Most liked posts in thread: Photography

Digital has opened up a whole new world to folks who never could bother with photography before. My days of loading bulk Tri-X are gone forever. Multiple ASA's on the same roll, impossible with film. Easy peasy with digital, sign me up. I was an early adopter of digital & I won't go back to film.

 

yah...the darkroom in my high school was kind of like that too. But there was a light above the door to tell those outside if the safelight was on.

I still have all my film gear, but I hardly use it anymore.

 

No problem - join the other 800 odd strangers

Just to do some gear talk - here is what I have on the shelf. Most if it gets regular use. I also rent lenses for the bigger motorsports events, as I have little use for things like a 70-200mm f/2.8 or 105mm f/1.4 beyond a weekend per year. Right now I am contemplating if I should rent a Zeiss lens for my summer hiking trip, to kick it up a notch from that old 20mm f/3.5 that isn't up to the sensor resolution of the D810.

Nikon D810
Nikon D600
Nikon D500
Nikon F3HP
Canon EOS 1n - don't have any Canon lenses but a Nikon adapter for it

AF Lenses
24-85mm VR,
70-300mm ED VR
Nikon 400mm f/2.8 G VR
TC-14e-II
TC-20e III

Nikon manual focus lenses, all of which work fine with the above bodies
16mm Nikkor Fisheye f3.5 AI
20mm f3.5 AI
24mm f2.8 AIS
50mm f1.8 AIS
Nikkor-S 55mm f1.2 AI-d
105mm f2.5 AI-d
Nikkor-Q 135 f2.8 AI-d
180mm f/2.8 ED AIS
300mm f4.5 AI EDIF
600mm f4 EDIF AIS
Nikon Series E 75-150mm f/3.5
TC-16a

Non-Nikon glass:
Rokinon 14mm f2.8
Rokinon 85mm f1.4


I have no use for mirrorless, as there is no system that actually has glass that does what I need to do on the long end. DSLR does the job for me and a camera like the D500 or a rented D5 on the 400mm f.2.8G is in a league Sony can only dream of ever reaching with their stuff. None of that matters when you go below 300mm focal, but at the long end DSLRs are still king. I shoot 400mm+ a lot. The F1 car up there is 960mm (600 + 1.6x TC) on full frame body, for example

and since each post here needs a picture - here's the late 1980s 600mm f/4.0 manual focus super tele on D500 crop body, so 900mm, slight crop of the image, too.


Where the dark side begins

And that's the bad boy that took the image, with period correct Nikon F3HP and motor drive, TC-16a mounted. Half the lens is lens shade, though (the front two steps)


600mm f4.0 on tripod fully dressed up

From the front, only one lens shade mounted and retracted


Nikon 600mm f/4.0 EDIF AI-S

Since I got the modern 400mm f/2.8 AF lens, I have not used this lens very much. The lens coat is a DIY job, as they don't make any that fit the lens, plus it's really not that hard to make these things.

 

I sold all of my film cameras back when they were still worth something. Man, am I glad I sold my Hasselblad stuff when I did. I sold it for around 12-grand. Today, I'd be lucky to get 2-grand for it.

I'm not much of a gear junky anymore. I have just what I need to do my job, 90-percent of the time. I also have an outstanding camera store in Dallas that has a huge rental inventory. If I need a special lens for a job, I rent it from Competitive Cameras. I buy most of my gear from them, too.

CD

 

My film cameras also left me while they had some value. No one wanted my darkroom so I donated it to a friend of my niece.

I have one film camera that I hold onto for sentimental reasons, my Dad's Nikon FE & 50mm f1.4.

I don't stock a lot of gear. If it doesn't get used it gets sold off. Proud to say all my gear was bought used. No way I'll ever buy new again.

 

Let's get back into taking pictures.



This Angus, my neighbor's dog posing for a portrait.

 

Angus trying to get my attention.

 

Awesome storm rolling through Haymarket, VA a few nights ago.

 

Rental car from Santorini Greece.

 

Red Bull gives you wings!

 

Leo, the neighbor's puppy wants to go for a ride.

 

Leo, my neighbor's puppy.

 

I've given up on carrying a dedicated camera. I love the composition and artistry of photography, but the best camera for me is the one that I have in my hands when I see something I want to shoot, which means it's generally the camera built into my phone.

I'd love to hear cell phone camera quality thrown into the "Lots of great cameras out there. What do you like to shoot?" discussion!

 

Nice use of contrast in your composition.

 

I have a whole bunch of cameras, but the one I use the most nowadays is my cellphone camera. It's the one I have with me all the time. However, if you find yourself getting into the hobby and want a lot of flexibility on what you can shoot, at a reasonable price, I would recommend a high zoom ratio (sometimes called superzoom) point n shoot camera like a Nikon Coolpix P950 or Lumix FZ300. Superzoom cameras are available in price from a few hundred dollars to the really good ones in the thousands. Then if you find you are really interested and want to get more serious and adventurous, upgrade to a dSLR and then medium format if you decide to turn professional. Most digital camera sensors are good for 50,000 shots. Most people will never get there, so if you spend too much upfront and not get too serious, then you are going overkill. The most flexible camera I used was a Canon SX-10. It was one of the early superzooms. I literally wore it out. It doesn't work anymore. For my more serious pictures, I am using a Nikon dSLR with a good Sigma lens.

I also have a bunch of film cameras that I from time to time, pull out and use. The quality of the pictures are still noticeably better (for my eyes). For high quality pictures, I still use a medium format film twin lens reflex camera. I would have to spend a few hundred thousand dollars on a medium format digital camera and lens to match the quality of picture from my old 1957 vintage twin lens reflex camera.



Remember the best pictures you take are the ones you take that you like. Not the camera you use. But the camera and lens you use can give you more flexibility on what you take and how you compose your image.

Personally, I think the current cell phone cameras take great pictures, but they try to do too much for you and take away the flexibility for you to be artistic with your composition. To do that, you would have to edit the picture afterwards.

Good luck with it.


and for your amusement...

 

It's been pretty quiet here. Time to add another picture.

 

I've been doing a bit of shooting. Here are a few fall colors from the drone out in Paris, VA and on Mt.Weather.

Fall Colors 2021: Delaplane, Paris, Mt.Weather by Jono Kenyon, on Flickr

Fall Colors 2021: Delaplane, Paris, Mt.Weather by Jono Kenyon, on Flickr

Fall Colors 2021: Delaplane, Paris, Mt.Weather by Jono Kenyon, on Flickr

Bear's Den by Jono Kenyon, on Flickr