My Camera Bag

< Domke F-2 Original Bag, black


I have just read a Facebook quote from actress Keira Knightley in which she says film photographers are much better at seeing their subjects than digital photographers. She went on to say that one of the reasons she agreed to be photographed topless for Interview magazine is the images not be Photoshopped.

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/fashion/keira-knightley-by-patrick-demarchelier

Keira Knightly is #1 on my list for Mama Mamiya of the Year

I meant this blog post to be about what's in my camera bag, my camera and lenses of choice,  not blow on too much about why. This does not see to be the case and I apologize for the digress.

As a former professional photographer, I am often asked how much equipment a person should have to do good work....to consistently produce good pictures.

Mostly I reply "a serious photographer needs only one camera and two lenses: a medium wide angle and a short telephoto. Since most consumer cameras come with a wide angle to telephoto zoom  anyway, this is all you really need."

Extras such as a flash, a longer or wider or faster lens can expand your capability but do not in themselves make one a better photographer.

If you can not create decent pictures with a minimalist camera,  film or digital, all the equipment in the world is not going to help. ( I am not talking about specialist areas like wildlife or macro work, but in more general work like landscape or people photography) The problem is not the camera, it lies with the user's inability to see and feel the subject.

There are a few more things to ponder when selecting camera.... Like, why you want to take pictures anyway? What exactly are you going to do with the pictures? What's your motivation?.....

...I assume anyone involved in black and white film photography has more than a passing interest in the craft...

I will add it is more difficult for the film photographer to consistently produce good pictures as it requires a unique mindset: one must see, think and visualize the end result before the shutter is released. Luckily a skill which can be developed, improved and nurtured over time.

A digital capture is somewhat the opposite of that. All the creativity is after the fact, in front of a computer using Photoshop. Click...click...click and you're a master. Easy, but in some circles has led to a backlash against digital in favour of  traditional film techniques.

Visualization is even more difficult when using black and white film. It becomes important to see tonal qualities as well as subject, lighting and composition. The choice of camera, lens, film and final print become very important and reflect the subject through the photographer's vision.

Also important is getting enough different views of the subject from different angles to do justice to the subject itself. With a 35mm the photographer can easily jump around shooting to eventually arrive at the best angle. Not so with the TLR's waist level finder in which the image is backwards anyway and no auto exposure or autofocus to help you out.

Using a TLR  slows the photographer down and makes her concentrate on the subject, slowly and often over a longer period of time.

So there you have it, my disgress.

But what's is most important to many photographers?

Without question it seems to be.........their stuff.

Now on to my stuff....

The range of equipment for the TLR photographer is most extensive in the Mamiya C series, where the availability of changeable lenses is unique in the TLR world.

The following is a list of 35mm equivalents for the C series lenses:

55mm  >  36 mm 
65mm  >  42 mm
80mm  >  52 mm
105mm >  68mm
135mm  > 88mm
180mm  > 117mm
250mm > 163mm

This impressive range of what now would be called vintage lenses is still limited on the wide end, the 55mm has a 35mm equivalent of 36mm. The 250mm is 163mm on the telephoto end. The 250's bellows extension make it all but unusable except for tripod and studio work and the 180 only slightly better. Since all C cameras came with the 80mm normal lens it is a good chance you will have one of these anyway and a great lens if you are content with the normal focal length equivalency work.

That leaves the handheld or monopod using landscape/streetscape/ portrait photographer with a working 35mm equivalent range of 36mm to 88mm. Not much, but all you really need.

So if you choose the Mamiya C series film system as your camera along with the 55 and 135mm as everyday lenses a good question would be what would be a good camera bag to carry your stuff around and reflect the cool film user hipster dude you have now become.

During my years as a professional photographer the only camera bag I ever really liked was the Domke F-2 original, black canvas version. I briefly used the sand colour F-2 until a friend asked me why I had a pink bag?

The F-2's simple old school design molds to your side and does not bounce off the hip when walking fast or running. Over time it becomes a very comfortable bag, stylish yet discrete.

Although original designed for 35mm photojournalists, the F-2  is also ideal fit for the roaming Mamiya TLR photographer. Its depth is just about right on for the camera with flip finder closed, plenty of room for lenses, meter, film etc. It comfortably hangs off the shoulder and fits nicely behind the seat of a car.

I have two C220's but only keep one in my bag along with a 55mm,  80mm and 135mm lenses. Add to that a Minolta incident flash light meter, which I still have from my studio days, yellow and  red filters and a 46-49 step-up ring.

My current favorite film is Ilford HP5+ and usually carry 5-10 rolls

So there you have it. A great and capable film camera, a limited but superb line of lenses in a hip and discreet shoulder bag. All you need are inspiration and motivation, the two things even more important than equipment needed to consistently produce good pictures.