What if you had a totally unlimited photography budget . . .

[Archiver]

"Unlimited" has a meaning that covers more than, "what would you buy if you had the money?" A few people are on the right track, with 'paying a camera company to make me the perfect camera'. Not a bad idea at all. But more in the realm of possibility, this is what I would do if the funding were available:

- Leica M240 a la carte, totally debadged with titanium top and base plates, coated with black diamond-like carbon. DLC coating is incredibly smooth and hard wearing, often used in the watch and jewelry industry. With a beadblasted finish for the titanium, the camera would look like a Leica MP carved out of black pearl. The ultimate lightweight black Leica. Gosh, what a dream!

- Leica fast primes to fill the gaps in my collection, like the 21/1.4, 50/1.4, maybe a new Noctilux f0.95...

- Upgrade my video gear, big time. I'm thinking of a Red Epic-M with the new Dragon sensor, offering 6k raw shooting, 16 stops of dynamic range in video, and incredible slow motion. Add to that a bunch of anamorphic lenses, such as were used for movies like Star Trek Into Darkness and the new Total Recall. And for fun, I'd shoot a Canon C300 or Sony FS700 with a set of Canon cine lenses and an expanded set of Canon L lenses.

A new workhorse car to drag it all around, and significant training to make use of it!

 

[TraamisVOS]

What video gear do you have now?

 

[TraamisVOS]

This is what I'd get:

(i) a Leica M240 with a Noctilux permanently attached to it.

(ii) a 2nd Leica M240 as a backup.

(iii) a wide (maybe 24mm?) and a tele 90mm or above) for the backup M240.

(iv) whichever is the latest digital Hasselblad with the equivalent standard lens permanently attached to it.

(v) yes the Epic with Dragon (already have the Scarlet, no dragon).

(vi) a computer workstation with crazy processing power that can handle Epic and Hasselblad footage.

(vii) photography & filmmaking accessories - lights, sliders, shoulder mounts, crane, steadicam.

(ix) a helicopter with a camera gimbal mount attached for those silky smooth aerials.

I'm not sure if I went a bit overboard there.

 

[pictor]

I would use the budget to travel and to get to all those lovely locations waiting to be photographed by me.

 

[TraamisVOS]

You're welcome to come with me in my helicopter.

 

[pniev]

The first thing I would do is to hire the best photographers in the world to help me improve my skills before buying any additional gear.
Peter

 

[NathanJ]

You know what? The way I feel right now, I think I would just stick with my X100. Perhaps buy a second in case my first develops a serious fault.

 

[LisaO]

A full time sherpa to carry all my gear so I can pick and chose what I want to shoot with on a whim.

 

[Luke]

You're welcome to come with me in my helicopter.

You better be getting a big helicopter.

 

[kyteflyer]

You better be getting a big helicopter.

Yup, he will be taking all of us with him. He can pick Mark up on the way to get me

 

[TraamisVOS]

How about if I also bought a personal luxury submarine that can hold at least 15 passengers plus crew? Would that be big enough?

U.S. Submarines

 

[Djarum]

Being a little more serious, the E-P5 would have been my perfect camera. The two problems I have with it is that it no longer has the interchangable grip. The second problem is that its 100g heavier than my E-PL2 which I find just right. Honestly, an E-PL5 with two control dials would suit my needs, if such a thing existed. I'd also pick up the panny 12-35 while I was at it.

 

[Luke]

*downloading brochure for the Phoenix 1000*

 

[BBW]

How about if I also bought a personal luxury submarine that can hold at least 15 passengers plus crew? Would that be big enough?

U.S. Submarines

I'm afraid that I'd have to bow out, James - waaaay too claustrophobic for me. All I can think about is the movie Das Boot!

Sorry, Jason...it's hard for me to be serious in this thread - so I must add in this story I just saw on 1001 Noisy Cameras: You don't have too many cameras. Not yet anyway. [Updated with Question: how many different camera models were ever made?] - 1001 Noisy Cameras, it's only slightly off topic.

 

[Steve Noel]

A full time sherpa to carry all my gear so I can pick and chose what I want to shot with on a whim.

Nope. I'm a hermit, and don't like people. (And think about, how I dealt with That, for 45 years as a minister! )

 

[bartjeej]

oh wow, I never knew there was such a thing as a luxury submarine! That looks awesome! :thumbup!:

Steve, never knew you used to be a minister!

 

[pniev]

Nope. I'm a hermit, and don't like people. (And think about, how I dealt with That, for 45 years as a minister! )

Perhaps that is the result of working with people for 45 years?

 

[Armanius]

I'm afraid that I'd have to bow out, James - waaaay too claustrophobic for me. All I can think about is the movie Das Boot!

Great movie! One of my all time favorites.

 

[Susan Sande]

...Otherwise, I am pretty well pleased with my current suite of gear; it fits the way I actually take pictures.

I too use a G12 as one of my cameras. I don't know how many times I pack up my Canon 60D, a couple or five lenses and two minutes before I leave the house abandon it and grab my G12 instead. I look a new cameras all the time and find that you can't beat the G12's articulating screen. At least with my eyes it is very useful. I use the G12 viewfinder too.

Price no object camera? I want to try Jock's suggestion of the Leica with the f0.95 Noctilux lens! Meanwhile on the flight out to the B&H slumberparty I'll do a little research.

 

[Archiver]

What video gear do you have now?

For the past few years I've been using my 5D Mark II with a number of Canon L lenses. This has been a great setup, but I've wanted something with better resolution and video-centric capabilities for a while. Last year I got an Olympus OM-D, and after much research, got a Panasonic GH3, which is now complemented with an array of m43 lenses from Olympus, Panasonic, Sigma and Voigtlander. I find the GH3 much more easy to use, giving me me excellent one-touch AF when I need it, a smaller gear footprint, access to three f0.95 lenses for excellent low light shooting, and a generally better shooting experience.

There is less control of depth of field, the colours are different, but the GH3 output is so much sharper and contains more detail than the 5D Mark II. When the Magic Lantern raw hack for the Mark II is close to bombproof, I'll use that in lieu of a Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Heck, I've already got the lenses and camera, a free hack and some spare time should be worth the results. Having seen some 5DII raw footage, it just might be a very cost effective way to get much more dynamic range, colour depth and sharpness from the Canon system without going to a much more expensive Cinema EOS setup.

You have a Scarlet? Dragon upgrade, man!