Over the years I’ve owned way too many cameras. On the train today I was thinking that they are just tools, but what makes me favor one over another. Thought it would make a fun blog post to name my top 5 so here goes:

1. iPhone

The iPhone is a complete game changer and at the moment its number one for me. The camera is junk, but it doesn’t matter. Good photos are good photos – that’s what I strive to do with the iPhone. Its always with you and it allows you to casually shoot throughout the day. Even lugging a compact camera around can be a pain if you run out of pockets – the iPhone is much more convenient in terms of form factor. The apps you can get for your phone turn the quality from crap to something that actually looks interesting. Plus you can do all of your post processing from the phone and upload to something like posterous and have your pictures distributed in various places in seconds. I really can’t go on enough about how great and handy this is as a photography tool.

2. Nikon F3HP

Ah – 35mm… I personally think the old Canon FD lenses were the best ever made, but old Nikon’s are not far behind. In a perfect world, I would have Canon FD lenses on Nikon bodies. But since were talking about cameras here… the F3 is my favorite out of the old Nikon lineup. It lacks many features of modern cameras – there’s no auto focus and the 2 shooting modes are manual or aperture priority. But if you know what you’re doing – this is a great combination. The camera is big enough to shoot serious pictures with and its not so heavy you get tired doing street photography (like the wonderful, but too large F4).

3. Canon 5D mk ii

Another game changer I really think this is one of the finest cameras you can buy (as I write this – its digital and will be obsolete within a year I’m sure). What makes the 5d mk ii so awesome? Full frame sensor, extremely high low light performance – 3200 iso is very usable, and HD video. I also personally prefer Canon lenses so this makes it a wonderful camera.

4. Holga

No frills, oddball, crapy medium format and I love it. Its so lacking in features that you can come up with all kinds of weird creative ways to push the limits of this camera. Mine was modified by Randy at Holgamods – which is essential I believe. Mainly because Randy modifies this with a bulb shutter and built in cable release (and interior flocking and corrected aperture and tripod mount). This enables night exposures and adds a wonderful element to this camera.

5. Cambo Legend

I like to refer to this as the concert camera – the thing is huge and solid like a grand piano. Its not portable or convenient at all, but its one of the most powerful cameras I’ve ever owned. I have the 8×10 version with a 4×5 reducing back. It features full tilt/shift control and macro extension. With the right lens this camera has the most incredible performance.

Anyway – that’s the list… for now… wait – I might change my mind… oh well.. you get the picture.