Different Tools in the Bag(s)

If you could could see the series of camera bags I have lined up and opened them, you would see different bags with different camera, lenses, etc. Each bag has a different body and a set of lenses to go with that particular body.  Most are Nikon, but not all. One bag holds a Minolta X700, another a Mamiya C330 TLR and two sets of lenses.  Another holds a Pentax Spotmatic F.  The rotating Crappy Camera Bag might have a Yashica A TLR, along with a Holga or a Russkie Zenit 12XP and a Diana mini.  I call it the "rotating" camera bag, because it changes almost monthly, as to what cameras it contains.

Nikon FE and 3-lens kit

However, one of my bags has one camera and three lenses that rarely changes in the lens makeup. This bag holds a Nikon FE with a 50mm f/2 lens, 24mm f/2.8, and the wonderful 105mm 2.5 Nikkor.  I call this my perfect lens trio  - a normal lens, a good wide-angle, and a short telephoto/portrait lens. In addition, it holds 52mm filters (Nikon standard)- red, orange, yellow, a 2-stop ND, and polarizer; remote release cable, business and model release cards, notepad, microfiber cloth, and spare button cells.  There is enough space in the bag to throw in something extra, such as a Holga or a Yashica TLR, or maybe a 180mm 2.8 lens.   In short, it's a versatile tool bag for making photographs.   I could throw in my Fuji X-100s for a digital option, with room for the Olympus Trip 35.

Fuji X100S

Let me elaborate on the last two cameras a bit.  I bought the Fuji X100S back in June, when I could no longer resist the siren call of the Fuji cameras.  CameraMall had some white-box X100S cameras, and I bought one.  I have never regretted that purchase. The X100s features an APS-C sized sensor - just like my Nikon DSLRs, and a fixed 35mm f/2.0 equivalent lens.  Street photography, yes.  Even though the camera has excellent controls that pretty much mimic a film camera, there is so much more to this camera that I have come to learn  about and love over the passing months with it.  It has some quirks, of course, and like any digital camera, there are layers and layers of options and controls set in the menu, and I know that I am not using all of them to the full extent of what is there.  However, if I were taking a trip via air and could only bring one camera, the Fuji X100S would be the camera.

The second camera is the Olympus Trip 35, which I have already written about.  It has become an essential camera as well, and so long as I work within its limitations, I get very good images.  It just never fails to please me with the results.


So, that's starting the year off with a gear post.  Everyone has their favorite camera bodies/lens combos  for particular reasons.  You may wonder why I chose the Nikon FE over an FM of FM2N, etc.  The FE's aperture-priority is usually how I shoot, but it also offers full manual control.  It's also a small SLR, and works just the way I like.