AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

In another thread I noticed that several very talented members bring not just FF and APS gear when they go out shooting for fun, but there are a number who also include medium format, 35 film, and even 4x5 in their equipment when going out to shoot landscapes.

I've got a somewhat different approach, which is, I think, based on approaching photo opportunities based on the type of equipment (and associated mental and photographic processes) I'm taking to the scene rather than the inherent nature of the scene. Sometimes I feel like "working slow" and I'll haul out my 4x5 cases for a trip to a destination I feel would be fun to photograph in this manner. Sometimes I feel like I want to be economical of shots and make big images, so the medium format bag comes out. Likewise with my old 35mm kit (all fixed focal length lenses).

Mostly, my APS DSLR bag goes with me all the time, for both business and artistic purposes. I also have my cell phone and a full frame Rollei 35 with me pretty much everywhere I go, just in case a once in a lifetime shot pops up in seconds (I've only had one so far in all my life, and didn't even have a camera in those pre cell phone days).

So what do you all think? Do you choose your gear for the "mission", base a mission on the type of gear you feel like using, or approach every photo trip like Omaha Beach on D-day - bring anything that will shoot?

Curious as to how other users of multiple formats approach this.


Andy

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Sometimes I do, but usually I have at least a couple full framers with me at all times. Sometimes I go out to shoot only film, then I take one of my 35mm and always my Pentax 645 as well. Sometimes I go out with my MF Fuji, when I do that I usually do not take any other cameras, because the Fuji does take up a lot of space by itself - it is not the most handy camera to haul around!

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Interesting approach. I get an entirely different feel shooting in medium format from DSLR or even 35mm. I'm not sure exactly how it happens, but some days I'll feel like a slower, more compositional approach, and out comes the Rollei / Super Ikonta bag. It wouldn't even occur to me to pack the Rollei AND a DSLR, for example.

Andy

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

Micro Four Thirds, anywhere and everywhere.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

So you don't have any other gear but this format? Or you have other gear in other formats that you never use?

Andy

TBerwick Loc: Houston, Texas

I usually have my Bronica SQ ready to go and generally have B&W in the magazine. I keep color on hand but generally haul out the SQ when I head somewhere I know will lend itself to B&W. Plus it gives me a reason to take out my Zone VI spotmeter which I still use with my digital cameras if I need to get critical with some highlights.

alolewis

My main camera is a cropped frame Nikon (D7200) but I sometimes use either a 35mm film camera with Black and white film or a Mamiya RB67 film camera with black and white film. I use the film camera when I think the subject will look good in B&W such as last weekend I went out and shoot some old barns. I used both the D7200 digital and the Mamiya RB67 for the barns shots. Taking photos of some of the old buildings in the downtown of a neighboring town I only used the Mamiya RB67. For B&W portraits I used the 35mm cameras. Which cameras depends on my mood and the subject. I found when I started back using film a year ago several friends had old film cameras in their attic, closet, etc and gave them to me, others I purchased on Ebay.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

That’s pretty much how I approach things, too.


Andy

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Pretty much the same as everybody else:

1. Nikon D7100 with an assortment of lenses, 8mm to 400mm
2. Nikin FM2n with color film.
3. Leica IIIf with B/W film (50mm lens); other film cameras with 28 & 40mm lenses.
4. Custom Yashica (6X6)
5. Everyday camera - Panasonic ZS60 with a 1/2.3 sensor

User ID

I'm not really concerned with the "ready for anything
and everything" type of kit. Been in photowork so very
long [and wide] that I'm 200% inoculated against fear
or angst concerning "photo ops" that escape my grasp.
I make the images I make, and lose no sleep over any
that "got away".

While I like a kit that is ready for a reasonable variety
of opportunities, I also very much enjoy the discipline
of a minimalist kit, requiring that I view the world in a
quite narrowly defined way. For instance one body and
a pancake prime is an exact opposite of the "Ready for
EVERYTHING" approach. Limitation brings challenges.
Challenges bring vitality to the mind, and mind's eye.

But my attitude comes from a decades of photowork,
all day, all year, as both a job and personal obsession.
I do understand that someone hungering to grow and
grow in this game loathes to miss any photo ops, and
I applaud that drive ! Yet even those I just applauded
might do well to occasionally engage in the discipline
of the minimalist kit, cuz it's an effective stimulant for
honing both vision and skill.

GAS496 Loc: Arizona

While I have all the formats you mentioned I almost always just bring one so I can concentrate on that camera. Hiking into a location with an 8x10 view camera and all the stuff that goes with it feels like I brought all the other cameras after a couple of miles.

Zack_W Loc: Urbana, Illinois

I will often go out with my large-format 4X5 / 5X7 camera "cruisin' fer snaps" (as the photographer Fred Picker used to say). I'll make a day of it and drive around till I see something I'd like to photograph. I'll usually take my digital SLR along with me, too. Sometimes I'll see something that lends itself to being photographed with both, sometimes just with the view camera.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Fred Picker! There's a name I haven't heard in a while. His zone system books and shooting advice are excellent.

Unless you're talking about Larry Hagman's character in Primary Colors? I just re-watched that film (a favorite) recently and had never noticed that the coke head governor had the same name!

Andy

tripsy76 Loc: Northshore, MA

I still love taking out my Minolta X700 with a 50mm grabbing some black and white and spending the day walking around! It’s one of my favorite activities that reminds me how important it is to think before you click!

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Andy