Daily Archives: March 27, 2013

My last two blog entries have started a panic!!!!  I’ve gotten several emails asking if I’m dumping my FX gear for good!!!!  The short answer is no, the long answer follows!

 

As my readers know, from painfully watching me gnash my teeth about what gear to choose for retirement that I’ve been obsessing, there I’ve said it, yes I have been obsessing about what I’ll use in the years to come.  On the way back from St. Maarten I took my iPad and looked at all my favorite images I store  there to share from the past 6 to 7 years of shooting digital.  I hoped it would give me a clue about that decision.  I came up with several surprising personal revelations;

 

1.  Some of my favorite images which I think are technically very well done, were done with cameras I wouldn’t even consider using today, D70, D100, D2x.  It’s amazing how often the teacher tells us that the gear doesn’t matter as much as the photographer, and then forgets it himself when it applies to him!!  The truth is, I’ve made images that I’m very pleased with, with cameras that don’t hold a candle to what we have available today, which has me thinking, does all the advancement matter????  Yes it does, but probably not as much as we sometimes think.

 

2.  It’s more about light, subject, conditions, and composition, than megapixels!  Is a D800 higher resolving than a D700?  Sure, but it may or may not matter much depending on what you are going to do with the resulting images!  Truthfully for what I do, and 800 may be overkill.  I made a lot of images I love with the trusty old D700!

 

3.  Weight matters.  Since I have been using compact cameras and DX cameras more, I’m having more fun, and that fun is leading to better images.  It may just be that, I’m in the first class of the Baby Boomers, but lots of my friends are also making the same transition I’m making to lighter gear!!!!  If you are weary, so is your vision!!

 

So am I dumping FX?  No!  I will keep a FX body and several key lenses, plus a bag full of old manual glass I still love and will play with it a lot in the years to come, but you will not likely see me carrying it for long walks and hikes!  No, I suspect I’m headed toward much lighter smaller systems in the future.

 

Which DX body?  I’m really loving the D7100.  I think it is a great mix of features, build and speed.  Along with lighter DX lenses I see it as a very useful tool for many kinds of work.  I think the system I featured yesterday will get a lot of work from me in the years to come.

 

Which mirror-less camera?  Still working on that, the field is packed with great candidates, I’ll let you know when I know!!  One thing is for sure when I see some of the images Sam Garcia takes with our Coolpix cameras, and what Zak Arias does with his mirror-less cameras, and a number of others are producing, I think we can start taking the smaller cameras, a lot more seriously!!!

 

The picture above?  My iPhone 4s, point made, and I hope, point taken!!!!!!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim