What’s in Scott’s camera bag?

I own many cameras and lenses but I can only use one camera and one lens at a time. I usually tend to spend 6-12 months shooting one or two systems. By now, I have tested or owned every camera and lens I want to test or own. At my age (encroaching decrepitude alert), there isn’t much time to test or own many more cameras or lenses.

I am also starting to form a vision for what I want to do (photographically) now that I’ve retired as a professional bird photographer.

No matter what I want to photogrpah, weight and size are two issues that haunt me. My medical problems, combined with a totally broken and tired body limit, my choices. The old saying “The best camera is the one you have with you…” comes with an asterisk for those of us with fewer tomorrows than yesterdays. For us, it’s “The best camera is the one you have with you…and that you can still carry!”

In other words, I am downsizing. 

I decided I need to settle on one system going forward that would suit me no matter what kind of photography I want to do and no matter what new technology is created. I can make wonderful images with this kit today — and that will never change — no matter what new, super cool, amazing tech comes next. All these stuff will continue to work.

The cure for G.A.S.

And while I have more Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) than most, it turns out that there is a cure. I’ve bought everything I ever wanted and it’s time to start thinking about what’s gonna happen to all this stuff when I die. 

I don’t have children, so I am planning on donating it to a photography school I have been working with. After thinking about it, I decided not to wait. I don’t have to wait until I die to help them out. I plan to start donating some of it now — so over the next six to 12 months, I will be doing that. (Of course this is a little bit arrogant of me since it assumes I have six to 12 months left — tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us but that’s for another discussion…)

There are a few very expensive pieces I will sell to a camera broker friend of mine. But 90% of it will be gifted. It’s just too much work to try to sell it all and I would like to think that by giving it to people who can’t afford to buy it. I am going to continue to contribute to the world of photography — even after I die. That is my legacy. I started Photofocus more than 25 years ago with that in mind and time hasn’t changed my desire to keep that going. I am proud of what I have done to advance photography and this is a part of that.

But then this means I have a lot of junk to wade through. I literally have cameras, lenses, etc. that I don’t even know I have or forgot I had. It’s really pathetic in some regards but I guess we all accumulate more than we need as time rolls on. (Some closets I have to carefully open because stuff will come rolling out if I am careless about it.)

I have more than three dozen camera bags, more than a dozen tripods, more than a dozen tripod heads, more than two dozen camera flashes and studio lights, more than three dozen batteries and battery chargers, hundreds of cables, more than 50 light stands, reflectors, scrims, backgrounds, etc., etc., etc.

The list goes on and it’s exhausting just to write it all down let alone deal with it.

I realize that having lots of gear can get in the way. It has for me. If you have too much STUFF then that’s all you think about. 

An old Buddhist proverb goes something like this: “A man who has many keys, has many masters.” And I can attest to the accuracy of that statement. You get to a point where you don’t own the gear — the gear owns you.

I’ve spent the last four years testing 10 or so cameras and camera systems. I tested a variety of formats and brands. The good news is that they were all good. If you’ve purchased a camera or lens in the last five years from any of a dozen or so major brands, you have gear that probably supersedes your own ability to get the most out of it. 

No perfect camera

There is of course, no perfect camera. There might be a perfect camera for a given situation, a given subject, a given skill level. But there is no perfect camera.

In other words, even if there is a perfect camera, each person is different and what’s perfect for me probably won’t be perfect for you.

As I’ve gone through this experience, I’ve learned some things that surprised me. The chief amongst those things is the fact that my familiarity with a certain camera/lens brand is possibly the MOST important thing to consider when choosing what I want to “live with” on a day-to-day basis, until I head on up to that big darkroom in the sky.

I was tempted to go with my Leicas — they are arguably the best cameras and lenses I own. They just aren’t what I need to cover a variety of things that interest me and they are frankly overkill for most situations. No large format or DSLR kit will work because they are just too big and heavy for me to carry, setup, operate and use given my age, health and medical issues. Mirrorless is the only way to go for someone like me — but which mirrorless? There are lots of choices and all are good. It’s just down to what resonates for me personally.

What’s in my camera bag from now on

The format I settled on is: Mirrorless, Micro Four Thirds, and the camera I settled on is the OM-System OM-1!

I bet you didn’t see that coming — or maybe you did. You might assume it’s because I used to be an ambassador for Olympus. But that didn’t figure into my decision beyond the fact that I used Olympus gear during that time and made a good living doing it. I have no brand loyalty — I have camera loyalty. It might seem to be the same thing but it isn’t. I have always been “poly-camerous.” 

Back in the day, I often used both Canon and Nikon! (When the Internet became a thing, I inherited my first trolls over this — they couldn’t comprehend how I could use both. That still makes me smile. But I digress…) Like I said, I used to be an Olympus Visionary. I resigned that position not too long after Japan Industrial Partners, Inc. (JIP) made the announcement that it was acquiring all the Olympus imaging assets. 

A new company called “OM SYSTEM” was born. 

I have no idea if JIP will continue to build out the OM SYSTEM brand. They are a holding company and traditionally they come in, buy the assets and then try to off-load them at a profit. So far, they haven’t acted in that fashion. They have released new cameras and lenses and have published a road map that seems to indicate they see a future in the imaging space. 

Here’s the thing — none of that really matters to me personally. I have absolutely NO business relationship with OM SYSTEM and the Olympus camera brand no longer exists. I am just like you — a consumer. All I care about is making pictures. My Micro Four Thirds gear will work for as long as I need it to, and while everyone gets excited about the new stuff, some of my very favorite lenses in the world are older M.Zuiko lenses like the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45mm f/1.8 Lens and the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 75mm f/1.8 Lens. Old stuff doesn’t matter to me. It just needs to be good. 

I currently own 20 Micro Four Thirds lenses, but I will most likely limit the bulk of my photography to these five lenses: 

• LUMIX Leica DG SUMMILUX 9mm F1.7 ASPH Lens
• Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens
• Voigtlander Nokton 25mm f/0.95 Type II Lens 
• Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45mm f/1.8 Lens
• Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 75mm f/1.8 Lens

These are the five I will carry in my bag for almost all occasions. This gives me super-fast primes covering from 18mm EFL (Effective Focal Length) to 150mm EFL. Since I am no longer planning to do professional wildlife photography I won’t be carrying the long glass — although I still own it.

Why the OM SYSTEM?

I now have two OM SYSTEM OM-1 camera bodies. (I am buying a third body but plan to leave it in the box and keep it available for parts should they become unavailable from OM-System.) There OM-1 bodies are truly amazing and they punch way above their weight. Pound-for-pound, they are the best cameras I’ve ever used (taking into account what they cost and what they deliver.) 

Everytime I use an OM-1, I am simply gobsmacked by the camera’s performance. And at the price I paid for them (OM-System has the original OM-1 on sale for $1399 at the time of this writing, which is approximately $800 less expensive than they were when launched.), they are an absolute steal.

While I don’t need to sell or license my images anymore, if I had to, the OM-1 is more than sufficient to give me files I can work with. This is not even the most recent version of this camera and I simply don’t care. This is good enough for me and I take some joy in using stuff that surprises people. 

Below, you will find a list of additional Micro Four Thirds lenses that I own but will not be using much since I prefer the five I am carrying now. I may occasionally swap out one of the lenses for one on this list but mostly I plan to stick with the five I selected because they are all personal favorites.

Current Micro Four Thirds lens list (excluding the five mentioned above…):

• M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm F2.0
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 30mm F3.5 Macro
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm F2.8 Macro
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm F2.8 PRO
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm F1.8 PRO
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 8-25mm F4.0 PRO
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm F4 IS PRO
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm F1.2 PRO
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 20mm 1:1.4 PRO
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm F1.2 PRO
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 PRO
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm F1.2 PRO
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm F4 IS PRO
• M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm F4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO

I don’t use flash all that often but when I do, I have two Olympus FL-LM3 Flashheads and a Godox Lux Senior Retro Camera Flash. I carry my gear for transport in a Pelican 1510 TP. It fits on most airlines as carry-on but is tough enough to go checked baggage. When I am on set (or scene) I tend to transfer my gear to a ThinkTank Airport Addicted roller bag. I occasionally use a sling from Peak Design if I am working with one camera and one lens only.

The case for Micro Four Thirds

I have heard every old, tired, debunked argument you can make against Micro Four Thirds cameras. I simply block (sometimes literally) it out. I made a living with Micro Four Thirds cameras for five years. My photos were published on billboards, in books, magazines, used in television shows, displayed in galleries, licensed by ad agencies and displayed (more than 10 feet wide on the longest side) at photo trade shows. I already know that this format has distinct advantages — at least for me. I already know it’s more than good enough for what I do. I already have dismissed the arguments against. Maybe those arguments are valid for someone else, but not for me.

Beyond all that, I simply know that the “new car smell” you enjoy when you get new gear wears off. More frequently than not, the new gear never seems to be as good as you hoped it was. It never seems to make YOU a better photographer. It merely satisfies some desire to “consume” until — it doesn’t.

And when that NEW wears off, where do you turn? If you’re like me, you turn to something familiar, dependable, and reliable. You pick something that makes you happy and produces predictable results. You pick something your hands and fingers are comfortable with. Your muscle memory saves your bacon sometimes when you use older, familiar gear. You don’t have to constantly learn new interfaces and menus. Struggling with controls you don’t know yet, getting used to how a new camera feels in the hand and deciphering the myriad of new computational features can be very daunting.

I know all this because it happened to me. I’ve tried everything — now I am going to go back to what I absolutely KNOW. 

I am not trying to convince YOU to move to Micro Four Thirds. I am, however, trying to give you permission to keep your old, reliable cameras and to spend that money you’d have otherwise spent on a new camera body, on a trip to somewhere special to give you a chance to use them. Or buy new (or new to you) lenses. That is money well spent.

I feel like I am always learning something new about photography and myself, even after 50 years with a camera around my neck. And the lesson I’ve learned most recently is to be satisfied with what I know I can use to make great photos. I hope the same for you.

Side Note: All the photos shared here were taken using the OM SYSTEM OM-1.

Scott Bourne is the founder of Photofocus and has made photography his chief pursuit for more than 50 years. He is retired from assignment shooting but still writes, teaches and lectures. He will be part of the faculty at the KelbyOne Wildlife Photography Conference in December 2024.