Photographic Ambitions

[Ted124]

Yep, those photographic ambitions run deep in my personal history. Since the age of 10.
Today, I actually unpacked a "new to me" Nikon D700.

A couple of shots recently. On the way thru town before the sun went down.

Nikon D750 + 50mm 1.8G

[clovishound]

Another Nikon user! Welcome to the slippery slope.

Next you'll be lusting after a Z9.

[Ted124]

I reversed course away from mirrorless, back to DSLRs.
I also use a Canon 6D.

[CT_Shooter]

Nice compositions, Ted. Thanks for sharing with us. I look forward to seeing more.

[rickhem]

I bought a Nikon D3400 for Christmas a few years ago. Also got her 18-55mm, and 70-300mm lenses for it. Pretty basic, actually, but she enjoys taking pictures of all the different birds we get at our feeders, along with the assorted wildlife that shows up around the house occasionally. She was really into it when she first got it, but it's used a lot less lately. I've found that it seems to make surges, where interest picks up for a while, then wanes again. It's capable of way more than either of us use it for, and a simple point-and-shoot would suffice for 85% of the uses, but she had a SLR back in the film days, and wanted another, more modern one.
I'm a big fan of Nikon products, have a couple sets of binoculars, a rangefinder, and two riflescopes, which sadly that don't make anymore.

[Sir Henry]

Nice compositions, Ted. Thanks for sharing with us. I look forward to seeing more.

I agree. Nice compositions. Especially that last one.

[Hatchdog]

Love the one with the Pacific in the distance. It’s a nice teaser for our trip next week. We will be staying in Malibu with a view like that.

[dave77]

It's capable of way more than either of us use it for, and a simple point-and-shoot would suffice for 85% of the uses, but she had a SLR back in the film days, and wanted another, more modern one.

I hear that, my Canon 7D's manual is over 500 pages. Have skimmed through a lot of it but have not read the whole thing.

I find a lot of the time it's easier to just use my cell phone camera (which does take very good photos and videos).

[Ted124]

Since I mentioned briefly in the Lounge about my origins, these are a couple of shots from 2010 when I was in Munich the last time.
Just a few days, incidentally during Oktoberfest 2010.

Lumix LX2 (.jpg unedited)

[Ted124]

Thank you guys for the kind comments.
I am getting ambitious at times, just in the last 2 years I spend some considerable $$ on equipment, only to learn there are limited advantages for me.
Most important for me is, to have a camera with me. I used compact Panasonic & Olympus. Now I am more thrilled with Full Frame format.
Fact remains, don't have a camera with me, can't shoot anything.

User manuals are complex esp. for cameras like a Canon 7D. I don't think I ever read an entire manual. I look up specific things if I have to. Once my camera is setup, which is mostly the same every time, I never change it. Unless something doesn't come out right, than I have to go through the settings.

[clovishound]

Modern cameras have incredibly complex menus and a plethora of options. A large number of them are irrelevant for most shooters, although some options can be very useful for some individuals.

My first camera had 2 settings: aperture and shutter speed. Exposure was determined using a hand held light meter, or guessing. I actually got pretty good at guessing exposures. I don't want to go back to that much simplicity, but sometimes I would like a few less options when searching the menus for something specific I actually need.

[rickhem]

It's capable of way more than either of us use it for, and a simple point-and-shoot would suffice for 85% of the uses, but she had a SLR back in the film days, and wanted another, more modern one.

I hear that, my Canon 7D's manual is over 500 pages. Have skimmed through a lot of it but have not read the whole thing.

I find a lot of the time it's easier to just use my cell phone camera (which does take very good photos and videos).

Exactly Dave. We watched a couple of videos on YouTube about her camera, but I lost interest fast in those. There are some very detailed tutorials, covering a lot of detail with every setting, and as someone not all that into going down that road, I fizzled out on it. Some of them are loooooonnnnng too. I've always wanted to take her camera out hunting some time, and take pics of all the things you see, still may do that sometime.

For me, being from the generation where our video cameras came in a small suitcase and you held them on your shoulder, I ended up missing out on enjoying many of the things we did with the kids when they were young. I was too busy getting all that crap out, set up, and looking through the eyepiece to take in all that was happening. Don't even get me started with lugging it around on vacations and such. Definitely more work than fun. I know it's not like that now, and a GoPro seems like it would be a pretty neat way to capture things. Who knows, maybe I'll try that one day.

[dave77]

Modern cameras have incredibly complex menus and a plethora of options. A large number of them are irrelevant for most shooters, although some options can be very useful for some individuals.

My first camera had 2 settings: aperture and shutter speed. Exposure was determined using a hand held light meter, or guessing. I actually got pretty good at guessing exposures. I don't want to go back to that much simplicity, but sometimes I would like a few less options when searching the menus for something specific I actually need.

My first camera was my dad's Argus (still have it) he had a light meter but I never used it, I just used the recommended exposure setting for different lighting conditions.

My second was a Mamiya/Sekor 1000 DTL. It had a built in light meter, spot or average, you just adjusted aperture and shutter speed to get a needle in the middle of the screen. I took a lot of photos with it, mostly B&W as I had a darkroom and even loaded my own PlusX and TriX film cartridges which was great if you wanted to take just a few photos and process them right away. B&W paper was pretty cheap so I did lots of experimentation in the darkroom.

3rd camera was a pretty fancy Minolta, don't remember the model. I actually threw it and all my darkroom equipment away when I finally went digital. I looked a prices on Ebay and my model Minolta was selling for as low as $10 and no market at all for B&W darkroom equipment.

It would be nice to upgrade to a new DSLR, mostly for full frame and the better focusing ability. I see that Canon is going to mostly mirrorless cameras and I don't think I'd care for that. If I stick with Canon (I have a couple of decent full frame Canon lenses and 2 Canon flashes) looks like the only new DSLR available is a EOS 5D Mark IV Body for $2000 and if was to get that I'd really want something like the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM Lens at another $1200 or more. With the amount I use my camera anymore I just can't justify spending that much especially since my 7D is more than adequate.

[Sir Henry]

I learned on a 4x5 Calumat view camera and 4x5 Graflex press camera. That’s when I didn’t need the larger 8x10 Kodak view. Everything back then was manual.

[clovishound]

It would be nice to upgrade to a new DSLR, mostly for full frame and the better focusing ability. I see that Canon is going to mostly mirrorless cameras and I don't think I'd care for that. If I stick with Canon (I have a couple of decent full frame Canon lenses and 2 Canon flashes) looks like the only new DSLR available is a EOS 5D Mark IV Body for $2000 and if was to get that I'd really want something like the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM Lens at another $1200 or more. With the amount I use my camera anymore I just can't justify spending that much especially since my 7D is more than adequate.

It's not just Canon that have abandoned DSLRs. All the major manufacturers have moved to mirrorless. I made the move several years ago and never looked back. It took me a couple weeks to get used to the electronic viewfinder. After getting used to it, I much prefer it to the optical viewfinder. One of the big advantages is that it offers an exposure preview in the viewfinder. When looking through the viewfinder, I can see if I have blown out highlights, or underexposed shadows. I can then make adjustments and see the results immediately, without having to take a picture and look at it on the back of the camera.

As primarily a wildlife photographer, the advances in autofocus are a godsend. Object detection will lock in on the eye of a bird or animal and track it while it is in motion. It's not perfect, and occasionally gets off track, but it is head and shoulders above the older AF systems. There are other features that can be extremely useful such as pre-release capture and highlight weighted metering to name a few.

Of course, all this comes at a price. The higher end cameras and lenses aren't cheap, so a lot depends on your pocketbook, and how much you really want the newer technology. Also, different genres of photography are more, or less dependent on the newer technology, as well as the likes and dislikes of the individual photographer.

In the end, the camera is just a tool. While a painter may be picky about the brush he or she uses, it is the artist that matters, not the brush.

[daytime dave]

Ted, fantastic work.

I'm a Canon man myself. I have three Canon dslrs. Two Eos-1 d somthings and a d60. I have some L glass for them.
I am also trying out my iPhone 16's camera range.

I like your first photograph best so far. Keep them coming.

[The Wiz]

I never had a 35mm until I went to Vietnam. Bought a Yashica (sp) at the Cu Chi exchange and off to Cambodia.Took a lot of film with me. Barrel sited,easy to use,sturdy and rugged. It had to be bouncing around in my track. Even survived my track getting hit by an RPG. It and me survived (obviously) Back to the world and used it until finally pooped out on me. Still have it some where.

[Sir Henry]

I never had a 35mm until I went to Vietnam. Bought a Yashica (sp) at the Cu Chi exchange and off to Cambodia.Took a lot of film with me. Barrel sited,easy to use,sturdy and rugged. It had to be bouncing around in my track. Even survived my track getting hit by an RPG. It and me survived (obviously) Back to the world and used it until finally pooped out on me. Still have it some where.

I had a 124G.

[CT_Shooter]

I started with a Konica SLR in the 1970s. I used a bulk loader and developed my own Kodak Tri-X film cartridges and had a darkroom to print. Later, I even developed and mounted Ektachrome color slides. It was a fun hobby for many years.

Trump Photography 101_small.jpg

[Ted124]

Canon RP + 24-105 Lens Kit, Kingman Arizona, 2021



Lumix G1 + 14-45 Lens Kit, Mojave Desert, 2011 (unedited jpg converted to png)