Saturday, July 01, 2006

Is there such a thing as too much?


ready3.jpg
Originally uploaded by argusmaniac.
I'm getting ready for a week up north. What cameras do I bring? We are going to be spending some time in one place for a few days ata time, and doing lots of driving around. Marjorie wants to photograph theaters and architecture. I want to photograph rural scenes, nature, macro, and whatever funky stuff we see. We are taking the van. We will have lots of room.

In 2003, we went to New Mexico -- I took my Pentax 6x7, Kiev 60, several manual Nikons, Contax G1, a Holga, Argus C-3, and a little Rollei 35. My most memorable photos were taken at Ranchos de Taos with the Holga and the Argus.

So, I am traveling relatively light this time -- Nikon D70s with the 18-70mm lens, my 70-180 micro Nikkor, 50mm 1.8 AFD. In the other bag, I'll have my Nikon N8008, 28-70 Tamron lens, 70-200 Nikon tele, lensbaby, and 19mm Vivitar. In another bag-- A Diana, a Holga, some 35mm plastic cameras, and an Olympus XA.

This may seem like overkill, but I really like b&w shot on real film. I hate desaturating a color image to make it b&w. So, the N8008 will shoot b&w film. The Diana might get some Provia slide film if I see some colorful stuff.

Oh I forgot the Polaroid.... that's coming along too. There's nothing like it.

I'm sure someone out there is thinking I have way too much stuff. Maybe I do. But you know what? If I left the 70-180 micro-nikkor at home, I'd be kicking myself when I wanted to shoot some butterflies or dragonflies. Like anything -- the right tools make the job easier.

1 comment:

MikeR said...

There can never be too many cameras, although my wife might disagree. We went on a trip to the southwest recently, and I felt shorted by only being able to take four cameras. My family looked at me like I was crazy for bringing that many, but what do they know? I have to admit that I still didn't have quite as much gear as you did, but I will try for more next time.