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Let's talk photo gear!
Topic Started: Mar 25 2015, 10:46 AM (952 Views)
Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
Very classy old-school, Andy! I like it :thumb:
Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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AndyD
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Senior Carp
So am I the only camera nerd here? What fujifilm lenses did you get? Some of the primes are fantastic bits of glass...
Every morning the soul is once again as good as new, and again one offers it to one's brothers & sisters in life.

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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
So far I have the 35mm f/1.4, the 55mm f/1.2, the 18-55 f/2.8-4 and the 50-140 f/2.8.

I'm also considering the 23/1.4 and the 10-24/4 UWW.

Of these, the 55/1.2 is my favorite lens so far. It is excellent for portraits. Biting sharpness. Creamy bokeh. A dream.

I only got the 50-140 two days ago, but so far I couldn't be happier with it. Very fast AF. Weather-sealed. Very very sharp. And it feels very solid, too. I haven't tried it in real "action", though. I'm quite curious how well it works with continuous AF. It's also very big and very expensive.

The 18-55 is better and faster than most "kit" lenses of other vendors, but I'm not super-excited about it.

The 35/1.4 also offers excellent image quality and is the smallest of these lenses. The AF is a bit on the slow side, though, and I'm not yet very used to the focal length. Usually I need something wider or something longer. I think the 23mm and the 55mm together would make a very good "walk around" combination. I wish they also had a 23/2.0 and 55/2.0 lenses, which would be excellent for daylight street shooting. But overall I think they have the best selection of lenses in the "mirrorless" camp.
Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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George K
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Finally
Cameramakers missed the Wi-Fi bandwagon on the road to obsolescence

Quote:
 
The day of the standalone digital camera has passed for all but professional photographers and those who aren’t paid for their work but have particular needs a phone’s built-in camera can’t meet. Smartphones won by making photos easy to share online.

This isn’t discounting the fact that a smartphone became the camera you always had with you, requiring one fewer gadget and its accompanying batteries and cables when traveling. Early smartphone cameras were of often terrible quality but convenient—now they’re both terrific and convenient. And I’ve talked to many professional photographers for whom a smartphone isn’t a replacement for their DSLRs or mirrorless cameras, lenses, and flashes, but a supplement—a choice that they can reach for, and sometimes reach for first.

Cameramakers had a window of time that stretched over 10 years during which they could have proven their relevance to casual and somewhat more serious photographers. They had a chance to carve out a niche that smartphones would have been contending against, and fight to be the second device someone opted by choice to carry along.

Instead they blew it by insisting on walled gardens or deals with a handful of photo services. They almost entirely missed social sharing, and they continue to misfire today.
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
Klaus
Mar 25 2015, 01:05 PM
Jolly
Mar 25 2015, 12:52 PM
Klaus
Mar 25 2015, 11:47 AM
kluurs
Mar 25 2015, 11:41 AM
Dang, I've heard those German folks make really good cameras. Should give them a try sometime.
Of the German camera makers, only Leica is left (and Zeiss, but they only make lenses).

Unfortunately, Leica has IMO evolved into a silly luxury brand which mainly lives off its former glory.

Zeiss makes some good glass, but they lag behind in electronics (focussing, image stabilizatino etc.).
Zeiss?

Living off of Meopta's lenses and their old reputation...
Zeiss and Meopta? Explain.

I know about Zeiss and Sony, but I haven't heard of this connection.

From what I know, the "main" Zeiss lenses are still manufactured by Zeiss itself.

They also make some very nice binoculars. I have a Zeiss 8x42.
Meopta was doing OEM work for Zeiss, in their line of binoculars, spotting scopes and riflescopes.
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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markallen
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I'm going to throw my two cents in here because I've been on a photo equipment buying foray for the past couple weeks. I did a fair amount of stock photography in the late 70's and early 80's and really enjoyed it. My best friend and I had some of the best times of our lives taking pictures out along the Pacific Northwest coast and up in Alaska. As my business changed and migrated away from photos and toward publishing, I put away the cameras and now nearing retirement have picked it back up again.

In the past couple weeks I have purchased:

Nikon D810
Nikon 60mm micro
Nikon 85mm f/1.4
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8
Nikon 300 f/2.8

While I know that looks like a lot of gear, compared to normal production equipment we purchase, it's really not that much.

I've also purchased a whole bunch of various accessories. I've started processing the images with Lightroom and am stumbling my way through it. Fortunately, my company has enough Adobe licenses that it was easy to download Creative Cloud for use at home.

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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
That is some very cool gear, markallen.

I'd love to have a 300/2.8 or even a 400/2.8, although I wouldn't really know what to do with it :lol2: These are lenses where there is nothing that comes close in the mirror-less camp.

You don't seem to take many photos in the normal and wide range, it seems? No 35mm or wider? I assume that for landscapes an UWW would also be convenient. What kinds of photos do you want to take?
Edited by Klaus, Mar 26 2015, 11:41 PM.
Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
Jolly
Mar 26 2015, 04:44 PM
Meopta was doing OEM work for Zeiss, in their line of binoculars, spotting scopes and riflescopes.
But why is that necessarily bad?

I assume you wouldn't say that Apple is living off of Foxconn's phones and their old reputation... ;)
Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
Klaus
Mar 26 2015, 11:43 PM
Jolly
Mar 26 2015, 04:44 PM
Meopta was doing OEM work for Zeiss, in their line of binoculars, spotting scopes and riflescopes.
But why is that necessarily bad?

I assume you wouldn't say that Apple is living off of Foxconn's phones and their old reputation... ;)
No, because it was actually pretty good stuff. But it wasn't Zeiss, except for the housing.

I'm more familiar with Zeiss in the world of microscopes. They lost that quality battle years ago. The best working scopes (light transmission) today are Olympus.
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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AndyD
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Senior Carp
markallen
Mar 26 2015, 06:09 PM
I'm going to throw my two cents in here because I've been on a photo equipment buying foray for the past couple weeks. I did a fair amount of stock photography in the late 70's and early 80's and really enjoyed it. My best friend and I had some of the best times of our lives taking pictures out along the Pacific Northwest coast and up in Alaska. As my business changed and migrated away from photos and toward publishing, I put away the cameras and now nearing retirement have picked it back up again.

In the past couple weeks I have purchased:

Nikon D810
Nikon 60mm micro
Nikon 85mm f/1.4
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8
Nikon 300 f/2.8

While I know that looks like a lot of gear, compared to normal production equipment we purchase, it's really not that much.

I've also purchased a whole bunch of various accessories. I've started processing the images with Lightroom and am stumbling my way through it. Fortunately, my company has enough Adobe licenses that it was easy to download Creative Cloud for use at home.

Sweet kit.

The 810 can take 36meg shots...do you, and did you need to upgrade your computer?

I have the 60 micro. You won't need me to tell you how sharp it is. Friend has the 85mm, and it is a superb chunk of glass, though I prefer a longer portrait lens.

But why no wide angles...the 14-24 f2.8 is a cracking lens. Or the 20mm or 24shift?

One comment about 300mm. It was never long enough for me except for architectural detail. For birds I got a 30x85 swarovski drawscope which when mounted on a camera becomes an 800mm ( or 1200mm on DX format)

So what I am interested to hear is what do you use the different lenses for?
Every morning the soul is once again as good as new, and again one offers it to one's brothers & sisters in life.

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AndyD
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Senior Carp
Oh, and what camera bag?
Every morning the soul is once again as good as new, and again one offers it to one's brothers & sisters in life.

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markallen
Middle Aged Carp
Klaus
Mar 26 2015, 11:40 PM
That is some very cool gear, markallen.

I'd love to have a 300/2.8 or even a 400/2.8, although I wouldn't really know what to do with it :lol2: These are lenses where there is nothing that comes close in the mirror-less camp.

You don't seem to take many photos in the normal and wide range, it seems? No 35mm or wider? I assume that for landscapes an UWW would also be convenient. What kinds of photos do you want to take?
I had an existing 17-35 f/2.8 which will fill out the wide area. It was the last lens I had left over from the film shooting days.

My primary interest is "intimate" landscapes and some wildlife.
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markallen
Middle Aged Carp
AndyD
Mar 27 2015, 06:33 AM
Oh, and what camera bag?
Hi Andy.

For a camera bag I went with the Lowepro Vertex 300. Frankly it's a really tight fit, the 300 down the center, the 70-200 on one side and the primes, wide angle zoom and flash on the other side. Of course, I'm going to have to invest in a Sherpa!

As for my computer, we run all Macs in our company prepress department so thinking ahead, when I upgraded computers before the end of last year I included a Mac Pro for myself. I went with the middle of the road 8 core with 32gigs of RAM. Only one monitor so far but I'm sure I'll add another one as I go along.
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AndyD
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Senior Carp
That's nice and very practical.

Posted Image

I have a couple of across the shoulder types: tamrac, plus a small billingham. Mostly now I go out with camera and lens and a second lens in my pocket
Posted Image

And my favourite 619
Posted Image
Every morning the soul is once again as good as new, and again one offers it to one's brothers & sisters in life.

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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
I also just bought a new backpack, which is not a pure photo backpack but also for laptop and other stuff (I never carry more than two or three lenses with me so a tradtional photo backpack is not working very well for me).

The aspect of the backpack which I like best is that one can easily mount a tripod.
Posted Image
Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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markallen
Middle Aged Carp
I will probably get a shoulderbag as well, but I tend to be plagued with lower back problems anytime I carry something from my shoulder.

Klaus, I like the integrated pocket for the tripod legs. Mine has a separate little pouch for the legs. I purchased a manfrotto 190 carbon tripod and this head:
http://www.promediagear.com/PMG-Ball-Head_p_165.html

Waiting to get my L bracket from Really Right Stuff
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