What Do You Need in Your Camera Bag?

What's in your camera bag?

I started to take pictures when I was in sixth grade. My Mom handed me a Canon QL17 GIII. With that camera, I just needed to put it in A (auto) mode, select the symbol for the shutter speed (the sun = 1/125 sec), adjust the focus, then fired away. I didn’t know any other camera brands out there. I didn’t know other lenses out there. Actually I didn’t even know there could be other lenses because QL17 is a camera with a fixed 40mm f1.7 lens. All I cared was to put my friends and their goofy facial expressions or body language inside that rectangular frame. And the time that I had to wait for the film to be developed just intensified the excitement of the whole process. When I look back, that’s the best time in my photography life.

When I was in middle school, My Mom was the photographer in her work place. She got a Nikon system for doing her job. That’s the time I started to know other brands like Nikon, Pentax, ...That was also the first time I learned the term “SLR”. Sadly that’s also the time I stopped taking pictures regularly because I thought I need a SLR system and I didn’t have the money for it, although QL17 was still there.

I saved some money during my 2 years military service after college and I used the money to buy my first camera - Nikon FM2. I didn’t have money for the professional lenses. All I had was a 35-70mm zoom lens. I took many pictures with that system until I thought I need a camera with the advanced auto focus mechanism and great lenses and because I didn’t have money for them, I stopped taking pictures regularly again.

It’s just so ironic that you learn more about the photography and the equipment and the excitement of taking pictures ended up being reduced because you “despise” your own equipment and think that they are not good enough to produce good pictures so you stop.

I ended up not buying any other more advanced film camera after FM2. Actually when I came to US for graduate study, I only brought my FM2 and that “crappy” zoom lens and that’s the time I picked up photography again.

After I graduated and got a job, I finally had some money to upgrade my camera but I didn’t. The zoom lens got a new friend (105mm f2.5 portrait lens) in the bag but FM2 had been my only camera for a long time until digital era came along.

If you have a lot of money for high end equipment, do your research and go for it. If you are like me (always want to have fun on a budget), don’t let GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) bother you. If you are thinking about getting a new camera or lens, ask yourself, when you are using your camera in a low light situation, do you know all your buttons on the camera without your eyes looking for them? For your lens, do you know how and when you can get the sharpest images from it. If not, you probably should stick to your camera and lens(es) for couple more years. Because only if you are familiar with your equipment, will you know what’s really missing!