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 p.1 #12 · Limited or All-round Gear? | |
johnvanr wrote:
I'm looking for an interesting discussion about something that I've been wondering about since I started looking more at the work of three photographers recently: Saul Leiter, Daido Moriyama and Sebastiao Salgado. The work of all three intrigues me as I'm seeking my own approach.
Leiter was the exception in his time because he used color before most others for his street photography and because he tended to use longer lenses (50mm, 85mm) for street photography, whereas most then and now use 28mm and 35mm for street. I, when I can, prefer to carry both a wide and a short tele when shooting street, hence my interest in Leiter's work (plus his great use of minimal color and ability to produce quiet images in a bustling city).
Moriyama uses point and shoot cameras and shoots a mile a minute. He cannot and doesn't seek technical perfection but his images are stronger than most technically perfect images and somehow to me often show street better than what we usually see in 'normal' street photography. He's mostly a B&W and high contrast shooter. I'm mostly interested in his style because of how liberating it can be and, after trying it in NYC, how it makes me want to shoot and discover images where a stricter approach made me 'blind.'
And Salgado is almost the opposite from both these men in his approach. He's traveled long and far for his subjects and made sure that when he reached them, he had the gear to shoot whatever came his way: earlier Leica R, later Pentax MF and last Canon DSLRs with the f/2.8 zooms. Other than the fact that he produced historic and memorable images, this calls to me because that kind of setup is what I always fall back on when I go out to photograph a parade or event. In those situations, instead of limiting myself to one camera and one lens, I take the gear that covers 28 to 200mm and can handle any situation. (In the same vein, Jay Maisel is known for always carrying the latest pro Nikon with a 28-300mm zoom so he can shoot whatever he encounters).
Obviously, great photography can be done with many different setups, but I'm intrigued by these differences and how I can use them in my own approach. Sometimes, I think limiting myself to one camera and one prime lens is interesting, but I tend to take more diverse images (and 'see' more) when I use a zoom lens. And then there's of course the ease of which you use gear that you're familiar with, which in my case is limited because I use so many different setups (at the same time, I don't see myself ever carrying multiple f/2.8 zooms all day long).
Without bias to what is best, but just merely at what's interesting, let's discuss.
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My strategy has been to have different sets of equipment for different purposes. Typically I will have some redundant equipment and also maybe some that is not going to be used every day of an activity. At one point I had about 70kg of cameras and lenses, etc. I have multiple setups depending on the project, e.g., landscapes, ocean/island wildlife, African wildlife, birding, macro, etc. I pack what I need for each and rent the lesser used gear.
I have no idea who those famous photographers are, but 200mm is way too short for me. Even for landscapes I'd want at least 400mm. I don't photograph humans as a general rule.
Some of these are personal decisions and depends on what phase of photography and life you are in. I've been doing this for 50+ years so I'm not going to create a meaningless gear challenge. In the 80s I might have though differently, at least for a few days before the reality set in that I missed the opportunity.
What's important to me is to have the most appropriate gear for the situation, and to go to new places and try new things. I try to go to go to one new country or region each year while I still can.
EBH
EBH
Edited on Jun 30, 2025 at 10:07 AM · View previous versions
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