Best forum in which to place a rambling, general photography question?

[kevin]

Hey all. I'm a long-time lurker and former photographer who's looking for some general photography advice, and I was wondering which forum was the best one in which to ask that question. It's not specific to any one brand of gear, so I'm not sure where to place it.

I used to shoot weddings and migrated over here from photo.net way back when. I quit shooting weddings and basically stashed all my photography gear for the last couple of years and shot only with my iPhone. It's been fun and liberating to not think about gear at all, but I'd like to get back up to speed and I always valued this forum for its no-nonsense, gear-savvy membership.

Anyway, have I found the right forum? If not, can you point me in the right direction? Many thanks in advance.

 

[Godfrey]

Sunset Bar seems as good a place as any for this kind of question. So ask away! What are you looking for?

G

 

[kevin]

Sunset Bar seems as good a place as any for this kind of question. So ask away! What are you looking for?

G

Cool! It's more of a novella...so I'll post it up later. :thumbs:

 

[kevin]

OK, I'll 'try' to keep this short.

I was a wedding shooter who used to shoot film with Leica M's, then moved to Canon in the digital age. I quit shooting for hire entirely about three years ago, then two years ago I packed away ALL of my photo gear into storage and have been shooting with nothing by an iPhone for that time. I was just tired of how gear-centric photography had gotten for me, and I really wanted to be away from it for awhile.

I found shooting with just an iPhone to be an incredibly liberating experience. Being able to shoot as soon as I felt that impulse of "Hey, I think there's a picture here..." and getting an immediate feedback loop was both fun and educational. I guess the main thing I learned is that when you feel that impulse, you're right: There probably IS a picture there, if you can make it work.

So, I want to start shooting with big cameras again, but in two years time, the landscape has changed a lot! I took inventory of my remaining gear, and I have a Canon 5d with lenses, and a Pentax 645n with lenses, but I want to keep my mind open to new options.

I want a "jack of all trades" camera kit, ideally, but I'm willing to live with some quirks if that gets me a feature I love. I've narrowed my choices down to three, but feel free to suggest something else:

1) Canon 5d Mk3, or Canon 6d. I'm familiar with the Canon interface, and the cameras fits my big hands well. If I start shooting for hire again, this is the way I'd go, and it seems like a "safe" choice no matter what.

2) Whatever used digital Leica M I can afford (max budget, $3k.) I love the Leica viewfinder, manual focus and the legacy lenses. I'm less sure that the cameras represent a solid value for $$ as regards actual sensor performance relative to the competition.

3) Sony A7xx series. This is the wild-card to me. I love the size, the sensor performance seems top notch, and the ability to mount nearly any lens, including Leica-M lenses is a huge bonus. The idea of using everything from pre-WWII lenses to the latest glass on a 21st century sensor is VERY appealing. I'm not sure how practical it is to shoot like that, and the EVF was, in the brief time I handled the camera, a real turn-off. Evident lag, and an overall unnatural look made composing on the fly seem iffy to me, but maybe it's just a learning-curve thing.

Anyway, that's it for now. I gave perhaps too much information in the hopes that I might get suggestions I hadn't considered. I'm excited to start shooting more "in earnest" now that I've been practicing "using the force." :grin: I look forward to any and all suggestions. :thumbup:

 

[Godfrey]

If I were in your shoes, I'd just dust off that Canon 5D I already had and start shooting. The original 5D is still a fine camera. And from that experience in your new role doing photography, I'd think carefully about what upgrading to the latest Canon would net as advantage vs other choices.

I've changed equipment quite a few times over the past decade and a half, looking for something as the digital equipment went through its infancy and adolescence. I feel it's stabilizing now, at least per what I am looking for, and find that most of the middle to upper level DSLR cameras made since 2007 have sufficiently competent sensors and features to still be quite useful. It's the newer generation, all electronic TTL cameras that are now the bleeding edge of technology, but if you want to do Photography rather than work the equipment game, why go there just yet? Give it another year or three to settle down. Remember that the big guns (Nikon and Canon) have not even shown their hand in this market yet, and Leica has just started their game.

$3000 is a bit shy for a current generation Leica M digital, but I have to say the current M-P typ 240 is just a delight to use and work with. I'd shoot with the Canon 5D for a bit still..

G

 

[Cindy Flood]

Hi Kevin, Nice to see you here again!
I think that Godfrey gave you good advice, re the 5D. I would also suggest that before you make a purchase, you rent the gear. The EVF takes some getting used to, but it is a fantastic system for focusing, once you are used to it.
I, like you, love the Leica rangefinders, but I have to get my fix now with a film rangefinder. The digital rangefinders have been priced out of reach for me. My Sony A7rII does a really good job with the M and R lenses that I still have in my cupboard, so I am not lacking.

 

[Tim]

Godfrey's advice is a hit this time IMO.
I looked at the original 5D some months back as a FF retro large photosite camera to just have a go with.
I admit I passed but that is more because I am paring back gear.

If I were you, I'd get that 5D and maybe two primes in a bag and just go use it.
a 24mm and a 35mm or maybe a 50mm. I am guessing it would be reasonably light in the right bag.
You'd know how big print size could go already and if you yearn for more detail look for something then.

 

[kevin]

Thanks for the feedback! Godfrey, I was considering a used digital M, but after seeing that the used lenses are going for double what I sold my kit for, that doesn't seem feasible. Dang. Wish I'd have kept my 35 and 50 luxes now.

I'm not really in any hurry and I can afford to be patient, so I think I will. I mainly shoot people, so the 5d is still a good performer by any reasonable metric, and since I managed to fix the broken battery door with JB Weld, I can actually use the thing, now. Having not used it for awhile, I'm immediately reminded of why it was such a revelation compared to shooting color negative for wedding work.

 

[kevin]

Holy smokes, this subject is a minefield! I can see now why I was urged to do nothing and just wait. :ROTFL: