In your bag 485, Brian
Brian didn’t tell me his surname, but that is unimportant because his bag speaks for itself. Come and check out this lovely setup.

A MIXED BAG OF BLESSINGS

Born four years before Leica released its wonderful M3, I live in beautiful downtown Hertfordshire in the UK.

Now retired, I worked in advertising, running a darkroom, photographic and advertising design studio until the mid ’90s. Since then and until last year I worked for myself as a graphic designer, using Adobe Creative Suite.

Over the years I’ve been fortunate to use in the studio a variety of cameras from Rolleiflexes, Alpa 6C, Leica IIIf, IIIG and M2, MPP 5×4 inch and a 20×16 inch process camera.

My personal cameras have been a Zorki rangefinder with its pin sharp Jupiter 50mm f2 lens (which started my lifelong rangefinder passion), Pentax SL (with 35, 50 and 135mm Super-Takumas), Nikon F2 Photomic (28,43-86, 200mm Nikkors – the 43-86mm was soft as butter but I loved it – Leica M4-P (50mm f2 Summicron and MC meter), Minolta CLE (28, 40, 90mm Rokkors), an Olympus XA (which I use still, but the shutter release is getting delicate), and my first digital, a Nikon Coolpix 8400.

The Leica and Minolta were my favourites for personal black and white work. The Minolta and its three lenses produced stunning images, and the viewfinder was a joy, especially as I wear spectacles.

My present kit comprises:

Domke F-5XB rugged wear bag

Nikon D90 with a 18-200mm DX VRII lens (for colour work)

1977 Olympus OM2 with 50mm f1.4 and 28mm f2.8 Zuikos (bought this year – cheap as chips and what little beauty)

Leica ‘Millennium’ M6TTL black paint with a 35mm f2 Summicron ASPH black paint, and a Heliopan yellow SH-PMC filter

Also shown are:

39mm B+W F-Pro UV MRC filter (for the Summicron)

Black Rapid shoulder strap (for the Nikon)

Hertfordshire by Nikolaus Pevsner (The Buildings Of England series)

Cheap notebook and propelling pencil

Ilford FP4, Fomapan Creative 200, Kodak Tri-X 400

Obviously it doesn’t all fit in the bag at the same time! But the Leica and Olympus OM2 do, together – the Leica is my ‘go-to’ everyday camera, and in the bag pretty much all the time – and the D90 fits on its own for the odd times I use colour. When I use the D90 I strap the Leica across my body – it’s not a ‘shelf queen’ but takes its chances in the big wide world. It’s brassing up rather nicely.My photographic interests are the ‘urban landscape’ and our interaction with it. Also, I’m interested in archectural history, hence the ‘Pevo’ guide.  The five volumes of the London series are unrivelled for their wealth of detail and content. My photographic influences are William Eggleston, Fred Herzog, Stephen Shore, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Eugene Atget, Walker Evans and Henry Cartier-Bresson.

I’ve just started my very first blog, which is at asingulareye.wordpress.com – not a lot there at present, but in the coming months I’ll be working on putting a selection of my images there, and adding my thoughts regarding my photographic journey.

My quick tips?… buy good glass, don’t use cheap filters! Long live film!

Thanks for reading,

Brian

Thanks for sharing your bag Brian, That is a great one. And you are spot on with the tips too. Perfect.
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Cheers
Japancamerahunter