This is what’s been in my Domke bag over my shoulder for the past several weeks. I’ve been shooting a lot lately – mostly strolling around the Mission between 8 and 10 when it’s quiet, but lately in downtown with some other folks shooting street portraits. I’ve been shooting so much film lately that, despite my increased development throughput in the darkroom, I can’t keep up with the backlog. So I think I will recede from the scene a little and spend more time developing film. I have a lot of scanning to do, then decide what to do with all my Mission morning images. It’s a great problem to have.
- Crown Graphic with 135/4,7 Xenar
- Minolta Flashmeter VI
- Four Grafmatics
- Ilford HP5+
- Domke F-6 Little Bit Smaller bag
- Business cards with email and website URL
- Notepad and pen
Hi Jason, really like your Crown Graphic photos and had a quick question. I can’t recall if you’ve mentioned this somewhere, but when looking to acquire a Crown Graphic for street/portrait photography is the top-mounted rangefinder preferable or will the side-mount ‘do’ if the camera is a otherwise in good shape, reasonably priced, etc.?
Thanks!
Carl
Definitely the top mounted RF.
I have a Crown with a top mounted RF and a Speed with a side mounted RF. I will say, having the top-mounted RF seems faster to use – that comes in handy for shooting quickly.
The side mounted RF on my Speed is also completely adjustable to any lens, but is tricky to do so. There are moving mirrors, sliding levers, etc. It’s all in a metal housing but it seems likes something that would be easy to mess up. It’s good if you’re going to change lenses… but when I got the Crown I decided the lens it came with was just fine, and worked perfectly as a single tuned unit (RF, cam, lens).
Assuming the focal length is good for you, I would recommend getting a camera with the top mounted RF.. simpler, quicker to use.