Gear
This post catalogues the history of my photography gear. My first memory of being interested in photography, was when I found myself jealous of a digtal Canon compact camera that my sister got for her birthday. It took AA batteries and drained them in a matter of minutes. My own first camera was a Fuji FinePix F30. My first "serious" camera, which at the time I thought of as a synonym for a DSLR, was a Pentax K-m. Wanting cheap led me to old manual focus Pentax K-mount lenses, and those in turn led me to the Pentax MX 35mm film SLR. Everything else follows from there.
2006
My First Camera
My first camera was a Fuji FinePix F30.
I'd done lots of online research, reading reviews. I learned the basics of ISO, aperture and shutter speed from the reading I did at that time.
The camera took nice pictures for what it was, but technology has come a long way - the pictures don't compete with a phone from 10 years later.
Photos tagged with Fuji FinePix F30
2009
The Pentax Era
I wanted to get a "proper camera". At the time this meant a DSLR. From the very beginning I was interested in the idea of a camera being small, something that would stick with me, bar a few mistakes here and there. The Pentax K-m was one of the smallest DSLRs available at the time, and I remember in-body image stablization being the other big selling point. I'm not sure I've had a camera with any type of image stablization since.
I had a couple of not-great kit lenses that came as part of the set.
- Photos tagged with smc Pentax-DA 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL
- Photos tagged with smc Pentax-DA 50-200mm f4-5.6 ED
I gained some understanding, somewhere along the line, that prime lenses would be sharper than zoom lenses. I know this is less true with modern lenses today, but at the time this was as true as anything. I didn't have much money to spend, but there were tons of quick prime lenses for Pentax K mount on eBay for < £30. I bought a smc Pentax-M 50mm f1.7 for somewhere around that figure, and I took 95% of my photos from then on using that lens. I wasn't bothered by the lack of auto-focus, despite me missing focus quite a lot. With the crop factor, it was the equivilant of 75mm, which I'd now find akward for an everyday lens. But the pictures were sharper, and taking pictures was infinitely more fun.
Photos tagged with smc Pentax-M 50mm f1.7
I bought some other lenses. They got used, but not exactly a lot in comparison to the nifty-fifty.
Just before the end of the year, I bought a film SLR for K mount, the Pentax MX. This is the camera that took my interest in photography another level. Playing around with film in 2009 had become a pretty niche interest. I shot my first roll of film visiting a friend studying a year abroad in Gratz alongside another friend.
[My favorite photos from the ]
My favorite Pentax photos from my "Pentax Era"
2010
Pentax Continued
After hearing about my ventures into film, my Uncle passed his old film SLR onto me, which just so happened to be another Pentax, a Pentax K1000 with a smc Pentax-M 50mm f2. I barely touched the lens given I had the f1.7 version, and I'm pretty sure I ended up giving it to my sister at some point.
Photos tagged with Pentax K1000
I didn't stop at 2 film SLRs. I added a Pentax ME Super to the collection as it had aperture priority, which appealed to me over the fully manual process of shooting with the MX or K1000.
My philosophy on automation in photography is that I want control over everything required to take the picture I want to take, and to be able to ignore everything else. Most of the time, that means to me that aperture priority, with some method for exposure compensation, trumps fully manual. When shutter speed is important for my photo, I'm still generally happy to give the camera control of ISO to get me the exposure I want.
Photos tagged with Pentax ME Super
I added a couple more lenses as well. First ultra-wide Cosina 20mm f3.8 MC, which I appear to have barely touched. By most accounts I've found, it's not a great lens. Second, and more interestingly, the smc Pentax-M 40mm f2.8 which is a tiny pancake lens.
Week of Dark
In March 2010 I learned how to use a darkroom for the first time with a group of like-minded, but similarly inexperienced, friends at the University of Bristol darkroom. Later on I would be the darkroom manager at these darkrooms.
Canon Digital
While I continued on the Pentax front for film cameras, I'd fallen out with the Pentax K-m. In many respects it just wasn't very good, and I didn't have the right lenses given the crop factor! I remember bidding on this big batch load of Canon lenses alongside a Canon 40D on ebay in the middle of a Computer Science lab at University of Bristol. My student maintainace loan had come through, and I blew most of it on this knowing I could sell most of the lenses and make a profit even when keeping the 40D.
According to the EXIF data on the photos, I'd bought the camera off a guy called "Robert Olejnik" — apparently I never did a factory reset.
I sold all the lenses that came with the body with the exception of a Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II. Shortly afterwards I added a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM. I have really fond memories of the Sigma; 30mm is finally a sensible normal focal length on a body with a 1.5 crop factor.
- Photos tagged with Canon 40D
- Photos tagged with Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II
- Photos tagged with Sigma 30mm f1.4 EX DC HSM
Continuing to explore film cameras
I'm on eBay daily by this point. Over the remainder of the year I bought a number of other film cameras that I proceeded to barely use. My "one-roll-wonders" so to speak.
The Olympus Trip 35 put me off zone-focusing. Mostly, it just didn't do anything that my other film cameras didn't already do better for me.
The Olympus 35 ECR put me off rangefinders. I struggled a bit with the focusing, not that I would miss the focus, but it took me too long with the small and indistinct rangefinder patch.
I also bought an Action Sampler (or so it was called), which was a mildly distracting toy. It takes four photos on each frame, each one a short amount of time after the other. I never took a compelling photo that actually used the feature, instead I just got four poor quality pictures on each frame.
Photos tagged with Action Sampler
I also shot a single roll on a Kodak Pop. I think this camera maybe cost me a £2.
I had a brief excursion into Canon film cameras with the Canon EOS 300. Wierdly, the only photos I have lying around from it were ones taken with the Sigma 30mm f1.4 EX DC HSM, which is only designed to cover the Canon digital crop sensors.
Photos tagged with Canon EOS 300
Instax
I also started playing around with instant photography for the first time with the Fuji Instax Wide. My instax however developed a light leak after a while and then the motor that moved the lens jammed up. Gone before its time.
Photos tagged with Fuji Instax Wide
First Medium Format
My first dip into medium format was a borrowed Yashicamat 124G.
I don't really remember the sequence of events, but I think there was the borrowed Yashicamat 124G, then a Yashicamat 124 which I owned, and finally a Yashicamat EM. Both of the ones I owned had issues. The Yashicamat EM had a broken lightmeter, and so I removed the whole front-plate given that it had no other purpose.
2011
Medium Format Upgrades
In 2011 I got really stuck into Medium format. This started with attempting to upgrade my TLR from a Yashica to a Rollei. I bought a Rolleiflex 3.5E. Unfortunately, no Rolleiflex I have owned has lasted very long, I have not found them to be reliable cameras.
Photos tagged with Rolleiflex 3.5E
If Rolleiflexes are not realiable, I've found Bronicas to be quite the opposite. I tried out a Bronica ETRSi that I borrowed from University of Bristol Photosoc, and then bought a Bronica SQA with 3 lenses. It was purchased before a trip to Iceland and I still have the whole set to this day.
- Photos tagged Bronica ETRSi
- Photos tagged Bronica SQA
- Photos tagged Bronica Zenzanon-PS 80mm f2.8
- Photos tagged Bronica Zenzanon-S 150mm f3.5
- Photos tagged Bronica Zenzanon-S 40mm f4
I also bought a Mamiya 645E so that I could use a Mamiya Sekor 80mm f1.9. The lens is legendary, and I took a couple of pictures that hinted at how great it could be, but I just hated the camera. The size made it impossible to take anywhere, and it was unpleasant to use with the heaviest feeling shutter I've experienced. In hindsight I probably should have kept the lens, and tried a different body before selling the lot.
Photos tagged with Mamiya 645E and Mamiya Sekor 80mm f1.9
Return to Digital
Planning my big trip to Iceland, I didn't want to take the risk of going 100% film. I wasn't sure what it would be like, and I was brand new to the Bronica at the time. Without it, I wouldn't have had any lightmetering capability on the trip.
The Panasonic Lumix GF-1 appealed based on its size, especially when coupled with the not-too-expensive Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f1.7 providing a fast, pancake sized, normal lens. Despite really enjoying this camera, I just wasn't really interested in digital at the time. It ended up being nothing more than an expensive lightmeter in Iceland and I sold it not much later. At some point I bought a strange eBay-wonder "CCTV" lens for it. It had absolutely no sharpness anywhere but the center of the frame, which was rather unique.
- Photos tagged with Panasonic Lumix GF-1
- Photos tagged with Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f1.7
- Photos tagged with Panasonic Lumix G 14mm f2.5
- Photos tagged with Camdiox 25mm f1.4 TV Lens
2012
Polaroid Land Camera
Having messed around with Pentax in previous years, I tried instant photography more seriously by aquiring a Polaroid Land Camera 340 from a friend. The photos, shot mostly on Fuji FP100c film (as the only one available at the time), are really wonderful to hold. I think this camera would have been a permanent keeper had the battery compartment not corroded everywhere.
Photos tagged with Polaroid Land Camera 340
Fujifilm X100
I remember when the Fujifilm X100 was first announced, I instantly lusted after one. Compact body, amazing design, fast fixed lens, manual controls, digital. I left it a while though, considering them to expensive, but when my friend picked one up for a good price off eBay I couldn't resist following. I remember the feeling that the camera could basically shoot in darkness, it was a huge step forwards in low-light situations.
Photos tagged with Fujifilm X100
Rangefinder awakening
Up to this point, my entire experience with rangefinders were older, cheaper, cameras with dim small rangefinder patches that made focusing very hard. A friend though had invested in Voigtlanders Leica M-mount equipment. I was able to borrow a Voigtlander Bessa R3M and Zeiss 35mm Biogon f2. It was an entirely different experience. I would go on to turn almost my entire photography attention over to rangefinders, and would even buy my own Zeiss 35mm Biogon f2 within a couple of years. It's one of my most used lenses to this day.
After a lot of research, I decided to start my rangefinder collection with a Minolta CLE and a Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f1.4 SC. I was attracted to the Minolta due to it being a small, M-mount rangefinder with aperture priority. I wasn't so keen on it only having 40mm framelines (as opposed to 35mm and 50mm), but the Nokton lens was available at a good price, and it was fast.
- Set of favorites from the Minolta CLE
- Photos tagged with Minolta CLE
- Photos tagged with Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f1.4
I definitely regret selling this kit. It's unsurpassed for me in 35mm.
2013
Medium format misfires
Another one-roll-wonder in the form of a 1930s Wirgin 6x9 folding camera. It was kind of fun, but had absolutely no sharpness about it whatsoever.
I had another shot at buying a Rolleiflex. This time a Rolleiflex 2.8C with a Xenotar lens. I really wanted the Planar lens, but so does everybody else, meaning it costs dramatically more money. As with the last Rolleiflex, it died after only a handful of rolls. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the 3.5E.
Photos tagged with Rolleiflex 2.8C
Super-wide
My second lens for the Leica M system, and the first that I still have today. The Voigtlander Super-wide Heliar 15mm f4.5 has stuck with me for years, and has been on countless journeys, and on many many bodies at this point. It is very very wide. Stupidly so. It has some bad properties, but mostly, it just gets a lot of stuff in the frame.
- Set of favorites from the Voigtlander Super-wide Heliar 15mm f4.5
- Photos tagged with Voigtlander Super-wide Heliar 15mm f4.5
2014
Committing to M-mount
In 2014 I moved to Seattle, and found myself at a camera shop in my first weekend out there. I bought a Sony Alpha 7 with the intention of only ever using M-mount lenses on it. I paid for it with a cheque. The camera was full-frame and compact, it made total sense with M-mount lenses to me.
With the 40mm and the 15mm I had decent normal and wide-angle options. I added an old Leica Elmar-C 90mm f4, which gave me a telephoto option. It was alright, a lot of the time I wanted to shoot things far away at infinity with this lens, and it just didn't do that particularly well. It was very cheap though.
Another massive Mamiya
I bought a Mamiya Universal Press with the idea that it would take amazing Polaroids. I never even put a normal roll of 120 through it. Yet again though, size was its downfall. This thing wouldn't even fit in my backpack. It was completely useless to me for shooting anywhere more than about 5 minutes walk from my home.
Medium format rangefinder
My purchase of a Fujifilm GF670 on the other hand was a success, and it was a success precisely because its compact, and therefore, easy to use for any number of things. This one, alongside the Bronica is a keeper, I can't see why I'd ever get rid of it. It can shoot both 6x6 and 6x7 frames (though not interchangably within the same role). I thought I'd use this a lot, but in reality, I shoot mostly with 6x7. I can always crop to square, and the extra 2 shots per roll isn't worth it much of the time.
2015
Tiny Rangefinder
All the way back when I was buying the Olympus ECR and Olympus Trip 35 what I really wanted was an Olympus XA. I snagged one off eBay on a whim, and put a couple of rolls through it. I liked almost none of the pictures though, so I moved it on.
Zeiss
By this point I wanted to upgrade from the Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f1.4 SC. I wanted something a bit more technically good, something with a bit more edge-to-edge sharpness at wider apertures. I actually knew exactly what I wanted, because I'd had (borrowed) it before. I purchased a Zeiss 35mm Biogon f2. That led me to beleive that I should move on from the Minolta CLE as well, as it doesn't have 35mm framelines. I bought a Zeiss Ikon as a cheaper, though still massively expensive, alternative to a Leica. For some reason, I never really got on with it. I suspect maybe there was some rangefinder misalignment, mixed in with me not having a very good film scanner at the time.
2016
Digital Leica
At some point in 2016, I realized that an older digital Leica camera was within my grasp. I rented a Leica M-E (the original 2012 version) to see how I liked it. I instantly loved it, the shooting experience was almost perfect. Noisier smaller files than the Sony Alpha 7, technology moves forwards after all, but I would choose the files from the Leica CCD sensor every time. Shortly after returning the rental, I bought a Leica M9 and assumed it would be a camera I would have for a very long time.
2017
In 2017, my Leica M9 developed the sensor corrosion issue that plagues that camera. I had to send it off to Leica, and the waiting times at that point were rediculous. The communication of how long you'd have to wait was non existent. I bought a Fujifilm X100T to tide me over.
2018
Leica Upgrade
In 2018 I gave up waiting and headed to the Leica store. I dropped a big pile of money and bought a brand new Leica M10. The Leica M10 is the sensible choice for me. For some reason, I have never quite felt the passion for it that I felt for the M9 (probably that CCD magic again), but the M10 does absolutely everything I want, and is flawless to work with removing all of the little annoyances that were present with the M9.
50mm
I got really back into the idea of shooting 50mm again. My move to rangefinders had moved me to 40mm and then 35mm, with my 50mm days all the way back with my Pentax film SLRs.
First I bought a 7artisans 50mm f1.1 which is a frankly silly lens. It can achieve a super-shallow depth of field, but it doesn't really tick any other boxes for me. It's big, it's heavy, and it doesn't take the pictures I wanted. It took me years to get around to selling it, but its gone now.
So in the end, I spent a bunch more money. A used but mint boxed Leica Summicron 50mm f2 (V) appeared at my local Leica store. I traded in my M9 on the day it was returned to me to buy the lens. It quickly became my standard go-to lens, taking the majority of my pictures since. Another one I expect to keep forever.
- Photos tagged with 7artisans 50mm f1.1
- Set of favorites from the Leica Summicron 50mm f2
- Photos tagged with Leica Summicron 50mm f2
2019
NOTHING! I didn't buy a single camera or lens. 2019 was a pretty difficult year to say the least, so I guess it wasn't top of my mind.
2020
Lens Upgrades
2020: Lots of walking around Bristol taking photos of the same things over and over, but I did it with some upgraded equipment.
I bought some Leica lenses to replace the non-Leica lenses in my 3 lens setup. The Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f3.4 was an improvement in wide-angle. The Leica Elmarit-M 90mm f2.8 was an improvement in telephoto. In the case of the Elmarit-M I learned how to add Leica 6-bit encoding to the lens myself such that my M10 could correctly detect which lens was on the body.
Monochrom
In May I bought a dream camera of mine. A Leica Monochrom (M9M). This camera is exciting to use, and the detail contained in every file picture is absolutely mind blowing. The pictures consistently look great, even when you look at them at 100%. This has also really allowed me to see which lenses are better than others.
Photos tagged with Leica M Monochrom
2021
35mm lenses
2021 I was able to buy another dream lens, the Leica Summicron 35mm f2 ASPH. This gives me a fully Leica 21/35/50/90 kit. However, I still haven't been able to bring myself to sell the Zeiss 35mm Biogon f2. I've had phases of preferring the photos taken with the Zeiss, though most likely I can't actually tell much between them. The Leica most definitely wins on size and handling, the Zeiss wins on price.
Photos tagged with Leica Summicron 35mm f2
Trying to shoot Polaroids
My Polaroid Land Camera 340 was busted, but there's still a handfull of packs of film in my fridge. First I tried getting a Polaroid back for my Bronica SQA, which wasn't super satisfying because of the small coverage area. Then I bought a Polaroid Land Camera 355 hoping for a direct replacement, unfortunately the cameras in poor condition, with some mechanical issues that means the lens isn't necessarily in line with the focus plane. Still I managed to take a couple of nice photos with some fancy "chocolate" Polaroid film I loaded into it.
Photos tagged with Polaroid Land Camera 355
2022
A friend introduced me to Ricoh compact cameras and their GR III inspired me to buy the Ricoh GR. I love the output it produces, and it's tiny size makes it the first legitimately pocketable camera that I've owned since the Olympus XA. I don't really like the looks and the controls, but there's nothing else as small with such a large sensor, so I accept what it is.
2023
35mm lenses (again)
I continued to be unsure about my 35mm lenses, particularly frustrating given that I consider it my preferred focal length these days. I made a decision to sell both the Zeiss 35mm Biogon f2 and the Leica Summicron 35mm f2 ASPH and splash the cash on a Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 ASPH FLE. Then I changed my mind, chickening out based on the price and size of the Summilux.
In the meantime I tried out a friends Minolta M-Rokkor 40mm f2, and fell in love with it. Missing 40mm framelines from my rangefinders bothered me less than I thought it would, and the lens is so tiny that it can fill a niche for me as a good lens to carry when I want to travel light.
Photos tagged with Minolta M-Rokkor 40mm f2
I still felt the need for an actual 35mm that brought up correct framelines. I ended up buying the emminently sensible Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2. I bought the earlier version with the kinda-odd styling. I don't mind it.
Photos tagged with Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2
21mm trade
Having enjoyed the truly tiny size of the Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2 and the Minolta M-Rokkor 40mm f2 I increasingly focused on getting the smallest lenses possible. While the Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f3.4 is a beautiful lens, Voigtlander offered a less perfect, but much smaller and cheaper option. I traded it for a Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f3.5.
Photos tagged with Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f3.5
Another Ricoh
Having sold the expensive Leica Summicron 35mm f2 ASPH and Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f3.4 I impluse bought a Ricoh GR IIIx. There's something I haven't quite gotten to grips with yet about it, and instinctively I still prefer the output of the original GR.
Photos tagged with Ricoh GR IIIx
90mm trade
I jumped on another opportunity to trade a larger lens for a smaller lens. This time it was the Leica Elmarit-M 90mm f2.8 for the Leica Macro-Elmar-M 90mm f4. The size of this lens is really spectacular; a 90mm that (collapsed) is smaller than the Leica Summicron 50mm f2!
Photos tagged with Leica Macro-Elmar-M 90mm f4
2024
Tempting trial
I recieved an email from Leica about borrowing a Leica M10 Monochrom for 24 hours from their Mayfair store. We were able to line up some other things for the weekend, so I booked it up along with a full day off work to shoot with it.
I had a really great time with the camera. Good enough that I had a few months of carefully watching used prices and planning my path to buy one. I sold my M9 Monochrom on the basis that, even if I wasn't going to get an M10 Monochrom, I would prefer to use an M10 era camera. The prices kept going up and up, so I've given up for now.
Photos tagged with Leica M10 Monochrom
35mm Solution
I purchased yet another 35mm lens, and I finally feel like I've got it right this time. The Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.5 has the size and similar handling to the Leica Summicron 35mm f2, with the same 39mm filter size (that I've standardised on), but the option of an extra stop of light. A fast, small 35mm lens with modern corrections and the option of narrow depth of field is exactly what I wanted.
Photos tagged with Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.5
Rediscovering Film
On a whim I put a roll through the old K1000 that originally belonged to my Uncle (see 2010). I didn't have a battery to put in it, so I shot the roll using Sunny 16 and had a great time. The scans I got back from Photographique in Bristol were really nice, and I was reminded that I can enjoy 35mm again.
Having rediscovered 35mm I of course turned my attention to buying something new. I bought a Contax T, and have rapidly put 10 rolls through it. I even ended up writing a 5 frames post for 35mmc about it (local copy).
I've been enjoying 35mm that I've invested in a 35mm "scanning" setup. It makes a huge difference verses a flatbed scanner, so it's been a really good investment so far.
Film M
I finally bought a film Leica! I chose the Leica M2 as it's the oldest Leica, with the most legendary build quality that I could get that would work well for 35mm. In fact, as someone that shoots 35mm, 50mm and 90mm, but not 28mm, 75mm or 135mm it has the perfect framelines for me.
2025
Smaller 50mm
TODO: Voigtlander Color-Skopar 50mm f2.2
Bonus
TODO
A list of things to do to improve this history.
- TODO: Missing lenses on all SQA stuff
- Hawaii
- Europe 2013
- Berlin trip
- First Seattle trip
- Iceland
- TODO: Split Yashicamats
- All photos before this must be 124G: https://flickr.com/photos/z-two/5521905641/in/dateposted-public/
- TODO: Gear photos: https://flickr.com/photos/z-two/albums/72157623252145642
- TODO: Web desgin screenshots: https://flickr.com/photos/z-two/albums/72157622438894041
- TODO: Other artworks: https://flickr.com/photos/z-two/albums/72157621828929139