I’ve been asked several times what I use to take the pictures you see in Scooter in the Sticks and as I thought about it the subject grew more complicated. I use a variety of cameras for different projects and reasons. I’ve been home sick with a nasty cold, not riding, not sleeping well, so I thought I would attack this topic. If I seem to wander in my thinking just blame the Sudafed Severe Cold. And before I forget, I would be interested to know how and if you work photography into your riding routine.
First off, the majority of the pictures in Scooter in the Sticks are made with a beat up old Canon S50. This excellent little camera has been near the trashcan several times but keeps coming back to life. It has been dropped, rained on, immersed, and generally abused by most standards. And it still works fine.
I keep the camera in the left side pocket of my riding jacket—now the First Gear Kilimanjaro IV. I like to be able to get to it quickly without having to unlock the seat of the scooter. I have had a few concerns about riding with it in my pocket, not so much for the camera but for me should I crash and have that thing poking at my innards.
I have a 512MB memory card in the S50 and keep the image settings at JPEG LARGE FINE. The resulting files are about 2MB in size. I shoot exclusively on the MANUAL setting. Every now and then I will switch to RAW if I think the image is something I may want to print someday but so far that hasn’t happened. The only thing that might even be considered a negative is that if it is cold the battery loses power fast. I’m sure if I kept it under the seat heated nicely by the engine the battery would always have power.
I also keep a very small collapsible tripod under the seat for the occasional self-portrait or long exposure. It’s about ten inches long and flat and takes up almost no room. And you can put a pretty big camera on the thing.
So there is the easy stuff. If I decide I am in serious mode I may pack along the Nikon D200 with an 18-55 and 80-200 zoom lens. This gear is in a soft case bungee corded to the rear rack. And I have thought more than once about what would happen to that stuff should I crash. It is worth as much as the scooter. I have put it under the seat at times but I worry about vibration and heat. The D200 is an excellent camera and the additional range of focal lengths can afford different kinds of images. I usually have a 2GB card in the camera and shoot RAW files. I use RawShooter on a PC or BibblePro on a MAC to do the RAW conversion to TIFF files that I work on in Photoshop.
I have only been shooting digital images in any consistent way since I started the blog. And with the D200 for a few months. Until then all my work was on film and in black & white. I shot Kodak Tri-X in all formats for years and processed and printed in a small darkroom I built in the basement. I am currently in crisis concerning photography and am not sure what my next step is.
For the past ten plus years I have been working on two projects — photographing my wife Kim and photographing the landscape I experience on a regular basis. I still sort of do the later though the damn Vespa keeps wanting in the pictures. I still photograph Kim but not as obsessively as I did. Both projects, Kim series and Landscape series, were a result of questions I had about myself and I have largely answered them. I have new questions that photography does not seem to address for me. And the relative ease of digital photography and printing makes me wonder if I should not shed myself of all my chemical based equipment. Hence, a crisis.
If you want to see some of the results of that work click HERE.
Right now I still have my Leica M6 which I carried everywhere and ran hundreds and hundreds of rolls of film through, and a seldom used Mamiya 7 medium format camera that replaced the 8×10 view camera that I had used for years. I used the view camera primarily for landscape work but since I couldn’t transport it with the Vespa I ditched it.
The 8×10 camera was big and heavy with the camera and tripod with a lens a bit over 40 pounds. Add film holders, film, dark cloth, meter and geez that’s a lot of weight.
Basically my interests shifted, my focus changed, and the tools I need changed. But I am clinging to things that should best be let go.
Bottom line: I am following an interest in writing, riding and photography. I don’t know where it is going and don’t really care right now. What is important is that I step forward and work. From consistent work something always emerges.
Thanks Steve, I’d been thinking about asking you about this. Glad you beat me to the punch. Sorry to hear you are under the weather, though.
Have you ever played with Holgas? When I was in school, one of the photographic faculty routinely had students turn them into pin-holes. I never played much with that, but they are fun nonetheless.
For me there are only two things to be considered when thinking about photographic equipment: What will you use consistently, and give you results that you are consistently pleased with?
Right now, I’ve got a Sony DSC p200, and a Kiev 88 medium format. I like the Kiev, I really do, I did my research and got lucky with a used one that is every bit as nice as any of the older but more expensive medium formats I’ve played with. Still I use it rarely, because it requires such premeditation to haul it around.
My daily shooter is the point and click 7mp. I wish it had more manual settings, but it’s not much larger than a cell phone, and that really means a lot. I carry it as much as I do the cell phone, sync it to the computer and charge it once a week or so. It’s just so damned convenient. I’ve got a 1 gb card in it, so usually I’m emptying it out onto the computer before it’s even full.
As far as riding goes, I just got one of my projects running (a 1976 Vespa Sprint Veloce) So I’m going to really try to incorporate more shooting with my commute. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Well, thanks for letting me ramble.
I hope you get to feeling better.
Wow, that’s quite an arsenal you have there, Steve. I wonder, what do you think of the Leica digitals?
To me they seem kind of like modern Harley Davidsons. They try to preserve the classic look of the old, while offering most of the functionality of the new. But compromises must be made on both sides.
I use a Sony F717 for all my photography. I like the fact that it uses a Zeiss lens, and 5mp is plenty for anything I do for magazines or my blog. But the best part is that swivelling viewfinder!
I can take those low-angle shots from the mini-tripod without having to lay on the ground to look at the VF.
Conversely, I can lift the camera above the heads in a crowd, tilt the VF down, and get those shots like I do of First Thursday.
I don’t even know if they offer a replacement for this camera. I’ve already taken it apart twice to fix a nagging “No Memory Stick” error. Luckily, I’m a technician. I can do that.
Anyway, hope you get well soon.
Ride well,
=gc=
punkelf: I’ve had several Holga’s and a Diana toy camera. I’ve always been enamoured of the look they can render to an image but have not followed through long enough to apply them with any purpose to the work I do.
There is a really good Web site with strong Holga and other toy camera work:
ToyCamera
I agree with your assessment of what is needed consistently. Thankfully I have pretty much avoided the pitfall of collecting cameras and more dangerously the treating of them as precious objects. I use them just as I use the scooter and accept that they will show signs of use and wear. I don’t purposefully abuse them but also don’t worry about them.
gary: The Leica digital rangefinder looks sweet but oh the price! It is designed as a purely functional working professional camera but I bet most of the people buying one put them on a pedestal.
Fixing your camera—-you sound like my friend Paul. He was once an electrical engineer and now runs his own buy and sell on eBay business selling electrical components and devices from torpdeo control units to lesion lasers that he is able to fix and make useful again. He constantly amazes me.
Thanks for sharing, Steve! Exactly want I was interested in kknowing…. Tom