Camera Fashion?

I admit it. I am a sucker for pretty cameras.

I pay the fashion tax. Always have, always will. Given the option to pay a little more I will always choose a product with great design, great looks, beautiful materials, and panache.

Beige box or Mac Pro? Ugly black plastic Dell or MacBook Air? Cashmere or polyester? Plastic blob or Leica? Well, maybe not Leica, year by year Leica seems to push the limit on what someone will pay for a light-tight box. Leica is quickly heading down the road towards jewelry.

I have the obligatory system camera with all the features, functions, and capabilities that far surpass the needs I have for making photographs and videos that are work-related. My modern digital system does everything. It does it fast. I have a dazzling array of lenses that are near perfect. My kit contains huge lenses, lenses that focus to life-size, lenses that can cover a lot of ground from wide to telephoto. I can make my own light at any exposure required. No camera bag or case made could hold that entire kit. I’d need a small truck.

Want to know how to kill all the joy photography can bring? That’s easy, bring that kit with you with some absurd notion you must be prepared for any subject all the time. We all have cell phones, they can make reasonably decent pictures... or video. Boring and ubiquitous as they are, I use my cell phone but again it’s not the same aesthetic or even the same tactile experience that’s part of making photographs using a purpose-built device.

At a point in the late ’80s or early ’90s, I went through this with my system cameras. My solution was to buy a Leica M6 and a 50mm Summicron. I carried that little camera with me almost all the time. I developed personal projects using it that grew organically out of found images along the way. The constraints enforced by that camera helped enhance my enjoyment of the process of photography. I didn’t shoot a dozen frames of the same thing just to make sure I had something workable. I didn’t care about subjects that were outside what I could make with that camera and that lens. I need a specific mission when I grabbed that camera and walked out the door.

Fast-forward to the walking habit I’m attempting to develop post-Covid lockdowns. I’m forcing myself to get outside, out of the house, away from the computer screen. Knowing myself as I do, I decided to bring a camera with me. I didn’t want to get out of the house merely to accomplish the walk as efficiently as possible. I wanted to notice where I was and what was going on around me. I didn’t want a photo assignment or a project that must get done either. Eureka, a film camera is just the ticket. Thirty-six frames, no camera bag, no system, no computers, and no urgent need to see what I made on the spot.

My love for photography and my love for cameras has resulted in an embarrassing inventory of film cameras. I cannot help myself but buy them when I run across one that’s impossibly cheap. How can a beautifully designed, beautifully constructed, masterpiece of craftsmanship and materials cost less than what it did in 1972?

As pondered what camera to take with me during the early efforts to get out of the house, it occurred to me how much choosing that camera was to a watch, or a pair of shoes, or a belt, or a purse (for those so inclined). Sure there’s a notion of functionality. Of more concern was how it looked, how it felt, how much I liked it, was I in the “mood” for that particular camera. Did I want something that looked and felt industrial, heavy-duty, and purposeful; Like a Nikon F2? Maybe something stylish, elegant, and outright pretty. Hiking boots or British tan oxfords? Black belt or brown? Linen or cotton? Dark or light?

Am I a film-only zealot? Not even close but I have to say I do love film cameras and many of the constraints they enforce. It informs all of my other photographic endeavors in significant ways. Want some cheap photographic thrills? Try a film camera, or half a dozen. You’ll be surprised at how different it feels if you’ve not used one in a while, or ever. You’ll also be surprised at how differently you photograph and how other people react to its presence. Like wearing a suit instead of a flannel shirt and jeans.