Well, there, I said it. I like to fiddle with my camera. Sure, I miss some photos because I am playing with the camera, but to me, that is part of the experience! Getting the photo is a result, but to me the time spent with the camera is as important as the final image.
You see, I am what is referred to as kinesthetic. This means I enjoy engaging with the gear as much as getting the photo, getting to interact with the camera on a deeper level brings me a form of satisfaction and joy that is hard to explain.
I know this goes against the convention of the camera “should disappear” or be so intuitive that you no longer know it is there. This is a bunch of hogwash in my mind. I spent a lot of money on my camera and by golly I want to get my money’s worth out of it!!!
This is my “discrete” film camera! LOL
I have read several of the books on the technical aspect of photography and they all keep saying to get the camera to where it runs almost in automatic so you can “get it out of the way” and focus on getting the shot instead. This is not what brings me joy in photography for some reason. I am just not wired that way. I like to play with the machine and then command it to produce what I ask of it and have it comply. That is a oversimplification, but the point is that I want to have the interaction with the camera as much as getting the photo. I figure it like this too, you get the shot, great, you do your edits say this takes another hour, maybe two if you really want to dial it in. (most people spend way less time than this on the editing process) and then you export it and share it on some website somewhere and wait for the little number to appear by the heart symbol. Then it is basically forgotten and the hunt is on for the next image. I like to get the image I had in my mind, but I ALSO like the interaction with the camera too, it is just fun to mess with it.
I mean, c’mon! Look at my “street photography” rig for crying out loud! All I hear is get a small, unassuming camera like a X100V or a Leica Q2 or some such, and here I was with a Nikon D810 with battery grip and 50mm f1.4 lens or my current rig…the Leica SL2 with 50mm Summicron L…even my film rig is larger than life!!!. HaHa
Back years ago, this was my main goto rig, Nikon D810 with a 50mm f1.4 Nikkor lens.
I do have a smaller camera that I like to use as well, but it is not to “get the camera out of the way” but rather to have a simple camera to grab and have as a backup to my SL2 rig. I have even kitted it out with a focal length lens to simulate the same field of view as my SL2/50mm rig. I do this so the experience using them is similar and I also know pretty much what I am going to be getting when I use them and that they will produce very similar results. It doesn’t allays work out that way, but that is the intention…lol.
This little Leica CL with the 35mm f1.4 M mount lens from Voigtlander makes a great “grab n go” rig.
Something else I have learned is that I like manual mode the best. I once was an aperture priority kind of guy, but I have evolved into a full blown manual shooter now. I just like the fact that the EVF in my camera will show me what the image will be ahead of pressing the shutter and I am able to just dial in the sky till it is blue or up the shadows till I am happy with them. The light meter in the display gives me a point of reference as to how much over or under exposed the image is and I will know then if the highlights are gone or the shadows will be recoverable. most of the time though, I don’t care about either.
My Leica SL2 top display.
As you will notice in this photo, I have set the camera as follows: Manual mode, there is some negative exposure compensation, f8, 1/125 sec shutter, auto ISO at the time (this varies from manual in a static scenario to auto if the light is going to change around constantly), and the rest is “state of the camera” info like both cards are present and set to overflow, there is room for 1937 frames left on the first card, the blue tooth is on so I can connect my phone to the camera, and the battery meter. This is how I run my camera most of the time when I am shooting street photos. Point is, don’t follow conventional wisdom if it doesn’t suit your ideology or normal operational parameters, simplified…you do you. Stop letting other people tell you how to engage in your own hobby. Be like William Eggleston and go against the grain. You are in charge of your life, live it on your terms.
Now, get your camera out and go play with it…I know, I know, I just broke my own advice by telling you what to do, but maybe some of you need a nudge…lol.