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Terry has a Camera system dilemma

jonoslack

Active member
Hey, Stuart I hoped you would pop in!

S**T !!!!!!! I sold the 180 f2.8 that I bought from Guy !!!! :ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL:

That is a pretty good idea the 180 is much easier to handle than the 70-200.
Then I would need something in the 100 or 135 focal length.
Or the Sony 70-300, it's not particularly fast, but it's light, very quite with accurate focusing, and it's sharp from one end to the other.
did I mention that it's light?
 

Terry

New member
Told you not to sell that. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The 180 is light and small and very sharp plus it's cheap

I always liked Nikon's 180 even though it is a old dog like me it can still hunt.
It was the loud hunting that drove me a little crazy. I'm faster on the M8 :p

I still have the 70-300. It is slow but I've certainly gotten pretty good results with it.
 

Terry

New member
Or the Sony 70-300, it's not particularly fast, but it's light, very quite with accurate focusing, and it's sharp from one end to the other.
did I mention that it's light?
How does the Sony 70-300 compare with the Nikon? I know you liked your Nikon copy.
 

jonoslack

Active member
How does the Sony 70-300 compare with the Nikon? I know you liked your Nikon copy.
HI Terry
it's much better I did like the Nikon, but it needed care (and stopping down) and wasn't fab between 200-300 . . . but the Sony seems really good - it's slightly larger though.

I must say that, much as I like telephotos, for this sort of situation I'm not sure that you need it to be fast . . as long as it's sharp, and you certainly don't need it to be heavy. Zooming with your feet is fine, but if the subject's a mile away and there's a precipice in front of you! Of course, ironically, if you had the sony you'd have more room for cropping.

Can't you find an A900 to try out for half an hour?
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
You are going to be shooting birds though (since you are going on a workshop with a inveterate bird photographer), so having some speed will be good. This is another reason I think a prime lens might be useful.
 

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
OK, I've been to Iceland at the end of June specifically for shooting so a few thoughts.

Firstly, can you really buy a Sony with those lenses for the price of selling your Nikon gear and a couple of Nikon lenses?

Given that this is only a trip, will you miss your nikon system when you get home? Changing system for a trip only seems to be counter productive to me. A system is decided on for years of use not just a one off.

Are you up to taking a new system on a once in a lifetime trip? Are you ready to switch RAW converters given that ACR/LR seem to be bad for Sony files? Will you have sufficient backup? If everyone there is shooting Nikon/Canon then the ability to borrow someones long lens or macro lens or whatever cannot be underestimated. To be honest I wouldn't do this without full backup anyway of camera, lenses and even stuff like cable releases.

The light changes stupidly slowly in Iceland in the summer. I also didn't meet any serious wind. If you're shooting landscape then just stitch! Takes under a minute to stitch about 40 megapixels in the 2:3 format and I do it with just a ballhead panning head and a RRS PCL-1. I've never needed the whole nodal point stuff either and Autopano Pro ($99 for the latest version) has zero issues with moving foliage, waves, etc between frames. Also never has any parallex problems. As such unless you are willing to commit to the Sony system (including after you get home) I'd say that stitching is going to be the answer to your need for more megapixels. An added bonus is that when stitching your wide lenses become much wider, you won't need that 14-24 but you might well need that 200-400VR lens or an equivelent. To be honest with the amount of resolution gained by stitching, heck, a 1.7X teleconverter on a 70-200VR should be plenty sufficient.

I've no problems with the Sony system but the idea of switching systems just to use it on a workshop, taking a system that very few will be sharing on that workshop, having to provide for expensive backups and the fact that Iceland in the summer and landscape photography is a stitching photographers dream - I would think very carefully...

BTW, take a mosquito net. Myvtyn has so many it's almost impossible to breath eventhough they don't bite.


Taken with a lowly 1Ds, oh the horror of only 11.1 megapixels! :p:p:p
 

jonoslack

Active member
Are you ready to switch RAW converters given that ACR/LR seem to be bad for Sony files?
HI Ben
To be honest, I think most of your other points are reasonable too, but perhaps this is the most important one.

I thought your investigation of the A900 files was telling in this respect - you have a workflow and a 'converter' and changing that is much more of a big deal than changing the camera.
 

mwalker

Subscriber Member
HI Ben
To be honest, I think most of your other points are reasonable too, but perhaps this is the most important one.

I thought your investigation of the A900 files was telling in this respect - you have a workflow and a 'converter' and changing that is much more of a big deal than changing the camera.
I agree with you on this one Jono. It was much easier making the switch from Nikon to Sony than ACR/LR to C1. I'm thinking I might try Aperture.
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Ben you have some excellent points. But I must say you are the only person I have ever heard of who came to Iceland and wasn't blown halfway to the Faroe Islands by the wind! You must have had some great conditions -- the wind is regularly over 25mph (10m/s) and in the mountains or interior it will often get much much higher than that. The Icelandic meterological office has some good forecasts with wind maps: http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/elements#teg=wind
For example, the Reykjavik are will be around 15m/s tomorrow (33mph)...that is sustained wind, not gusts. Anyway, I am not trying to denigrate your experience, but I think it is really important to prepare for the wind if you are coming here. Even in summer, having a windbreaker and light windproof gloves makes a huge difference in your shooting comfort, especially if you are near a glacier, as the wind coming off of them is chilled and humid -- truly bone chilling even in July. In July you may be lucky enough to have temperatures around 15-18C (60-65F), but you will probably also have a lot of temps from 4-10C (40-50). Layering is key, as the conditions are very variable. Lightweight wool base layers like those made by SmartWool are really useful here, wool socks are key, and waterproof hiking shoes or boots with strong soles to prevent the sensation of jagged rocks jabbing into your feet (I really like Vasque and Merrill). Wool is so great because it keeps you warm OR cool, it stays warm when its wet, and it is naturally odor resistant. It is the perfect stuff for this country.

Anyway, none of that is camera gear information, but believe me, it is important. All the gear in the world will not help you if you are not comfortable to shoot.
 

jlm

Workshop Member
Iceland is sounding pretty good. I have a friend who commutes from NY to Reykjavik monthly, has been doing it for several years...I may have to get over there.

i would bring the 6008, three lenses, tripod
 

Terry

New member
I didn't start out with the idea of switching systems...I was working on what I needed to get my kit in order so I had the right stuff (and some unnamed folks started down this path). I actually started one of me emails that I have to practice my stitching.

Mike/Jono/Ben last night I was thinking exactly about your point about workflow when reading some of the Sony threads. If Sony is really dreadful in Lightroom/ACR it does pose a pretty big problem for me. Adobe is really is the only solution now for the cameras I shoot. Neither Aperture or C1 support the RW2 files from the G1.

As to new system, we are still early in May and I am not leaving for a bit over two months. That is why I am going through this exercise right away. If I were to make anything like a major change I have two months to get comfortable with the gear. From everything I did read, at least Sony is less complicated than Nikon.

The most frustrating thing about Nikon is the lenses. Here is an example. It seems reasonable that as a backup body to the D700 one would take a DX camera. On FX the 70-200 is not as good as the 70-300 and on DX it is exactly the opposite. I've been shocked with the Nikon system that every step of the way lenses have always been the issue. That's what happens when you start and have Leica, Zeiss, CV as a reference point.

Example 2 - with the winds blowing sand or salt water spray it is advised to have UV filters on lenses. Well the 14-24 has the big bulging front element.

It you read the thread the Tim Ashley started about his trip to Iceland the wind wreaked havoc with his shooting. I have two tripods and I am definitely bringing the much sturdier Gitzo 2541L and not my traveller. So even though there will be a lot of light being able to voluntarily able to use a faster speed and not be dictated by a slower lens can be useful. That is the good news about the D700 of any camera at least this one gives the most ISO latitude.

Stuart - I was thinking about gloves so thanks for the heads up that they are still useful in the summer. Also non smelly wool sounds good. 12 days calls for either a lot of clothes or a lot of repeat outfits to keep the suitcase manageable.
 
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jonoslack

Active member
Mike/Jono/Ben last night I was thinking exactly about your point about workflow when reading some of the Sony threads. If Sony is really dreadful in Lightroom/ACR it does pose a pretty big problem for me. Adobe is really is the only solution now for the cameras I shoot. Neither Aperture or C1 support the RW2 files from the G1.
HI Terry
It was one of the prime reasons why I got rid of the G1 . . . and why I rarely shoot the d-Lux 4 (although it is well supported in C1 . . which is why I still have it!).

On the other hand, the Nikon lens irritations were another nail in the coffin for me - there's nothing like the selection with Sony, but various ways of getting a decent range.
 

jonoslack

Active member
I agree with you on this one Jono. It was much easier making the switch from Nikon to Sony than ACR/LR to C1. I'm thinking I might try Aperture.
HI Mike
Aperture is lovely (at least, I think so), but they are devilishly slow in supporting new cameras :angry:
 

charlesphoto

New member
Terry,

I know this is out of your realm but I'm sure Stuart will back me up on this. You might want to seriously consider the Mamiya 7 and shoot some film. You can point that thing at almost anything and come away with great images, plus it handles like a Leica. Also, you have one of the best color neg labs in America at your doorstep in SF (Incolor II, down on 3rd in the industrial area). You can have the film processed with small scans and then pick out the one(s) you want to blow up big and have drum scans done that will blow away any 25mp digital camera.

Just a thought....:)
 

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
Kinda expensive way to do it though and there is only one long-ish lens that has a hohum reputation when matched with the 7's rangefinder focusing. Just the film, developing and drum scanning would probably pay for that 70-200VR...

I went on vacation to the Isle of Skye (Scotland) after my mother passed away. Took my young brother with to get him away from it. I was shooting 645 on a Mamiya. When I got back I realised that the amount I had shot plus the developing and scanning would have paid for a 10D, then the current 'best'. I got some incredible shots there, very good percentage of images that I've sold in the past, but that 10D shot two years of weddings for me and numerous landscapes that also sold well. The math just didn't work out if you're shooting trannies and doing high end scanning.


Sconser Golf Club, Isle of Skye, Mamiya 645, 210mm lens, Velvia 100. Me eaten to death my midgies.
 
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Terry

New member
I can't see myself using film! Nothing wrong with it but not for me. Also, cost of system isn't insignificant. Also, for me on a workshop, I really want to see what I've done each day to help learn for the next day and so on.

It is sunny and nice in SF so I'm sitting by the pool meditating on my decisions. My initial inclination was to round out my Nikon lens line up and that's what I'm leaning towards. Also, seems like some of the lenses for Sony are not so easy to come by. Backordered even at Sony Style.
 
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