What kind of camera do you use?

[mountaindew]

Just wanted to get an idea of what kind of cameras people here use.

I'm using a Canon 40D I just bought a couple months ago and love it! How about you? Also want to ask if there are any other people using the same kind of camera as I do?

I came pretty close to a Nikon, but seeing my father owning a canon all my life, and hearing him saying "I wouldn't have it any otherway" a hardcore canon fella..I figured I'd follow his steps. And I'm glad I did!

[Steve Foss]

Canon or Nikon, it's a ford/chevy thing. Both lines offer great gear and have advantages and weaknesses.

I habitually shoot two Canon 30D bodies with an XT for one of my backups.

[finnbay]

I have a number of cameras, including the 40D. I've shot Canon for a long time and have been very happy with them from back in the film days. Not that I'm knocking any brand - there are too many good photos from other photographers who use Nikon, Fuji, or whatever to think that one is better than the other. I have a couple of Mark II's that I use for sports and studio, and the 40D is primarily my outdoor camera. I've got a 10D sittin' on the shelf as an emergency backup and a Kodak 6490 point and shoot that sometimes gets thrown into a bag if I'm really concerned about weight.

[mountaindew]

Yikes! Give me a few year to buy more cameras! Sheesh. Wow. I can understand if a photographer takes photos for a living or makes extra income, that person better have alot of back up cameras for that.

For me, I just basically started this..on my own. After nagging at my wife for 2 years before she finally lets me get the camera and lens. That is after 2 years of fixing up the house for her, this and that..now I get the camera, I'm like, now what!? Go and take pictures! So I did.

I'm just glad I learned photoshop before I got the camera through work. So it really helps to understand photoshop skillfully, understanding and working with digital photos. That's like another major tool.

What I really want in the future, say about 5 years from now..(after some more home improvements for my wife) I'd love to get my hands on EOS-1Ds Mark III, man...that's like looking at a Ferrari. 21 megapixels and full frame!? All I can think of is a big, very big flash card!

[Steve Foss]

MD, it's unlikely you need any more camera bodies. The 40D is an excellent body, and diversifying lenses to allow you to approach images with different angles and perspectives is much more important than getting on the DSLR camera body treadmill. DSLRs are nothing more than compact computers designed for image capture, and just like the "Dude, get a Dell," computers, DSLRs get updated what seems like every 30 seconds to keep people buying more and more upgrades. Getting on that treadmill will keep you poor and will have little impact on the quality of a person's vision.

I need at least one backup body. A wedding photographer who walks into a gig without a backup is doing the bride and groom a disservice simply because if a lone body fails, that's the end of the happy couple's lifetime of photographic memories. Let that happen once and you get booed. Let it happen twice and you're on your way to being out of business.

I always use two bodies in a wedding shoot, one dedicated to wide angle and one to telephoto, so if either body fails I've got the third one sitting in the bag ready to go.

Just a matter of needs, is all it is, and I buy lightly used whenever possible to keep costs down.

I have gear envy as bad as anyone, but I'm in business, and my business can't afford to buy bodies my business doesn't need. I simply don't need a more advanced camera for the work I do and, in the end, it's the eye, heart and mind of the photographer that matters more than the camera/lens.

That being said, gear talk is fun talk, and let the gear talk continue!

[mountaindew]

 Quote:

it's the eye, heart and mind of the photographer that matters more than the camera/lens.

I couldn't agree more!

[finnbay]

Steve and I have some similarities, and one big difference. I go into a wedding or other big event with two cameras - set up much the same way he does. I've been VERY fortunate that my small studio business has become a hobby gone wild. I started small and it has grown to bring in a fair amount of change. The difference is that my income for that can be rolled right back over into equipment and that's what I've done for the last four years. If my family had to live on what I make from photography, I'd be shooting with a Kodak disposable and dumpster diving. Steve is a great example that shouts "more is not necessarily better." Steve has less equipment than what I do, but what he does with it is outstanding. There are many other photographers on this forum that can do the same. Some with point and shoot cameras. Photography can be a money hole if you let it. Better to hone skills and your eye with equipment you can afford rather than buy a lot of stuff just to have it. Have a long range plan on what you think might be your needs, and as Steve said, lenses are more important than camera bodies. My $.02.

[mountaindew]

I know what you're saying. I had a canon powershot camera for years before I got the 40D, I've taken some pretty good shots with the powershot, and I think it's what molded me to take better shots over time. I thought I was ready for the bigger camera. And oh boy, was I so pumped up when I saw the first pictures from the 40D! I thought I was set, but then I realized the in the manual mode, I read that it's better, you can set in all kinds of setting to get what you want in a picture. Now that took a little while to learn and understand it. I'm still learning it as I go along. Coming to this forums is the best thing that has happened to me. It's like going to a photography school!

[Steve Foss]

Thanks, Ken. Necessity really IS the mother of invention.

And we didn't mean to sidetrack the conversation, so everyone feel free to talk about what gear you shoot!

[mountaindew]

I forgot to mention that when I told you that I followed my father's steps through Canon brand, he had his Canon EOS 3 that runs on film. And he loved that camera! I remember going to the basement almost all the time in the darkroom with my father developing pictures. That was alot of fun! Now days, you just use the computer for a darkroom! Wow..amazing...just amazing how things have changed!

[Dbl]

I am currently a Canon guy, having shot Pentax film and digital for 25 odd years. Have a Mark IIN a 30D and a 20D. I would be remiss if I didn't have a camera or two for backup as well. I have been using the 20D as a remote camera just for a different look.

I'm with Ken with a small business that allows me to turn my profits into equipment. I could invest in more cameras but as has been mentioned that is a black hole that you will never get out of. Trying to keep up with the latest if what you have is doing the job...well I don't see the benefit. I would sooner invest in glass, that will still be around even when the manufacturers crank out a new body every six months to a year.

[mountaindew]

I agree. Glass..I would keep collecting glass. I guess you can't go wrong there!

Speaking of glass..Look at this link..Now that's a piece of Glass! No, it's not a misprint. Wow..sheesh.

[Note from admin: Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.]

Whoops. Can I say what it is? Hope I'm not offending anybody...From the B&H HSOforum, in the used section, there's a Canon glass called Super Telephoto 1200mm f/5.6l EF USM Autofocus lens for $99,000.00 and that is USED glass!!

[MN Shutterbug]

Just the Canon 30D and 100-400 for me. I've pretty much got a one track mind. If it's not wildlife, I'm not interested in shooting it. This is why I have just the one lens. It does the job for me, in most cases. And, if I never remove the lens, I will never get dust on the sensor. Of course, there is always that time when the 600/f4 would be kind of nice to own. But then, I could never justify over $7000 for a hunk of glass. I'd have to sell almost 5000 notecards to pay for it. That could take a few years.

I do still have my Panasonic DMC-FZ7 super zoom P & S. It's a fine little camera with a Leica lens. I've got some pretty nice images with it. However, you can miss a lot of opportunities with a point and shoot. Considering how far I have to drive for photo ops, I can't afford to miss much. I do still take the Panny along when I go off for a day of shooting. If nothing else, it's a good little and inexpensive backup.

[Dbl]

Hey X, not to side track but the 30D and the 100-400 are not weather sealed. In dusty conditions, trust me on this one you will get dirt on the sensor. If you don't do any lens changes it certainly helps. There are some who claim the push-pull design of the 100-400 creates a suction that will also pull dust into the camera. That one I can't verify but I've seen it mentioned often.

That is one of the problems with digital though the new cameras with a cleaning function appear to be going in the right direction. Those of us with the "older" cameras will just have to clean the sensor occasionally.

[MN Shutterbug]

OK Dan, I'll trust you on this one. I knew the camera wasn't weather sealed, but I only thought of this being an issue in rain or snow. I never stopped to think about dust getting in. Thanks for the heads up. If I ever run into a blob on my photos, I'll know why.

[Dbl]

Yeah, you really don't want to ask how I know that one You will definitely be better off not changing lenses though, it will help delay the inevitable.

[IFallsRon]

I shoot digital with an Olympus E-500. I got a great deal and it works for everything I need it for. I still shoot film with the Nikons I bought in the 70s.

[WifeKidsandDog]

 Originally Posted By: mountaindew

Just wanted to get an idea of what kind of cameras people here use.

I have a Canon 5D and a 20D. I actually sold my 20D as it was getting a little worn out and got a 40D a few months ago, then sold that and a lens to get the 5D a few weeks ago. I always regretted selling my 20D for "sentimental" reasons and when I found out the buyer wasn't using it and probably wouldn't, my lovely husband bought it back for me.

I sell microstock and don't exactly need a backup camera, but I'm starting to get more work for portraits and school events and I'm relieved to have it just in case.

I used to enjoy nature photography and birds in flight but my interest in that has definitely waned so I'm very happy with the much slower 5D plus the 12 mp and low noise is more useful for micro sales.

[DMN]

I have a Canon 20D, I waited until the 30D was about to come out to help lower the price of the 20D.

I think the 40D would be my next after it gets older (price) because I think the larger preview screen would be OK and I like the idea of the "sensor dust shaky idea"

DMN

[Moose]

I had a Panasonic LZ2 point and shoot which I used for several years until I toasted it in Africa last fall. So I switched to a Koadak z712is which I do not like and am trying to sell. Now I switched to a Panasonic TZ3 which is great and I am looking at a Panasonic FZ30 when I sell the Kodak. I like point and shoot for the size and ease of use. But I would also like to shoot in RAW thus the FZ30.

[Moose]

or a Canon XT or a Nikon D40 I don't know to many choice to make a decision. I think thier all great cameras.

[WifeKidsandDog]

Have you looked at the Panasonic FZ-18? You can shoot RAW with that, too.

[dukhnt]

Nikon D50 here.

[Moose]

 Originally Posted By: WifeKidsandDog

Have you looked at the Panasonic FZ-18? You can shoot RAW with that, too.

WKD,

Yes I have looked at that also Just need to sell the Kodak first.

I like the wide angle on the low end of the lens on that model but want to stay out of the really high mega pixels on the same size sensor as the fz8 and 30. Still looking at all my options yet.

[explorer]

I have the 20D, I was looking at the 40D but since I just ordered the 100-400 lens that will have to wait until next year. I also use a G9 P&S.