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Rediscovering my DSLR


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I know when I do assignments that turning up with a compact, no matter how good, will be totally counter-productive....."he turned up with an 'instamatic' " would be the conversation for a few clients......

 

But for stock shooting that is largely irrelevant. For keeping a camera to hand at all times, or for shooting inconspicuously, a compact scores highly and no-one gives a toss what kind of camera it is.

 

Alan

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I know when I do assignments that turning up with a compact, no matter how good, will be totally counter-productive....."he turned up with an 'instamatic' " would be the conversation for a few clients......

 

But for stock shooting that is largely irrelevant. For keeping a camera to hand at all times, or for shooting inconspicuously, a compact scores highly and no-one gives a toss what kind of camera it is.

 

Alan

 

 

That is true for most of my sports shooting as it is rarely commissioned (suits me) and anyway the client would not be out in the mud at the far end of the course! They woould be in hospitality or the grandstand on the start-finish straight.

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I know when I do assignments that turning up with a compact, no matter how good, will be totally counter-productive....."he turned up with an 'instamatic' " would be the conversation for a few clients......

 

But for stock shooting that is largely irrelevant. For keeping a camera to hand at all times, or for shooting inconspicuously, a compact scores highly and no-one gives a toss what kind of camera it is.

 

Alan

 

 

I think you'll find that many people here (much more so on other sites) are doing stock off the back of assignments. Also plenty of people doing commercial stock use their 'professional' appearance (that can include camera stuff) to work their way into doing shots for access or piggy-backing off assignment.  See Linda's last post.

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I know when I do assignments that turning up with a compact, no matter how good, will be totally counter-productive....."he turned up with an 'instamatic' " would be the conversation for a few clients......

 

But for stock shooting that is largely irrelevant. For keeping a camera to hand at all times, or for shooting inconspicuously, a compact scores highly and no-one gives a toss what kind of camera it is.

 

 

I think you'll find that many people here (much more so on other sites) are doing stock off the back of assignments.

 

 

Sure, but it's the assignment that dictates what camera is acceptable to others, not the stock.

 

Alan

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Ah, but I was so much younger then. I'm older than that now.

 

Unfortunately I'm so much older now that although I recognised the lyric (or at least the inverted version of it) I had to Google to remember who wrote it :(

 

Alan

 

Edit: I got the second one though.

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Geoff Kidd

I know when I do assignments that turning up with a compact, no matter how good, will be totally counter-productive....."he turned up with an 'instamatic' " would be the conversation for a few clients......

 

 

It is not just from private clients, I remember back in the early 90's when i was shooting professional sports, every now and then a photographer would turn up without pro gear and would be looked upon as somebody whome should not be at such an event,  it made it hard for the young people trying to get a foot in.

 

Yes it dose give self confidence to have the best gear possible for the job,  people do take notice and often judge by equipment.

 

Paul.

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Geoff Kidd

I know when I do assignments that turning up with a compact, no matter how good, will be totally counter-productive....."he turned up with an 'instamatic' " would be the conversation for a few clients......

 

It is not just from private clients, I remember back in the early 90's when i was shooting professional sports, every now and then a photographer would turn up without pro gear and would be looked upon as somebody whome should not be at such an event, it made it hard for the young people trying to get a foot in.

 

Yes it dose give self confidence to have the best gear possible for the job, people do take notice and often judge by equipment.

 

Paul.

But then a few pro shooters will turn their nose up at anyone who is "not in the club" and not been around for ten years; whatever the equipment. A newcomer with the best gear will be seen as a trust fund dilettante until he or she has proved their capability. I saw that in action when I was accredited to a major motor bike meeting; most were helpful and friendly while a few walked around with their noses in the air.That was despite me having some pretty serious Canon kit with me; my cameras were better than many and had just enough wear marks! But they didn't know me, so I was an outsider especially to a couple of the major specialist agency guys.

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I too agree that the positive judgement about pro-looking gear is almost invariably to my advantage, regardless of whether I'm shooting sport or self-directed stock. Many a door has opened, many a crowd has parted, many a security guard has given a wind wink and a nod, and many a shot I've gained that I would not have otherwise if those around me had not considered I was a "serious photographer" or "pro" because I had two DSLRs hanging on the hip/s.

 

And when travelling in many, many parts of Asia for example, carrying a "proper" DSLR opens even more doors and breaks the ice for conversations with locals. It seems to give you what we used to call street cred, and it's priceless sometimes.

 

dd

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I would look at the 6D, better noise control than the 5D3 - a bit small and plasticy but that can be quite refreshing after the 1DS series. Certainly will be looking at one myself when my 5D2 dies (moaning occasionally but still a lot of fight in the old girl yet).

 

I think certain cameras have their place in the workplace.....for NEX and Fujis, that would be either end of a row of books ;)

 

Come on you reds!!!

Them's fightin' words, Geoff. Bookends, humph!

 

 

Yeh Betty I like the X-T1 so much I got a second one now.

 

Allan

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I too agree that the positive judgement about pro-looking gear is almost invariably to my advantage, regardless of whether I'm shooting sport or self-directed stock. Many a door has opened, many a crowd has parted, many a security guard has given a wind wink and a nod, and many a shot I've gained that I would not have otherwise if those around me had not considered I was a "serious photographer" or "pro" because I had two DSLRs hanging on the hip/s.

 

And when travelling in many, many parts of Asia for example, carrying a "proper" DSLR opens even more doors and breaks the ice for conversations with locals. It seems to give you what we used to call street cred, and it's priceless sometimes.

 

dd

 

Problem is I don't think my back or neck would cope with carrying two pro bodies and a set of lenses very far any more!

 

For sport I tend to work wth a limited range of lenses (thank heaven for zooms) in the field with extra kit in car or media centre; play to my limitations. Photographing sport is remarkably physical, distances to cover and all day on your feet, I had rather forgotten until I spent 9 hours at the powerboats. . Basket ball was great - short prime or zoom and perhaps a medium zoom and 1 (or at a push 2) bodies - in the warm, along the baseline just a short walk from a seat or stairs to sit on during breaks in play, and they are short games.

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I too agree that the positive judgement about pro-looking gear is almost invariably to my advantage, regardless of whether I'm shooting sport or self-directed stock. Many a door has opened, many a crowd has parted, many a security guard has given a wind wink and a nod, and many a shot I've gained that I would not have otherwise if those around me had not considered I was a "serious photographer" or "pro" because I had two DSLRs hanging on the hip/s.

 

And when travelling in many, many parts of Asia for example, carrying a "proper" DSLR opens even more doors and breaks the ice for conversations with locals. It seems to give you what we used to call street cred, and it's priceless sometimes.

 

dd

 

Problem is I don't think my back or neck would cope with carrying two pro bodies and a set of lenses very far any more!

 

For sport I tend to work wth a limited range of lenses (thank heaven for zooms) in the field with extra kit in car or media centre; play to my limitations. Photographing sport is remarkably physical, distances to cover and all day on your feet, I had rather forgotten until I spent 9 hours at the powerboats. . Basket ball was great - short prime or zoom and perhaps a medium zoom and 1 (or at a push 2) bodies - in the warm, along the baseline just a short walk from a seat or stairs to sit on during breaks in play, and they are short games.

 

 

"hanging on the hip/s" was a smidgeon of poetic license :-) . . . I actually use a ThinkTank belt and accessories to carry lenses etc, and when carrying two bodies I use a Lens Changer 75 pop down as a holster for one of the DSLRs (with long strap to accommodate), the other in hand . . . and I always use stretchy, bouncy neoprene straps our of respect for my shoulder/neck/back. It's marvelous what a difference neoprene makes . . .

 

dd

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Martin P Wilson

Problem is I don't think my back or neck would cope with carrying two pro bodies and a set of lenses very far any more!

One of the reasons i mainly carry the 7D with small lenses, unless i am on a special mission or assignment, then the heavy weights come out, which  means that my current Pro DSLR's should see me to the end of my photography, but then again!

 

Paul.

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I would look at the 6D, better noise control than the 5D3 - a bit small and plasticy but that can be quite refreshing after the 1DS series. Certainly will be looking at one myself when my 5D2 dies (moaning occasionally but still a lot of fight in the old girl yet).

 

I think certain cameras have their place in the workplace.....for NEX and Fujis, that would be either end of a row of books ;)

 

Come on you reds!!!

Them's fightin' words, Geoff. Bookends, humph!

 

 

I made a very nice coffee table out of my DSLR.

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Martin P Wilson

Problem is I don't think my back or neck would cope with carrying two pro bodies and a set of lenses very far any more!

One of the reasons i mainly carry the 7D with small lenses, unless i am on a special mission or assignment, then the heavy weights come out, which  means that my current Pro DSLR's should see me to the end of my photography, but then again!

 

Paul.

 

 

What I really want is a truly pro spec APS-C Canon - I want the new 7D to effectively be a 7Dx with the AF and high-ISO capability of its big brother. Then my 70-200 f2.8 becomes 110-320mm and a 100-400mm is effectively 160-640mm, with a 1.4x I could then even cover cricket! My favourite 135 f2 becomes a 200mm, I don't really use wides as long as I have a 24mm equivalent so might have to change my 24-105mm walk around lens to something around 15-70mm.

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Martin, as I am still working my way through my St. Croix folders, I have a mix of RX100 and D800 (36mp) images.  They are all good, but after shooting the Fuji for awhile and really liking the images, I did note that my dip into developing the D800 images the past few days has amazed me all over again with the resolution.

 

One of the things that stands out to me as most instantly noticeable is the superior sky/cloud detail and general sky rendition that the D800 gives in comparison to the Fuji.  

That said, the X-t1 will still be the kit I travel with this year.  That's my whole reason for buying it, is the light weight and size of the kit.

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Failing a otherwise great image in editing, because you used the wrong equipment, will snap yourself back into photographic reality.

 

There is no free lunch when it comes to muddling through weight, miles walked, bad back, border control, security, carry on, theft, excess baggage, invisibility, irate travel companions.

 

My wife will look out the window and say "spectacular picture" I will say, "too bad we are trapped in this restaurant eating supper".

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Betty, my X-T1 will continue to be my everday camera and I will certainly use it more often than my Canon kit. I guess I will make more exposures with Canon in any given period, essentially because for sport I shoot much more (~1.5K in a day at the powerboats before culling) because the hit rate is lower than the more considered travel work. I shoot very few, and then only short, sequences even with sport - I find about 95% of the time the best shot is the first, the one I timed. I don't machine gun as I hear so many people doing; I could never afford to with film when I was learning my craft. The only exception is where there is an incident, usually a crash or spin as I shoot quite a lot of motorsport.

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Failing a otherwise great image in editing, because you used the wrong equipment, will snap yourself back into photographic reality.

 

There is no free lunch when it comes to muddling through weight, miles walked, bad back, border control, security, carry on, theft, excess baggage, invisibility, irate travel companions.

 

My wife will look out the window and say "spectacular picture" I will say, "too bad we are trapped in this restaurant eating supper".

Absolutely.

 

That is why I used the powerboats free practice period in the morning to see what I could do with variations in technique with the Fuji and then switched to my proven Canon for the actual races. But it is also too easy to take too much kit and not be in a fit state to do any photography! It is all about having the experience to know what you will actually need rather than taking kit "just in case" and never using it - been there done that and had the sore back to prove it. As I said thank heaven for zooms.

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I suspect that in the next couple of years we will start seeing mirrorless pro cameras and this will radically change the whole ball game. No shortage of book ends come the day.

 

dov

I agree entirely - as I say the sailing ship effect is manifest for dslrs.

 

Pro mirrorless, if not at this Photokina, the next in 2016 (actually that feels a bit too late). They will probably be the norm in 5 years.

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