In your bag No: 1678 – Josh Williams

Once the quarantine is over, Josh will be darting out the door with these essentials around his shoulder.

Firstly, I just want to say how much I love geeking out over the camera p*rn that is all of the bags that have appeared before mine.

I am currently living in Shanghai, bored during my 14-day quarantine. I was yellow stickered at the airport upon my arrival, because I just spent the last 8 weeks in Korea (where I intend to move in the near future). So, during this period where I can’t even open my door to take deliveries, I thought I would share the bag from my recent trip with you all (don’t open the door to your friends either, or the police come and tell you off…).

I have recently thinned out my collection of cameras, and I am on the quest to narrow down as much as I possibly can. I buy, sell and trade many cameras here, and it is super handy having a friend who owns a store in Xingguang (The camera Mecca of Shanghai). He tells me who to barter with, and which stores hate each other, so I know where to take prices and get good deals. Ideally, I want to be in a position where I have one SLR system, one RF system, on P/S and one MF option. Definite pipe dream…

Anyway, here’s what was inside my bag:

Zeiss Ikon ZM – 35v4 Summicron & 50v4 Summicron + B+W Filter

(Note that the batteries hate -0 weather. A lesson learned recently) – the strap was made for me by a friendly guy in Tiệm Cố Thời in HCMC. I had a Summicron 50v4 and no camera to use it! My friend was off-loading this for a great price, so I sucked it up, and it has become my EDC. It is perfect in every way (except the fact -0 the thing cannot be used because the batteries say NO). I will try to pick up an M4, as this seems to be the most useable Leica for my needs. But, I am not fussed about when. The Ikon ZM is superior to any Leica (and those who harp on about build quality… I guess they are intending to throw theirs on the ground?) Another point to note, is that the insides share many similarities to Bessa, and some newer SLR’s from the Cosina factory. If this ever malfunctions electronically, I’m straight in there with a screwdriver! I guess It’s because the price was so good, that it feels like I never paid for it. It functions flawlessly, there really are very few improvements you could make to this camera.

Olympus Mju

5gbp from Oxfam, great in the hand, many AF points and a nice lens (currently trying to figure out a bodge job where I can de-activate the flash turning on every time it’s opened which is the only annoying point. At least it’s not as flash happy as an Mju ii). I’ve bought and sold so many P/S’s. Why bother spending a fortune on them? I shoot this way more than my T2, and it sits at number 3 in my most-loved compacts list – Number 1. belonging to the Yashica T4d, and this is 90% because I got it for free the last time I was in Korea. Great lens, great metering and fetched me a fine price, so I don’t regret selling it. Number 2. Is the Minolta Pico/Freedom Escort/Riva mini/Leica mini or whatever you want to call it. It is just great. Like, really great.

Kaweco, Sharpie and Notebook

Had this Kaweco for about 3 years now, and the Sharpie is just for drawing on stuff when I am bored, and noting film canisters. I shoot a lot in the park, and it’s great to find a nice spot to sit, drink, eat and write thoughts, junk and hope something photo-worthy happens in front of you.

Libratone Track Air+

Phenomenal headphones (stick it AirPods!) These are the best non-wired headphone I’ve ever had. They stay in perfectly, the app is great and the customisable double tap controls work perfectly.

Casio F-91w

Had this since I was about 12. I imagine I will have it when I am 112.

Ilford Pan400

Cheap and fantastic. I normally push it one stop. I like the way it looks. I heard somewhere that it’s old Hp5, but I don’t know how true that actually is. I don’t really care, I just know I like how it looks. It’s made my favourite prints, and It makes my life nice, easy and repeatable.

Cinestill 50d

Bulk loaded by sDodo in Shanghai. These will be the first rolls that I shoot once I am allowed out of my house (here’s hoping the sun is still out then!) It was actually amazing weather during my 8-weeks, and I wish I brought some of this with me to test there. Hindsight’s a bitch.

Crumpler

I got this small shoulder sling in Xingguang and although it’s not perfect, it’s the closest I can find right now. Compact to body, and padded with inserts, and it cost me like 300rmb.

I found this kit to be perfect for me on my recent trip (despite the snow days where I had to hide the Ikon in my jacket). It was definitely a lot lighter than what I have been using for other projects in the recent past.

I hope you didn’t fall asleep reading this!

-Josh

Please feel free to check out my IG: @principaldondelinger

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Thanks for sharing with us your bag shot Josh. Love the quality to weight ratio.

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