Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
I think this is probably the biggest question that we keep spinning around in our heads and all the months of soul searching for to find some of the answers. We ask a lot of questions on the forum to gather data to make smart gear decisions and such. It is what we do and a very important part of what we shoot. But the bottom line in all of this is the logic that we need to understand is if this will do all that you want it to do and I think that is the biggest struggle in any gear we buy. Now i can't speak for everyone and never would so i have to take this journey into my little world and make it logical and have it make sense to me.
So with that here is my story or better yet my thought process for the last couple months. First i came from medium format analogue, so this is no stranger to me. But for the last several years i struggled hard to get the most out of 35mm and certainly in the last couple years found some bliss with Leica. But the last couple months was a decision process that i need to take and see what MF can do for me and more important than anything else how far can i use it to do all my work. i do a lot of different things and not a specialist in one area. I chose this path because i enjoy it all but that brings in gear issues and having several systems to cover it all.
As i made that decision back in Carmel to jump in it came with a lot of nervous anxiety. I knew exactly what would come next and how i would move forward with it, now I did not think I would upgrade so fast but after seeing what i was seeing it gets to be a drug. No question it is better image wise , the bigger question is how much can it really do. I have been playing around with this now for a month or so and really have not pressed it into service. Now there is one aspect actually a couple that had me on pins and needles. One of them is what i shot this morning. Nothing fancy or in the advertising stuff that I know MF will excel at for me. But how a bout a little pressure cooker get a hour to shoot and turn the files to the client via FTP within a 1 or so after the shoot.
Now i decided this morning sink , swim or call it a day. i don't have time to play around and make mistakes if it don't work it is gone, we all know how i am . i have ice in my veins when it comes to gear an if it does not give me a smile it is toast. Yes I am ruthless with this stuff and nothing is sacred . Anyway this morning came and here was the setup , go into a corporate client and shoot a customer support area. Lot's of folks sitting at desks in low lighting and shoot a big area. Well okay what to do. i decide that ISO 400 was a given and don't fight it. Bring two Dynalite Twinkles 400 watt monolights and lets get to work. My worries DOF and enough juice. Well it was a piece of cake . i was shooting with a SB 800 with Stofen and the two Monolights and getting F13, more than I thought I could possible get. Drag the shutter a little and be on a tripod which honestly i would have done with any camera given the setup.
Now this told me a whole story on this with just this one setup. First thing is I can do this comfortable just like i could with any DSLR, the files are God knows how many times better and I did NOT have to struggle. This is all good and answered my several questions can I do this type of work easily because i do a lot of this at times and also events which will be my next acid test. Now i am not worried about landscape or advertising work and stuff that is deliberate and i can work on it with anything i need . This is hit and run get in get out and deliver good files a DSLR kind of job but now with more file. Now i did the cardinal sin today was left the Nikon home in it's bag and forgot the backup. Well i forgot on purpose. LOL It was put up and get it done with this thing. Happy to say it worked it worked great and ISO 400 is amazingly good. So tonight I feel better this was nagging at me for awhile. I won't call it a gimme yet but it did proof it's worth and I still want to press it into different things and see how it does .I think a slow approach in fitting this into everything i do is important and may just keep pushing those Nikons out of my bag and into the street. But i want more results and see how it handles tougher situations. It like any of my gear has to pass my torture tests.
Anyway i would love to hear how this works for you, we talk about the gear but what about the work which really at the end of the day is the most important. Is MF doing it for you?
So with that here is my story or better yet my thought process for the last couple months. First i came from medium format analogue, so this is no stranger to me. But for the last several years i struggled hard to get the most out of 35mm and certainly in the last couple years found some bliss with Leica. But the last couple months was a decision process that i need to take and see what MF can do for me and more important than anything else how far can i use it to do all my work. i do a lot of different things and not a specialist in one area. I chose this path because i enjoy it all but that brings in gear issues and having several systems to cover it all.
As i made that decision back in Carmel to jump in it came with a lot of nervous anxiety. I knew exactly what would come next and how i would move forward with it, now I did not think I would upgrade so fast but after seeing what i was seeing it gets to be a drug. No question it is better image wise , the bigger question is how much can it really do. I have been playing around with this now for a month or so and really have not pressed it into service. Now there is one aspect actually a couple that had me on pins and needles. One of them is what i shot this morning. Nothing fancy or in the advertising stuff that I know MF will excel at for me. But how a bout a little pressure cooker get a hour to shoot and turn the files to the client via FTP within a 1 or so after the shoot.
Now i decided this morning sink , swim or call it a day. i don't have time to play around and make mistakes if it don't work it is gone, we all know how i am . i have ice in my veins when it comes to gear an if it does not give me a smile it is toast. Yes I am ruthless with this stuff and nothing is sacred . Anyway this morning came and here was the setup , go into a corporate client and shoot a customer support area. Lot's of folks sitting at desks in low lighting and shoot a big area. Well okay what to do. i decide that ISO 400 was a given and don't fight it. Bring two Dynalite Twinkles 400 watt monolights and lets get to work. My worries DOF and enough juice. Well it was a piece of cake . i was shooting with a SB 800 with Stofen and the two Monolights and getting F13, more than I thought I could possible get. Drag the shutter a little and be on a tripod which honestly i would have done with any camera given the setup.
Now this told me a whole story on this with just this one setup. First thing is I can do this comfortable just like i could with any DSLR, the files are God knows how many times better and I did NOT have to struggle. This is all good and answered my several questions can I do this type of work easily because i do a lot of this at times and also events which will be my next acid test. Now i am not worried about landscape or advertising work and stuff that is deliberate and i can work on it with anything i need . This is hit and run get in get out and deliver good files a DSLR kind of job but now with more file. Now i did the cardinal sin today was left the Nikon home in it's bag and forgot the backup. Well i forgot on purpose. LOL It was put up and get it done with this thing. Happy to say it worked it worked great and ISO 400 is amazingly good. So tonight I feel better this was nagging at me for awhile. I won't call it a gimme yet but it did proof it's worth and I still want to press it into different things and see how it does .I think a slow approach in fitting this into everything i do is important and may just keep pushing those Nikons out of my bag and into the street. But i want more results and see how it handles tougher situations. It like any of my gear has to pass my torture tests.
Anyway i would love to hear how this works for you, we talk about the gear but what about the work which really at the end of the day is the most important. Is MF doing it for you?