Jeff Chavez Photography's photostream

I'm pretty much photo crazy, and I believe it's about the photographer, not the equipment. I have friends who take poorly composed, out of focus images with $2000 cameras. I've taken some stunners with disposable cameras. It's not the equipment, it's what you do with it.

I shoot digital with a Canon Rebel XTi 10.2 MP, and a Canon Powershot A720 IS, which is a fully featured 8 MP point and shoot with a decently fast lens and manual capabilities. It's a good backup, makes decent prints. I still shoot the heck out of my film camera collection, most of which would be considered vintage and/or collectible. For me, it's not so much about the camera bodies as it is the glass on them. There were some phenomenal lenses made for some of these cameras, lenses that are hard to duplicate today. Some of my classic 35 mm cameras are my Konica Autoreflex bodies, and some awesome -- in fact, legendary Hexanon lenses. I have a T3, two TC's, and an A body. These cameras produce incredible images, with beautiful contrast and saturated colors. I also have a Canon AE-1 manual body, one of the finest shooters ever made. I have a Yashica TL Super with a fast, contrasty 1.7 Yashinon lens that is a phenomenal, full manual (think Pentax K1100) body with unlimited creative capapbilities and a damn fine lens. I have a Yahsica Electro GSN Rangefinder with a ultra fast 1.7 coated beauty of a lens with built in Copal leaf shutter. An awesome all around camera that was popular in my childhood, and still takes contrasty, gorgeous, tack sharp images today. I have two Olympus Rangefinders, the legendary XA and its automated offspring the XA-2. Little cameras, AMAZING glass. These things will drop your jaw with the images they take. The XA in particular has a coupled rangefinder with aperature priority metering that is an awesome tiny but full featured backpacking camera. The XA-2 has a very good lens, and is more of a point and shoot camera that is already zone focused. The metering in that camera is phenomenal. I have a medium format camera that I love -- a 6x6 cm (120) Yashica MAT 124 G TLR camera, a jewel with a stunning Yahsinon taking lens. Images from this camera easily blow up to 30" by 30" with no visible grain of softness at all. I also have a large format camera that I am just begining to use -- stay tuned for some shots from that beauty in the future. It is a Speed Graphic Pacemaker Press Camera from the 1950's. It has a 127mm Optar lens, uses 4 inch by 5 inch sheets of film, and can do things with its tilts and swings that none of my other cameras can do. It's gigantic image size leads to truly STUNNING images. I can't wait to play with this baby some more. Over the years, I've also used disposables, and all manner of point and shoot cameras.

My primary working film camera is a Canon Elan II, a jewel of a camera I picked up used for $50. I've promised myself: No more 35 mm cameras!



Higher Ground Productions -- Jeff Chavez, Photojournalist-DJ-Audio Engineer | Promote Your Page Too