Do you remember the camera or lens? Or care?

I was just reading the later parts of this thread when I realized that I have 6 shots that I took hanging on the wall here in our house. Needless (?) to say, I can remember the tech details of each of them. I guess to me there is a very big difference between just another snapshot and the pictures that are important to defining who I am as a photographer.

But then, unlike you Roger, I've never made my living with a camera. I suspect that if I had, my cameras & lenses would be as much a blur to me as the rifles the army issued me are in my memory today.
 
Anything taken 20+ years ago I can identify pretty reliably, but that is based on the different formats I shot in the 80's (127, 35mm, ViewMaster & Stereo Realist). The hardest to judge would be the 3D format realist slides, though the Kodak resulted in softer images than the Realist. The easiest would be the ViewMaster reels. :)

Unfortunately one of the main things I tend to notice is the poor quality of the film and processing I used. In the late 80's I was in the Navy onboard a Frigate out of Charleston, SC. It tended to be very hot onboard, and I couldn't refrigerate the film. To make matters worse, I'd use the 1 hour places at the mall to develop my film.

While I can easily say what camera and lens was used in most cases on photo's I took in the 80's, the same is not true about 35mm photo's I've taken the last couple years (though I can tell the 120 and 4x5). A couple shots I know without a doubt what I used, but for the most part, if I don't have notes, not a chance. I definitely think what is the most important is to use the camera that best aids you in capturing the image you want. When I'm shooting 35mm, that might be one of my Nikon SLR's, or it might be my M6 TTL.
 
Roger Hicks said:
If you're old enough, look at some of your favourite pics from 20, 30 or 40 years ago. If you owned more than one camera at the time, do you remember exactly which camera or lens was used for all of them? Do you care? Either they're good pictures or they're not. Does this give you any clues about how important your cameras and lenses are today, as compared with content, composition, 'eye', technique?

Cheers,

R.
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Try 50 years ago. Yes, I seem to remember an incredible amount of detail when I see an image of mine — old or new. Maybe one sense reinforces the other. In high school debate, I was told to walk as I memorized. It seemed to work.

When scanning my old German negs, many of which are in my gallery, I was challenged to remember some of my beginning cameras, such as the Pentacon, which blacked out the viewfinder during and after making an exposure. And who could forget the wildly popular Arrette Bn?
 
One of my better pictures was made, unwittingly, in 1957 with a Kodak Junior II. Fortunately, I have kept all my negatives and this came up during a recent trawl through them. Roger is right.
 
I can usually identify camera bodies (notches filed in the film-gate and a sheet that shows which # had what notches). Lenses are more complicated as I have a lot of these.
However, when worked as a shooter - I kept track of what I took along for jobs (insurance company required it!). Now I just shoot a "tag" board with camera/lens on the first 1 or two frames. I rarely change a lens - rather carry multiple bodies with whatever lenses I intend to use.
As for aperture/speed etc - I have no idea, though occasionally you can deduce it from which film was used and what the light situation was. When people ask I just say "F8 and 1/250".
Developer combinations are written down on the negative files (as is date and film number and location).
The main reason for keeping track of some of this stuff is that if a body/lens starts acting up - I can fairly quickly identify which and what the problem might be.
 
Great minds think alike! Like Tom my camera bodies & film mags are notched and I have a chart to tell which one is which. I can look at a print and remember which camera and which lens and where I was in most cases. In most cases I can recall the loaction & date.

Ask me what I had for lunch yesterday - can't remember. :D

I file each image seperatly on a 4x6 index card with data on it so it helps me remember.
 
From 1970 to 1995, I remember I always had an SLR (Pentax, then Nikon) and one lens, a 50mm. Around 1990 or so, I added the Konica Hexar AF. To this day, I continue to gravitate back to the 35 & 50mm focal length. I seem to always have a "portrait" lens around somewhere, and maybe a zoom lens, but almost never use them.

Recently, as I get involved in crowded-street photography, I find that I'm getting some good images using a 28mm focal length. Maybe I'll look back in 20 years and say the 28 is my favorite. ??
 
Funny enough I can sometimes look at an image and remember what camera and lens I used to shoot it. Odd.................. as it really does not matter to me at a conscious level. And it usually tells me not very much about what I was thinking or feeling at the time although now it may never the less evoke feelings of nostalgia.
 
Well, 20 years ago I was a 11 year boy and sometimes around that time I got a simple (without metering) fixed lens zone focus camera named Beirette. I did use it, but do not remember being too enthusiastic about photography at that age. At that time my father had a Zenit E with Helios lens - he used the camera on vacations and such. Few years ago I used it a bit, but the shutter broke down.

This thread reminds me that I should check our family photos once I will get home again.
 
Yesterdays

Yesterdays

Nice thread Roger. Pre-1960 it was a Brownie Hawkeye, sadly (or maybe happily) no prints survived. Interest wained until '65 interest picked up as I was gifted with a Kodak Instamatic 110. 1 picture lives on with me but only as a memory. Fast forward to 2001 and a chance encounter with an affordable Minolta XGM. I was hooked! I'm embarrassed to list the accumulation of the last ten years. I was addicted to "auto" for many of those years (the dark times). Happily I found RFF and have begun to learn the mysteries of "the sunny 16", setting shutter speeds and apertures. Ninety-nine percent of my work these days is with a Canon P with a CZJ 5cm/1,5 mounted up front. My work has far to go. WHAT FUN. The next big move for me will be the change to B&W. Still gathering up darkroom stuff but soon. .. ... Sometimes during weak moments I do pull out my Bessa R and I hardly ever bring out the Nikomat FT2.
 
I have pictures from 20 and 30 years ago and I have to say that except for some specific shots (an old girlfriend at the beach, etc), I don't remember which camera or lens took which pictures. I can guess, in some cases. In the same way, many of my best pictures of years past have no data whatsoever with them. There seems to be almost a demand that pictures be accompanied by f-stop, shutter speed, lens length and other data. It's like viewers think they can reproduce the shot if only they had the correct data. A good picture is a good picture. Camera, lens and other data just doesn't really matter.

Another way I look at it is this: if I find myself at the perfect moment, in the perfect light, with the perfect composition in front of me, and I going to care which camera is in my hand? Or will I just take the picture?
 
I started to photograph back in the 1960s and surprisingly enough I remember the camera and lens used for quite a few photographs taken over the years. I never thought about it before. Jim
 
I wouldn't be able to tell specifically... certain photos yes, but most no. That said, most of my photos from 15 years ago or more were taken with one of 5 cameras... it depends if it was memorable day or not.
 
In the last couple of years I have used quite a few different cameras and lenses and I don't think I can remember the specific camera and lens for very many of my more recent photos. My early ones were almost all taken with a Nikon F with a 28mm lens which makes it easier. Jim
 
I've only been interested in photography for 3 years, so yes, I can tell exactly which camera, lens, film and developer (and whether I pushed the film or not) I used. I'd be worried if I couldn't :p
Not sure if I'll remember in 20 years though. Quite a few cameras have gone through my hands already.
I wish I could find my Polaroids from 7 years ago. I won a Polaroid 600, and I took pictures of my friends and stuff like that. Those would bring back some great memories.
 
Cameras were sold, images were lost in a fire. Cameras have been replaced, but for some reason not the images. The images I remember were about half the ones in my portfolio, the rest were mediocre.
 
Roger Hicks said:
If you're old enough, look at some of your favourite pics from 20, 30 or 40 years ago. If you owned more than one camera at the time, do you remember exactly which camera or lens was used for all of them? Do you care? Either they're good pictures or they're not. Does this give you any clues about how important your cameras and lenses are today, as compared with content, composition, 'eye', technique?

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

I do remember what cameras I used back to the 70's and feel more nostalgic about the photos than caring about their quality. I still have the Polaroid 420 my Dad bought me and a Kodak Junior Six 16 purchased for $4 at a yard sale.


1970’s Polaroids by rdc154, on Flickr
 
raydm6 said:
I do remember what cameras I used back to the 70's and feel more nostalgic about the photos than caring about their quality. I still have the Polaroid 420 my Dad bought me and a Kodak Junior Six 16 purchased for $4 at a yard sale.

1970’s Polaroids by rdc154, on Flickr
Click to expand...

I miss the Polaroid peel-apart films. They had a beautiful rendering, nicer then the self-contained films, and FAR nicer then the current Impossible/Polaroid stuff. You could make one of a kind miniature works of art with it.
 
I remember because my camera owning history is marked by only having one functional camera at a time. Right up to 40 years old. Then I started this madness called GAS. Now, at 72 and retired I’ve unloaded a lot of cameras and lenses but still have a pile of low value stuff, mostly lenses. Puttering in the shop has also resulted in a bunch of home made cameras using 4x5 film holders for various format sizes, mostly 94x94mm, and what ever oddball found lenses come to hand.
edit; Because I am cheap and lazy I’m using photo paper as a negative in the 4x5 holders.
 
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