I'm 67yo and been shooting film and no digital for nearly 50 years. I am realizing that for me the best gear options is owning 2 of the same camera, one for color, one for B&W and carrying both on each outing. Beyond that I no longer need 8 different 35mm SLR or rangefinder bodies with duplicates of my favorite lenses for each system.
You know it’s great that you actually covered this. There was a comment about this on another photographers channel about the “unhealthy” chase for new gear. The buy, sell and trade, the poster had went on to talk about some may have deeper issues with depression. While this is not the case for everyone, it’s something to address. I think you covered this very well. Sometimes our best camera is the one that we have!
I’ve had countless film cameras. Every iteration in the Nikon F family (Barring the F6), Pentax, Canon, Minolta, Leica… they’re all just fancy boxes. I ended up settling on an OM4Ti with about 6 or 7 lenses, of which I used 2 or 3. I then sold this citing fears of electronic breakdown, even though there was no sign of this, buying an FM3A. I sold that, bought an F3, now I’m going back to Olympus and buying an M-1. It’s an addiction, it’s a really serious addiction that we allow ourselves to be party to because it’s our passion.
Too much film youtube is buy buy buy consume consume consume - I really appreciate this perspective, currently slimming down my 35mm collection to 2 bodies.
Great video, and great point. I think Bruce Lee summed it up best when he said, "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." Having one camera/lens that you use to create a body of work if infinitely more valuable than 100 pictures with 100 different cameras and focal lengths. Just choose your weapon and use it to create art.
My late Mother in law took some great photos with a Kodak box brownie way back in the 1950s. It is all about creating a memory no matter what camera/lens you use.
Great video! My first camera was a Nikon FM10 with a 35-70 lens, back about 25 years ago. I carried that around with me for years, never thinking of buying another camera! One camera will do just fine!
The advice in the video is spot on. You don’t need a dozen cameras of different brands My dad had only one camera, a Pentax ME Super. He gave it to me in the mid ‘00s when he bought a DSLR. Most of my childhood photos were taken with that camera. I have several boxes containing thousands of Kodachrome and Ektachrome slides that were shot with the ME Super. I still have it and still use it. It’s a wonderful camera, even if it’s not “professional.” You don’t need a professional camera to shoot film in 2023. Hell, the only film camera that ever failed catastrophically on me was a Nikon F3. So grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Just get a decent, functioning camera and maybe a backup if your budget allows, and go have fun.
Thank you (and my phone for reading my moves on my phone) for making this because I have been aggressively looking at buying another film camera. I needed to hear all of this.
Yep. When I first got into film photography I ended up buying around 18 different cameras because they were all cheap and they all did something a little bit different - and guess what, I love a lot of them, but I really didn't need nearly that many of them and even if they were cheap it all adds up and I could've just bought one or two cameras instead and paid for my film for the next year with the rest of the money.
Fully agree. I was influenced by gear reviews just a year ago when I watched vintage lens reviews and bought things like a Canon FD 35mm f2 Concave or nikkor 85mm f1.4 AIS. Both great lenses I have used a total of a dozen times between them outside the house.
thanks for this video. it's why i like videos by channels like jamstills, who emphasizes that it's not the camera, it's what you do with it and the ways you find to be creative with shooting film. it seems like most hobbies get to a place where it becomes "buy better stuff", i'm into headphones and i've definitely felt the pressure to spend more and more money. even things like reading have become about how many books you own and not about reading. but part of what i like about film photography is the slowing down and how 30 years ago nobody had incredible technology (in comparison to what we have today) but still made great art so it's a shame it too has become so expensive and so what-camera-are-you-using-focused.
I have just started blaming YOU when my wife calls me out for having too much camera gear. I mean already having 18 camera (film, digital, mirrorless) bodies and 27 lenses should be enough. However, I will be buying my Hermes of camera gear this month -- a Leica M11. But it won't stop there, right? I also want a Leica M5 for my birth year. Oh, and then another lens or two for the new Leica cameras. Just a downward spiral, man... a downward spiral... Again, I blame you. Makes it easier for me to sleep. ;) LOL!!! Great channel! Great content!
I thought I was the only one with too many cameras. Nikon F2, Nikon F3, Nikon F5, Nikon S2, Nikon D3, Nikon DF (2), Nikon D800 (2) , Rolleiflex Automat, Rolleiflex 2.8D, Bronica SQ (2), Hasselblad 500 CM (2), Fuji GW690, Mamiya RB67 Pro S (2), Mamiya C330 F, Mamiya C330S, Toyo 45A, Calumet 4x5. I have too many cameras and need to think about which to sell.
Well said! I'm currently at the phase of shuffling my gear and liquidating what I don't need. I too long for a Contax G1, among others. It's a slippery slope for sure.
I recently got into film photography with a minolta maxxum 7000 that I got at my local goodwill. After doing more and more research I recently caved and decided to upgrade to the minolta a7, and I gotta say, I don't see myself upgrading anything other than my collection of lenses for a while. Maybe Ill go the opposite route and go for an older manual camera though.
I have a Pentax ZX-60 that does pretty much everything automatic and just bought a Canon AE-1. My girlfriend is shooting a Pentax K1000 and a 110 Kodak. We also have an Instax, and several digicams and DSLRs... AND YET, MY FRIEND, AND YET
I did the same thing on our cruise! Bought 2 Pentax bodies and brought them with me untested! I didn't quite understand the metering system on one and switch to the other one. Got one good roll. The shutter failed on the second roll and lost all the images. I left 2 very dependable bodies at home because one was aperture priority only and 1/500 max shutter. The other is 1980's butt ugly, bulky and noisy. But it does everything I want it to do, good enough. I've heard the siren song of the Nikon system, but I have enough already. In the pre digital days I shot with K1000 with 50mm, a 135 and a Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm lenses. And I was good. Now I have so many cameras and lenses I don't know what camera to take and when. I need to par down to 1 system. I know it should be the Pentax, I just don't want to admit it.
The psychological condition for buying things you couldn’t afford when you were a kid is called compulsive buying disorder (CBD), or oniomania. It is characterized by an obsession with shopping and buying behavior that causes adverse consequences. CBD often has roots in early experience. Perfectionism, general impulsiveness and compulsiveness, dishonesty, insecurity, and the need to gain control have also been linked to the disorder.
I bought my first Nikon, a Nikon FA two months ago… now I own an FM,FA and a Nikkormat 😮 it took me a while to realize that the FA was the one for me. Thinking of selling the others on eBay idk
I feel this haha in the last week I’ve bought maybe 9 new bodies (most for repair/to learn) a few books, a few lenses, and am now looking at winning an F3HP and/or a Pentax 6x7, and I don’t buy and sell, I just like collecting haha But i LOVE my Minolta SRT102 and X1
Lol just found about this video because it was recommended below the Fuji S3 Pro review I was watching. Thank you, I really don’t need a new camera for something I can do with editing haha xD.
Thank you for this. It needs to be said. I just bought a Canon AE-1 Program because it was a good deal. It was momentarily interesting and exciting. The thing is, I do not like Canon cameras. It was a purchase for the novelty of something new. I already have some old Nikon and Pentax cameras that I am very happy with.
I am also 68 years old and I have so many film camera,, like Super Ikonta of 120 film and aso of 35 mm film, I have Roliflex, yasica 635 and Olympus om 1
I completely agree with you on this one. Though there is a slight deviation to how I feel. I feel like rather then buying more cameras. Go for more format variety if you have a 35m you know in and out rather than by a new camera buy a new lens. Or go for another format like move up to 645 or 6X7. As well as you do not have to go for the camera everyone else has. I wanted to get a range finder medium format. And found the Bronica RF645 was cheeper then a mamiya 6. This is a great video as always keep up the amazing work
I settled for about five cameras but really only use one for about 95% of my photos,, my Canon EOS 7s. It's perfect for everything, unless I want a pocket camera. Then I use my Nikon 35Ti.
I find that there are plenty of good cameras. I have been given several cameras over the last few years from people that know they will never use it again. I accept every one of them but I continue to shoot the same one I've been carrying since 1971... a Konica Autoreflex T with their 1.8, 52mm lens. Yes, I have a digital, too. They are all fun.
Film camera for a trip, where the SO is going to yell at you that this is her vacation not a photo trip for you: Olympus OM-1 with a 50mm f1.8. Smallest, most compact, quality film SLR ever. Don't have one? Get one (Oly that is. The SO is optional).
I've got that with the 1.4. Great camera. And cheap. Of course, for my recent trip to Asia, I also brought along a Mamiyaflex C2, my OM1, a Fujifilm X100S, a Sony A7S with a Kipon medium format focal reducer, along with a DJI Mini 3 Pro, an Insta360 X1, and a Samsung S300 for my wife. Oh and I brought 3 more cameras as gifts. Did I do it right? :)
I'm 67yo and been shooting film and no digital for nearly 50 years. I am realizing that for me the best gear options is owning 2 of the same camera, one for color, one for B&W and carrying both on each outing. Beyond that I no longer need 8 different 35mm SLR or rangefinder bodies with duplicates of my favorite lenses for each system.
Yes! Except, I use a D700 for color and my Minolta 101 for B&W.
okay, so you’ve alleviated the guilt of wanting to buy two 35mm SLR bodies for the exact reasons you stated above.
You know it’s great that you actually covered this. There was a comment about this on another photographers channel about the “unhealthy” chase for new gear. The buy, sell and trade, the poster had went on to talk about some may have deeper issues with depression. While this is not the case for everyone, it’s something to address. I think you covered this very well. Sometimes our best camera is the one that we have!
That’s exactly right! I’m mainly talking to myself! I DON’T need a Mamiya 7II.
You’re allowed to say Matt Day lol
definately for me both photography and buying camera gear is closely linked with my depression.
I’ve had countless film cameras. Every iteration in the Nikon F family (Barring the F6), Pentax, Canon, Minolta, Leica… they’re all just fancy boxes. I ended up settling on an OM4Ti with about 6 or 7 lenses, of which I used 2 or 3. I then sold this citing fears of electronic breakdown, even though there was no sign of this, buying an FM3A. I sold that, bought an F3, now I’m going back to Olympus and buying an M-1. It’s an addiction, it’s a really serious addiction that we allow ourselves to be party to because it’s our passion.
Too much film youtube is buy buy buy consume consume consume - I really appreciate this perspective, currently slimming down my 35mm collection to 2 bodies.
Great video, and great point. I think Bruce Lee summed it up best when he said, "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." Having one camera/lens that you use to create a body of work if infinitely more valuable than 100 pictures with 100 different cameras and focal lengths. Just choose your weapon and use it to create art.
You got it! Great quote!
After more than 30 years of photography, I've finally figured out the best camera for me for all situations: the one I sold five years ago. *sigh*
I have done this so many times. I look at Contax G1s longingly more than I would care to admit.
I always appreciate your videos and messaging, keep'em coming !
My late Mother in law took some great photos with a Kodak box brownie way back in the 1950s. It is all about creating a memory no matter what camera/lens you use.
Great video! My first camera was a Nikon FM10 with a 35-70 lens, back about 25 years ago. I carried that around with me for years, never thinking of buying another camera! One camera will do just fine!
The advice in the video is spot on. You don’t need a dozen cameras of different brands My dad had only one camera, a Pentax ME Super. He gave it to me in the mid ‘00s when he bought a DSLR. Most of my childhood photos were taken with that camera. I have several boxes containing thousands of Kodachrome and Ektachrome slides that were shot with the ME Super. I still have it and still use it. It’s a wonderful camera, even if it’s not “professional.” You don’t need a professional camera to shoot film in 2023. Hell, the only film camera that ever failed catastrophically on me was a Nikon F3. So grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Just get a decent, functioning camera and maybe a backup if your budget allows, and go have fun.
Amen. :) For me it's my dad's old Minolta SR T101. :)
Thank you (and my phone for reading my moves on my phone) for making this because I have been aggressively looking at buying another film camera. I needed to hear all of this.
Yep. When I first got into film photography I ended up buying around 18 different cameras because they were all cheap and they all did something a little bit different - and guess what, I love a lot of them, but I really didn't need nearly that many of them and even if they were cheap it all adds up and I could've just bought one or two cameras instead and paid for my film for the next year with the rest of the money.
We live and we learn! Me? Usually the hard way. Thanks for watching!
Fully agree. I was influenced by gear reviews just a year ago when I watched vintage lens reviews and bought things like a Canon FD 35mm f2 Concave or nikkor 85mm f1.4 AIS. Both great lenses I have used a total of a dozen times between them outside the house.
Totally agree, thanks bro ❤
thanks for this video. it's why i like videos by channels like jamstills, who emphasizes that it's not the camera, it's what you do with it and the ways you find to be creative with shooting film. it seems like most hobbies get to a place where it becomes "buy better stuff", i'm into headphones and i've definitely felt the pressure to spend more and more money. even things like reading have become about how many books you own and not about reading. but part of what i like about film photography is the slowing down and how 30 years ago nobody had incredible technology (in comparison to what we have today) but still made great art so it's a shame it too has become so expensive and so what-camera-are-you-using-focused.
Your Cinestill video came up in my feed. Watched it. Watched a few more. Have subscribed. :)
Thank you so much, it means the world!
I have just started blaming YOU when my wife calls me out for having too much camera gear. I mean already having 18 camera (film, digital, mirrorless) bodies and 27 lenses should be enough. However, I will be buying my Hermes of camera gear this month -- a Leica M11. But it won't stop there, right? I also want a Leica M5 for my birth year. Oh, and then another lens or two for the new Leica cameras. Just a downward spiral, man... a downward spiral...
Again, I blame you. Makes it easier for me to sleep. ;) LOL!!!
Great channel! Great content!
Thanks so much for watching!
I thought I was the only one with too many cameras. Nikon F2, Nikon F3, Nikon F5, Nikon S2, Nikon D3, Nikon DF (2), Nikon D800 (2) , Rolleiflex Automat, Rolleiflex 2.8D, Bronica SQ (2), Hasselblad 500 CM (2), Fuji GW690, Mamiya RB67 Pro S (2), Mamiya C330 F, Mamiya C330S, Toyo 45A, Calumet 4x5. I have too many cameras and need to think about which to sell.
Well said! I'm currently at the phase of shuffling my gear and liquidating what I don't need. I too long for a Contax G1, among others. It's a slippery slope for sure.
I recently got into film photography with a minolta maxxum 7000 that I got at my local goodwill.
After doing more and more research I recently caved and decided to upgrade to the minolta a7, and I gotta say, I don't see myself upgrading anything other than my collection of lenses for a while.
Maybe Ill go the opposite route and go for an older manual camera though.
I have a Pentax ZX-60 that does pretty much everything automatic and just bought a Canon AE-1. My girlfriend is shooting a Pentax K1000 and a 110 Kodak. We also have an Instax, and several digicams and DSLRs... AND YET, MY FRIEND, AND YET
I dont suffer from the loop. I just buy, never sell or trade 😀
You are so right. I just bought the pentax 6x7 just to have something lighter then my fuji gx 680.
Do you think I need something lighter?
I did the same thing on our cruise! Bought 2 Pentax bodies and brought them with me untested! I didn't quite understand the metering system on one and switch to the other one. Got one good roll. The shutter failed on the second roll and lost all the images. I left 2 very dependable bodies at home because one was aperture priority only and 1/500 max shutter. The other is 1980's butt ugly, bulky and noisy. But it does everything I want it to do, good enough. I've heard the siren song of the Nikon system, but I have enough already. In the pre digital days I shot with K1000 with 50mm, a 135 and a Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm lenses. And I was good. Now I have so many cameras and lenses I don't know what camera to take and when. I need to par down to 1 system. I know it should be the Pentax, I just don't want to admit it.
The psychological condition for buying things you couldn’t afford when you were a kid is called compulsive buying disorder (CBD), or oniomania. It is characterized by an obsession with shopping and buying behavior that causes adverse consequences. CBD often has roots in early experience. Perfectionism, general impulsiveness and compulsiveness, dishonesty, insecurity, and the need to gain control have also been linked to the disorder.
So what I have fun now I can afford toys. Hehe
I bought my first Nikon, a Nikon FA two months ago… now I own an FM,FA and a Nikkormat 😮 it took me a while to realize that the FA was the one for me. Thinking of selling the others on eBay idk
I feel this haha in the last week I’ve bought maybe 9 new bodies (most for repair/to learn) a few books, a few lenses, and am now looking at winning an F3HP and/or a Pentax 6x7, and I don’t buy and sell, I just like collecting haha
But i LOVE my Minolta SRT102 and X1
We Stan a successful Self-Report 🔥
Decision fatigue is real. Choice is always risky.
No doubt! It’s so difficult to manage though.
Lol just found about this video because it was recommended below the Fuji S3 Pro review I was watching. Thank you, I really don’t need a new camera for something I can do with editing haha xD.
Thank you for this. It needs to be said. I just bought a Canon AE-1 Program because it was a good deal. It was momentarily interesting and exciting. The thing is, I do not like Canon cameras. It was a purchase for the novelty of something new. I already have some old Nikon and Pentax cameras that I am very happy with.
I’m with you! I don’t care for Canon bodies either. Thanks for watching!
I am also 68 years old and I have so many film camera,, like Super Ikonta of 120 film and aso of 35 mm film, I have Roliflex, yasica 635 and Olympus om 1
I completely agree with you on this one. Though there is a slight deviation to how I feel. I feel like rather then buying more cameras. Go for more format variety if you have a 35m you know in and out rather than by a new camera buy a new lens. Or go for another format like move up to 645 or 6X7. As well as you do not have to go for the camera everyone else has. I wanted to get a range finder medium format. And found the Bronica RF645 was cheeper then a mamiya 6. This is a great video as always keep up the amazing work
I’m an Instax Wide Enthusiast and it’s a big decision.
You only have a few choices for Instax Wide cameras haha. I have them all
I settled for about five cameras but really only use one for about 95% of my photos,, my Canon EOS 7s. It's perfect for everything, unless I want a pocket camera. Then I use my Nikon 35Ti.
Totally agree. One body is more than enough. Maybe two if you want a back up.
I live in India where photography film is not available and all the colour labs are closed, and all the film cameras are not of use
I find that there are plenty of good cameras. I have been given several cameras over the last few years from people that know they will never use it again. I accept every one of them but I continue to shoot the same one I've been carrying since 1971... a Konica Autoreflex T with their 1.8, 52mm lens. Yes, I have a digital, too. They are all fun.
Film camera for a trip, where the SO is going to yell at you that this is her vacation not a photo trip for you: Olympus OM-1 with a 50mm f1.8. Smallest, most compact, quality film SLR ever.
Don't have one? Get one (Oly that is. The SO is optional).
I've got that with the 1.4. Great camera. And cheap.
Of course, for my recent trip to Asia, I also brought along a Mamiyaflex C2, my OM1, a Fujifilm X100S, a Sony A7S with a Kipon medium format focal reducer, along with a DJI Mini 3 Pro, an Insta360 X1, and a Samsung S300 for my wife.
Oh and I brought 3 more cameras as gifts.
Did I do it right? :)
I decided to stop at 10 bodies. 6 film slr 1 medium format 3 dslr. No camera is perfect but goddamn the maxxum 9 and the XE-7 are close enough.
Happy you have found one that works for you! Thanks for watching.
That was a really cool video and yes you’re right 😊
Thank you for watching!
The Nikon F100 is the best 35mm film camera ever made in my opinion.
Not gonna get an argument outta’ me!
Here’s to stopping Toxic GAS!
My main problem is I want to buy more cameras to tinker with and fix 😅
I just went to Niagara Falls, took 5 cameras … when will this madness end (states my wife)
Me sitting here, watching a G-A-S video with 15 SLR bodies sitting next to me.
Yes i need help
Your overthinkin it, take your M6 with you and it's good as it is :)
buy a Supra xDDDD that one sent me, well done haha great video
Thanks for stopping in!
@@Overexposed1 of course you're one of the best underrated channels for film photography and car jokes make it even better please keep em coming haha
NO, I'TS NOT GOOD ENOUGH, I WANT A 4x5 WITH A 178mm f2.5!!!
Me at 3:00 am
The MF STROKES!!! 🤘🏽
My fav band!
idk man EVERYONE needs a Nikon f100 best 35mm camera i've ever purchased.
I had 2 of them. Regret selling them and now looking for a good copy
I hate how right you are 😂
i mean my cameras def ARE good enough buuuuuuttttt theres so many other pretty cameras I want…..
I feel this. Lol
YOUR camera NEEDS this LENS!!! *CLICK HERE* *CLICK HERE*
Decisions decisions decisions! Then to add to the confusion, what type, speed, exposures, and how many rolls of film should i be taking along? 🤔