vintage canon cameras and lens on a map table

Photographer?

December 5, 2022 By Andrea Downey-Lauenburg

No, I’m not a photographer, my demon is though. Or at least she sells a lot of travel photos, landscapes, under water and sailing pics. Well, it comes with the turf, I guess. She’s very good, though. My brother-in-law is too. I learned from the best, I think.

Concerning the equipment (since you asked): I own three 5D Classic bodies. Arguably the best full frame camera if you want analog like colours. (My demon works with the 5D Classic as well.) My lenses are mostly original Canon lenses and some from the professional Tamron line. (My day-to-day lens is the Tamron 2.8 28-75.) What I also like with the Classic: It has M, A, S, P and that’s it. No nonsense. Not even video. For me M and the Classics spot meter is enough. I wouldn’t even need any kind of automatic. My demon taught me photography with an old Nikon M that didn’t have anything but a light meter, with a single hand to indicate plus or minus exposure, can you believe it? Still today my go to mode is manual.

I have a 5D Mark IV too which I only use for low light situations; the Classic lacks high ISOs, but I don’t like the Mark IV colours compared to the Classic. No Lightroom in the world produces original colours like the 5D Classic RAWs. I like to show the world as it is, meaning that I use Lightroom only to set colours like the human brain experience them, not to enhance stuff. This is where the 5D Classic excels. (I don’t like the modern Photoshop style that is so fashionable these days.)

When I can’t (or don’t want to) carry the heavy Canon stuff around (shopping, meeting with friends, etc.) I have my Lumix FZ 2000 in the purse (big but light weight). It has a nice zoom range and a rather nice quality for videos, which I mostly use it for. And when I want to take a snap the 1” sensor is exceedingly better than all these miniature sensors of mobile phones (and even more miniature lenses) with the qsoftware creating a false bokeh. I hate it when white turns purple when you try to highlight or enhance stuff back to proper colours or contrast. Even with family pics. I’m a sucker for picture quality. And for realworld photos for that matter. And no: There is no such thing as a good photo taken by an iPhone or Android phone!

Talking about picture quality: Yes, I do have analog cameras and a proper darkroom in Norway. But not on our boat, as one can imagine.

Anyway… Most of the pictures my demon sells are also taken by a 5D Classic, or by her Hasselblad middle format with a digital back, depending on the motive. Funny enough, she prefers the much smaller 5D Classic full frame for most of her daily landscapes and people photography, and uses the Hasselblad only for wide and deep landscapes and complex colour situations.

So yes: I do know what photography is all about. I guess I’m just a little old fashioned when it comes to the kind and style of pictures.

Me. 2012.