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Je Ne Regrette Rien

rayyan

Well-known member
Notwithstanding the wonderful Edith Piaf song, I do have a few regrets about my decisions/indecisions RE: photography.

Things I wish I had done more in my early days of photography...visiting more museums and studying great painters.

Camera equipment I bought, and I wish I hadn't. This surprisingly pertains to photo equipment I purchased since a few years back..When young, I didn't have the funds.

The cron 90 asph. The Nikon 24-120 and the Nikon 24/2.8D. Big, Clumsy, or optically not very good. Additionally the Fuji 16, 16-55, 90mm.
Each one shares at least one of these attributes..bulky, heavy, less desirable optically; my opinion only.

As to cameras...The Nikon D750 and the Fuji XH-1. Very recent purchases, which I really didn't and don't need. Want against need. Immature decisions, at my age.

And the best lens I ever used/use..the lux 50 asph. The best camera; The Nikon D700.

Not a big list. I do wish I had used the money traveling somewhere distant; seen some new cultures, broadened my mind, learnt new things about life and our planet.

How about you folks? Regret anything photography related?
 
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Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Books could be written about this, and I could easily contribute a few hundred pages. I tend to divide cameras into three categories; those that didn't work for me, those that worked but I never really liked (I call them the Volvo 240 cameras for those who have tried the ultimate Swedish utilitarian car) and the cameras that I love.

Didn't work:
Olympus E-M1 due to ergonomics.
Nikon D610, in spite of fantastic image quality, but ergonomics are not up to the usual Nikon standard and the viewfinder is hopeless.

Volvo 240:
Nikon D300. Never liked it but it's the camera that I've taken the most photos with. Never let me down ever. Great workhorse.
Olympus E-1. Mine suffered a premature death in a motorbike accident, but was a really great workhorse.
Nikon D80. The only camera I've worn out completely (although the D300, which I still use, comes close). Nikon re-built it for a couple of hundred dollars.
Nikon D810. The perfect workhorse. I still consider re-buying it.

The darlings:
Fuji S3, my first DSLR. I've just taken it out of the dry cabinet to use it for fun. Image quality is still to die for. Ergonomics are quirky, the buffer rooms 3 RAW images and takes 40 seconds to empty, but I'm old and slow too.
Nikon F6. It's the best. If it had a digital sensor, it would still have been the best. It's also the most beautiful. If people ask me why I'm not married, I show them the F6.
Panasonic GX8. I've mostly loved all my Panasonic cameras, but the GX8 is something special. I hate it also... sometimes, but it's a great, interesting relationship.
Panasonic GM5. It's the perfect small camera. If they launch the GM6/7/8/9 or whatever, I'll buy it, regardless of price... almost.

Lenses, not so many. I don't like lenses that are only sharp, particularly when they're also large, like the Nikkor 200-500 f/5.6 and the Zuiko 40-150 f/2.8.

Those that have made my list are:
Zeiss 21mm f/2.8, mine was a ZF.2. It's the best wide-angle.
Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-S, my most used lens without comparison. Great stuff. Heavy too.
PL 14-50mm f/2.8-3.5 (4/3-mount), the best "normal" zoom ever. Not the sharpest, but the best.
Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 (m4/3 mount), sharper than the PL 14-50, but not as good.
Zuiko 75mm f/1.8, the perfect lens.
Zuiko 75mm f/1.8, the most beautiful lens.
Zuiko 75mm f/1.8, the only lens I need :)
 
V

Vivek

Guest
My association with Nikon gear related people from another site. Terrible waste of time.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
I would say no. Even the cameras I did not really use. I could argue they taught me more than the ones I did. Mostly they indicated what I did not want in my photography at the time. For example, I had a Wista VX 4x5 view camera. It is a really well designed technical camera, but in spite of the image quality, the effort to use it was too great for a variety of reasons: size, weight, film handling, etc.



I even tried roll film backs with it to see if that made it more usable for me. This is with a 6x6 back and shift to create a diptych on a single strip of film. I also had a 6x12 back.



The Hexar Silver was also a great camera. I thought it would be a great tool next to my Mamiya 6. But while it was smaller and lighter, the quality just was not enough and the Mamiya was pretty portable.

And so this balance between portability and quality has been important. For film, I found medium format the best compromise. It also gave me more interesting formats--I really enjoyed 6x6 and 6x12. I also prefer rangefinder/viewfinder cameras.

I have had few digital cameras: Olympus EP-1, Sony RX-1, Pentax 645D, and Fuji X Pro2 (admit it guys, anyone at GetDPI who has had four cameras or less has probably only picked up photography in the last six months). Image quality has seen a huge advance with digital. I can't say I have been disappointed with any of them. I use the Pentax and Fuji the most, my wife has the EP-1. I am still learning about the Fuji, but it is becoming my multi-format viewfinder camera--I shoot 1:1, 3:2, and 16:9 with it, making it like a Mamiya 6, Horseman SW612, and Hexar Silver rolled into one. I have made 40" prints from the Fuji and they are really good. I guess I am also getting a little fatigued by prices where it seems that the only thing not priced in the thousands is the battery*.

* I have not checked Phase One or Hasselblad battery prices recently and so that might not be true.
 
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