CAMERAS

Full-Frame

Nikon FM3a

• Nikkor-UD 20mm f/3.5

• Nikkor 28mm f/2.8

• Nikkor 50mm f/2

• Zoom-Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.5

• AF-Nikkor 85-300mm f/5.6

Leica M6

• Voigtlander Nokton Classic II 35mm f/1.4 (single-coated)

• Nikkor-S.C. 50mm f/1.4

Now for some musings.

So I have complicated feelings about gear and the wretched Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS). I think my opinion is that everyone should have the cameras they have and want the cameras they want and that that is absolutely no one else’s goddamn business. Right?! See, I shoot on an M6 and an FM3a. I am sure there are plenty of people out there who think that owning either of those cameras is ridiculous and I should have just saved a few grand and bought a Bessa-R and an FE2. And maybe those people are right. But I don’t give a sh*t! If I genuinely thought I would enjoy a Bessa as much as I enjoy using my M6, then I would have sold the M6 months ago.

I am strongly of the belief that a camera is a tool for making art - the same way anything in any other medium is a tool for making art. By that virtue, I believe a camera is extremely personal and that no one can tell you what cameras are “good” or “bad” on a subjective basis, the same way a painter shouldn’t tell a peer that their paintbrush is dogshit and pros only use the finest brushes made of unicorn hair or whatever. If you like the cameras that you own, you should continue to own and use them. If not, I think that life is too short to waste your time using tools that you don’t like. YOLO!

On the first day of the seventh month of the year Two Thousand and Twenty-Five, I purchased a Fuji GA645W. I have yet to recieve the camera, but when I do, I will probably talk a bit about it here. Or maybe not. IDK.

-LAD