Approuved cameras

[Delphine]

Hi there!

 

I'm new here, just got my first submission rejected. My question is about the approuved cameras. It says on the list that what's approuved is DSLR or "equivalent". My first submission got rejected because "digital camera not approuved" and the pictures were taken with a bridge (Lumix DMC FZ38). I'm a student and cannot offer a reflex camera. I do own a compact Canon G9X, that I used to take pictures for my second submission try, which is pending. But if this camera is not approuved, then I guess I'll just have to give up on the Alamy idea

Is there anyone here who can tell me if my Canon is good enough?

 

Thx

Delphine

[Joseph Clemson]

Hi Delphine.  I'll jump in as no one else has, though I am not any kind of expert. I can see that the Canon G9X is a tiny camera with a 1" sensor. From what I have read in other posts a 1" sensor is about the minimum size likely to produce an acceptable result. Assuming the lens on this camera is a reasonable quality, I would reckon you have a chance of getting some images accepted, especially if they are taken in good lighting.

[Paul Thompson Images]

Delphine,

 

I would recommend you reduce your files to the smallest size Alamy accepts - this will help your images pass QC

[spacecadet]

I've always used Sony DSLRs and the last two have been second-hand SLTs (now on an A58) got for about £230 with kit zoom. Probably about as low as you can go in money and be sure of QC, assuming your technique is up to scratch. There are older models but they're not much less. I found the A350 viewfinder challenging but then I wear specs.

[John Richmond]

I'll agree with Geoff about investing in cropped sensor DSLR and basic lens kit.  I'm still submitting the occasional legacy photo taken on my old 10Mpx Canon 400D and they pass QC without problems (as long as they are good enough for submission).  They can be picked up very cheaply now on the second hand market.  Slightly newer Canon crop sensor models are also fairly cheap if you look around.  Older Nikon models are also cheaply available.  Providing your own techniques are sound, they're all capable of producing high quality images that can meet the demands of Alamy's technical requirements.  Here's a couple of 400D shots that went through QC in January this year (taken in 2010 and 2012 respectively).

 

 

[TeeCee]

Delphine - I'll fly against the wind here, coz lots of folk on Alamy use a 1" sensor, hence you should be OK with the G9X.

That said, you might as well put the Lumix away in a drawer, tiny sensors don't produce acceptable results for resale.
As and when money permits, uprate your kit to a DSLR, but in the meantime, go for it with the Canon...

[TeeCee]

 

Delphine - I'll fly against the wind here, coz lots of folk on Alamy use a 1" sensor, hence you should be OK with the G9X.

That said, you might as well put the Lumix away in a drawer, tiny sensors don't produce acceptable results for resale.

As and when money permits, uprate your kit to a DSLR, but in the meantime, go for it with the Canon...

 

 

I think most of us are in agreement with the 1" sensor being fine for Alamy. 

 

If the OP does go for the DSLR option at some point, I suggest NOT selling the G9X to help afford it. There are many times I wish I had a compact camera of adequate quality for Alamy, so keep hold of that if you possibly can.

 

Geoff.

 

For a variety of reasons, I've sold all my compacts, leaving me with three Canon DSLR's, two full frame, and one APSC.

 

 

But no compact.

 

As you say Geoff - big mistake ...

[Rubens Alarcon]

 

Delphine - I'll fly against the wind here, coz lots of folk on Alamy use a 1" sensor, hence you should be OK with the G9X.

That said, you might as well put the Lumix away in a drawer, tiny sensors don't produce acceptable results for resale.

As and when money permits, uprate your kit to a DSLR, but in the meantime, go for it with the Canon...

 

Nikon 

 

I'm a Belgian. Belgians are always right! You WILL buy a Nikon (or a Sony RX100). END of discussion .... 

 

Seriously, I'd look for a secondhand Nikon D700. Remember you work for a professional market. Buy decent stuff if you're serious about this business. And yes, photography is costly   

 

Cheers,

Philippe 

 

Funny you mentioned that, Philippe. I've always used Nikons, however I'm about to sell my D700 and a 24-70mm 2.8 after buying a Fuji X-T2 + 35mm 2.0 + 16mm 1.4 (incredibly sharp lens). I don't shoot wildlife, otherwise I'd probably keep the Nikon and invest in a long lens.

[Allan Bell]

 

Delphine - I'll fly against the wind here, coz lots of folk on Alamy use a 1" sensor, hence you should be OK with the G9X.

That said, you might as well put the Lumix away in a drawer, tiny sensors don't produce acceptable results for resale.

As and when money permits, uprate your kit to a DSLR, but in the meantime, go for it with the Canon...

 

Nikon 

 

I'm a Belgian. Belgians are always right! You WILL buy a Nikon (or a Sony RX100). END of discussion .... 

 

Seriously, I'd look for a secondhand Nikon D700. Remember you work for a professional market. Buy decent stuff if you're serious about this business. And yes, photography is costly   

 

Cheers,

Philippe 

 

 

 

Also as important a good camera body is to pass QC, so are the lenses you buy. Get the best quality you can afford.

 

Allan

[Jill Morgan]

Hi there!

 

I'm new here, just got my first submission rejected. My question is about the approuved cameras. It says on the list that what's approuved is DSLR or "equivalent". My first submission got rejected because "digital camera not approuved" and the pictures were taken with a bridge (Lumix DMC FZ38). I'm a student and cannot offer a reflex camera. I do own a compact Canon G9X, that I used to take pictures for my second submission try, which is pending. But if this camera is not approuved, then I guess I'll just have to give up on the Alamy idea

Is there anyone here who can tell me if my Canon is good enough?

 

Thx

Delphine

 

Just wondering if the G9X images passed QC?

 

Jill

[Paul Thompson Images]

Hi there!

 

I'm new here, just got my first submission rejected. My question is about the approuved cameras. It says on the list that what's approuved is DSLR or "equivalent". My first submission got rejected because "digital camera not approuved" and the pictures were taken with a bridge (Lumix DMC FZ38). I'm a student and cannot offer a reflex camera. I do own a compact Canon G9X, that I used to take pictures for my second submission try, which is pending. But if this camera is not approuved, then I guess I'll just have to give up on the Alamy idea

Is there anyone here who can tell me if my Canon is good enough?

 

Thx

Delphine

You've had a few helpful replies from knowledgeable people - what do you think?

[Chuck Nacke]

Philippe, coming from someone probably living below sea level....

 

The D700 is an outdated machine, but if someone really wants one

I do have one that I would like to part with. 

 

The old D800 is one of the best cameras that Nikon has produced since

the N90s.  Refurbished D800's are available for not much more then a used

D700. 

[MDM]

Philippe, coming from someone probably living below sea level....

 

The D700 is an outdated machine, but if someone really wants one

I do have one that I would like to part with. 

 

The old D800 is one of the best cameras that Nikon has produced since

the N90s.  Refurbished D800's are available for not much more then a used

D700. 

 

I agree - I'm not sure Philippe has ever had one. The D800 series cameras are as good as it gets with full frame 35mm equivalent DSLRs. My D800E is getting on 5 years old now and the image quality has not been surpassed yet by any newer cameras - amazing when you think of how DSLR and sensor technology was moving for several years before that. The D810 is really a minor upgrade.

 

But I don't think I would recommend a D800 series camera to a beginner. It needs a lot more care than even a 24MP camera to get consistently sharp results and it needs very good lenses (although not necessarily expensive ones as the cheapest Nikkor 50mm lenses are astoundingly good).

[Betty LaRue]

Unless one shoots a D800 at high shutter speeds while hand holding, you have a lot of failures. I used the best hand holding technique and still had problems unless outdoors in bright light.

For tabletop on a tripod, it was fine.

Maybe mine was a bad copy, but I didn't like the colors from it. My D7000 had the much better colors. My shooting style involves a lot of hand holding, and 36mp is not forgiving. I used it with the 24-70 and 105 a lot. Also 50mm.

 

I wouldn't take another D800 as a straight up trade for any of my Fujis . 24mp is perfect. Horses for courses.

Betty

[Chuck Nacke]

I do not understand why so many say the D800 is difficult to use or shoot hand held?

I am using two D800's daily and mostly hand held.  I have no problem working with

the D800's at 60th with a NIKKOR 70-200 f4 VR hand held.  Color out of the D800

is another issue and I have a standard action where I take out red and green when

I'm converting NEF files to 16bit TIFF's when I shoot with Norman strobes and I do

a custom white balance at the start of every card.

 

I have not used my D700's in a while.  I will say that the NEF files from the D800 are

over kill for most of my commercial jobs, but the up side is that I always have plenty

of room to crop and still output a 5600 by file.

[MDM]

I do not understand why so many say the D800 is difficult to use or shoot hand held?

I am using two D800's daily and mostly hand held.  I have no problem working with

the D800's at 60th with a NIKKOR 70-200 f4 VR hand held. 

This comes up every time we discuss this and the answer remains the same. D800s are fine handheld. I have no problem getting sharp (that is properly sharp at 100% on screeen unsharpened in software) handheld with or without image stabilised lenses. When I handhold, I produce consistently pinsharp images free of camera shake as long as I am holding the camera and lens properly - elbow tucked into chest, hand under the lens. WIth my 70-200 VR Nikkor, I can confidently shoot at 1/80 and easily go down to 1/50. With a 50mm unstabilised prime, 1/125 is no problem.

 

As for colour, this is not an issue in my opinion. I thought that this was resolved a long time ago in fact - something to do with coloured jewellery if I recall.

 

If shooting raw, then colour is all down to post-processing. You get out what you want to get out - color checker passport or not, custom camera profiles or not - it's all in there waiting to be brought out in whatever way you want.

[NYCat]

Hey you guys. Women have smaller hands and very much weaker hands. Makes a difference. Many times I have wished to have masculine hands when I have a heavy camera and lens trembling in my lovely feminine hands.

 

Paulette

[MDM]

Hey you guys. Women have smaller hands and very much weaker hands. Makes a difference. Many times I have wished to have masculine hands when I have a heavy camera and lens trembling in my lovely feminine hands.

 

Paulette

 

The D800 is not much heavier than the D500 or D750.

[Betty LaRue]

Hey you guys. Women have smaller hands and very much weaker hands. Makes a difference. Many times I have wished to have masculine hands when I have a heavy camera and lens trembling in my lovely feminine hands.

 

Paulette

+1

 

Paulette, these Neanderthals will never understand women, our hands, our strength or lack of it.

 

And....MDM, I'm not talking about color calibrating my images. I used the passport color checker. I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am.

I'm talking about how the images appear with all the proper adjustments made. The basic handling of color is handled by Fuji much better. Period. How do the reds look? How about the greens? Every system handles colors differently. That's why when you read reviews about new cameras, you see mention of "there's a shift toward warm, or cool, or reds are a bit oversaturated, blah blah.

 

I shot Nikon from the D70 on up. D200, D300, D7000. And I'm telling you I hated the color handling of the D800, at least my copy. This has nothing to do with the jewelry. It has to do with everything else.

 

I don't much care what you think of my opinion. My experience is my experience. My preferences are my preferences. Period.

Those who have great success with the D800...bully for you.

Chuck, that means you. Obviously, you and your D800 are well-suited. you report your experience, I reported mine.

 

I think huge FF cameras are better suited for men. (Bless you, Paulette) Especially if one prefers to hand hold and if one has arthritic hands. I absolutely could not hand hold my D800 with 80-400 mounted and get sharp images. I hand hold my X-T2 with 100-400 all the time, and get sharp images. And my red flowers don't have purple shifts toward the last third of the outer part of the petals.

Betty

[Jill Morgan]

 

Hey you guys. Women have smaller hands and very much weaker hands. Makes a difference. Many times I have wished to have masculine hands when I have a heavy camera and lens trembling in my lovely feminine hands.

 

Paulette

+1

 

Paulette, these Neanderthals will never understand women, our hands, our strength or lack of it.

 

And....MDM, I'm not talking about color calibrating my images. I used the passport color checker. I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am.

I'm talking about how the images appear with all the proper adjustments made. The basic handling of color is handled by Fuji much better. Period. How do the reds look? How about the greens? Every system handles colors differently. That's why when you read reviews about new cameras, you see mention of "there's a shift toward warm, or cool, or reds are a bit oversaturated, blah blah.

 

I shot Nikon from the D70 on up. D200, D300, D7000. And I'm telling you I hated the color handling of the D800, at least my copy. This has nothing to do with the jewelry. It has to do with everything else.

 

I don't much care what you think of my opinion. My experience is my experience. My preferences are my preferences. Period.

Those who have great success with the D800...bully for you.

Chuck, that means you. Obviously, you and your D800 are well-suited. you report your experience, I reported mine.

 

I think huge FF cameras are better suited for men. (Bless you, Paulette) Especially if one prefers to hand hold and if one has arthritic hands. I absolutely could not hand hold my D800 with 80-400 mounted and get sharp images. I hand hold my X-T2 with 100-400 all the time, and get sharp images. And my red flowers don't have purple shifts toward the last third of the outer part of the petals.

Betty

 

 

I certainly notice the weight thing.  I would often borrow my son;s Canon 7D when going out to shoot so I could have the telephoto on one camera and the kit lens on the other.  Preferably I would have preferred to have the telephote on the 7D as it doesn't cause vignetting at the higher end of the telephoto like my Canon 650D does and it had less colour noise when going over 800 ISO.  But the weight of the 7D along with the lens, just killed me if I held it too long and would end up with shaky photos, so even though technically the images would be better on the 7D, I ended up with the kit lens on the 7D and the telephoto on the 650D simply because I would get less camera shake.

 

Now I have my RX100 M2, I hardly need to use the Canon except for tighter shots  with the telephoto.  Love my RX100. 

 

Jill

[Betty LaRue]

 

 

Hey you guys. Women have smaller hands and very much weaker hands. Makes a difference. Many times I have wished to have masculine hands when I have a heavy camera and lens trembling in my lovely feminine hands.

 

Paulette

 

+1

Paulette, these Neanderthals will never understand women, our hands, our strength or lack of it.

And....MDM, I'm not talking about color calibrating my images. I used the passport color checker. I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am.

I'm talking about how the images appear with all the proper adjustments made. The basic handling of color is handled by Fuji much better. Period. How do the reds look? How about the greens? Every system handles colors differently. That's why when you read reviews about new cameras, you see mention of "there's a shift toward warm, or cool, or reds are a bit oversaturated, blah blah.

I shot Nikon from the D70 on up. D200, D300, D7000. And I'm telling you I hated the color handling of the D800, at least my copy. This has nothing to do with the jewelry. It has to do with everything else.

I don't much care what you think of my opinion. My experience is my experience. My preferences are my preferences. Period.

Those who have great success with the D800...bully for you.

Chuck, that means you. Obviously, you and your D800 are well-suited. you report your experience, I reported mine.

I think huge FF cameras are better suited for men. (Bless you, Paulette) Especially if one prefers to hand hold and if one has arthritic hands. I absolutely could not hand hold my D800 with 80-400 mounted and get sharp images. I hand hold my X-T2 with 100-400 all the time, and get sharp images. And my red flowers don't have purple shifts toward the last third of the outer part of the petals.

Betty

I certainly notice the weight thing. I would often borrow my son;s Canon 7D when going out to shoot so I could have the telephoto on one camera and the kit lens on the other. Preferably I would have preferred to have the telephote on the 7D as it doesn't cause vignetting at the higher end of the telephoto like my Canon 650D does and it had less colour noise when going over 800 ISO. But the weight of the 7D along with the lens, just killed me if I held it too long and would end up with shaky photos, so even though technically the images would be better on the 7D, I ended up with the kit lens on the 7D and the telephoto on the 650D simply because I would get less camera shake.

 

Now I have my RX100 M2, I hardly need to use the Canon except for tighter shots with the telephoto. Love my RX100.

 

 

Jill

You bet! You no longer feel like a pack mule, huh?

[Jill Morgan]

 

 

 

Hey you guys. Women have smaller hands and very much weaker hands. Makes a difference. Many times I have wished to have masculine hands when I have a heavy camera and lens trembling in my lovely feminine hands.

Paulette

+1
Paulette, these Neanderthals will never understand women, our hands, our strength or lack of it.
And....MDM, I'm not talking about color calibrating my images. I used the passport color checker. I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am.
I'm talking about how the images appear with all the proper adjustments made. The basic handling of color is handled by Fuji much better. Period. How do the reds look? How about the greens? Every system handles colors differently. That's why when you read reviews about new cameras, you see mention of "there's a shift toward warm, or cool, or reds are a bit oversaturated, blah blah.
I shot Nikon from the D70 on up. D200, D300, D7000. And I'm telling you I hated the color handling of the D800, at least my copy. This has nothing to do with the jewelry. It has to do with everything else.
I don't much care what you think of my opinion. My experience is my experience. My preferences are my preferences. Period.
Those who have great success with the D800...bully for you.
Chuck, that means you. Obviously, you and your D800 are well-suited. you report your experience, I reported mine.
I think huge FF cameras are better suited for men. (Bless you, Paulette) Especially if one prefers to hand hold and if one has arthritic hands. I absolutely could not hand hold my D800 with 80-400 mounted and get sharp images. I hand hold my X-T2 with 100-400 all the time, and get sharp images. And my red flowers don't have purple shifts toward the last third of the outer part of the petals.
Betty

I certainly notice the weight thing. I would often borrow my son;s Canon 7D when going out to shoot so I could have the telephoto on one camera and the kit lens on the other. Preferably I would have preferred to have the telephote on the 7D as it doesn't cause vignetting at the higher end of the telephoto like my Canon 650D does and it had less colour noise when going over 800 ISO. But the weight of the 7D along with the lens, just killed me if I held it too long and would end up with shaky photos, so even though technically the images would be better on the 7D, I ended up with the kit lens on the 7D and the telephoto on the 650D simply because I would get less camera shake.

Now I have my RX100 M2, I hardly need to use the Canon except for tighter shots with the telephoto. Love my RX100.


Jill

You bet! You no longer feel like a pack mule, huh?

 

 

Darn right.  When walking around, the weight on your neck of the two cameras was awful.  I know I could have kept them in a bag or something, but that just removed a lot of quick candids or opportunities that might be fleeting.  I leave the Canon in my purse with the big lens, and keep the RX100 in my hands ready to go as I walk.

 

Jill

 

[Dyn Llun]

My 'lightweight' travelling kit can be seen in pictures at the top of this page. http://www.pete-davis-photography.com/news.html

 

On location and in the glass cases being set up for my retrospective exhibition. Need big hands, big feet, big back and big muscles! 

[Dyn Llun]

If anyone wants to see some more views of the show set up there are a few here: http://www.pete-davis-photography.com/exhibitions.html

[MDM]

 

 

 

 

Hey you guys. Women have smaller hands and very much weaker hands. Makes a difference. Many times I have wished to have masculine hands when I have a heavy camera and lens trembling in my lovely feminine hands.

 

Paulette

+1

Paulette, these Neanderthals will never understand women, our hands, our strength or lack of it.

And....MDM, I'm not talking about color calibrating my images. I used the passport color checker. I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am.

I'm talking about how the images appear with all the proper adjustments made. The basic handling of color is handled by Fuji much better. Period. How do the reds look? How about the greens? Every system handles colors differently. That's why when you read reviews about new cameras, you see mention of "there's a shift toward warm, or cool, or reds are a bit oversaturated, blah blah.

I shot Nikon from the D70 on up. D200, D300, D7000. And I'm telling you I hated the color handling of the D800, at least my copy. This has nothing to do with the jewelry. It has to do with everything else.

I don't much care what you think of my opinion. My experience is my experience. My preferences are my preferences. Period.

Those who have great success with the D800...bully for you.

Chuck, that means you. Obviously, you and your D800 are well-suited. you report your experience, I reported mine.

I think huge FF cameras are better suited for men. (Bless you, Paulette) Especially if one prefers to hand hold and if one has arthritic hands. I absolutely could not hand hold my D800 with 80-400 mounted and get sharp images. I hand hold my X-T2 with 100-400 all the time, and get sharp images. And my red flowers don't have purple shifts toward the last third of the outer part of the petals.

Betty

I certainly notice the weight thing. I would often borrow my son;s Canon 7D when going out to shoot so I could have the telephoto on one camera and the kit lens on the other. Preferably I would have preferred to have the telephote on the 7D as it doesn't cause vignetting at the higher end of the telephoto like my Canon 650D does and it had less colour noise when going over 800 ISO. But the weight of the 7D along with the lens, just killed me if I held it too long and would end up with shaky photos, so even though technically the images would be better on the 7D, I ended up with the kit lens on the 7D and the telephoto on the 650D simply because I would get less camera shake.

 

Now I have my RX100 M2, I hardly need to use the Canon except for tighter shots with the telephoto. Love my RX100.

 

 

Jill

You bet! You no longer feel like a pack mule, huh?

 

 

Darn right.  When walking around, the weight on your neck of the two cameras was awful.  I know I could have kept them in a bag or something, but that just removed a lot of quick candids or opportunities that might be fleeting.  I leave the Canon in my purse with the big lens, and keep the RX100 in my hands ready to go as I walk.

 

Jill

 

 

 

I was just talking facts not opinions, backing up what Chuck said about handholding and there was nothing personal intended towards Betty. I have no definite opinion of Betty's intelllectual abilities. Life is too short for sillinesss and getting shorter by the second. I will argue a point with anybody if it's based on rationality. If I contradict somebody, I will always try to base what I say on actual evidence - it's not personal.

 

Fact is the D800 is about 200 grams or so heavier than the D500 and not a lot bigger in the hands - almost negligible.

Fact is many people, men and women use the D800 family cameras successfully handheld. I wasn't considering people with serious joint problems.

Fact is that is possible to get more or less whatever colour you want out of a D800 depending on how you process the raw file.

 

 

I am sure that the RX cameras are fantastic as walkabout machines and I wouldn't mind owning one but they have their place. Imagine what a client might think if you pulled a tiny camera out of your pocket on a commissioned shoot. And it wouldn't do the job for me and my work. The cropability afforded by the 36MP D800 series is quite amazing on top of the incredible image quality.