mrjames
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Hi guys, i'm recently adopted a pretty zen lifestyle and sold off everything that isn't directly useful to my progression as a photographer, which has left me with a ton of cash, and no possessions
so what to get now
currently I shoot with a 1dmk3 but i've just got a 1ds2
there are things I kinda hate about the 1ds2, so if I was to mash those 2 cameras together I would get the 1dx- too much money but a 1ds3 could be do-able. The 1 series has spoilt me, 5 series is still too big for a 'travel' camera, so if I was going smaller i'd go for a fuji x-e1- but more on that later.
I do like having 2 cameras
I still have:
a good travel tripod capable of holding the 1 series (just about) not carbon fibre, or gitzo, but still good- with a kirk ballhead
canon 50mm 1.4 (love it on the 1d3, not so sure about it on full frame, possibly prefer a slight wide or a slight tele)
14mm 2.8 (samyang), (sharp- but too wide most of the time for events even on the 1d3 and mf sucks at 2.8 without using live view, no filters either)
canon 70-200 2.8 is, (not really had a chance to use it professionally, and it's too heavy to use for fun, sharp lens but I can see how the 70-200 II is sharper at 2.8 though, so could be temped to jump right for the II model)
150mm macro (sigma), (great lens, love it, sharper than the 70-200 at 2.8- my portrait lens if I have the space)
2 flash guns,
umbrellas,
e-ttl trigers
macro gear- rail etc
panorama kit
and a stack of filters
now that's a good kit I know- I should be jealous of myself, but this cash is burning a hole in my pocket and saving isn't my style. I'd like to invest in in something that will hold it's value ideally so if needed I could re-sell and get the cash back if it wasn't the right product for me
I shoot professionally (not really 100% full time but it is my main source of income other than retouching and web development stuff which I do from home), although as I do a bit of everything i'm not specialised in anything (although i'm good at photographing most things i'm asked to do)- so the equipment I buy might dicate what I can shoot, and what I shoot will dictate the equipment I need to buy- chicken and egg!
a tilt shift lens could open up new avenues for me, but i'd need convinving that it was better than software correction
I mainly shoot portraits/model portfolios, and also fashion shows/events, interiors, exteriors (and panoramas), (tiny bit of landscape), timelapse, pet portraits, and a whole bunch of other stuff- not really street, but that's because I never take my 1d anywhere unless i'm being paid
problem is that i've lost touch with real life, and my brain is full of MTF curves and microcontrast- i've become a measurbator trying to get good quality for the best price- i'm done with that philosophy and now I just want to get something superb and make images that aren't going to dissappoint me- in the hours i've spent trying to figure out whether the 17-40 is a good deal compared to the 16-35, I could have taken on more bookings and just bought the 16-35!
I think i'd like to buy equipment to take me to the grave, I just bought a £400 leather bag because I know it will be used for the rest of my life (it has a 100 year warranty...), camera gear doesn't push my buttons in that way- I wish there was more mystique around canon gear, I saw that bag and there was no hesitation, I dreamt about that bag, and it is a product full of joy, it doesn't bring me joy to purchase a lens that photozone has picked to death and is basically just an ininspiring lump of plastic and glass.
Leica is the only camera manufacturer (and apple) that really understands how product design can make a consumer act irrationally, like this bag- to be honest it is way heavy, it is as heavy with nothing in as my old bag was with all my gear in it, it's too heavy-but it's so freaking beautiful I can forgive it, I definitely am a sucker for hand made products) so I can forgive awkward rangefinder focussing, terribly ISO and more. They're selling a lifestyle that oozes class, where as canon are selling a lifestyle that looks like this http://media.digitalcameraworld.com/files/2012/07/Canon_DSLR_tips_CAN22.feature_pf.FEATURED.jpg
perhaps i'm being blinded by the hype machine of the luxury market, or maybe I'm just an elitist prick (probably)
ugly boxy canons doesn't get me revved up- it's just a tool, I don't love it, nikon's are pretty sexy- after all they're designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro who was a designer who worked for lamborghini, ferrari, and maserati- he once said "a camera has to look good", a quote that canon could definitely learn from
anyway i'm getting way off topic
i've got a whole other thread about wide angle choices, but I have other questions to answer with this thread. I usually shoot events with 2 bodies for convienince and redundency (with the 50mm and 150mm on each body before I got the 70-200, but the 70-200 weighs more than a second body with a prime lens.
In professional situations though I'm not sure people would take such a small camera (x-e1) seriously? People respond to a 1 series camera, I have given out lots of cards to people who seemed to recognise me a professional photographer when shooting events even where there were people in the crowds shooting 5d's and other dslr's
in short the 1d sized cameras have got me business in the past, or at least broken the ice!
I have maybe £3,000 to spend in total, maybe a bit more- half of that is going on a new macbook pro though
I try to keep away from high iso's, but a camera with much better iso may change that
Q) are cameras really noticably better at high ISO, in the real world, and with raw processing? or like 10-20% better, and only measurable by a computer?
i'd like to add a 2x tc to shoot sports, wildlife, anything where i'm distance limited (because I can't crop the 1d3 files at all), but not sure my current 70-200 can give good images wide open with the teleconverter, i'd have to try it out
Q) if I wanted to shoot at 400mm with my current kit, would it be better to add a 2x tc to my 70-200, get a 100-400, or get the 70-200 is II and a 2xTC Sigma 120-300 is also an option but unlikely due to the cross over in focal length with the 70-200
I have made 20x30" prints from the 1d3 shot with the 50mm that are very sharp and don't look like a 10mp shot at all, if you don't nail focus then all the resolution of a d800 is wasted, so I would only use the d800 for studio work and critical work on a tripod/careful focus, and even then I think the extra resolution is only for really massive prints and for cropping- I might have some test prints with 10, 22, and 36mp files and see if I can see the difference at 30x20
regardless of that i'm still as much of a slave to numbers as anyone so if canon bring out a 40mp sensor i'll be tempted, but the 5d2 might not be the massive performance increase to warrent all that money- the 17mp 1ds2 is certainly only a tiny tiny upgrade over the 1d3
the one thing I hate is when the equipment lets me down- my 1d's have been solid cameras and the only time i've missed a shot was becasue of me, so i'd much prefer to lose a shot because I missed the focus with a leica rather than my camera failing to autofocus
I feel quite disconnected from photography so maybe manual focus and some proper tactility would re-engage me with taking photos for pleasure
i'm weighing up about a million options, and this post is pretty random so if anyone can make head or tail or it then i'll be amazed
so what to get now
currently I shoot with a 1dmk3 but i've just got a 1ds2
there are things I kinda hate about the 1ds2, so if I was to mash those 2 cameras together I would get the 1dx- too much money but a 1ds3 could be do-able. The 1 series has spoilt me, 5 series is still too big for a 'travel' camera, so if I was going smaller i'd go for a fuji x-e1- but more on that later.
I do like having 2 cameras
I still have:
a good travel tripod capable of holding the 1 series (just about) not carbon fibre, or gitzo, but still good- with a kirk ballhead
canon 50mm 1.4 (love it on the 1d3, not so sure about it on full frame, possibly prefer a slight wide or a slight tele)
14mm 2.8 (samyang), (sharp- but too wide most of the time for events even on the 1d3 and mf sucks at 2.8 without using live view, no filters either)
canon 70-200 2.8 is, (not really had a chance to use it professionally, and it's too heavy to use for fun, sharp lens but I can see how the 70-200 II is sharper at 2.8 though, so could be temped to jump right for the II model)
150mm macro (sigma), (great lens, love it, sharper than the 70-200 at 2.8- my portrait lens if I have the space)
2 flash guns,
umbrellas,
e-ttl trigers
macro gear- rail etc
panorama kit
and a stack of filters
now that's a good kit I know- I should be jealous of myself, but this cash is burning a hole in my pocket and saving isn't my style. I'd like to invest in in something that will hold it's value ideally so if needed I could re-sell and get the cash back if it wasn't the right product for me
I shoot professionally (not really 100% full time but it is my main source of income other than retouching and web development stuff which I do from home), although as I do a bit of everything i'm not specialised in anything (although i'm good at photographing most things i'm asked to do)- so the equipment I buy might dicate what I can shoot, and what I shoot will dictate the equipment I need to buy- chicken and egg!
a tilt shift lens could open up new avenues for me, but i'd need convinving that it was better than software correction
I mainly shoot portraits/model portfolios, and also fashion shows/events, interiors, exteriors (and panoramas), (tiny bit of landscape), timelapse, pet portraits, and a whole bunch of other stuff- not really street, but that's because I never take my 1d anywhere unless i'm being paid
problem is that i've lost touch with real life, and my brain is full of MTF curves and microcontrast- i've become a measurbator trying to get good quality for the best price- i'm done with that philosophy and now I just want to get something superb and make images that aren't going to dissappoint me- in the hours i've spent trying to figure out whether the 17-40 is a good deal compared to the 16-35, I could have taken on more bookings and just bought the 16-35!
I think i'd like to buy equipment to take me to the grave, I just bought a £400 leather bag because I know it will be used for the rest of my life (it has a 100 year warranty...), camera gear doesn't push my buttons in that way- I wish there was more mystique around canon gear, I saw that bag and there was no hesitation, I dreamt about that bag, and it is a product full of joy, it doesn't bring me joy to purchase a lens that photozone has picked to death and is basically just an ininspiring lump of plastic and glass.
Leica is the only camera manufacturer (and apple) that really understands how product design can make a consumer act irrationally, like this bag- to be honest it is way heavy, it is as heavy with nothing in as my old bag was with all my gear in it, it's too heavy-but it's so freaking beautiful I can forgive it, I definitely am a sucker for hand made products) so I can forgive awkward rangefinder focussing, terribly ISO and more. They're selling a lifestyle that oozes class, where as canon are selling a lifestyle that looks like this http://media.digitalcameraworld.com/files/2012/07/Canon_DSLR_tips_CAN22.feature_pf.FEATURED.jpg
perhaps i'm being blinded by the hype machine of the luxury market, or maybe I'm just an elitist prick (probably)
ugly boxy canons doesn't get me revved up- it's just a tool, I don't love it, nikon's are pretty sexy- after all they're designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro who was a designer who worked for lamborghini, ferrari, and maserati- he once said "a camera has to look good", a quote that canon could definitely learn from
anyway i'm getting way off topic
i've got a whole other thread about wide angle choices, but I have other questions to answer with this thread. I usually shoot events with 2 bodies for convienince and redundency (with the 50mm and 150mm on each body before I got the 70-200, but the 70-200 weighs more than a second body with a prime lens.
In professional situations though I'm not sure people would take such a small camera (x-e1) seriously? People respond to a 1 series camera, I have given out lots of cards to people who seemed to recognise me a professional photographer when shooting events even where there were people in the crowds shooting 5d's and other dslr's
in short the 1d sized cameras have got me business in the past, or at least broken the ice!
I have maybe £3,000 to spend in total, maybe a bit more- half of that is going on a new macbook pro though
I try to keep away from high iso's, but a camera with much better iso may change that
Q) are cameras really noticably better at high ISO, in the real world, and with raw processing? or like 10-20% better, and only measurable by a computer?
i'd like to add a 2x tc to shoot sports, wildlife, anything where i'm distance limited (because I can't crop the 1d3 files at all), but not sure my current 70-200 can give good images wide open with the teleconverter, i'd have to try it out
Q) if I wanted to shoot at 400mm with my current kit, would it be better to add a 2x tc to my 70-200, get a 100-400, or get the 70-200 is II and a 2xTC Sigma 120-300 is also an option but unlikely due to the cross over in focal length with the 70-200
I have made 20x30" prints from the 1d3 shot with the 50mm that are very sharp and don't look like a 10mp shot at all, if you don't nail focus then all the resolution of a d800 is wasted, so I would only use the d800 for studio work and critical work on a tripod/careful focus, and even then I think the extra resolution is only for really massive prints and for cropping- I might have some test prints with 10, 22, and 36mp files and see if I can see the difference at 30x20
regardless of that i'm still as much of a slave to numbers as anyone so if canon bring out a 40mp sensor i'll be tempted, but the 5d2 might not be the massive performance increase to warrent all that money- the 17mp 1ds2 is certainly only a tiny tiny upgrade over the 1d3
the one thing I hate is when the equipment lets me down- my 1d's have been solid cameras and the only time i've missed a shot was becasue of me, so i'd much prefer to lose a shot because I missed the focus with a leica rather than my camera failing to autofocus
I feel quite disconnected from photography so maybe manual focus and some proper tactility would re-engage me with taking photos for pleasure
i'm weighing up about a million options, and this post is pretty random so if anyone can make head or tail or it then i'll be amazed
