#wheelswednesday is taking the day off as Winter puts a big dent in my car photography activities. There is a possibility—just a possibility—that this coming weekend I will shoot a local Cars & Coffee event— on film,. If I do, Wheels Wednesday wilt be back next week. If not? I’ll just have to wait and see…
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“These hands aren’t the hands of a gentleman; These hands are calloused and old—Bob Dylan
A funny thing happened after my hand surgery a few years ago. Photographers from all around the world, some of which I didn’t know, contacted me with stories about their own hand surgeries. Up until that time, I had never met anyone else who had surgery on their hands but here were several guys— and they were all men—who had stories similar to mine, some with much more serious surgeries than my own. What was the thing they all had in common? Photography. These days my hands look better and although that finger has limited flexibility that hasn’t affected my photography, even with film cameras.
All of which brings me to a soapbox I’ve been on for the past several years that relates to the size and weight of modern DSLRs and even some mirrorless cameras.
I’ve Got to Hand it To You
Caption: For the story behind the above image, Las Manos de la Hermandad, click here.
A Hasselblad 500C/M body weighs 1.3 pounds, yet back in the film days when Mary was photographing weddings with these cameras she developed a ganglion cyst on her right hand. Ganglion cysts can be painful—and it was—if they press on a nearby nerve can affect joint movement. It took a long time for this to heal and she ultimately stopped using Hasselblads because of the pain. These days, the Nikon D6 weighs 2.79 lbs, while their mirrorless Z9, which theoretically should be lighter, is 2.9 lbs! Lenses? A Nikon 105mm f/1.4E ED lens weighs 2.17 lbs all by itself. Yet, we expect our hands and bodies to be able to operate these cameras and lenses.
I have a friend who’s an extremely talented portrait photographer who tells me that the size and weight of modern DSLRs and lenses aren’t a problem for him because he always shoots on a tripod. Yet in order to shoot that camera it has to somehow pull itself out of a camera bag, mount itself onto that tripod and get carried in some kind of case. Plus you have to bring a tripod, along no matter how light (carbon fiber?) it may be. That’s a job for your hands and all that extra weight has to add up. As I once tried to explain to another, very famous photographer about a similar topic, ignoring a reality doesn’t make it less true.
Size, as they say, does matter. And this, my friends, is the main reason I was originally attracted to the Micro Four-thirds system that my friend Mark Toal introduced me to ten years ago during the launch of the Panasonic Lumix G5 at Sonoma Raceway. As a point of reference, Panasonic’s current top-of-the-line Lumix GH7 body weighs 1.77 lbs with the battery and memory card!. Their full-frame—not MFT—Lumix S1 Mark II tips the scales at 1.76 lbs, including the battery.
Another aspect that attracted my attention to the Micro Four-thirds system was the wide variety of lenses t were available for it tha from Olympus, Panasonic as well as (occasional) third-party lens companies. This combination has proven irresistible to me and, to be honest, I still maintain a limited Canon EOS full-frame and APS system. It’s theoretically “reserved for projects that specifically require it” but the cameras and lenses haven’t been been used in a long, long time.
As write this post, I just wanted to toss out the idea that big, heavy cameras won’t make you any more creative. Are they detrimental to your health? I don’t know and if you think I’m full of hoo-ha, that’s okay. This has never been a “my way or the highway” blog and I respect your decision about using whatever kind of camera you prefer. Ultimately it’s your choice because this blog’s motto has always been “have fun with your photography.”
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat me to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), please click here. And if you do, thanks so much.