this camera is a surprise for me.  i wasn’t expecting to love it as much as i do.  i have had rangefinder style cameras before, but they have been a petri 7 (completely manual with no metering and a decent, but very green rangefinder spot), yashica electro 35 (aperture priority auto exposure camera with a very yellowish RF spot), fuji 645 folding (can’t really use because the bellows need repair) and the argus C3 (the most difficult to use, really old, separate rangefinder and viewfinder windows).  oh and of course the polaroid auto land 250…

when i picked the canonet up from my favorite local camera shop, i was surprised to see how nice the rangefinder spot was and then also the metering system inside the viewfinder.  it has some quirks that i’m not a huge fan of…it does not meter in any other mode than auto – which essentially sets the camera to shutter priority and shows the aperture in the viewfinder.  it is kind of nice that if there is not enough light or way too much light it locks the shutter release.  it can also be annoying, but in those instances you can usually pick your aperture and shutter speed and shoot manually.

this camera is going to be my street photography camera.  it’s very small, black so it’s not flashy and relatively quiet.  there isn’t any sort of sound dampening buit in, it simply uses a leaf shutter which tend to be much quieter than the film plane, curtain shutters.  i would love to own a leica, but some of us aren’t made of money.  i think my digital upgrade will be a fuji finepix x100 (or the interchangable lens version that is rumored to come out).  until then, just keep a steady supply of ilford HP5 coming through and i will be happy.

#4 – Mamiya C3

the two things i love about TLR (twin lens reflex) cameras:  square format and waist level finders.  it is surprising how much a waist level viewfinder changes your perspective.  suddenly you see completely different images and fall in love with them.  don’t get me wrong, they can be challenging.  if you have never used a WLF, it will catch you off guard at first and take a little practice to get used to.  square format is another perspective changer too.  no more need to rotate a camera, and while you can crop the image to a 4:3 or 2:6 style framing…why?  play with the square!  use the corners.  center your subject.  just have fun with it!

if you like to travel light, i would not recommend the Mamiya C3.  the Yashica Mat 124G is a much more ‘compact’ TLR which is still affordable – unlike the Rolleiflex TLR’s which can cost over twice as much.  like much of Mamiya’s camera equipment, the C3 uses a bellows style focusing rig which allows for much closer focusing, although with a TLR, you need the parallax adapter and a tripod to get any sort of close focusing.  and although i currently don’t take advantage of it, the C3 does have interchangable lenses.  i would love to get the 50 or 65mm focal lengths to do some landscape photos with it.

the final little toy i have for my C3 is the metered chimney.  there are many different focusing hoods/prisms available, some are easier to find than others, this Cds metered chimney was a lucky find for me, and was relatively inexpensive.  it’s not a super common item to find, although it’s more common than the Mamiya eye-level prism is.  there is another eye-level ‘prism’ available called the ‘porroflex’ although if you can find the actual prism, you will be much happier.  the porroflex uses mirrors to create an eye-level viewfinder which is similar to a 35mm SLR, the issue with that is the viewfinder is generally a little darker than with a prism.

this camera is a joy to take out and work with, but it doesn’t happen as often as i would like.  i hope to change that in 2012!

#3 – Holga

my first film camera.  ever.  i love my holga.  it is epic and has become more so with the addition of dozens of little stickers.

for a while, i was really interested in the lomographic effects – light leaks, vignetting, plastic lens effects, et cetera – and would spend hours in photoshop trying to make my digital images look like they were taken on a holga.  then one day i bought one and have been having a blast with it ever since!

it’s an unusual camera to work with, there are two shutter speeds – normal (roughly 1/125 of a second…i think) and bulb (as long as you can hold it open).  there is one are two apertures (the aperture selection doesn’t actually do anything.  they can say all that they want. if you actually look through the camera while switching apertures you will see that it will not change anything.  there is a fixed aperture, then when you switch to the sunny setting, a little window swings behind the fixed aperture that is ‘smaller.’  but it’s not small enough to really change anything unless you drill out the fixed aperture…which is on my todo list.

plastic lens = chromatic abberations and soft images
poor build quality = light leaks + heavy vignetting
all of the inherent issues = completely unpredictable output = fun

#2 – Mamiya 645AFD II

love.  but let’s rewind and see how we got here.  back in the day i bought a bronica ETRs which is actually a pretty nice little 6×4.5 SLR.  it had the ‘quick winder’ which is a thumb lever winder that takes care of the two stage winding process (one crank to reset the mirror and one crank to advance the film).  it also had a metering prism which was nice.  the camera was great, but it had limitations, one of which being the inability to link to a digital back (sometime in the future).  i really liked this camera, but the time came and i had to move on.  for a while i was medium format SLRless and then i came across a Mamiya 645 Pro-TL with the selling point being an 80mm f/1.9 lens.  the fastest medium format on the market.  so i bought it (it was a good price).  after a little time with that camera, i came across a mamiya 645 AFDII at my favorite local camera store.  and it was on.

after a trade in and a little cash, i finally had my landing point for medium format photography.  the AFDII not only has auto-focus lenses as well as the ability to use manual focus mamiya lenses, it is also ready to go for digital backs right now.  no adapters.  no extra cables.  ready to go.

the AFD II has all of the perks of modern cameras – spot and average metering, exposure bracketing, auto-advance including continuous fire mode.  and general awesomeness.  i like that until i have the cash to get a digital back, i can use the camera as originally intended with film and still get use out of some amazing glass.  hassy fans will claim their glass is the best, but i really don’t think so.  i think Mamiya’s glass is as good as, if not better than the hasselblad stuff and without the nasty ‘you’re paying for the name’ price tag.  don’t get me wrong, Mamiya ain’t cheap!  medium format requires a lot of glass to make an f/2.8 lens.

i started taking this camera with me to photo shoots and portraits just as an alternate camera to play with.  after several portrait sessions being used as backup equipment, it is now my primary camera for portraits.  put a roll of kodak porta 400nc in it and i’m set.  you will see much more from this camera in the next 12 months, i promise that!

#1 – Canon 5D Mark II

come on.  you aren’t surprised.  this was something you knew the answer to since the countdown started.  but i want to clarify why this camera is number one for me.  i’m not a canon fanboy – i am an enthusiast of canon’s equipment yes, but i have thought several times of switching to nikon, and have great respect for their equipment (photographers/companies who say the camera is the most important part of the equation are idiots).  changing systems requires a lot of money.  the reason this camera is number one is because it has become a game changer for us.  on two fronts:

1.  low light sensitivity:  before the 5D2, i had a hard time photographing in wedding ceremonies since i don’t use strobes for ceremonies (duh) and they are often not very well lit.  on the 5D as soon as you hit ISO 1600, you will have a lot of post processing work ahead of you to repair the noise.  with the 5D2 i can now crank it up to ISO 6400 easily and not worry about anything.

shooting in candlelight is no longer impossible, dimly lit churches are not scary, and hand-holding a 300mm f/2.8 IS at f/2.8, 1/90th and ISO 6400 does not mean ‘bad photo’ (yup, that happened.  and yes, it was awesome).  game changer.  we can do more with less light.  awesome.  #winning

2.  video:  i have always wanted to be a filmmaker and this camera has allowed me to actually follow through with that.  growing up, the only options for filmmaking was bulky, expensive equipment or really cheap, dumpy stuff.  all of it was tape when i was younger and required specialty equipment to do any editing, but now i can shoot HD films on my work camera and compile them using something as simple as free software that comes with my computer, or for a small investment i can purchase high quality editing software and make something that will rival any independent film out there.

making cinema accessible to any person who has a few thousand to invest or a few hundred to rent means we will see a new level of films.  sure we will see more garbage now (just like we see more garbage in photography with the ease of use and quality of entry-level DSLR’s), but the flip side is that all of those indie filmmakers who could not afford it before can actually try to be discovered!

while i do not consider myself to be one of the top wedding videographers out there and will not attempt to go toe-to-toe with guys like my pal Brian over at Willowcraft Media, my vision holds its own and we can create beautiful and moving works of art using a media that was once not an option.  with our first couple of wedding films and mixed photo/video packages we have created VERY happy and loyal customers.

conclusion:

in the end, it really doesn’t matter what you shoot with.  as long as you find something that helps you to create the vision in your head, who cares what it requires.  some people’s vision requires a holga.  some people need a kodak aero ektar 7″ f/2.5 lens on a Speed Graphic (p.s. i’m one of those people, but can’t afford it).  some people are nikon users, some are canon users and everyone laughs at sony users (i kid…mostly…KIDDING).  in the end, it’s the eye and technical facility of the photographer that creates an awesome photo.  don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  these are just MY tools of the trade