Old is New Again
January 14, 2024Gear is gear. The road to success in the arts is not the latest and greatest in gear or trends. My opinion of the road to success is strength in vision, presentation, and willingness to put the work in. Chase Jarvis coined the phrase, “The best camera is the one in your hands.” I fully believe that quote. That said, I also LOVE gear!
I tend to trade in full-camera systems when I read about or physically test-drive a different lens. I don’t switch to upgraded camera bodies or the “newest” rage in photography. It is the lens that makes me want to switch. Or it is a new system perhaps?
***My first switch was from my Nikon F5s to a Fuji finepix Pro S3 digital camera in 2005. I was a Nikon nerd and Fuji was built from the Nikon F60 and F80 bodies, This allowed me to keep my F-mount Nikkor lenses while stepping into the digital realm.
***A few years later in 2008, I played with a certain lens from Canon. It was an 85mm f/1.2 L. The next day I traded in my Nikkor lenses and Fuji finepix and purchased the new Canon 5d markii and the 85mm 1.2L and 70-200 2.8L. Beautiful images for sure! A true workhorse of a system.
***2014 rolled around and Fuji released its XT-1 mirrorless system. I switched! I felt like I was getting stale and needed a change. Plus, I had checked out my friend’s X-T1 and it was like going home to Nikon. Again, I sold my Canon system and purchased the Fuji mirrorless system. This new energy I felt from the switch allowed me to start doing more personal work and started to move into more fine artwork.
***2014 rolls around and life is changing for me. So to deal with all the changes I was experiencing I needed to switch systems. I went out and upgraded to medium format. The Mamiya Leaf Credo 40 was the starting point. HUGE sensor and beautiful lenses! Slow camera system but it was needed at this time in my life. At that time I traded my Fuji gear for Sony. Why? It was the Sony 135mm f/1.8 Carl Zeiss Planar T* Telephoto Prime Lens. Perfection!
***A few years later I unloaded my Mamiya medium format gear. I was just not using it as I thought I would. My personal plans changed as did my professional plans.
***Then in 2023, I was in a major creative funk. My ADHD told me to switch up my gear one last time. So out with the Sony gear and in with the “new to me” Fujifil X-T3 system and several lenses. I immediately felt at home!
As I said, gear is gear. But I tend to fall into the power of the lens. Nikkor had the best glass of its day. That could still be the case. The Canon 85mm 1.2L was an eye-opener. Just beautiful and buttery. From there I moved to mirrorless….but from Fuji to Sony because of the 135mm 1.8 Zeiss. Again, just beautiful imagery with that lens. However, because you needed an A to E mount adapter the speed of the lens suffered and it was not as useful for the speed of my wedding coverage. Finally, I landed back in the Fujifilm arena. This time it was not lens related, but comfort. The Sony system felt like I was shooting with my laptop. No real personality. For me, the Fujifilm X-T system is like hanging out with your best friend or your loved ones. The X-T bodies just fit perfectly for me. So, in my final swap of gear, it was about the camera and not just the lens.
So what was old is now again new!
