Dreams & Desires
Well, it’s been hell of a long time since I actually “wrote” something on my blog and so today I decided to do just that.
I have been all this, however, watching trends and going “ooh!” and “aah!” over camera gear ranging from Medium format to DSLRs to Rangefinders and even the most popular Mirrorless compacts.
I have been day-dreaming and making a “wish list” (more of a goal), that I hopefully will meet, and money wasn’t the (main) deciding factor since my list was made to cater for life… as long as I would live and continue shooting, I know I wouldn’t need anything else and the gear would not break on me.
Its a bold statement, but I honestly believe that if you know what you want and more importantly why you want it, you can find peace of mind that few have actually been blessed with, especially due to the aggressive marketing of camera companies and Gear Acquisition Syndrome (aka GAS in the photo-community).
So anyways, the first step to how I came to recognize what I want came from knowing what kind of shooter I am and what kind of tools are required for the job. Now, this might be a tricky question since one CAN do the same job with varied tools/camera system or one may want to use something that’s an overkill and not even know it’s an overkill. The determining factors are different for everyone. For me they are : Product Knowledge, Final Print Size, Ease Of Handling & Portability.
Therefore, I made a list of the camera gear I will need and that I can use regularly and not be overwhelmed by deciding “which one do I use?!”. Instead of buying a couple of the same bodies (not talking about or referring to professional shooters here, but just hobbyists that splurge on equipment), I’d rather buy a single body that is the next step or better than the two I was buying and invest more on glass.
So here’s My List that includes all camera bodies and lenses – and all formats : –
POINT – & – SHOOT
Sony NEX-7
Olympus Mju II
SINGLE LENS REFLEX
Nikon D4
(w/ these lenses atleast)
17~35mm f/2.8D
24~70mm f/2.8D
70~200 VR II f/2.8D
CZ Makro-Planar T* 100mm f/2
RANGEFINDER & MEDIUM FORMAT
Mamiya 7 II
(w/ these lenses)
65mm f/4
150mm f/4.5
Pentax 645D (w/ these lenses)
SMC Pentax-A 645 35mm F3.5
SMC Pentax-FA 645 75mm F2.8
SMC Pentax-FA 645 45~85mm F4.5
SMC Pentax-FA 645 80~160mm F4.5
COMPUTER SYSTEM AND ACCESSORIES
CPU/Desktop : Mac Pro G5
Monitor : NEC MultiSync PA271W
Printer : ???
Scanner : Epson V750-M Pro
Ext. HDD : ???
Equipment Storage : XDry CS-151SS
Lighting Equipment : AlienBees
Everything on this list is an outcome of long, long, long sleepless nights and dreaming and researching. I have not chosen just the “best of the best”, but rather tried to balance practicality, budget and quality. The only reason to go for medium format would be for landscapes. Choices can definitely make you go crazy… esp. if you don’t have the moolah!!
So far, I have managed to acquire just the Oly Mju II, and I was lucky enough to find one in a very good condition and at a very good rate. I am just being lazy and haven’t had the time to sell my stuff I already have and invest that money into the list.
I am sure I won’t be buying / acquiring all that is listed here, basically due to money concerns and also the fact that I kind of think I won’t be able to do justice to all the bodies – so why have them and just store them?!
Well, thanks for reading all of this… if you did! Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions?! 🙂
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Street Shot of an Unusual Kind
Shot this from the hip… came out pretty nicely I think! 🙂
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Between FILM & DIGITAL Camera
It’s been a struggle between photographers and critics alike as to which is a better “medium” – film or digital. As digital camera technology grew and became more and more convincing, the photographers also lend it a hand and gave it a shot. Critics, however, took the safe side and voted for film. This “war” between the two has lasted for almost 8 years now, and I can very safely say that digital sensors have made their mark, if not making film obsolete – yet!
I too stood back and watched back in the days when either fate of film and digital was in question and decided. However, I did take the plunge and bought myself, first a digital point & shoot, and later in 2006 the Nikon D200. Was most happy and satisfied I might say… but the quench for the “ultimate” never left. Always greedy for newer gadgets, always keeping an eye for the newer body that would come out and dreaming about it even though not having the means to afford one. I found this surprisingly common among photographers – professionals and amateurs alike, to lust over newer bodies and always so very eager to find fault or reason to buy the next thing that hit the shelves. As I would like to believe, this was not the case in the old days of film. One bought a camera and stuck to it for at least a few years before he/she went on to something new. The purchase of newer lenses then was the thing back then, not camera bodies. It was buying a “system” and not just “features”… you went for Canon or Nikon or Minolta .. and built that “system” with it’s lenses and accessories. Now, it’s all about getting newer bodies and doing away with the “old” one.
I believe one of the biggest factors for this change of attitude is the amount of advertising and publicity the product receives, sometimes even before anyone has even seen the product eg. in the case of Nikon D4?! Its been just over a year the D3s came out and everyone want something new already.
I think it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the “joy of capturing a moment” has deteriorated to “recording a scene”. Shooters shoot just about anything, no limits, no fixed number of frames, no thought process involved – just pressing that shutter!
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Another One In Blackness
A silhouette of a tree against the sky… taken with HTC Incredible using the Retro Camera app
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The CMYK Look !!
Oh! well, looking at LOADS of pictures on Flickr! and other websites just makes one more and more frustrated… esp. if he can’t do his art the way he likes and wants to!! I guess that’s what happened to me the other day, sitting on my bed, and started shooting the bedsheets!
Seemed really bizarre at first, but then I thought what the heck, who cares and who’s gonna say anything anyways… but yeah, I put it out on the internet for all to see and let me know what they think 🙂
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A Visit To Tahoe
It was a very longed for trip that I took with my parents to Lake Tahoe recently. I had been wanting to go and see Lake Tahoe in Nevada, USA for a very long time. The beauty and grandeur the place had earned had always beckoned me for a visit.
Unfortunately, however, I was without any “decent” camera that I could take along and shoot to my heart content. All I had was my Ricoh GX200 that I could use. The whole plan to go to Lake Tahoe was so sudden that I didn’t even get time to rent a camera. Life is so ironic I thought to myself, that all these years of waiting and wishing to visit the place and I being a photographer, didn’t have a camera to myself!
Well, so be it I thought, of course with a lot of anger and regret to say the least. I consoled myself by saying that this wasn’t going to be the ONLY visit I could or would make and there will be more visits.
So with whatever I had, I took these snaps and yes my Ricoh did make me happy as much as it could… I hope that you will enjoy the shots as much as I do !!
* You can see the images bigger on my Flickr! page… My Flickr! *
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Retro Tree
Taken with my HTC Droid Incredible… Retro Camera app
Posted from WordPress for Android
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The Road On Fire
I am working on a project called “Road On Fire” It’s about abstract and surrealism, a play of light and darkness. where colors rule and set the mood of the viewer.
Shooting with my trusty Ricoh GX200 I am finding this really amusing and interesting how these patterns and “images” form. I hope you enjoy!
More to come.. hope you keep coming back!!
~ Dont forget to comment & link back!! 😉 ~
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China Town
So I was in San Francisco the other day… particularly in China Town. Took some snaps, although didn’t have a Hasselblad or D3 or 1Ds Mk II, but I did have my Ricoh GX200… I’d say it served me well – wouldn’t you?!
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Moon of Shabaan
RICOH GX200
Edited on LightRoom 2
My PHOTO - RAMBLINGS 
