One (LF) camera, one lens?

[Bill_1856]

Anybody out there using only one LF camera and one lens?

[John Kasaian]

For my first few years at this I only used a Deardorff V8 and 14" Kodak Commercial Ektar. That was enough, and if the elves should make off with all the other cameras & lenses I've accumulated I don't think I'd be terribly disadvantaged by it.

[BradS]

Not quite but, I used to use a Crown Graphic with the stock 135mm Raptar for about 90% or more of the photos I took...did that for several years.

[DannL]

I have four view cameras (8x10, 5x7, half-plate, & 5x4), but I only use one at any one time. Each has it's own lens. Does that count? :p

[Heroique]

On a recent trip my two traveling companions were a Tachi 4x5 + 150mm g claron.

Everyone else was left home.

If I ever had to sell-off my stuff, everyone left home would go.

[Bill_1856]

I have four view cameras (8x10, 5x7, half-plate, & 5x4), but I only use one at any one time. Each has it's own lens. Does that count? :p

Definitely NOT!

[mdm]

5x7 Nagaoka 210 Sironar S a few 100 sheet boxes of Delta 100 Samadhi. Hallelujah, I already have everything I need.

[Darin Boville]

For a long time--from 1996 to 2003--I had only one lens for my LF camera. First an Optar 135 then a Schneider convertible 150. At some point in there I bought a Schneider 75mm but rarely used it.

Although I'm down to "only" three LF lenses now (and lots of lenses for the Nikon and Hasselblad) a little voice in me keeps saying that having only one lens is *better*--that constraint augments creativity. Maybe someday I'll give it a listen.

--Darin

P.S. On of the lenses is that same 150 convertible. I can't seem to give it up--to many memories attached to it.

[Ron McElroy]

I shot for many years with only an Omega D monorail and a 210 Rodenstock. Now I mostly shoot with a Zone VI with the same go to 210 along with lesser used 120 f5.6 Schneider and a 90 f8 Schneider. All of the above in 4x5. I also shoot 8x10 with an Ansco Commercial and a 300 Calumet.

[Andrew Plume]

there's a lot of senses in the one lens and one Camera route............however, I've gone too far the opposite way

anyhow, one Frank Petronio seems to be a real fan of "the one and one" approach, a 4 x 5 with a 135mm Schneider

regards

andrew

[mathieu Bauwens]

i worked for two years with only the 180mm but it was a bit too long for my taste. For now I work with a 125 and 210mm lenses (I own a 90 and a 300mm but don't use them at all). Just buy me a 150mm, maybe the good one ?

[jnantz]

kind of ...
a #3 cyclone falling plate camera
not sure what the lens is ... its is a box camera ..
i've other stuff, but gravitate towards the lowest tech possible
maybe this is the year i'll run out of film and paper and sell everything off

[Vaughn]

Use to. 4x5/150mm (about 10 yrs), then 5x7/210mm (about 4 yrs), then 8x10/300mm (about another 4 yrs). Now I carry 2 or 3 lenses with the 8x10 and also use an 11x14.

[Cletus]

My first year, year and a half was spent with a Shen Hao 4x5 and Fuji CM-W 125 and no other lenses.

Now, I still almost always gravitate first to the 125 for 4x5 and the 250 for 8x10. If I had to give it all up and keep the bare essentials, these would probly be it.

[zelph]

http://www.amazon.com/Utah-II-Bill-Ratcliffe/dp/0912856653

I know the book above was done with one B&J and a 10 inch Commercial Ektar lens, using Ektachrome 4x5 film.

He had 13 Audubon magazine covers, a lot of features in the magazine and the single biggest photo series(52 pages) they have ever done on any one topic. All with the simple outfit. Much of the early work processed by hand in his basement.

A good buddy knew him and has a lot of stories to tell of how he worked. Am amazed at what he produced with simple gear.

[Jim Noel]

It is not the gear, it is the gear operator.

[AtlantaTerry]

http://www.amazon.com/Utah-II-Bill-Ratcliffe/dp/0912856653

That book (used) is only 45 cents on Amazon + shipping.

[gregmo]

I only have one lens for my 8x10..it's a 300mm. I shoot scenics of Washington, DC, so that camera & lens combo only works for specific scenes on B&W film. If I shoot color or need wider/ longer reach, I shoot 5x7 with which I own more lenses to cover the film. I tend to prefer a more rectangular aspect ratio for my compositions, so my 8x10 & 4x5 get less use.

[Alan Gales]

For my first few years at this I only used a Deardorff V8 and 14" Kodak Commercial Ektar. That was enough, and if the elves should make off with all the other cameras & lenses I've accumulated I don't think I'd be terribly disadvantaged by it.

If I could only keep one lens for my 8x10 my 14" Commercial Ektar would be the one I would keep.

[greenbank]

Although I'm down to "only" three LF lenses now (and lots of lenses for the Nikon and Hasselblad) a little voice in me keeps saying that having only one lens is *better*--that constraint augments creativity. Maybe someday I'll give it a listen.

--Darin

No experience yet in LF (just starting), but I fully agree that "constraint augments creativity." That's exactly why I so much enjoy writing sonnets. BUT I also write in other forms (including free verse) when I feel that's appropriate. For me, the key thing is to know the constraints - how they work, what they're good for - and make use of them. I have a Fujinon W 180mm f/5.6 for my Toyo 45C - but I also have Olympus 35mm gear and a Mamiya RB67, each with several lenses, which will be used for different sorts of shooting (after all, I don't only write sonnets). These other systems, of course, have their own constraints; and I've found that understanding them is - for me, at least - the clearest path towards making the pictures I want.