selfaware soup

What I Use

This is the gear I use to do my work, for my entertainment, art, and everything else. Everything on this list is something I would recommend based on my needs, preferences and abilities.

Probably not all of it is going to be the right thing for everyone but it works well for me. I’ve used each piece extensively and stuck with it. Your mileage may vary.

Some of the things here are already quite old and I tend to buy things from the second hand market already. They are either only available on places like eBay or there’s newer versions of them.

Contents

• Photography & Video
  • Cameras
  • Software
  • Accessories
• Computing
  • Devices
  • Software & Services
• Music & Audio
  • Instruments & Accessories
• Transportation

Photography & Video

Cameras

• Yashica Mat 124G, a twin-lens reflex that shoots 120 medium format film in 6x6 frames.

  It is lightweight and the top-down viewfinder makes it great for portrait work because I can keep my face unobstructed in order to have a personal exchange with the subject. It has a built-in light meter that’s of limited use as it only goes to ISO 400.

• Rolleiflex SL66, another 120/6x6 camera, fully mechanical.

  It’s an SLR with a top-down viewfinder and brings some unique features: integrated bellows and retro-mountable lenses for macro photography and a vertical tilt mechanism for manipulating the plane of focus. It’s very heavy though so I use it mostly in more stationary situations or on a tripod/monopod.

  Lenses:

  • Planar 80mm/2.8
  • Distagon 50mm/4

• Canon P, a 35mm rangefinder, also fully mechanical.

  This is my go-to 35mm film camera. It’s very no-nonsense and feels great to operate while being relatively light. Due to the M39 lens mount there’s a huge array of lenses available for it.

  Lenses:

  • Canon LTM 50mm/1.4
  • Canon LTM 35mm/2

• Praktica BC1 electronic, a semi-automatic 35mm SLR.

  This was my first decent camera. I got it in 1999 and use it to this day. The integrated light meter is pretty good and lenses for the B-mount system are cheap. It’s a bit heavy though.

  Lenses:

  • Pentacon Prakticar 50mm/1.8
  • Pentacon Prakticar 135mm/2.8

• Canon 5DS, a 35mm full-frame DSLR

  This is my digital workhorse. I use it for digital photography and for scanning my analog negatives. The 50MP resolution is ridiculous and a lot of very high quality lenses are available for reasonable prices today on the second-hand market.

  Lenses:

  • Canon EF 100mm/2.8 USM Macro
  • Canon EF 24-70mm/2.8 USM L

• Polaroid NOW, instant camera

• Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, a cinema camera that can shot RAW video in 4K and supports Micro-Four-Thirds lenses which opens up a wide set of options.

  I use mine with an adapter for old Canon FD lenses.

  Lenses:

  • Canon FD 50mm/1.4
  • Canon FD 24mm/2.8

Software

• Darktable
  A RAW photo editor that’s available on Linux (among other platforms). Since I mostly do only adjustments and crops of photos and not much detail editing, I can do most of the work in there and even when I occasionally need more, there’s a ton of plugins that will do it.

• Apple Photos
  What I use for more casual photography, usually for images shot on my phone.

• DaVinci Resolve
  For editing video. The free version is already very capable and the full license comes with each Blackmagic camera but only adds a few extras that I rarely use.

• imagemagick
  For batch processing jobs like making thumbnails of images for a website.

• FFMPEG + Handbrake, for converting video formats

• Lightmate, a great light meter app for iOS with a minimal interface

Accessories

• Cullmann Magnesit 522T + Cullmann CB-6 Ball Head
  A basic tripod that’s lightweight, sturdy, and has done a great job for me since forever
• Voigtländer VC Meter II
  A tiny light meter than fits flash shoe, great for mechanical cameras that don’t have their own meters
• Essential Film Holder, for scanning negatives

Computing

Devices

• Desktop PC runnning Debian Linux

  I prefer desktop computers as my main machines because I can set them up with a large screen and the peripherals I want in a permanent way. In 2024, after using Macs as my main computers fo 17 years, I moved back to a custom built Linux PC.

  I run KDE Plasma as my desktop environment and most software I need on a regular basis comes with that. Some notable examples that I like in particular:

  • Eliza (music library and player)
  • Okular (document viewer with really good annotation support)
  • Dolphin (excellent file manager)

  Specs:

  • AMD Ryzen 9 7900
  • 32GB DDR5 RAM
  • AMD Radeon RX 6600 GPU
  • 1TB NVMe SSD

  Peripherals:

  • ZSA Moonlander, mechanical keyboard (white)
  • Logitech MX Master 3S, ergonomic wireless mouse (white)
  • Roccat Taito desk mat (black)
  • HP Z27 monitor + Fully Jarvis monitor arm
  • Brother HL-3152CDW color laser printer
  • Logitech Brio webcam

• MNT Pocket Reform laptop

  This is my computer on the go and at university. It’s a project by a small company in Berlin that makes open hardware, including full on laptops. It’s a bit of tinkerer’s device but having the ability to upgrade and repair just about everything in it is great. It currently runs on Debian (sid).

• Synology DS416play
  My network storage that serves as media archive and one of my backup destinations. Pretty old by now but recently upgraded to 16TB capacity and still doing great.

• Apple iPhone 13 mini
  The phone I use every day for communication, casual photography, music, podcasts, etc.

  Notable apps:

  • PocketCasts, podcast client
  • VLC for offline media playback, mostly music
  • Signal, for encrypted messaging

Software & Services

• Firefox
  My main web browser on laptop and desktop computers

• Thunderbird
  My email client. Sometimes I’ll use something a little lighter like Geary but it’s in Thunderbird where I really manage my email.

• Bash
  My default shell for as long as I can remember using UNIX-ish systems. I haven’t felt the need yet to switch to one of the modern alternatives.

• Vim
  These days I use Vim as my main editor again. I tried a few others but I find myslelf returning to it every time. I like the simplicity and that I can easily have the same setup of plugins and configurations on all my machines.

• ProtonVPN
  For being sneaky online, accessing geo-locked content, avoiding tracing

• KeePassXC
  An open-source password manager. It uses the KeePass database format that’s compatible with a lot of other apps.

• Newsboat
  A command line RSS reader. It’s very lightweight and it’s data files can be synced between my computers via e.g. Syncthing so the feeds and read/unread states are consistent. It can also update in the background using a CRON job.

• Syncthing
  For keeping files in sync across devices. I sync most stuff between my desktop computer, my network storage and my portable machine.

• Uberspace
  A small german hosting provider focused on fair prices where I host my websites and other things that need some kind of server that’s publicly reachable.

• Hover
  Where I bought all my domain names

Music & Audio

• Ardour
  My main audio workstation software for recording, editing, mixing, etc.

• MuseScore
  For writing sheet music and composing

• Focusrite Scarlett 18i20
  A rack-unit audio and MIDI interface with tons of inputs, outputs, and routing options. It connects my computer to any analog audio device like instruments, headphones, microphones, etc.

• Tascam DR-07X
  A small handheld field recorder for capturing audio through stereo mics. Good for recording things outside, interviews or podcasts without needing a full computer

• Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro, studio headphones

• Apple Airpods Pro
  For on-the-go audio and noise control. City life would be near impossible with out that for me.

• Shure SE215
  My in-ear audio for running. They don’t have active noise cancellation like the Airpods do but I prefer to hear my surroundings on a run. And they never fall out when I’m running or doing any other type of exercise, which is something the Airpods are really not good at.

Instruments & Accessories

• Epiphone EB3 (red)
  An SG-style passive bass guitar with jazz pickup placement

  Plugged into:

  • Ampeg BA-110 practice amp
  • Zoom B1 Four, bass multi-effect pedal, tuner, and headphone amp

• Harley Benton fretless bass (black/orange)

• Yamaha CP88
  A stage piano with mechanical key action

• Moog Slim Phatty
  A classic analog monophonic synthesizer

• Lyra 8
  A drone synthesizer with rather strange controls that is played by hand

• Strymon Bluesky
  A small but capable reverb pedal that handles line level and guitar signals

Entertainment

• LG 48C1
  OLED TV with really good picture quality and one of the few that was even available in “smaller” sizes (under 50 inches) so it would fit the viewing distance in my room

  It serves only as a display device and is not connected to the network. I don’t use any of its “smart” features.

• Playstation 5
  For games and blu-ray/dvd playback

• Apple TV 4K
  For watching all kinds of video

• Onkyo HT-R494
  AV receiver and 5.1.2 surround system

• TEAC TN-175
  A pretty simple but decent turntable

Transportation

• “Audrey”, my current bicycle that I bought for cheap and then fixed up. It’s a simple city bike with characteristics that I like:

  • step-through frame
  • 28 inch wheels with medium-thickness tires
  • front V-brake, rear pedal brake
  • 7-speed internal gear hub
  • front hub dynamo
  • light fork and seat post suspension
  • swept-back handlebars for upright riding position

• a public transport ticket for local and regional trips in all of Germany (excluding high-speed trains)