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 p.5 #4 · What is the right small bag to take only your camera EVERYWHERE? | |
Henning wrote:
I can hardly say that I'm anti-bag. I think I probably have 20+. But I've also worked professionally for about 40 years before giving that up, and I have lots of different systems/needs/wants. Now I mainly use Sony A7..., m43 and Leica M rangefinders. But, as I said, I never go without a camera ready. If I take the little Panasonic GM5 with 12-32 standard zoom I usually also take a tiny belt clip on lens case with the Laowa 7.5mm and 35-100 2-inch long Pany lens. With the Leica M it's the 35/1.4. If I take the A7xx, I usually take the 28/2 or 55/1.8 Sony lenses and the other one in the same little belt clip on lens case if I take an additional lens. In part because of my 'always a camera' philosophy, I usually don't take big lenses as everyday lenses. Single focal lengths are really not all that limiting. There are always more pictures out there that need taking with the single focal length you have with you than you'll ever actually take.
Batteries go in the pocket the keys aren't in.
As soon as I take an over the shoulder or other type of bag, a lot more stuff comes along, but then it gets more serious. Out for a walk, or to a dinner, or to the store it's mostly just the camera and lens. And never a lens cap or 'never-ready case'. I'm sure glad those things died out.
And no, as my wife-to-be asked me 50 years ago, I don't take a camera into the shower or to bed with me. Just everywhere else.
An anecdote about storing and having a camera ready: 50 years ago last summer I was hitchhiking across North Africa during the 6 day war between the Arabs and Israel. Algerians etc. weren't happy with European/N. America looking people, so discretion was important. Also, photography was definitely frowned upon as it's against Islamic tenets. I was using Leica IIg cameras, and to help me take photos I wore my tweed jacket (I'm an old fogey) even though it was June, and kept the camera with 35mm or 50mm over my shoulder under my jacket. I'd just pull it out, focus and shoot and drop it so it hid under my jacket again. Lots of people saw me take pictures, but because it happened quickly and the camera was gone again, nobody gave me any trouble. My second camera and other lenses were in a bag in about the middle of my backpack. My lightmeter with some extra Tri-X were in the inside pocket of the jacket opposite the camera....Show more →
That is really a wonderful story, and I marvel at your bravery. I worry about taking a picture on a NYC street in broad daylight!
Your techniques and advice remind me of both Garry Winogrand and Cartier-Bresson. You probably know both of these stories about htem
There is a great video of Winogrand shooting in New York and just strolling along, quickly popping a photo of someone right next to him, nodding, smiling, and moving on, quickly taking another photo of someone else. The quickness of his taking the picture and the camera dropping away was everything to what he was able to photograph, and mostly his subjects just smiled back or looked away. Like you 50 years ago with the camera under your jacket.
About Cartier-Bresson, there is a story told, in the terrific book by Clement Cheroux, about Cartier-Bresson taking his camera everywhere: He and Phillipe Halsman were talking late one night at home and at about midnight decided to go out for a last drink. Cartier-Bresson reached for his camera. Halsman asked, "Do you expect to take pictures?". Cartier-Bresson answered, "No, but I am never without my Leica."
So both fit exactly what you advise and did.
But I would note that Cartier-Bresson, in the pictures I have seen of him working, almost always has a little leather case on a strap on his shoulder. There is often a strap on the camera also, which may be around his neck. But he still had a small take-it-everywhere case that would have just fit the camera with a lens on it!
Edited on Dec 24, 2017 at 08:38 AM · View previous versions
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