I am suffering from GAS. I admit it, this is an uncomfortable affliction and I don't know how to get it under control. It is depleting me, and it makes it difficult to make plans. It happens to many photographers.
What is GAS? It is the acronym for Gear Acquisition Syndrome. It happens when they (we) feel the compelling urge to money buying more and more camera equipment, new and old. Now, mind you, this is on top of the fortune being spent on film or other supplies, as anyone will attest when we remind them that a box of 20 sheets of color slide film costs over $300. These expenses are very depleting as I have had occasion to confirm over and over during the past 20 years, and any kind of color film is just exploding in price. But people with GAS have an uncontrollable fixation on buying cameras with the neurotic and unrealistic expectation that they will provide some sort of fulfillment. I don't know what sort of transcendence I am searching for, perhaps some mystical union with nature as achieved through the medium of photography, or make some eureka-like insight into the purpose of our lives, or maybe just seeking to escape the tedium and stress of work and my health problems, but it is a calling. I now have a collection of approximately 20 cameras.
This new camera will be a doozy but, then again, aren't they all? It turned out to be more expensive than my modest toy cameras (the Holga of the cult following or the novel Sprocket Rocket), but I justified it by telling myself, at least it is not as expensive as the latest iteration of the fearsome mirrorless cameras that now promise over 100 megapixels of resolution per image. Who needs that sort of resolution? Since when is more a substitute for quality? The next camera that I am expecting is a novel 3D-printed 6x17 camera, a Longfellow, if I may make reference to a certain poet whose works I only dimly recall reading in high school. I've been mesmerized by this aspect ratio ever since I became hooked on Youtube sensation Nick Carver's videos. Yes, blame it on Nick.
It is medium format, but oh, so unusual! It takes 120 rolls, but did I mention that it is long? The negative will be almost 7 inches long (17cm = 6.69 inches). The longest aspect ratio I have ever shot is 6x12, with my Holga 120 Pan and with my Kraken 6x12, and both times, I may add, not too successfully. Here is an image from my Holga, from a visit to the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA:
And here is an image from my Kraken, from a visit to the Casa Romántica in San Clemente, CA:
In both cases, I encountered problems. In the case of the Holga, the center is more (or less) in focus, but the left and right edges are not. In the case of the Kraken, I received a version that could not be focused to infinity, and so, I could not calibrate it and I have difficulty focusing in general. I just could not set the scale correctly. Most of my images taken with that camera are not successful, and my frustration was submerging me in spite. The Kraken was dragging me down, but I have come to terms with it, and have resigned myself to converting it into a pinhole camera.
So, I was content to just let things go as they did. I was considering a half slide for my printed 8x10 camera, but I figured, it is probably more trouble than it is worth. What is a half slide? It is when you cut a film slide to only expose one half of the image, and you turn it in the up or down orientation so that you get two frames on a negative. Thus, with an 8x10 negative, you would be obtaining two 4x10 images. That would almost be as long as the aspect ratio for 6x17, but not quite. Plus, a consideration that dictates adopting this technique is the hassle of having to manipulate such a slide, labeling it when you have used one side or the other and just inserting different slides each time, because you will have to use a full slide as well. Just one more irritating detail to suck away the pleasure of being "in the moment" and finding that transcendence while taking an image.
So it was with curiosity that I noticed that a new option for 6x17 came up on Etsy. I had to look into it, and of course, I was immediately ensnared. It was my fault for looking where I had no business looking. I heard the siren song and I was captured.
So, I was off, and that $1,400 stimulus payment that had been burning a hole in my pockets ever since I received it? Well, I bade it adieu, and went ahead and commenced the process of ordering this camera.
First, I needed the lens. I contacted the maker and he suggested options. He has used it with two lenses, a 90mm and a 65mm. The latter is too extreme for me, so I opted for the 90mm. I happen to already have a 90mm for 4x5, my Schneider Angulon, but it does not cover the image window needed for a 6x17. Next up, find a listing on the auction site and buy it. I wasn't holding back, I was adamant that this was spring break and that, during this special time when we are running on fumes as we try to reach the end of the academic term, this would help brighten the prospect of still having to return to teach six more weeks of class. I bought a 90mm lens for almost $400. Yikes! Use film, stay poor.
And I was off to the races. I had eaten the brownies and now, I was on a trip. Don't eat the brownies, a certain Wavy Gravy is purported to have said at Woodstock, but I ate them, and it was too late.
This is the demonstration camera that was listed by the maker:
It was too late for me, I was ensnared. I placed my order last week:
And now, it was turning out to be over $700. I know, I know, it isn't $1,400 (yet), but it will be, because I will need accessories, it doesn't stop there, at four exposures per roll, I will probably run through piles and piles of 120 film. I will probably also need to buy a clamp to mount it on a tripod, and I haven't even begun to look into that. Also, a light meter. I am in desperate need of a light meter.
Film photography is a money pit. The more you stuff yourself into the rabbit hole, the weirder (and more expensive) things get.
Here is my camera under construction:
It's coming along, and it is too late to turn back. Isn't that what Lady Macbeth said, or was it Macbeth himself reflecting on the fact there was no way to save himself?
So, it should be done in a few weeks. What will happen next, I am not sure, but I will take it out to many of the same old places, as well as some new ones. I am really looking forward to the panoramic 6x17 images. I am no Nick Carver, I don't have his charm nor his professional aptitude for American Gothic photos that include abandoned buildings on Route 66 and humble licor stores as well as donut shops, but this is a supremely creative venture for me. Will this cure me of GAS? No, but as long as it keeps it under control for this year, I will have to consider myself sated.
Now if only that 8x10 Tachihara field camera would stop haunting my dreams. Damn you, Mat Marrash and Large Format Fridays!
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