The past few months has seen me shooting a lot of 6×9. I was even lucky enough to borrow a GSW690II to see if I liked it enough to run two 6×9 cameras. Well, after a number of road trips I can say I’ve learnt a couple of things. Firstly, any more than two cameras is a recipe for missing the shot. Even if they are similar/identical formats, juggling at the critical time isn’t fun. Which leads to the second point, real estate isn’t everything when it comes to the pursuit of powerful images. The technical image quality of the Fuji 6×9’s is outstanding for landscapes, no arguments there. Sure they are quite portable and hand held work is ‘easy’ but most of the time a tripod is firmly attached. On the other hand, the freedom the Nikon F5 or F4 give me translates into valuable time to be creative and the ability to get the camera (and you) somewhere unique. The precision and automation of the F5 is also much welcomed after doing it ‘manually’ for a while (invaluable experience though!). As I look back at my images the ones that always stand out for me are those from Nepal. All were shot on an F4 with manual focus primes and no distractions. So, what have I learnt? Keep the kit small and simple and focus on the image. Chances are my 6×9 will take a rest for a while as the F5 and 58mm f1.4G take centre stage.
