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OMG my only camera is my iPhone!

T

tom in mpls

Active member
I've gone through 3 new camera systems in the last couple of months, plus my "old" Sony A55 system that I sold. First I tried the NEX 7, but hated it from the first moment and sold it within a week. Then I went to the X-Pro1. I love it in many ways, and even posted an "essay" that it was the best–not too big, not too small. And in many ways I still think so. It feels great in hand. But the s-l-o-w AF lost too many shots for me. And the RAW issues are dismaying. I'm wondering if anyone will ever come out with a good RAW processor for their otherwise superior sensor. I love, love, love the 35mm lens. So then I bought a new OM-D locally. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven; the fast AF had me giggling. But it may be too small for me. And I really don't want the 12-50 that came with the body. I took it back. I could go back to it, though. And at the same time I sold all my Fuji kit. Made some on the NEX, lost some on the Fuji, broke even on the OM-D.

What's in heaven's name, you may ask, am I doing? OK, I felt I needed to just go cold turkey. Get all the gear out. Then take some time to breathe deeply and decide what it is that I want to do with my photography. Sometimes it feels like I like to own the gear more than use it, which is not healthy. Also, I think the timing is perfect with Photokina just around the corner. mFT is, I think, becoming a great standard with an explosion of new gear, and I want to see what new options will be revealed at Photokina. And maybe Fuji can win me back with a better camera. 6 weeks for me to detox. Then start again, with a better plan.

Right now, if I were to choose from real instead of rumored gear, I would get the OM-D, Milich grip, 12-35/2.8 for most of my shooting, the 45/1.8 so that I can shoot shallow DOF when the mood strikes, and the 100-300 to shoot the wildlife in the back yard. You have no idea how many lenses I've bought but really never used through the years. I want to stop that merry-go-round. And maybe blow through a little less dough. Why is that 12-35 so darn expensive, anyway?

One thing is certain. I will never be going back to FF or APS DSLR's. I always griped about the size and weight of the gear, and thought I was just a wimp because nobody else seemed to feel as I did. I feel vindicated now.

I'm posting this on the FT forum because that's the system that is calling to me the loudest now. But who knows...

BTW, did I say that some think I have a bit of OCD?
 
bensonga

bensonga

Well-known member
My camera phone (iPhone 4S) is fun, quick, easy and always close to hand, but for me it is no substitute for a high end DSLR, when I really want to create an image worth printing, today or in the future. Just last week I took some pictures of a glacier with both the 4S and my Nikon D700. I emailed a few iPhone pics to friends right from the boat, but it is the D700 pics that I am printing tonight.....the iPhone doesn't even come close.

My OM-D, GH2 or G1 would suffice in a pinch, but if I could only have ONE camera, it would still be a DSLR, certainly not a camera phone. But that just my perspective.

Whatever works for you Tom, that's what matters.

Gary
 
T

Tonygamble

Member
Not worth starting a new thread for this but.....

If you have a cellphone and a Dropbox account don't forget you can set the cellphone camera so it transmits every shot you take to your Dropbox.

Really neat if you are out without a camera. See a shot and take it with phone. You get home and the shot is there on your PC for any tweaking that it amuses you to apply.

Yes, you can download images from the phone to the PC by USB - but how nice not to have to bother.

Tony
 
F

fotografz

Well-known member
It certainly is a popular category of cameras.

I've never got on with the look produced ... to two D for me. Good for recording something I guess, but tougher in the area of artistic expression.

I'm doomed to carry FF or MF sensors and will have to put up with the body until someone stuffs a FF sensor into a NEX sized camera ... in the meantime, the M9 is the closest thing available for a small FF.

To each their own, as usual.

-Marc
 
Ario Arioldi

Ario Arioldi

Member
fotografz said:
...until someone stuffs a FF sensor into a NEX sized camera ... in the meantime, the M9 is the closest thing available for a small FF.

-Marc
Click to expand...
It would be great but I am afraid the minimum distance between the lens and the sensor is a severe limiting factor in designing a compact camera with a 24x36 mm sensor.
 
P

pophoto

New member
Ario Arioldi said:
It would be great but I am afraid the minimum distance between the lens and the sensor is a severe limiting factor in designing a compact camera with a 24x36 mm sensor.
Click to expand...
...until someone decides to think out of the box a little. Sometimes it feels like such a difficult thing to do! :)
 
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tbhv55

New member
Ario Arioldi said:
the minimum distance between the lens and the sensor is a severe limiting factor in designing a compact camera with a 24x36 mm sensor.
Click to expand...
Olympus managed to overcome the equivalent of this problem on the XA, by means of some innovative design (called, IIRC, a "retrofocus" lens).

I'm not qualified to judge whether/how this could translate to a digital compact. However, it suggests that it might be possible, if the impetus exists to achieve it.
 
D

Diane B

New member
Tom, standing outside and looking at hour dilemma, don't you think you should think about what you want to accomplish with your photography and then look for the best system to accomplish that? We're at a point where we have so many options you should be able to find one that will satisfy your enjoyment of handling gear and yet allow you to get the images you want, be they just for your own fun, posting on the web and sharing or making prints.

I hope you find just the right tool for you, I've learned to value size and weight but m4/3 is small enough with good enough IQ to be just right, as Goldilocks said LOL. I'm loving my EM5.

Diane
 
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tom in mpls

Active member
Diane B said:
Tom, standing outside and looking at hour dilemma, don't you think you should think about what you want to accomplish with your photography and then look for the best system to accomplish that?
Click to expand...
You hit the nail on the head., Diane That's somewhere in my original post, and it is really the heart of my diatribe, but it was obscured by the rest of my lengthy ramblings. I keep thinking I'm going to become a street photographer, or a portrait photographer, or a macro photographer, etc. Time to look at what I really do with a camera, which is my family, my cats, my home, and travel. I agree that the EM-5 is looking the best. At any rate, mirrorless (including "rangefinder style" like Fuji is doing) is here to stay and I will be in that camp somewhere.
 
D

Diane B

New member
Yes, you really did in your second paragraph:) and I think you're on the right track. Its hard to be really objective about what we really shoot, not what we imagine we will shoot ;)

Good luck with your quest. My recent one was to find a camera that I think I can be happy with for maybe 4 years. I do think the EM5 will be that camera.

Diane
 
ptomsu

ptomsu

Workshop Member
While I understand and also share to a great part your thoughts (I am happily shooting an OMD myself with some selected lenses), I would give the D800E a try. This camera (I came from Hasselblad MFD) is a real winner - bringing almost MF quality with all the flexibility of a system like Nikon and produces stunning results. Especially combined with the right Zeiss ZF.2 glass!

So if you leave that one out you will miss a great part of the game! Really not comparable with the already great results from the OMD.

BTW, I also try to narrow down my number of systems and lenses!
 
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tom in mpls

Active member
ptomsu said:
While I understand and also share to a great part your thoughts (I am happily shooting an OMD myself with some selected lenses), I would give the D800E a try.
Click to expand...
I love the idea of no AA filter, and I loved MF (Medium Format; I tried that, too!). But I'm not going to go back to 1kg cameras and lenses. And I have learned that it's AF only for me. Your comments are appreciated, thanks.
 
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ptomsu

ptomsu

Workshop Member
tom in mpls said:
And I have learned that it's AF only for me.
Click to expand...
This is interesting, as I rediscovered the beauty of MF when I got my Zeiss 1.4/35 ZF.2 for the D800E. This was the way I used to work some long years ago and was actually most time as quick as with even the trickiest AF.

So I really enjoy the new freedom, knowing I can turn on and use AF whenever I want.

MF on m43 I tried as well several times, but this is NOTHING for me. Eve with the OMD which is pretty good with its EVF, but handling is far too complicated. So I agree - for m43 I would also only go with AF.
 
Godfrey

Godfrey

Well-known member
Stripping away the fog of Magpie Syndrome can take one effort. I applaud your decision to try.

The iPhone 4s can make some amazing photos. It's seriously constrained in sensitivity and ergonomics... You can view that as a plus to focus and expand your creativity.

I also find it increasingly difficult to justify carrying a DSLR sized camera. I haven't in many months now, and although have not sold off all the equipment I'm not using yet, the kit that I do use has grown smaller and tighter. It's more constrained—I feel my photographic interests reawakening in the process.
 
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