What Would They Be Using Today?

Ctein and I are working hard on the print sale launch today—Wednesday morning is coming up very fast. I'm shooting for 12 noon, going till next Monday at noon.

So here's one of those post ideas that I will never, ever finish. But still, kinda fun.

—If he were in the prime of his career today and shooting digital, what camera would Ansel Adams be using? Answer: Leica S, with a complete set of lenses and the absolute biggest, sturdiest Gitzo carbon-fiber tripod.

—If she were in the prime of her career today and shooting digital, what camera would Margaret Bourke-White be using? Answer: Canon 1D X—two of 'em, on loan from Canon, where she would be a sponsored Explorer of Light.

—If he were in the prime of his career today and shooting digital, what camera would Henri Cartier-Bresson be using? Answer: black Nikon 1 V1 with only the 18.5mm f/1.8 lens and the markings blacked out with electrical tape.

—If he were in the prime of his career today and shooting digital, what camera would Andy Warhol be using? Answer: Apple iPhone 5c with Shakeit Photo faux-Polaroid app.

—If he were in the prime of his career today and shooting digital, what camera would Galen Rowell be using? Answer: beat-up and bruised Canon Rebel T3i and no more than three mid-level lenses.

Anybody got any more? (I'm waiting with bated breath for Hugh Crawford to weigh in on this one....)

Mike

Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Hugh Crawford: "Oh the pressure...

Helmut Newton—Hasselblad H4D-40
Diane Arbus—Sony R1
Richard Avedon—Sinar arTec with a Phase One IQ260 Achromatic back
Irving Penn—Sony A7r with Zeiss Sonnar
Julia Margaret Cameron—Sony A7r with a magnifying glass on a paper towel tube
Bill Brandt—Sony A7r with pinhole
Tina Modotti—whatever Edward Weston is using
Lee Miller—whatever Man Ray is using , no make that Robert Capa, no Picasso
Cecil Beaton—Red
Jacques Henri Lartigue—Fujifilm FinePix Real3D
Andy Warhol—Nikon's Coolpix S1000pj, the one with a built-in projector or Polaroid Z2300 that prints instant photo stickers
Harold Edgerton—Vision Research Phantom V
Stanley Kubrick—Hubble space telescope

"(No disrespect intended to Lee Miller, go, be amazed.)"

Chris Vogl: "I thought that Mr. Rowell was a Nikon man."

Mike replies: Oops, you're right, my bad.

David Emerson: "Winogrand: Ricoh GR."

Adam Long: "Myself and my climbing photographer friends have discussed the Galen question long and hard. The reason being, there still isn't a digital equivalent to an FM2 and a couple of primes. We're a lot closer now with Fuji's recent offerings, but they don't fit into a bigger pro system in the way Galen's kit did. If he stuck with Nikon SLRs, I'd guess a D3200 with 16–85mm."

Mike Plews: "AA was shooting Hasselblad V series cameras at the end of his life. My bet would on a digital back for same."

Marcin Wuu: "Karsh would definitely use Phase One's IQ260 Achromatic."

Bob Blakley: "Galen would almost certainly still be using a Nikon; his lifetime collection of lenses would be reason enough. A D5300 would be my guess. And oh how I wish he were still here to answer the question for himself. Gone too soon."

darr: "Berenice Abbott: Alpa cameras (XY, Max and Alpa SWA; possibly Seitz Roundshot as well), with superior lenses. She would invent tools and/or techniques that would create unusual effects on her images, not HDR or other like-minded gimmicks, but effects that would promote her desire to be a 'straight shooter.'"

John Krumm: "Adams would definitely be shooting medium format at least, but from what I remember he also liked his little Contax for candids, so he might have a GX7 when out with friends. I know he looked forward to digital. Perhaps a company, seeking attention, would design an Ansel special, a large format digital. He would use it a few times and then go back to medium format because of size. Thanks to metering improvements his zone system would not exist. Also, due to legions of depressing copycats he would eventually switch to full time concert piano."

sneye: "Some of my own favorites (photographers, that is):

Andre Kertesz—an unassuming, small camera. Perhaps a GX7 or an X-E2.
Larry Burrows—a D700, no doubt.
Mario Giacomelli—hard to say. He never paid much attention to his tools. Maybe an E-P2 with the accessory viewfinder.
Edward Steichen—a 5DIII
Edouard Boubat—a Leica M
Alexander Rodchenko—something truly proletarian, maybe a Sony RX100
Bill Brandt (before the war; I'm not impressed by his later work)—a K-5
Yousuf Karsh—a Leica S
Eugene Smith—a D800E. He wouldn't have been able to resist."

Comments

[Dave Jenkins]

How do you figure that bit about Galen Rowell?

[Jamie Pillers]

Adam's Leica S would be fitted with several new features:
1)monochrome sensor with "red filter mode" as default;
2)similar to Smile Recognition, when the camera senses anything man-made in the frame, the shutter wouldn't trigger; and
3) accessory folding viewing cloth that can be attached to back and place over photographer's head for glare-free viewing of LCD.

[BWJones]

Robert Capa would use two beat to hell Fuji X-Pro1 cameras with a 35mm (50mm equivalent) and 23mm (35mm equivalent) in B&W mode +yellow at ISO 400.

[Mark E. Johnson]

W. Eugene Smith - Nikon Df, D4s, D800e, D610, D5200, P7700, 14/2.8, 17-55/2.8, 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8, 200-400. That would be his walk around kit ...

[Nigel Robinson]

Atget would still be using the same gear. Man Ray would have invented HDR, but would also be using it tastefully.

[Bil Mitchell]

H C-B: Leica Monochrome w/50mm Summilux.

[Manuel]

Don't know about the others, but my guess is that HC-B would be using a Leica. Probably the MP. And a 50mm-f/1.4 lens. Ansel Adams would be using a Sinar or Linhof large format camera. I don't see him going for anything but large format.
Robert Doisneau, on the other hand, would use a Leica S2 - providing he'd care for digital.
Much more interesting would be to speculate about what Dr Oskar Barnack would come up with if he were a young engineer living in the 21st century. Or Yoshihisa Maitani.

[Ranjit Grover]

Mike,
If you were to be a full time photographer and not the CEO of this site what camera would you be using?

[Nick]

I was thinking today about film sizes and digital image sizes today and how back in ye old days when large format was the norm and 120 was the convenient one then 35mm came along and everyone professional thought it was a joke because it was so small.

In 40 years are we going to have the landscapers with their full frames and the pros with m43 and everyone online arguing about the merits of the 2/3" sensor and how it is better than 1"?

[Harrison Cronbi]

Yikes! I think the Cartier-Bresson is going to ignite some, shall we say, debate (or ignominious name calling).

Vivian Maier - A Sony RX100 set to 1:1 crop mode, with the LCD permenantly in waist-level position.

Robert Capa - he's waiting for the Fuji X-T1, but in the meantime he's using a Pentax K3 with water resistant lenses (perfect for those splashing-in-the-surf beach shots).

Henry Fox Talbot - The Talbotron 3000, a Kickstarter project started by the man himself, involving a 3D-printed camera and a newly-developed light sensitive e-film.

[Joseph Brunjes]

"If he/she was in the prime of their career and shooting digital..." is a flawed statement. None of the photographers mentioned would probably be important in today's market if they were digital shooters.

[Steve Pritchard]

H.C.B. goes Nikon? Hope you've got your tin hat standing by!

[Peter Turnley]

HCB would have loved the Leica Monochrom!

[Richard Newman]

Can't agree re Ansel Adams. I think he would be using a view camera with a 50-80 meg digital back. Or possibly (I think he used one for a while) a Hasselblad with digital back.
As for HCB, I think he would be using a film Leica. Not digital.

[Roger Bradbury]

Lancelot Vining would be using Olympus Pen digital cameras for press photography, all fitted with viewfinders. He would have been an early adopter of digital cameras for press work, once they were available in a reasonably light and compact form.

Lancelot Vining was one of the first photographers in Britain to use precision 35mm cameras for newspaper photography, and wrote 'My Way With the Miniature', published in 1941.

[Michel]

For Ansel Adams I think the more salient question is what vehicle would he mount his tripod on?

[John Holland]

As for Galen Rowell, I can understand the choice of a light, mid-range wunderplastik camera (Galen's favorite cameras were apparently the Nikon N80 and N90), but I don't get the move to Canon. Is this due to some advantage to Canon's current lens lineup perhaps?

I remember reading somewhere that on his last photo trip he was giving a Nikon D100 a tryout.

[Tim F]

You had me until Galen Rowell. The guy constantly kept up with new developments in camera bodies. He had an F4 before almost anyone, he just kept the FE2 with minitripod on hand for runs and excursions where he absolutely could not spare the weight.

Rowell would leave ginormous pro football lenses at home, obvs, but I also think you understate how picky he was about lenses.

If he shot today I think he would have an Olympus EM1 with three top primes and a custom Singh-Ray filter holder, to which he would have switched from Pentax, which he chose because of weather sealing and sensor stabilization. His column for Outdoor Photographer this month would be a serious comparison of micro 4/3 vs. the Sony A7/R for shooting with one hand, upside down while being attacked by falcons.

[Tim F]

What about Ed Weston? I say D4s or comparable, with enviable amounts of accessory kit.

[Elisabeth Spector]

Had to smile when I read your prediction for Henri Cartier-Bresson! I think he would find the combination of dead-silent shutter, super-fast AF speed and the 18.5 lens (50mm FOV equiv.) quite attractive for his "decisive moment" camera. The V1 files, too, have a certain depth and character that many dsecribe as quite film-like, so perhaps HC-B wouldn't feel completely lost in a digital world where plasticky-smooth, technically "perfect" output seems to be the status quo. Of course, I may be biased, as I have the same combo (plus the 10mm f/2.8 which I prefer to the 18.5 for its 27mm-equivalent focal length), obtained when last year's fire sale prices were too good to pass up. I think you are right about the tape, too! My V1 is covered all over the place with tape for both functional and cosmetic reasons.

[Dave]

I don't care so much about "what camera" but I do wonder if any of these photogs could come up with a sustainable business model for our times. Could Ansel Adams survive in a Chase Jarvis world?

[Geoff Morgan]

I would have expected Ansel Adams to use a PhaseOne system, probably with the monochrome back.

[jean-louis salvignol]

HC-B..."black Nikon 1 V1 with only the 18.5mm f/1.8 lens and the markings blacked out with electrical tape"

...and with a grip from the Richard Franiec workshop, like mine!

[Martin]

I think Ansel might prefer something like a technical camera, with a Phase One IQ280 on the back.

Man Ray would, for some work at least, probably be using an Epson Perfection.

Martin Parr would use the largest tablet camera he could find.

[William Barnett-Lewis]

After reading various of his books, I can just imagine the Happy Dance Ansel Adams would do once he got his hands on an Leica S. I know I'd love to see the work he could have done with it. He'd probably be almost as excited as he would have been with Photoshop.

Capra would have two OM-D E-M1's: one with the P25/1.4 on it and one with the O17/1.8 on it (and an O45/1.8 in his pocket). That would be as close to his Contax's as he could get right now.

The two I'd actually be most curious about are what Edward Weston would use (hasselblad back on a Sinar?) or what William Eggleston does use if he's gone digital.

[RobinP]

Pleased to see that so far no one has suggested any of the greats would lower themselves to using micro four thirds :-)
Is there any possibility that Weston might fall for something with a Foveon sensor?

[Bryce Lee]

Karsh of Ottawa would still be using large format however with a digital back that would
be able to render images in black and white.

And we would be using a Radio Shack TRS-80 as his computer to view the images.

[GRJ]

Whatever current digital camera has the most durable shutter, that's the one for Winogrand.

[Bernard Scharp]

Funny how everybody thinks HCB would use a Summilux on digital, when he used a 'Cron on film.
With digital's higher isos, he would have even less use for the extra stop...

And I think Rowell would have upgraded to the SL1 when it came out. And maybe one of Canon's WA IS primes, or the 40mm pancake (I know I bring that when I'm climbing)

[Crabby Umbo]

Re: Ansel Adams, I don't know why you guys are so fascinated with that Leica "Fake" large (not) plate digital...seen it, seen the results...meh. It's neither "big plate" 120 DSLR based camera, or a easy to use smaller 35mm DSLR based Full Framer...too much money for half fish-half fowl.

[Trecento]

If the 1958 mini documentary on Ansel Adams is any indication, the answer to "which camera" would be "all of them." Check in at around the 4 minute mark. The man loved gear. Loved it!

Later on in the documentary, you can see him operate what looks to be a Calumet CC-400, an undistinguished, cheap, boring, sturdy, flexible view camera, that thousands of students have learned LF on before moving on to bigger and "better" view cameras. (And then, there was the Speed Graphic, also humble, and the Hasselblad, not large format.)

I'm not sure what the equivalent would be to a camera like that. Boring, sturdy, flexible, can mount a lot of different manual focus lenses? In 2008 that would have been a 5D MkII, right? And he'd have a roller-case filled with prime lenses covering 12mm to 500mm. (But he'd mostly use 24mm, 50mm, and 85mm's, but he'd have three different models of each.)

Sure, he'd have an S2. But also a Pentax 645, and an A7, and an X-Ti for informal portraits around town (Oh hi Georgia!), and a OMD with a 17/1.8 for when the X-Ti seems a little big.
And more than half would be on loan from the camera manufacturers for "evaluation", not unlike Kodak's generosity with film, and Hasselblads's generosity with cameras. And that's before you get to his collection of large format printers!

More seriously, if he wasn't such a gear hound, I think we would need to look no further than Ctien's camera bag to see what he'd need.

The question I'm most interested in, is what would Edward Weston use? He picked a very straightforward process and stuck with it. What would that very straightforward process look like today?

[Severian]

You can check with Thom Hogan, for whom Galen was a mentor, but I'm thinking since Galen shot Nikon when he was alive it seems probable he would still be doing so ...

Severian

[hugh crawford]

B.T.W. I bought a Sony DSC-R1 specifically because it is close to perfect for Diane Arbus style waist level fill flash candid street portraits as you can buy.

[Omer]

Helen Levitt would be using a Sony NEX 6 and work strictly in color (Ctein would be her printer.) However, realizing she can't make decent compositions of American children fixated to their digital devices, Ms. Levitt says "F**k it," moves to South Africa and becomes an evangelist proselytizing against the digital revolution. None heed her.

[BH]

Taking into account the acceleration of his image making over time, Garry Winogrand would be using a 1DX set to high speed drive with a piece of tape holding down the shutter release.

[Chuck Holst]

Galen Rowell would be going as light as possible. For an occasion like D-Day, Capa would be carrying something waterproof, such as the Nikon 1 AW1. My question is how many of the classic B&W photographers would have switched to color early if they had had access to today's digital cameras?

[Ger Lawlor]

Adams - a Phase One IQ 260 achromatic, with filters and a TSE lens or LF body of some sort, surely?

[Dave Karp]

Ansel Adams would also have a
Hasselblad H5D-200MS with the full range of lenses available (modern Hassy replacement). In addition to that, he would have an Olympus OM-D E-M1 for his carry around camera (instead of his Contax). And of course, he would have a view camera (actually several) and his old film Hasselblads. He would use film too. Assistants would develop the film and press the OK button to print his digital prints once he finished all of the Photoshop work. Of course, he would do the darkroom printing.

He would have every new gizmo and would be having a heck of a lot of fun with electronic photography!

:-)

[Kevin Purcell]

Atget would still be shooting LF on glass plates (Nigel beat me to it).

I am rereading Examples and one of the points Ansel Adams kept making is to use the right camera for the right job.

I could imagine Admas also using an mirroless APS- C or micro FourThirds or smaller as his "minature" camera. After all he was using a Contax when he was also shooting larger format. He was not afraid of "new tech".

I suspect he'd also be using cutom versions e.g. a white camera for use in Death Valley (he has a lot to say about black camera bags and cases in the desert). So imagine him with a white Leica S2.

Winogrand would be shooting stills with a Nikon V1 (20fps ... just press the button) or video with a Fuji. Lots and lots and lots of images that would never get edited but would all be store on the hard drives for someone else to look at later.

Martin Parr would be shooting with a Canon 5D3 with 60mm macro and ring or regular flash. Wait, that's what he actually does ...

[Andre Moreau]

HCB using Nikon? He'd be using a Monochrome M I would think.

As for Rowell, a Nikon with a 24mm focal lenght lens.

[Gunnar Marel]

Eadweard Muybridge: A Canon 1D C.

[Simon Griffee]

—If she were in the prime of her career today and shooting digital, what camera would Helen Levitt be using? Answer: silver Leica M9 with the 50mm f/2 lens, though she'd be thinking about the silver Fuji X100s with fixed 35mm f/2 lens once the upcoming 50mm adapter was available.

[Jamie Pillers]

Winogrand? Maybe a Fuji, but probably M240. But for sure a super fast SD card with enough capacity to hold at least 360 RAW files (10 rolls a day, 36 exposures each). :-)

[Michael Matthews]

I don't know, but I see Galen Rowell with one of the Fujis or the Ricoh GR.

[Kenneth Tanaka]

I suspect most would be struggling to use what they'd been using.

- Ansel would be schlepping the usual lumber yard camera. Full-movement is his shtick.

- HCB would be using a Leica, probably an M9 (the M240 would be far too modern), which Leica would have given to him in exchange for licensing his name for a "special" limited edition HCB-top-plate-signed model selling for $50k+.

- I agree with Mike that Margaret Bourke-White might very well be schlepping dual complimentary Canon 1D X bodies around the planet when not teaching photo seminars and workshops.

- Warhol would probably be shooting social snaps with some crummy-cam such as a Holga or some Lomography contraption. (And selling gigantic prints for $100k+ to coastal collectors.)

But they'd all be using an iPhone 5s. Most would keep it a secret. But Warhol would luxuriate in it.

Related, a year or more ago I wrote a short (unpublished) piece for TOP speculating on what Walker Evans would be doing in today's digital photography era. ("What Would Walker Shoot?") I had the advantage of using Walker Evans Polaroids as a guide. I think he'd be going as hog-wild as his body and spirits (both of which sagged toward the end) would let him!

I also suspect that Andre Kertesz might find new legs in the new media, based mainly on how he embraced the Polaroid SX-70 at the end of his days. But that's another story.

Fun speculation, eh?

[Roger Bradbury]

Terence Donovan , a big man, would be using the Pentax 645D and advertising it for Pentax, where it would look like a small APS-C DSLR in his large hands.

[Grant]

Yousuf Karsh - Hasselblad H4D-200MS with a huge Gtzo tripod.

[Rube Redfield]

Like Daido, HC-B would be using a Ricoh, probably the GR if he could get used to the 28mme.

[Bob Goldstein]

Wouldn't Wiliam Eggleston want a Foveon Sigma DP2M?

[Ricardo Silva Cordeiro]

Not associating Henri Cartier-Bresson with a Leica M camera is a bold move Mike. I guess it will make a lot of people uneasy.

But I agree, I don't think HCB would choose a digital M. As capable as they are, nowdays I see them reduced to expensive toys for ostentation.

Coincidently, as a Nikon V1 user I often wonder "what Henri Cartier-Bresson would think of this camera?". The speed and inconspicuousness is a street-photographer's dream come true, but in the other hand it reduces the exigence of technique in street-shooting (something I think HCB was very proud of).

[Andrew Lamb]

H C-B wouldn't be taking photos. He'd be sketching on an i-Pad.

[Allan Ostling]

It's nice to think that I have been channeling Cartier-Bresson. I'm perhaps more insecure than he was since I have the V1 with 18.5mm f1.8, AND a spare V1 body (bought when I thought Nikon might be abandoning the system).

[Stephen Scharf]

@BWJones: Love it! I was thinking exactly the same thing.

Street photographers William Klein and Garry Winograd would be using a Fuji X100S.

[Not so sure about GW, because he preferred 28mm. --Mike]

[Chris S]

Vivian Maier would probably be still using her first digital, bought circa 2004. Any make so long as it has a tilt screen. At home, shoe boxes full of 500mb SD cards gather dust atop of her wardrobe. She doesn't own a computer.

[John]

I don't think Ansel Adams would be able to afford a Leica today. Neither would a poor photo journalist like HCB.

[Henri came from a wealthy family, and never had to worry much about money. And Ansel was one of the first photographers to become a millionaire from the sale of prints, thanks in part to Harry Lunn.

Garry Winogrand might be a photographer who wouldn't shoot with a Leica today. --Mike]

[tompappas]

Edward Weston (and Bret or that matter) would use what ever would get the girls clothes off.

[John Camp]

Bob Guccione -- Nikon D800, 85mm f1.4, 77mm filter with Vaseline smeared on the filter.

[Jim]

Cartier-Bresson would be using a digital Leica, unless he had to buy it retail. In that case he would be using a Fuji X-Pro 1 and 35mm f/1.4 lens.

[Arg]

H C-B would probably not be using a Leica. I like Mike's idea of a V1. But he would really want something like those Canon cameras with the 'direct print' button on the camera. HCB would then shoot in jpeg, monochrome, in-camera settings, and print straight from camera!

[Jim Witkowski]

I think that Ansel would not be using the Leica S2 as great as that may be. He would want to have more control over pixel count and not multiple backs. My vision of an AA rig would be a Phase One with all of the Schneider leaf shutter lenses like these.

[JK]

I'm pretty sure Garry Winogrand would be using a Ricoh GR.

[Hugh Crawford]

After thinking about a little while, it's obvious that Andy Warhol would be very enthusiastic about google glass. He was always recording everything and everyone. Somewhere there is probably a cassette of me explaining dairy farming.
Gary Winogrand would probably get google glass too come to think of it.

My iPhone won't let Gary's name alone...

[Ken]

I think Galen Rowell, a life-long Nikon shooter as far as I know, would have been much more likely to be using a Nikon - likely a D3s (or D4s) for its toughness and its ability to provide good results in low light. On a run near his home or in other places where traveling light was essential, I think he'd have likely settled for a small mirrorless, perhaps one of the little Nikon V cameras, today's equivalent to something like the N80.

[Adam Maas]

Adams would be using an Alpa with a PhaseOne IQ260 Achromatic back and a selection Schneider APO-Digitar lenses, not a Leica S2.

He'd want the biggest sensor with the best lenses, and wouldn't care about AF, ergonomics or compactness. And in the large-sensor world that means an Alpa, Schneider and PhaseOne combo, not Leica.

[Jim Witkowski]

To add to my comments above, I also would add Richard Avedon and Irving Penn would be a good fit for Phase One too. As far as black and white conversions, Brooks Jensen and my friend Jeff Goggin do it quite well. It's just not that hard.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

I'm pretty sure Galen Rowell would be using a Nikon D800e; the combination of light weight and high resolution would be irresistible to him.

And I think Mike's initial Ansel Adams theory is right; the Leica S. He used Hasselblad later in life, when the film had gotten enough better (and he got older); while he would use view camera movements, it was to manage DOF mostly, and simply having more actual DOF (from faster usable ISO and smaller "film") would do just as well, so the S is great for him. He was certainly a technical experimenter, so I have no doubt he would have investigated digital enthusiastically.

David Hamilton might be using a Sigma with Foveon sensor, and probably one of the Lens Baby lenses on it.

[bertram eiche]

I'm using that HCB digital camera/lens combo.
I hope it pays off one day, haha.

[Steve Mason]

To do justice to this discussion we would have to talk about the effect the technology would have on the photographer. Ansel would be a photoshop guru using a Nikon D800E. Eugene Smith would also be a photoshop expert probably using Fuji's as well. I would suspect all of them printing on Epson's. I also see HCB, Gary Winogrand and Walker Evans as Fuji users as the Fuji's just keep getting what photog's want. Galen Rowell as well for it's size and quality. Arnold Newman, George Tice both shooting a Nikon D800.

[Andrew]

Brassai would be using a Canon 5D MkIII with a second hand 50mm F1 lens.

He could then capture images he could only have dreamt of in the past

[neely fallon]

Rowell using Canon lenses? Nikon Apostasy? Doubtful.
http://www.mountainlight.com/rowell/gr_camera_bag.html

What Would (Will?) Thom Hogan Say?
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/2327421

[Eric Rose]

HCB would be using an Epson RD-1 and whatever Leica lens he had laying around. He would also put black tape over the RD-1 on the face of the camera.

Ansel would be using a Blad with a Phase One back.

Weston would be using a second hand Nikon D200

Finally Imogen Cunningham would be using a Panasonic GX-7 in 1:1 format.

[Chris Nicholls]

Adam's Leica S would be fitted with several new features:
"1)monochrome sensor with "red filter mode" as default;
2)similar to Smile Recognition, when the camera senses anything man-made in the frame, the shutter wouldn't trigger; and
3) accessory folding viewing cloth that can be attached to back and place over photographer's head for glare-free viewing of LCD.

Posted by: Jamie Pillers"

And the LCD display would be inverted.

[Jeff]

I think Adams would be using a system with live view, which the Leica S system doesn't (yet) have.

And I think HCB (assuming he opted for digital) would be using his free Leica M edition, whatever iteration.

[Miserere]

I only partially agree with others' comments on HCB. Yes, he'd be using a Leica, but I suspect it would still be his beat-up Leica of the last few decades and his faithful 50mm lens. I doubt he would've moved over to digital.

[Gerry]

Perhaps if he were in the prime of his career today and shooting digital, Ansel Adams would be using a Hasselblad Lunar.

[Jon Levi]

Don't forget Diane Arbus. She'd either be using a blacked out Olympus OMD EM1, 45 mm lens wide open or her trusty back up, the Oly E5, 25 pancake wide open shooting in manual mode, articulated LCD flipped up at waist level, next strap taut, set at 1:1 aspect ratio in mono-chrome, eyes intent. . .

Why are we entertaining this? These photographers are a product of their times, their technology, their social outlook in a much less utopian pre-internet world. If they existed in this TODAY world, they would cease to be who they are. I highly doubt that this existential paradox would work but it is entertaining to think how different WE would be if they never existed at all.

[Paul De Zan]

HC-B would be using an iPhone 5S. No need for electrical tape.

[David Boyce]

Adams would also be using a personally constructed software program to process his RAW files with a special RIP that he tweaks for each print. And lets not start even talking about the different printers he has ....

[Ernie Van Veen]

Edward S Curtis - a couple of 5D Mark IIIs and a bevy of GoPros for the anthropological work, plus a Phase One combo for the big portraits and landscapes.

[Ross Chambers]

For Winogrand more a question of what is the hugest memory card

[Colin]

None of them would be shooting at all if they were around today. Who has time to pick up a camera when there are social media profiles to tend, Twitter posts to write, Facebook 'likes' to chase and Google Plus hangouts to attend? Why waste time taking photos when you could be promoting a workshop, e-book, i-Phone app or pretentiously named mentoring programme? What camera would they be using? Why would they need a camera?

[Auntipode]

Regardless of his camera, HC-B would pay a select pro to do his Photoshop work.

[Francis E]

Henri Cartier-Bresson - an iPhone, because he could always have it with him and he was always happpy to compromise on image quality in order to do that. (Let's not forget that, by the professional photographic standards of the day, his dinky 35mm negatives were grainy and soft.) Being a hip rich kid, it would be an iPhone 5s, probably the gold one with maximum memory.

Andy Warhol - posting daily to YouTube with footage from Google Glasses or an Olympus endoscope.

Yul Brynner - quite the geek, with 3 cameras around his neck. I'd guess a Canon 7D with a couple of zooms and a Sony RX1.

Vivian Meier - she'd have saved up for a used Canon 1 series and some fast lenses, and would have 80,000 followers on Flickr.

Wolfgang Sievers - Canon 1 series with tilt-shift lenses and some fast single focal length lenses. Possibly a technical camera with scanning back.

Stanley Kubrick - Nikon D800E with Zeiss glass.

Man Ray - Lomo and a Polaroid SX-70 from eBay.

Ansel Adams, as he wrote himself, would undoubtedly be working in colour if he were starting anew. The trouble is that those places he took his big camera to in the 1930s with the Sierra Club are no longer unknown, so it's hard to know what level of portability he would have needed. I tend to think he'd go with zooms if they were available for the camera system he chose. Most likely his photography business would not be viable, and he'd be a hard-core jazz pianist.

[Michael Martin-Morgan]

Dear Henri ...
I love the way you are compared to:
"... and the V1 is aimed at a slightly more advanced user, but both cameras are intended essentially for beginners upgrading from compact cameras or cameraphones, and who find the size and complexity of a DSLR intimidating."
DPReview dixit

[Michael Barkowski]

For members of the group f/64, a smaller format these days would probably be considered.

And maybe Karsh would use whatever Cavouk is using - family traditions going both ways in the time warp...

[Michael Barkowski]

Hmmm... thought Cavouk and Karsh were related, but maybe not.

[MarkB]

Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky would use a Sigma SD1 Merrill... or maybe a trio of DP cams.

[Roy]

Miroslav Tichy would still be using a lens made from a bog-roll tube.

[Roger Moore]

Weegee would use a fully kitted out 1Dx or D4s, and would take most of his pictures with the matching 24-70.

Ansel Adams would be a brand hopper, and would make most of his money teaching Photoshop classes rather than selling photographs.

[Len Kowitz]

David Vestal was using a Canon Rebel and a Fuji. I'll have to check which one.

[Mark]

"Garry (Winogrand) only used Leicas". quote from Joel Meyerowitz.

and

From a 1979 American Photographer article.

AP: What kind of cameras do you use?
GW: Leicas, and I always have. I don't like SLRs because they manipulate you into doing things, and pictures taken with SLRs are generally recognizable as such.

For this reason I believe he would definitely be shooting with a digital M, just like his friends and contemporaries Todd Papageorge, Joel Meyerowitz and Bruce Davidson.

[jim]

interesting, particularly in light of the comments on a photo contest limited to women and the following assumptions about their interest in photo gear. I may be incorrect but none of those participating in this exercise seem to be women?? Maybe they are out photographing!!

[Roger Bradbury]

@ Michel: "For Ansel Adams I think the more salient question is what vehicle would he mount his tripod on?"

He would go for a 2001 Mazda Miata Special Edition. Quick enough to keep well in front of those who copy him, and he could build in a tripod support so he doesn't leave any telltale 'tripod holes'. I know where there's a nice green one for sale...... : ]

[JG]

"Street photographers William Klein and Garry Winograd would be using a Fuji X100S.

[Not so sure about GW, because he preferred 28mm. --Mike]"

Then perhaps a Fuji X100S with Fuji's matching WCL-X100 .8X wide-angle converter?

[Tony Presland]

i think Julia Margaret Cameron would be using one of the new Lomography Petzval lenses on either Canon or Nikon bodies- why change?

[PVS]

All of 'em moved to digital platforms? Qualifies for an April's Fools joke to me.

[Howard Sandler]

Peter Gowland would be shooting a Rolleiflex hacked by his own design with a med format digital back attached. He would be selling them to Karsh and Annie Leibovitz too.

[darr]

@ jim: "interesting, particularly in light of the comments on a photo contest limited to women and the following assumptions about their interest in photo gear. I may be incorrect but none of those participating in this exercise seem to be women?? Maybe they are out photographing!!"

"I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore ..."

darr* (a.k.a Darlene Christina Almeda)

*some of us like to use the nicknames our loved ones have called us since we were wee-small. :)

[Dan]

AA actually wrote (in the last editions of The Print) that he was sure that digital was coming, and that he was excited to see what image quality it would bring. I tend to think he'd probably use a tech camera with a Phase back, simply out of comfort with the way it worked. He was a design consultant on one of the Hasselblad "baby view cameras", and would tend in that direction (more or less brand-agnostically). He'd also have a couple of "little" cameras he was trying out, looking for the best image quality in something small. He was enough of a gearhead that I'd guess the present-day lineup would include E-M1, X-T1 and A7r, looking for the small, light camera with the least compromises. Oh, and an 8x10 Deardorff with a scanner mounted where the film holder went, for when the light and weight would let him.

Why wouldn't Galen shoot an E-M1? Sturdy enough to drop off a medium-sized mountain, fits in a fanny pack (mine lives in one), nice image quality (although not the VERY best you can get, Galen used to love consumer zooms because they were so much lighter than the f2.8 equivalents

[Peter Bendheim]

"I am completely and have always been uninterested in the photographic process. I like the smallest camera possible, not those huge reflex cameras with all sorts of gadgets. When I am working, I have an M3 because it’s quicker when I’m concentrating." HCB quoted off Lens blog in the NYT.
Most interviews with the greats seem to suggest that they are not terribly gear obsessed. Maybe there is a lesson in that.