Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda

New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site

New Feature: SMS Notification alert

New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist

FM Forums | Leica & Alternative Gear | Join Upload & Sell

2 3 end

Archive 2012 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

FlyPenFly
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

We spoke in another thread about that X factor that we sometimes refer to as "soul" when it comes to camera bodies. Personally, I think in the digital age, I can't think of any camera that really exuded this quality. The GF-1 was the closest for me although ultimately the disappointing 20mm F1.7 lens and sensor combo didn't work out for me.

In other collector hobbies like luxury wrist watches or even performance vehicles, everyone knows about that intangible variable that speak beyond quantitative measurements. It's often the history, personal meaning, and just plain bias that tie us to such mechanical devices.

Back to digital cameras. I've found that sometimes, I have a hard time letting go of certain lenses although I have no qualms about getting rid of camera bodies. There are certain lenses that captured what I feel are my ten best images I've taken. Some of them aren't technically excellent but the way those lenses expressed what I saw and added it's own creative influence create an emotional attachment. You know that feeling you get when you first download your images and you see a really stand out one that you may love? It's that moment I think your brain rewards you with some dopamine and then you think about your tools and how good they also are. This I believe, creates that attachment.

Hopefully I'm not the only silly soul who thinks this way. Maybe I'm just looking for a group therapy session to figure out if I'm being ridiculous about not selling an imperfect lens for a "better" one.

Feb 22, 2012 at 02:11 PM

mco_970
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

I have an attachment to Contax gear, but I think it's because my first SLR was a Contax when I was a teenager.

I feel like TSE-24 II has captured my best images in recent times, yet I'm not attached to it. It's a fiddly, intimidating beast that sits in the cabinet and mocks me.

Feb 22, 2012 at 02:21 PM

ricardovaste
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

To my Dynax 7, I'd say as it was a gift from my father on my 16th birthday. The rest I like, but could happily replace with duplicates.

Feb 22, 2012 at 02:22 PM

alexandre
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

I'm that kinda guy, I guess. See my profile and this:

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2440/3998499885_310141fafd_z.jpg?zz=1

I'm glad Zuiko primes don't really suck

Feb 22, 2012 at 02:50 PM

carstenw
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

I do feel some kind of connection to some of my gear, but not all. My ZF.2 100 MP gives me a great feeling when I use it, and my 50P also some. My 50/2 MP, 28/2 and 21/2.8 not really, although they are all great lenses. My Contax 645 system feels great all around, but of my current gear, it is probably my Leica 180/2 which gets me farthest. I don't use it so much, but it is such a great piece of gear. My OM-1 also gives me a nice feeling when I use it, but my ex-M6 was fantastic in the hand.

My Nikon D3 doesn't get me all teary-eyed emotional, but it just exudes confidence and competence, especially with the 24-70G or 70-200 VRII. Just rock-solid all the way. Total confidence. I love shooting with that camera.

Feb 22, 2012 at 02:54 PM

Bifurcator
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

My emotional attachment exists but is extremely low. I have about the same emotional attachment to my gear as I do a roll of tape, a flower I just met, or a CD of music I just DLed and burned. If any of those things die, get lost, or meet an untimely end I go "Awwwe" for a few seconds and then miss it only when/while I go to use it and find it's not there - which just evokes another momentary "awwwwe".

"Soul" at least as I think of the term just now is an almost all external thing. It's a sense of appreciation but it comes from the thing's inherent qualities as an engineered and styled tool, device, or commodity. In the case of the cameras we were talking about it was pertaining to how much "soul" it's makers put into it's creation and styling.

This probably won't explain it properly but it's like:

I see Sony/Panasonic/Samsung cameras as completely soulless because I think with all the faculties and information I possess, that they just tried to make something they could mass produce SUPER cheaply and that they might be able to get people to buy on spec. (IOW they were/are purely a profit making venture).

With cameras of old, Leica, and to a slightly lesser degree models like the Fuji X-100 and the OM-D however, I think they came into existence from one or a few people wanting to create something cool, something from a held vision and/or within esoteric principle. There's profit involved but mostly only as a means and not an end or as a main goal.

It's the same way with my music selection. I enjoy music of all kinds when it's soulful. I almost always hold indifference for music created (mainly) for commercial gain. With music it's usually very obvious too - but with cameras, electronics, and items it's often much more subtle and sometimes even requires knowing something about the inventor, manufacturers, or founders and maybe the histories thereof as well.

Edited on Feb 22, 2012 at 03:29 PM · View previous versions

Feb 22, 2012 at 03:13 PM

Mike Tuomey
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

No. I just can't sell any.

Feb 22, 2012 at 03:17 PM

alundeb
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

No.

But it did hurt when I found my ZE 21 broken, not knowing how it happened.

Feb 22, 2012 at 03:25 PM

sebboh
Online
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

i love the feel of solid precision made mechanical devices and enjoy that aspect of some old film cameras (and no current cameras), but every camera i've ever used at least mildly annoys me in use. some really annoyed me and that's the closest that i have to an emotional attachment to any camera. on the other hand there are quite a few lenses that i'm very attached to because of different poorly defined characteristics i see in their images. very few of these are close to perfect lenses. in general my most perfect lenses get little use as i find them boring. there's also lenses that have sentimental value for other reasons – my rokkor 24/2.8 was given to me by my now departed grandmother after she went blind (it's also got lovely character on it's own). the srt101 that came with the lens i have no such attachment to. maybe i just don't like cameras.

Feb 22, 2012 at 03:28 PM

millsart
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

Nope, they are just tools in my mind. I might enjoy a certain lens even though it may technically not be the best, "character" or whatever you want to call it, but if one was stolen, destroyed etc, I'd be just as happy with a replacement.

Some of my guitars though I do have some attachment to, they feel a bit ore one of a kind and buying a another '62 Strat for example just isn't going to be the same. Different wood, different history affecting its looks and tonal characteristics etc.

Lenses ideally should all be readily replaceable with another one that has the same performance (QC issues aside)

Feb 22, 2012 at 04:00 PM

Makten
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

I definitely do. Else I hadn't chosen to use a Leica M8 and Summicron 28 over any modern and smallish APS-C camera, that would probably yield better IQ and weigh even less.
I also shoot film for the same, emotional reason. There's not much to be had from a rational point of view, but I like it so much that it has become an important way to enjoy photography more.

Lenses are actually less important from this perspective, even if I prefer manual focused ones over AF for the same reason. They just feel better to use, regardless of optical performance.

This is probably the gear that I have the most emotional relation to...

Voigtländer Bessa III 667 by Martin Hertsius, on Flickr

Edited on Feb 22, 2012 at 04:07 PM · View previous versions

Feb 22, 2012 at 04:04 PM

Smiert Spionam
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

millsart wrote:
Some of my guitars though I do have some attachment to, they feel a bit ore one of a kind and buying a another '62 Strat for example just isn't going to be the same. Different wood, different history affecting its looks and tonal characteristics etc.

Everybody knows that only archtops and telecasters have soul.

I'm sorry, what was the question?

Feb 22, 2012 at 04:05 PM

sebboh
Online
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

millsart wrote:
Lenses ideally should all be readily replaceable with another one that has the same performance (QC issues aside)

this is more of a problem with old out of production manual focus glass. finding a replacement is not always easy and the years of use increase the probability of performance variations.

on the other hand, i currently have two copies of one of my favorites, the rokkor MC PG 58/1.2 and their performance appears to be nearly identical with the exception that one is radioactive and yellow while the other is not. more testing is necessary though.

Feb 22, 2012 at 04:48 PM

ZoneV
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

I have some kind of emotional feeling for my cameras and lenses with tinkering involved:
My EOS Rebel XT / 350D with its unique invented system to replace the IR cut filter with IR filters or such.
My Canon Fd 300/2.8L, 85/1.2L, 24/1.4L because of the hard work for their reversible mount conversions.
The Rokkor 58/1.2 was simple to convert, and many converted that lens before - but I love it because of its special rendering.

And some other lenses I modified or converted.

Feb 22, 2012 at 05:08 PM

denoir
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

As far as the original question goes: absolutely.

And I also agree that cameras and other tools can have a 'soul' - it's the central idea behind them. It's the 'soul' and ideas of the people that design them that makes a camera feel right or not.

For me photography is a hobby - and I primarily mean the process and not just getting the final images. So to me it's essential that I enjoy using the tools. To me it's more important than image quality or even the images I take. I can take pleasure in a photo walk even if I don't manage to take any particularly good shots.

I can give an example of this - I have a pile of undeveloped films that I've taken with my M6. On occasion I go out shooting with it because I prefer how it feels over my regular camera (M9). It's just feels so great to use that I ignore the fact that I don't like the film look, the poor image quality, the work with scanning etc

My preferences have changed over time. When I started shooting, I liked to use a big pro DSLR with a big zoom lens. The high FPS, fast AF, the hair trigger shutter release etc were all very satisfactory - like the satisfaction you get by carrying a big machine gun, if you know what I mean. I grew tired of it though and I've gone through various phases since.

I have two cameras that I only use, well, because I like the cameras - the M6 I mentioned and a Pentax 67. The latter is completely different - the M6 has a very sophisticated and refined feel to it. The 67 is built like a tractor but I do really like the solid mechanical feel to it and the mirror slap that causes minor earthquakes.

Of course the photos matter too, so the M9 is my compromise camera - it doesn't feel as good as the M6 but I prefer it over my DSLRs. My two least liked cameras are a NEX C3 and a Leica X1. The X1 has some serious design flaws while the NEX just leaves me cold. I can't put my finger on what it is but it just feels like a very unimaginative piece of industrial design. 'Soulless' might be the right poetic description.

As for lenses.. there are lenses that certainly have character and others that are just bland and boring. I know I've called the 75 Cron, the lens I love to hate, 'a soulless piece of metal' a number of times, so I suppose that I subscribe to the 'soul theory' there as well.

Edit: I should clarify that I'm attached to some designs, not the actual objects. I would have no issues with replacing one copy of any of my lenses or cameras with a different one.

Feb 22, 2012 at 05:13 PM

RustyBug
Online
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

Sort of ... the harder it was for me to FIND a given lens, makes it harder for me to part with it because they only get more rare as the years go by. Finding it again is likely to only be MORE difficult than the first time ... and probably cost even more.

The thought of going through it again is a bit of a "negative" emotion. There are plenty of alts to fall in love with ... but the harder they are to find, the harder time I have parting with them.

Feb 22, 2012 at 05:19 PM

jcolwell
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

Mike Tuomey wrote:
No. I just can't sell any.

Feb 22, 2012 at 05:23 PM

carstenw
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

denoir wrote:
I can give an example of this - I have a pile of undeveloped films that I've taken with my M6.

Hey, that is exactly how I used my M6

Gorgeous camera, horrible medium. I prefer square-format 120 film, although I do need to try 67 one day. Maybe a nice RZ67, I kinda like those.

I had a lot of trouble separating myself from my M6 and M8. I had customized both with new leather, black dots, chrome top/black base, shutter release tweaks, and so on, and this work I put into the camera made it hard for me to sell them. I sold the M8 only after about 1 year of no use, which is really silly, since the price was going down the whole time. I miss those cameras, but I just don't need them right now. I think that there is an M in my future, be it M10, M11, or whatever.

Feb 22, 2012 at 05:25 PM

deadwolfbones
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

I have a sentimental attachment to my Pentax Limited lenses, but that's about it.

Feb 22, 2012 at 05:32 PM

brockwhittaker
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Do you have an emotional attachment to your lenses?

Yeah, I noticed that my thread started about the advantages of NEX, and ended up about cameras not having souls

. Anyways, yes. I have just an old Electro 35, and It has 9000x more soul than my 5D will ever have. I also am biased towards my old FD lenses. The metal bodies, and retro styling get me every time. I'd much rather shoot with something in the style of my Electro 35, than my 5D, if I didn't have to give up quality.

Feb 22, 2012 at 05:35 PM

1 2 3 end
FM Forums \| Leica & Alternative Gear \| Join Upload & Sell 1 2 3 end

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.