Some thoughts on lenses

$10 for a Canon GL17? That's a brilliant price (lovely little camera). I paid a fair bit more, and still regard it a good deal.

 

Several years ago, I didn't agonize which lenses to bring - I would bring them all. Big, heavy backpack overloaded with lenses "just in case". As time flew by, with a bit more experience, a bit more sense, a much worse back and so on, bags have gotten smaller and smaller. I use a zoom only if I travel to places I do not know (or not well enough), or for social events. In all other cases, I will take a couple of primes (or 1 prime). I do prefer primes, and mostly manual focus lenses.

 

Sure it does depend whether it's going on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, or just a casual walk around in the neigbourhood. If I just go somewhere and expect I might make a few photos, but also maybe not, a camera with 35mm or 50mm probably will do, maybe with added something around 90-105mm. Light, simple, and does 90% of what I usually want to do. I probably agony more about bringing digital or film, or which film.

(.... well, or my phone, but I do shoot far more casual and less disciplined with the phone than I do with any camera. That's just between my ears, but that's the case with all of our preferences)

Gentlepersons:

 

You young folks are fortunate enough to live in an era where even the cheap lenses are pretty good. I bought my first camera in the late 1930s, an Argus AF. Most of the people I photographed are gone. Many of the places/things I photographed are gone and/or changed. I often wish I had been a little more flush and could have bought a better lens to show detail I think I remember but could not be resolved on film and so I'm not so sure anymore.

 

But I'm pushing 98. In a few days, months, or at the most, years it will never matter again. In the long run I guess it is a big "So what?"

 

A. T. Burke

 

Mr Burke: I haven't been around nearly as many years as you but I can still relate to the things you're saying. The "village" of 2,000 that I grew up in now has about 30,000 people and bears almost no resemblance to the town I remember. My parents' generation is almost all gone, - save one uncle, who is about as old as you.

 

I'm sure your photography brought you joy and joy to others. I can tell you that even some of the small things my Uncle did with his life have left a lasting impression on his children and grandchildren, - including his nephew: me.

 

I guess that you're right. In the end whether you had a little bit better lenses or not doesn't matter that much. But rest assured, the things you've done and the people you've influenced continue to matter. Even your post had its impact.

$10 for a Canon GL17? That's a brilliant price (lovely little camera). I paid a fair bit more, and still regard it a good deal.

 

It was timing and luck. Those have become popular cameras on ebay and command a much higher price. But I still find people on craigslist who have no use for theirs or their parents old film equipment and just want to get rid of it.

 

Since we are talking about lenses I got a Canon FD 50mm 1.4 for free. It came on a broken AE-1 Program. That would be the other lens that's relevant to this thread. It's fast so if I bring along an SLR, there's a good chance that's the lens that will be on it.

 

It's a good time to be into film as far as getting cameras goes. The most I've spent for a film camera was $80 for a medium format Yashica 12.

"I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail." Maslow.

To what degree is what you create dependent on the tool you carry?

Or, in other words, if all I take is a smartphone, am I doomed to take only selfies? ;^)

"I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail." Maslow.

To what degree is what you create dependent on the tool you carry?

Or, in other words, if all I take is a smartphone, am I doomed to take only selfies? ;^)

 

Why would you be doomed to take only selfies? Unless that is all that interests you.

Another reason I stopped using the phone was because losing it is big trouble (so much info- gone) whereas losing the tg is annoying (i've lost a couple) it's not a big problem.

Norman, I have my phone set automatically to back up my photos, calendar, contacts, emails, notes, and texts to the cloud, which is free as long as I keep it under 5GB. When I get close to the 5GB max, I manually back it all up to the two hard drives I back everything else up to, and then delete it from the cloud. If I lose or accidentally drop my phone into the swimming pool (done only once!), all important data is retrievable.

Further to what Fred said above... If one needs more than the free 5GB of storage, that can be bumped up to 50GB for $0.99/month ($11.88/year), a steal. And accessible anywhere where there's an internet connection.

Just curious about those with cellphone wireless accounts and wonder whether any of you have had to sign a contract or agree to a contract that when broken you owe money or have to give up content in your cloud account.

 

The reason I bring this up is that my neighbor who had been living in the apt. above me for 19 years had to move in with his son and thus break his DirectTV contract where he had to pay $270. I know this has nothing to do with cellphone accounts but it does point to unknowable potential gotcha's using any picture taking and storage device that requires a contract or some user agreement. And of course I had no idea DirectTV had contracts that do this to there long standing customers.

 

I'm with Norman when it comes to using cellphone as a reliable and secure camera.

Tim,

It is like a lease, 12 or 24 months at $x per month.

If you break the lease (end it early), you have to pay the owner the balance of the lease.

And this is very much like cell phone contracts.

That $10 a month for the phone, is based on a contract of X months.

End the service early and you have to pay off balance of the contract.

My AF-P 18-55 Nikkor just works for me. Even higher ISO shooting and processing raw in DXO OpticsPro is very good. I don't need to haul multiple primes anymore.

Tim,

It is like a lease, 12 or 24 months at $x per month.

If you break the lease (end it early), you have to pay the owner the balance of the lease.

And this is very much like cell phone contracts.

That $10 a month for the phone, is based on a contract of X months.

End the service early and you have to pay off balance of the contract.

Regarding my neighbor's DirectTV contract he was a customer for some time but he didn't go into details including how long he used their service. There's another problem I just discovered with cable tv companies that have to install a satellite in apartments in that when the tenant moves, they leave the satellite dish and the apartment owner now has to deal with getting the cable company to remove it. What a mess!

Norman, I have my phone set automatically to back up my photos, calendar, contacts, emails, notes, and texts to the cloud

Fred, thanks, I am aware of the cloud but I don't always have access to it, the internet might be down, too slow or the wifi connection where i am staying unsecured.

 

if i use my phone as a camera these days, which is rare, i backup the photos to a flash drive.

The 35 mm lens was a favorite of many PJs in days of film, 50 mm being a bit tight, and I find its DX equivalent today to be my most common zoom setting when walking around. Every new photographer wants a big telephoto. In over 40 years I think I've shot exactly one decent photo with anything longer than 105 (ff). Most of what I do these days is macro, so lens choices tend to be a bit different, yet the 55 mm Micro-Nikkor is still my most used.