Having a portable camera can do wonders. First, I started off with the Nikon P7000 which I can now in retrospect say was a great compact (well not so compact, its actually as big as an Olympus EPL1). It had a nice mix of features but again, it lacked — portability. Some months after that I acquired the famous Ricoh GRD III which I still love and adore but it lacked one thing I needed and that was — a wider range of focal lengths. You see the Ricoh GRD III has prime 28mm lens which is amazing and I’ve done great work with it but as a take anywhere compact it failed my other requisite in a true all around compact — varying focal lengths.

Let me give the list of the cameras I’ve shot with other the years.

1. LX3
2. Canon S90
3. Nikon P7000
4. Nikon D80
5. Nikon D90
6. Ricoh GRD III
7. Olympus EPL2
8. Panasonic G1
9. Panasonic GF1

That’s quite a list and I suppose I suffered from the infamous “gadget addiction syndrome” but I’m now shooting with only 1 camera and that’s the GF1. But I must say, as a take everywhere kind off camera I’m still limited despite it being almost pocketable when coupled with the black Olympus 17mm.

What has this 9 camera list taught me? That no one camera is a jack of all trades. Compromises have to be made. So where is the new seemingly desire to get yet another camera. Well, I headed on a couple of short trips this past couple of months and I simply didn’t want to take my GF1 kit, it proved to be not the right size for the type of photography I wanted to do. Don’t get me wrong, I love urban street photography but there are genres which have always interested and sometimes the GF1/35mm combo can’t quite handle.

It does not end there.

LX5 coupled with the EVF

Recently, I purchased the LVF1 for the GF1 and I come to discover it also fits another Lumix —the LX5. What a surprise I said. It looks like a mini GF1, pocketable, with an amazing Leica lens and a great feature set. So it comes as no surprise that the LX5 will be the next addition to my gear kit. It fits my two requirements like a matching ring on a finger plus the added bonus of an EVF.

I’m so looking forward to do some street work as well as landscape photography and my new favorite abstract photography a new spirit with the Lumix LX5 or is it the Leica D-Lux 5. Whatever you want to call it, the LX5 has an amazing 24mm Leica Summicron lens(f/2.0) which will surely be able to capture a wide range of moments.

Here’s to 2012 and a new addition to my kit — the LX5, the ultimate travel companion.

The Road Ahead, GF1 + Olympus 50mm f/1.8 (click to enlarge)

Like anything in life, often times starting is just the catalyst one needs. For 2012, I have a few photographic goals which I’ll list here as a sort of a historical marker or reference point.

• Take at least 5000 photographs
• Migrate this blog over to wordpress.com whilst keeping the same domain and comparable design(we’ll see but its so darn convenient)
• Add a small compact to my gear kit (post coming soon on my choice)
• Experiment with color a bit more
• Make more abstract images
• Further pursue my vision
• And before I forget, add my name to images on the bottom right

These are just but a few thoughts that come to my mind but as always, this photography business is a very organic process and it can evolve as we progress through our journey behind the viewfinder.

You’re stuck with me forever, Michie, get used to it. It’s the ties that bind, darlin’, the ties that bind.

— Jim Marshall

Ties that bind, GF1 (click to enlarge, its a must.)

 
Has it ever happened to you. You’re staring at one of your images and you absolutely fall in love with it. You feel you’ve captured that idyllic moment in just one click. Well, this is one of those frames for me.
 

 
Confession, I’m a fan of the Leica M camera system despite the fact that I don’t yet own one. I recently gave away and sold all my cameras because I just wanted to get to know one intimately — I chose the GF1 for its many attributes and its versatility. I know it may sound kind of bizarre, gave & sold, but I believe its important to establish a deep connection to your photographic gear. All cameras are able to take pictures but no camera makes pictures — only togs do.
 
 
Relatedly, I recently became aware of the late famous Leica photographer, Jim Marshall, the rock n roll photographer to such stars as Hendrix, Joplin, and the Beatles. It came to learn he always carried around a Leica everywhere and everywhere and of his known “romantic love affair” with this system. You see, the common thread here is, the commitment to a system that you wholeheartedly trust to get the image you want. Marshall’s Leica portraits of Coltrane, Cash, et al. are truly special and worthy of admiration. In the end, all systems are great but one needs to have that special relationship with one, to truly create great imagery hence, its why I chose this qoute by Marshall himself:
 
 
“You’re stuck with me forever, Michie, get used to it. It’s the ties that bind, darlin’, the ties that bind.”
 
 
And its the last phrase which resonnates in my mind the most, “the ties that bind”. So create those ties and be bound by them and prepare to take your photography to new heights.
 
 

If you have not read the latest Togs Series entry, then you should. It highlights a wonderful street photographer from New York city named Michael Martin.

Well, that’s all for now. Happy Holidays !!