Decisions decisions….

I am about to leave on a trip to Europe including a week in Germany and another home with friends and family in the UK.

Of course I want to take photos whilst I am there and of course I want to take a film camera; but which one (or two, or three)?

I was thinking about this yesterday and here is my kit list;

• My Olympus Pen-F digital  and two lenses
• Voigtläner Vitomatic II
• A medium format; either Mamiya C330 or Voigtländer Bessa RF
• plus the little pocket Sony DSC-QX10

Really?  Four cameras?  Do I really need to take them all?  I can justify each and every one of them to myself and feel I really do. But then I think maybe I am deluding myself.

Mirrorless: Part 5½, the countdown to Desert Trip and Pen-F try out

Just a few days until Desert Trip where I’ll be seeing some of the biggest names in rock, see my previous post here.

Mirrorless part 5 – indecision

Wow!

Mirrorless part 4 – the try out – Sony a6300

So I spent last week with a Sony a6300 with a 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens rented from Borrowlenses.com which I took on holiday to Florida.  

Going mirrorless? part 3

Just putting down my thoughts on the two cameras I have in mind for going mirrorless should I decide to make the switch (apologies if I have said any of this before).

As mentioned previously the SLR has been giving me pain and I am thinking that technology is at the level where the difference between SLR vs Mirrorless (for my needs) is close enough.

So I have in mind two camera options having looked around; Sony a6300 and Olympus Pen-F digital.

Mirrorless or not? Part 2

I thought I would follow up on this subject and probably try to document this further over the next few weeks.

Following the last post on this I have been continuing my investigations whilst my SLR is in for repair.

I have fairly well convinced myself at this point that I do want to move to a smaller camera but not ready to make the decision yet.  To help me on the way I am renting a Sony a6300 from BorrowLenses.com for my vacation starting this weekend.  Hopefully this will give me what I need to make a decision of some sort.

There are two things i want to get out of it.

1. Try mirrorless in the real world and see if it makes the difference I am expecting.
2. Try out the one of the two cameras I have in mind and check operability.

The two cameras I am considering at the moment are the Sony a6300 and the Olympus Pen-F digital.  Both fit with my needs in terms of features so it comes down to usability and livability.  The Olympus is more expensive but look beautiful the Sony more affordable ;it’s not beautiful but is well designed and I like the look of it.

A week with the Sony will give me a good idea of what it is like to use and if it is good I will probably go with it leaving extra cash for lenses and accessories.

I’m thinking of going ‘mirrorless’

Is it time for me to switch?  I’ve been casually thinking about the idea for a while and now I am looking at specific cameras.

Photos on Friday (PoF): Twenty four cameras

Here are my camera pictures for this week’s ‘Photo on Friday’, I know there are a lot of them.  What can I say, I like cameras, especially old ones.

(I will admit that three of these are existing photos from my library).

Starting at almost the very beginning of popular photography, the oldest of the bunch having been made between 1901 and 1933; A box Brownie from Kodak – model number 2

Another early Kodak Six20 Junior model D c1934

A couple of cheap 110 format pocket cameras from the late 70s (I think) – Olympia and Fotorama Pocketpak 330

The most modern of the bunch a lens-only camera from Sony where your phone is used as the control and viewfinder – DSC-QX10. I love this little thing it’s so convenient to use when I don’t want to carry very much and gives me 18MP with 10x optical zoom so better than the phone on it’s own.

My first Canon, a low end SLR – EOS 1000F with 35-105mm 1:3.5-4.5 lens

A very early digital camera from Casio and held together with tape – not measured in megapixels (as those didn’t exist yet) its resolution is 640 x 480 (model QV-700)

Some broken cameras from the 90s; Pentax Optio 550 (5MP), Sony CybershotU (2MP) and on the APS film format Canon Ixus

Polaroid 210 Land Camera in working condition – still used regularly whilst film is still available; time is limited 😦

Technically this isn’t mine as I bought it for my girlfriend but I couldn’t leave it out of this list as it is quite cute and completes the set 🙂 Polaroid Land Camera 1000 ‘Red Button’

From the 70s (I think) this is a Halina Simplette Electric on the 126 film format

Agfa Isolette with 85mm 1:4.5 lens – uses 120 film

A trio of Voigtlanders, from the right; my regular use rangefinder film camera Vitomatic w/ 50mm 1:2.8 Color Skopar Lens, Vitessa Type N w/ 50mm 1:2 Ultron lens, and my first 35mm camera the Vito B w/ 50mm 1:3.5 Color Skopar Lens

 

This is a rangefinder from England just after WWII a Corfield Periflex Gold Star w/50 mm 1:2.8 lens – the rangefinder mechanism uses a small periscope which flicks out of the way as you press the shutter! This one is actually in my for sale pile as I have my eye on another camera which needs funding 😉

Another one that is for sale is this Bolsey B2 with Wollensak 44mm 1:3.2 Anastigmat lens from the good ol’ USA

The odd one out which I nearly didn’t include – a cine film camera from Elmo; 8-E Zoom auto Eye

I think this is a beautiful piece of equipment its another Polaroid land camera, model 800 – no film available for this one

A twin lens reflex (TLR) from Rollie – Rolliecord IIa w/ 75mm 1:3.5 lens – Rolliecord was the lower end market product range (Rollieflex being the upper) and this camera is from around 1937

Another TLR and sorry for the artsy angle, this is my medium format film camera which I still use if I am in that mood (not very often) a Halina A1 w/ 80mm 1:3.5 Anastigmat lens

Lastly my daily shooter; Canon EOS 60D with Sigma 24-70mm 1:2.8 lens. Just for completeness have some other lenses; Canon 75-300mm 1:4-5.6, 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 and 50mm 1:1.8

There is one camera missing which is my first DSLR the Canon 300D that my daughter has back in the UK so not available for me to photograph.

Next week will be the end of April and as April is the month of Spring I will take something spring-like for you before it’s too late.

Daily Photo Challenge #9 – Warmth

Had to switch to my Sony DSC-QX10 for today as I needed to be portable.  Here are a few snaps from my lunchtime walk out (I do love this little camera).