´t reaaly become clear from your post why keeping on using what you have would be a problem. There seem to be a lot of people that go through a lot of trouble to get what they want only, once they got there, to start over the trouble by obsessing over what they should get rid of.

[elgenper]

Well, this is of course a personal thing, and my decisions may not suit anyone else. Still, since my arsenal is rather similar, I try to describe it.

 

Like you, I´ve got the M9 (with 35/2 and 75/2 Asph Summicrons), and it has become what I use. All the time. I did pass on the X1, but I own both the D-Lux 4 and the G1 with both zooms, plus several adapters. The G1 I´ve all but abandoned completely; I´d sell it today if I got a decent offer. The D-Lux 4 is a nice complement to the M9: good at closeups, good video, and doesn´t need a bag like the M9 gear. That was my theory; only, I hardly ever use the D-Lux 4 either. Finally, I own, and love a Digilux 2 that was my only camera for 4 years. That one will never leave me, but it hasn´t made a single shot since I got the M9.

 

I think what happened is just that I accepted and adjusted to the tradeoff of possibilities inherent in using only the M9: no more closeups, no more long tele shots & c. Instead, I find a new pleasure in just raising a camera to my eye and get what I see within my ´normal´range of vision, so to say. And, the immediacy of the M9 (I´ve used M Leicas for years before digital), the total control, the lack of fiddliness and stupid ´extras´, and most important, the incredible drawing of these two lenses, all this has left me happily using what I have and forgetting the kind of subject I can´t get with it. Even if I put the D-Lux 4 in my bag for flower closeups (it´s so small I don´t notice the extra weight), I just don´t get around to use it.

 

I´ll keep the D-Lux 4 after all; there will always be occasions when I just CANNOT take the M9 bag, and then a pocket camera will be what I need. I´ll keep the Digilux 2, for sentimental reasons. The G1 will go at first opportunity, and I don´t think I´ll ever miss it....

[sm23221]

Having too much to choose from is counterproductive. I would go through my photos for the past year and see which 1 or 2 cameras got the most use. I would then sell the others. Having too many cameras and lenses doesn't produce better photos; it only makes photography more difficult.

[kkochheiser]

Happy 4th of July Michael!

 

Man, I've been al over this issue for what seems like years. I have a huge backlog of Nikon gear going back to the original D1 up through the D3 and a ton of lenses to go with them. I just can't seem to get around to selling some of them and don't really know how to either (i.e. I haven't tried very hard to find out).

 

In your case what do you want to accomplish? If it is to reduce mental or physical clutter then just put them away in a cabinet for a while and see if you miss them. If it is to raise money for another lens or camera then that's another story.

 

I hope this helps at least a little.

 

Kent

 

P.S. I also have the same problem with watches.

[01af]

I think the camera you need the least is the X1 obviously. So if you gonna sell one then it should be this one. But then—why selling one in the first place? Are you about to go to jail for unpaid bills or taxes? No? Are the kids starving? No? Then what's your problem actually?

 

Regarding additions ... if you like the 35 mm Summilux but feel it's too bulky at times then you'll love the Summarit-M 35 mm 1:2.5—not as a replacement but as a complement. And who knows ... after having tried the M9 with the little Summarit, it may become easier to let the X1 go

[250swb]

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Maybe the M9 should go?

 

I have a Panasonic G1 as well, and if I had to make a life or death choice and choose the potentially most productive camera (and its the photo's that count), then the G1 would stay. I'm wouldn't get sentimental about Leica quality this or Leica bokeh that, its just the icing on the cake, and its the basic image that counts. So look at the camera that produces the most when its being used, so if on average you get three shots in a day that you keep with your D-lux and two from a day out with the G1, sell the G1, and etc. through them all.

 

Steve

[farnz]

Michael,

 

If you don't need to sell your camera(s) quickly why don't you do a 'dry run' for, say 3 months?

 

Decide which would be the last camera you'd carry outside if your house burnt down (God forfend that if won't of course!) and give that camera to a trusted friend, neighbour or relative to look after with a strict instruction not to return it to you until 3 months hence.

 

If you've missed the camera when you get it back in 3 months time (and haven't bought another one in the meantime:rolleyes:) then it sounds to me like you should keep it.

 

Pete.

[pico]

I would go with the following:

M9, 35/1.4 and 75/2.5 lenses

and the X1 for backup.

 

Keep it light and simple.

[NZDavid]

My thoughts, too.

Perhaps add the 28 or get a 24 for W/A with the M9.

And maybe the D-Lux 4 instead of the X1 for close-ups.

[GlennB]

Someone somewhere posted that they use their M9 for most stuff and kept one of the new V-Lux 20's in their kit for macro and long lens photos. Sounds like a good solution to me. I would think the only drawback of the V-Lux is the slow lens. But with those 2 cameras, most anything would be covered and the V-Lux looks small enough to fit in a side pocket of your gear bag.

 

The only thing you have I would have a hard time letting go of (excepting the M9 of course) maybe would be the X-1. But I haven't tried either the V-Lux 20 or the X-1, so only experience would tell.

 

Oh, and I would Not sell any M lens without serious consideration !

 

GlennB

[pop]

I would go with the following:

M9, 35/1.4 and 75/2.5 lenses

and the X1 for backup.

 

That seems a plausible solution, particularly because the X1 is - in terms of capabilities and paradigm - the closest to your M.

 

On the other hand, I have never understood the combination of the word "too" in conjunction with the phrase "many cameras". Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

[Guest Gilgamesh]

With a move to a t240, you can manage close up without any need for other cameras.

It takes R lenses and bellows.

 

Thus: 28 / 50 / 90.

I say this as this is what I have just done.

[peterbengtson]

You can never have too many cameras.

 

"He who dies with the most toys wins"

[Bill Allsopp]

Join the clan...

 

How much gear can one man use/carry round.

 

BUT a backup is useful, as is a pocket-able camera and the flexibility of a camera with zoom and some serious reach is useful and before you know it you sell a couple of cameras and buy near enough the same back 6 months later. When you make a decision let me know and I may follow your lead.

 

What I do know for certain however is that if I kept only my M9 I would not miss many images that matter a damn.

[Guest]

You can never have too many cameras.

 

"He who dies with the most toys wins"

 

But nobody gets out alive

BrianP

[darylgo]

 

What I do know for certain however is that if I kept only my M9 I would not miss many images that matter a damn.

 

+1

[dkCambridgeshire]

Keep the M9, keep the G1 because you need the long zoom; sell or PX the D Lux 4 and X1 ... and buy an X Vario with a set of aftermarket 43mm thread achromatic c/u lenses

 

Then you'll have just three cameras instead of four - and can still make decent Ebay pics

 

dunk

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[JDFlood]

I have a D800, Fuji XE-1, and Leica X2... And Canon G12 (which I should sell, I don't use it). They all have a specific niche in my photographic life, will upgrade each over time to keep that niche filled. They work for me. Your collection wouldn't work for me, but it sounds like it works for you. JD

[Paul J]

I would keep the M9 and X1. Possibly just the M9.

 

I'm mostly disappointed with the quality from compacts. It bugs me when I take a decent picture on one when it is hampered by it's IQ. I don't actually own one for that matter. The X1 is the limit for me and that is what I my wife has, it's a great camera but I understand when you say it is limiting. It's very good at certain things and not so good at others.

 

Generally speaking, personally, I would never want to use something that is of less quality than my M9. If I really need to, if I'm pressed to take a photo without my M9 then I will do so half contentedly half reluctantly with my iPhone. Reasonable bordering on crappy but pretty decent for what it is ie. always on me no matter what.

 

I don't own a DLux though so you would be the better judge there. A high quality very small camera is something worth having IMO.

 

Good luck these are tricky decisions.