Martin Mojzis / Fine Art Photography and Graphic Art Atelier.

MY CAMERAS, or ...

... I like them all.

September 29, 2016.
For interest and memory, I decided to compile such a small list of all the cameras I ever had. Some even repeatedly, when I missed them after sale ... I would like to share with you these lines, which are such a technical testimony of my photographic life. Cameras are not sorted chronologically.

FILM CAMERAS.
Beirette SL 100N – green.

My first camera, manufactured in Kamerawerk Freital (originally Woldemar Beier), belonging to VEB Carl Zeiss Jena. Dad brought it to me from the GDR. It was plastic, green, and had a large rectangular plastic trigger. Due to the price and easy setup, it wasn't bad, but of course I was still looking at SLRs. The camera is probably still somewhere, but I don't know where.

Canon EOS 500N.
My first SLR camera, bought a new one in Milan Skoda Photo and Video, was still located on the other side of Vodickova street at that time. It was a set with a 28 - 80 mm lens (not Ultrasonic), I just don't remember the aperture anymore, 3.5 - 5.6? Very well equipped device, had a top display, the possibility of selecting focus points, modes P, S, A and M, self-timer, focus light, built-in flash ... in short, everything you need.

Canon EOS 5.
My first professional SLR camera. It was from the second hand shop, but without signs of use and worked great. It has a revolutionary eye focus, that really worked. In short, which place in the viewfinder you looked at, the focus point closest to that place turned on and backlit, just like when you select it manually.

Nikon FG.
Beautiful metal device, relatively small and light, but very well equipped. The film was moved and the trigger was pulled by hand using a lever. I had black and silver, it was all made black too.

Praktica FX.
This camera wasn't mine, it belonged to my dad. First pictures of my person on this world were taken by my father with this device and an excellent Carl Zeiss Tessar 50 mm 1:2.8 T lens. I later inherited the camera along with other equipment, then recklessly donated everything and then, thanks to the generosity and understanding of the recipient (thank you!), get everything back. Tessar can be used with Canon EOS cameras, if the correct adapter is used, the camera will even confirm the focus by flashing the selected point and beeping. The lens magically draws sharp and out of focus areas. Along with a similar lens – Carl Zeiss Biotar 58 mm 1:2.0 T – is one of the best in my photographic gear.

Praktica MTL 5.
Classic camera, mechanical gem from the GDR, excellent lenses. If you didn't need an exposure meter, fully mechanical control.

Voigtländer Braunschweig.
Medium-format folding bellows camera after my grandfather. A beautiful device manufactured in the company's branch office in Braunschweig. Anastigmat Skopar 1:4.5, F = 10.5 cm lens, central shutter. I've never photographed with it, I just open it occasionally, move the mechanical parts and continue to rest calmly on the shelf in the atelier.


DIGITAL CAMERAS.
Fujifilm X-PRO1.

My first and most recent experience with a compact camera with interchangeable lenses. Fuji has a specific, but good color rendering, in conjunction with Fujinon lenses it achieves extremely sharp drawing and, last but not least, it is a beautiful, classically looking camera. You need to get used to a small body and controls very different from DSLRs, especially professional ones.

Canon EOS 600D.
18 Mpx digital camera. In some countries it was sold under the name Rebel and it is not an exaggeration at all. Even if the manufacturer does not brag about it (and thus is not responsible for anything:-), the camera works without problems even in heavy rain, without it bothering it in any way (of course with a waterproof lens). There is no AA filter on the sensor (another secret fact), so the drawing is tack sharp. Another pleasant surprise are the basic lenses with a variable focus length, 18 – 55 mm f/3.5 – 5.6 IS II and 55 – 250 mm f/4 – 5.6 IS II. Even though they even have a plastic mount, they draw very well. All this with optical stabilization and in a very, very light design. The only major problem, that goes back to the camera, is quite noticeable noise, even at low ISO sensitivities.

Canon EOS 6D.
Relatively affordable and high-quality digital SLR camera with a sensor the size of a film frame. Approximately 21 Mpx, built-in GPS and WiFi. The photographs are classic Canon, ie a smaller dynamic range, but the associated greater contrast, nice detailcontrast and tack sharp details. Compared to the professional series 5, less accurate and vibrant colors, also more pronounced noise.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II.
In many respects a revolutionary camera - especially the price, which was around 70 000,- CZK with VAT, but also good color rendering, I would say the first CMOS, which withstood a comparison with quality of CCD sensors. On the other hand, the big disadvantage was the relatively strong AA filter, which in many cases caused undesirable blurring of the finest details. Furthermore, very simplified camera settings compared to the top-of-the-line 1 cameras, as well as somewhat awkward controls.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III.
The control has improved in all respects, in fact, everything I criticized on the previous model has been carefully reworked. The body feels much better in hand and the adjustment controls are almost at the level of the highest serie 1. The colors are even glower, compared to the 5D Mark II, while the unpredictable presence of streaks of noise in dark and color-uniform areas, which bothered the previous model, remained. The detailcontrast and contrast of RAW images are excellent.

Canon EOS 5DSR.
Technically, one of the best cameras I've ever had. For me, the final resolution, no more than 50 Mpx required, unless 100 Mpx sensors would bring some major shift in the resonance of photography that I couldn't be without, but it seems unlikely. In addition, resolution directly in the body can be reduced up to 12 Mpx beforehand. Beautifully crafted body, practically the same as the 5D Mark III, only strengthened in some places and lightened elsewhere. Some handy setting options have been added, such as arranging information on the rear monitor and especially the Bulb mode timer. The photographies are fascinating in all respects and I didn't even have a Zeiss lens from the Otus series available, on the contrary, I created with very cheap glasses, albeit exclusively monofocal. Live View is noticeably better than Nikon's, while the overall control is closer to me. The disadvantages are the constant presence of the above-mentioned unpredictable stripes in the photographs, although much less, and also a slightly more faded color compared to the 5D Mark III.

Canon EOS 80D.
24 Mpx DSLR camera. The tilting rear monitor helps when photographing with a tripod. The quality of the photographs is very high, only at higher sensor sensitivities the image noise increases quite significantly. The colors, contrast and detailcontrast are absolutely excellent, as is the custom in Canon. Controls and functions are almost identical to 5DSR.

Nikon D80.
My first digital Nikon. The sensor is CCD 10.5 Mpx. Very good control and setting options. After the Olympus E-1, the Nikon colors were a bit disappointing for me, they often tried to move where they didn't have and they were quite dull overall. The camera, although intended more for amateurs, managed a lot of work on orders and (like all my gear), it always worked without a mistake or perhaps the need for a service.

Nikon D5300.
Camera from the amateur series, but very high quality. 24 Mpx sensor without AA filter, sharp details, nice, clear color rendering. Tilting and rotating rear monitor, comparable to Canon, only with a slightly cooler feed (slightly green, unfortunately without the possibility of adjustment, it has a D810). The big drawback is the lack of a depth-of-field control button, nor can this important function be assigned to any other control. This is very strange in Live View mode, where the camera works with the aperture, that was set before turning on this mode. It physically adjusts this aperture in the lens, so the depth of field can be assessed, but of course less light falls on the sensor, so when using larger aperture numbers, the image soon begins to be unpleasantly noisy with dimming. If you change the aperture value while Live View is on, the photograph will be exposed correctly with this setting, but you will not see any change in the monitor and the aperture will not physically change its diameter until the moment of exposure.

Nikon D7100.
High-quality digital SLR camera, the same sensor as the D5300, non-tilting rear monitor, controls closer to professional models. The disadvantage, at least for me, is the video infection of the device - an unnecessary red button next to the shutter etc.

Nikon D300.
My first professional Nikon digital SLR. Great control, fits well in the hand, especially with the additional battery grip. 12 Mpx CMOS sensor size APS-C. It has no unnecessary controls for creating movies. Honest, quality camera.

Nikon D700.
The same can be said about it as about the D300. Only the sensor is the size of a film frame and the image noise is lower. The sensor is again 12 Mpx Sony CMOS.

Nikon D810.
36 Mpx, without AA filter. Low noise, but at the cost of excessive smoothness, large dynamic range. Colors more subdued, dull to my taste (and sometimes incomprehensibly oversaturated, especially green), plus a tendency to yellow, but this is a feature of almost all digital Nikons. Especially with the mentioned green, e.g. spring leaves, it is sometimes a pathetic difference compared to Canon. Of course, it can be adjusted when developing RAW photographs, but I prefer when the colors are correct straight from the camera. Very fine, artistic presentation of details and, thanks to the mentioned dynamics, almost endless possibilities when working with shadows. The body is damaged at the factory by unnecessary controls for creating movies.

Nikon D3x.
Like the Canon EOS 5DSR, one of the best cameras I've ever had. Honest Nikon from the highest professional line, large, heavy and robust. 24 Mpx sensor with AA filter, fortunately not very effective. Camera only, not a hybrid camera. Very high quality colors, although the aforementioned ailment in green tones also has. Huge dynamic range, not like the D810, but quite sufficient. Beautiful mirror sound, the ability to set virtually everything. Pleasant, comfortable controls. Like F5, this is NIKON.

Olympus Camedia C-4000 Zoom.
My first digital camera. Compact device with CCD sensor, 4 Mpx. High quality photographs, clean and vibrant colors. I remember those happy moments, when I photographed and photographed, tried created all evenings, when the price of films and development stopped bothering me. As I liked photography until then, I completely and totally falled in love with this camera.

Olympus E-1.
My first professional digital camera. 5 Mpx CCD sensor. Great Zuiko Digital lenses. Excellent ergonomics, perhaps the best of all the cameras I held in my hands. It was not possible to work very well with the RAW format, which was partly due to the relatively inconvenient programs for development, as well as probably my not very great experience at that time. But the camera knew TIFF and I used it all the time with satisfaction and success. With E-1, I started creating the first Fine Art photographs, such as the entire ►Searching 2006 collection. I will never forget those first beautiful, vibrant moments of joy, when "it" came out, and they are a deep inspiration for me forever.

So much for my cameras. As you can see, none is bad. Lenses are always more important, although with digital cameras the body has a greater share in the character of the photographs than with film cameras. But the main thing is always joy, enthusiasm, happiness from a photograph that was successful the way we wanted to create it. So choose the camera with which you will feel and experience this. For some it will be a small compact device that easily hides in your pocket, others will be happy with a large professional SLR and many lenses. Remember, what you experience when creating photographs then affects the receptive viewers. So you can bring to people joy and happiness, but also lead them to think, feel, show them the unknown. After all, what is a matter of course for you, because you have already experienced it often and to the deepest depth of your soul, can be another fundamental and surprising cognition for another.

© Martin Mojzis, 2016.

►To the beginning of the article.
►Overview of all articles.
►Homepage.
►Site Map.