I recently wrote an entry about needlessly overspending on gear.  It got me thinking more about the gear issue and the obsession we often have with it.

Do you ever find yourself thinking more about your gear than the actual making of photographs? Or when the time comes to actually go out and make some photographs do you agonize over which camera or which set of lenses to bring? Are you spending inordinate amounts of time conducting Internet research on what others think about a particular camera body, lens or brand vs. something else?

Am I talking about you?

We all need to simply our choices … for years I had only one camera with a fixed lens attached to it. After my Plaubel Makina 670 developed some well-known problems I sold.  After that I experimented a lot.  During this time I made many pictures I am proud of but in hindsight I wasted an undue amount of time doing more thinking about what to get and why to get it instead of doing what was really important … getting out and making photographs.  Looking back, I could argue that having only one choice made things considerably easier and allowed for greater concentration on what was most important. It certainly created less stress!

Now, whether it really is best to be limited to one camera and one lens is certainly something that can be debated, but the point is to do what you need to do in order to determine what you need to make the type of photographs you are interested in making. Brands don’t matter, negative size may not be critical if you don’t make large prints, exotic focal lengths are superfluous and of course the never-ending argument over rangefinders vs. SLRs is just that – an argument.

Recently I have been switching off between my Leica rangefinders and SLRs for street and environmental photography with no issues to report. Did the Leica SL’s shutter disturb my subjects? No. Did the rangefinder prove less effective in capturing architectural detail? No. If given a choice do I care what I use for a particular subject? Yes. If I don’t have it will it prevent me from making a good photograph? No.

It’s just easier to think about gear acquisition and the many surrounding philosophical issues; and of course more thrilling to hunt the gear down, than what is most important … making photographs. GAS becomes the means to the end … more and more neat and ever costlier gear.  I know people with plenty of equipment of the highest pedigree that make few if any photographs despite their best intentions to do so, and when they are finally ready become panicked over what camera, what lens and/or what film format to use. News flash – it won’t matter! If you haven’t taken the time to become familiarized with what you own the chances of making a true keeper when you finally get out there are next to zero! Ok, perhaps HCB or Strand or some of other giants could. We can’t.

Bottom line. Do what you need to do to find out what gives you the results you want. Start with one camera and one lens. Don’t get another lens unless the one you have precludes you from making the types of photograph you want to make. Normal, mild wide and short telephoto lenses are all you need for almost any situation you are likely to encounter. Having an M3 will not make you HCB. An M4 will not make you Winogrand, and having a Nikon won’t transform you into Pete Turner. Find out what camera and lens is most enjoyable for you to use and enables you to do what you want to do.

Once you have made your format, camera and lens decisions, please get some film and make some photographs!