ISSUE 3: Which 10 cameras can't you live without?

The eternal fight between GAS and thinning the herd 🐮

Matt Murray

Feb 11, 2023

I have no idea how many cameras I own.

I’d guess around the 60 mark but it could be more.

One of my all-time faves - the Polaroid SLR 680 SE

I can split them into 4 groups:

cameras I love and use regularly
cameras that sit on my shelf
cameras that are broken or have issues
cameras that have little value or purpose (126 and APS cameras I’m looking at you).

In the last 18 months, I’ve been trying to fight GAS and “thin the herd”. I’m trying Ringo, I’m trying real hard. I’ve sold over 60 cameras, but still feel a long way from being a zen camera master.

Perhaps it’s easier to say which cameras you need rather than which ones you don’t?

Exercise: 10 cameras you can’t live without

Here’s a good way to find out which cameras you couldn’t live without. Give yourself 60 seconds to write 10 cameras on a piece of paper. I’ll write my list now as they come to mind, start the clock!

Olympus Pen FT
Polaroid SX-70
Polaroid SLR 680 SE
Contax T3
Minolta TC-1
Fujifilm Klasse S
Fujifilm Natura Black F1.9
Rolleiflex T
Voitglander Vito C
Canon Prima AS-1

Those were the first 10 cameras I thought of. Some are all-time favourites, some have sentimental value, and others made it as I don’t think I’d be able to source them again at a reasonable price.

I’d be keen to hear what your 10 cameras are in the comments - remember, you only have 60 seconds!

You’ll notice there aren’t any digital cameras on there. Although I love digital, there’s always new products coming along, so I don’t feel as pressured to put them on the “must keep” list. Speaking of new products…

Ricoh GRiii Diary Edition Special Limited Kit

In January I started seeing mentions of a new limited edition camera - the Ricoh GRiii Diary Edition Special Limited Kit. I’ve never owned a Ricoh digital camera, but having fallen in love with the Ricoh R1/R1s, I’ve become more intrigued by the company. Especially given their plans to look at film camera production again.

I’ve seen a lot of chatter about the Ricoh GRiii Diary Edition online - some love it and some hate it. I’ve also seen a few people misspell the camera, calling it the “dairy” edition - no doubt an unintentional autocorrect fail. Either way, this new camera was moo-sic to my ears. (Buckle up, there’s a few more cow puns).

Dairy edition is not such a bad description - the colours of this camera remind me of a lovely creamy cappuccino or flat white. The comparisons don’t end there - detractors have accused Ricoh of “milking the cow for all it’s worth” by bringing out new editions of existing cameras. But why wouldn’t they if the demand is clearly there?

I for one think it’s an udderly beautiful looking product and see these special edition cameras as a positive thing for 2 reasons:

photographers love special edition cameras
the more money Ricoh make, the more they will be encouraged to launch new cameras - both digital and film.

Ricoh design philosophy

I’ve been trying hard to thin the herd, but who can resist a dairy edition camera? So this week I bought it. There were only 20 in Australia and I managed to grab the bull by the horns and secure one in my stable. Cow puns aside, I really like the philosophy of how they designed the camera. Here’s an excerpt on their thinking behind this latest Diary edition model:

“Diary” has the following meaning: the photographer takes snapshots of daily life with the GR as if keeping a diary, and expresses him/herself with those photographs as if writing an essay. The accumulation of photos of casual daily scenes becomes a record of subtle movements of the heart in daily life, a story that only the person can write.

Maybe you’ll love this explanation, maybe you’ll just think it’s marketing spiel. I loved it and can’t wait to use the camera.

Read the full article about the Diary edition on the GR blog

It’s refreshing to read blogs like this from a camera company that shares its design philosophy with consumers. Especially since they are actively looking to bring back film cameras. This approach seems to be paying off - Ricoh’s latest financial results look quite promising.

Which film cameras should Ricoh Pentax bring back?

Here are my thoughts:

New cameras are okay, salads not so much

Just after I bought the Ricoh GRiii Diary Edition camera, I had call from my wife who seemed rather agitated. I’d already given her a heads up that the credit card was about to get smashed, but I started to panic. Had she zoned out earlier when I mentioned I was buying a new camera?

Her line of questioning instead turned to salad: “How did you manage to spend $17 at Soul Origin (salad bar)?” After I explained the special deal on take home packs, her voice calmed and her focus moved to the much larger purchase pending on our credit card.

“Why did you buy another camera?”
I paused and replied hesitantly “Because I love cameras?”

GAS is real, and it’s harder to shake than you think.

Does a new camera make you a better photographer?

Conventional wisdom would suggest no. Answers to this question online inevitably lead to a “master the camera you have” response.

But I remember a tweet from my friend Matthew Joseph a couple years ago who argued the opposite. When he bought his Xpan 20 years ago it made him want to be a better photographer. It made him want to be worthy of it. Isn’t that something we should all strive for?