I thought about switching to Canon...

[nerwin]

It seems like every time I check the boards here there's a new thread from you about buying/selling/switching gear. Pretty sure I gave you the same advice a few months ago- shoot more, post less.

You're right. I have GAS, I'm sorry.

.in the last 6 months I've bought a d750 and a d500.
I put the pedal to the metal with the gas!!

You really bought a D500?

 

[astroNikon]

It seems like every time I check the boards here there's a new thread from you about buying/selling/switching gear. Pretty sure I gave you the same advice a few months ago- shoot more, post less.

You're right. I have GAS, I'm sorry.

.in the last 6 months I've bought a d750 and a d500.
I put the pedal to the metal with the gas!!

You really bought a D500?

Was using it for some macro work earlier ==>

..

 

[Derrel]

The white-light AF assist system can take $30 and $40 second-hand zooms, like say the Tamron 28-80 f/3.5~5.6, or the $35 Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.3~4.5, and make them SNAP to focus indoors in dismal lighting, as if they were $1,999 f/2.8 lenses like the old AF-S 28-70, or the new $2,400 f/ 24-70mm. All of this on ANCIENT camera bodies, like the Fuji S2 pro or the S5 Pro/D200.

 

[nerwin]

It seems like every time I check the boards here there's a new thread from you about buying/selling/switching gear. Pretty sure I gave you the same advice a few months ago- shoot more, post less.

You're right. I have GAS, I'm sorry.

.in the last 6 months I've bought a d750 and a d500.
I put the pedal to the metal with the gas!!

You really bought a D500?

Was using it for some macro work earlier ==>

View attachment 131963
..
View attachment 131964

So what do you prefer more, D500 or D750?

Also noticed you had a Nikon closeup filter? I didn't know Nikon made close up filters, I thought Canon only did.

 

[nerwin]

The white-light AF assist system can take $30 and $40 second-hand zooms, like say the Tamron 28-80 f/3.5~5.6, or the $35 Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.3~4.5, and make them SNAP to focus indoors in dismal lighting, as if they were $1,999 f/2.8 lenses like the old AF-S 28-70, or the new $2,400 f/ 24-70mm. All of this on ANCIENT camera bodies, like the Fuji S2 pro or the S5 Pro/D200.

Why don't the higher end Nikon bodies like the D500 and D5 have a AF assist lamp if it really helps that much? Or do those bodies have such superior AF systems that they don't need it?

 

[astroNikon]

Why don't the higher end Nikon bodies like the D500 and D5 have a AF assist lamp if it really helps that much? Or do those bodies have such superior AF systems that they don't need it?

Yeah I noticed that too. But no worries, I'd just stick a SB-700/800 or my yongnuo RF Trigger on top and use the IR pattern mentioned before.

You can read about it here == > How to Make Autofocus Work in Extremely Low Light

There's a point when the technology/equipment won't do something and you'll just have to add something or use a workaround. If a single camera did everything everyone wanted it to do it'd probably be a big as a car and cost a million dollars, with the included coffee maker.

 

[nerwin]

Why don't the higher end Nikon bodies like the D500 and D5 have a AF assist lamp if it really helps that much? Or do those bodies have such superior AF systems that they don't need it?

Yeah I noticed that too. But no worries, I'd just stick a SB-700/800 or my yongnuo RF Trigger on top and use the IR pattern mentioned before.

You can read about it here == > How to Make Autofocus Work in Extremely Low Light

There's a point when the technology/equipment won't do something and you'll just have to add something or use a workaround. If a single camera did everything everyone wanted it to do it'd probably be a big as a car and cost a million dollars, with the included coffee maker.

Hmm. I didn't know the Yongnuos had a built in IR pattern for AF. I think I'd still rather get a SB-700 first and then pick up Yongnuos for slaves.

 

[astroNikon]

So what do you prefer more, D500 or D750?

Also noticed you had a Nikon closeup filter? I didn't know Nikon made close up filters, I thought Canon only did.

Info about the Nikon Closeup filters ==> Is the 50mm 1.8G a micro lens?

D500 or 750 ?

I don't know. For which particular purpose?

Studio type stuff where a 85mm lens *is* an 85mm lens. The D750.
Indoor bad light soccer. Probably the D750 still as you still have to deal with upclose action and the 1.5x crop causes issues with that.

Aircraft, Moon, stars, planets, or outdoor soccer when I'm sitting high in the stands on a full size field, or on the sidelines or end corners with the 150-600 ... the D500. (I don't like to carry 2 cameras but I could to get up close stuff and have the D750 with the 80-200 or 24-85).

Local birds, at the conservatory maybe the D750 or D500. I don't know yet. You can get really up close to the birds (with a long lens) so the extra 1.5x is not needed.

Flower photography? hmm .. don't know.
Catching butterflies & bees in flight ? The D500 in 4K video mode !!

I was testing and decided on a D5500 for what my main goal was. But was given a nice bundle with the D500, so I got that. At some point I'll get a D5300 Full Spectrum camera too.

So far, I haven't had a use for Continuous High 10fps. That would be great for BIF. So I set CL to 6fps and I'm happy with that. There's a few ergonomic / layout changes which are annoying me as I adjusted my shooting style to the D750, D600, D7000, d70 layout and now have to change a few things to adjust again.

 

[astroNikon]

The question is what are you needs?
What is holding you back with your existing equipment?
Have you done everything to learn and understand all the features of your camera/gear, learned the workarounds and techniques, etc before getting itchy to change/add cameras?

A new camera won't fix technical or education/knowledge issues.

The camera won't do it on it's own. In AUTO mode it will make it's own decisions (and I've found the wrong settings to what I would use). So *you* either have to do everything in your capacity to get the shot right or just get whatever you get. Education & practicing is key.

 

[adamhiram]

Why don't the higher end Nikon bodies like the D500 and D5 have a AF assist lamp if it really helps that much? Or do those bodies have such superior AF systems that they don't need it?

I have yet to find a situation where the D500's AF doesn't perform well without an assist lamp. The low-light performance is incredible, and I'm still in awe of the AF system after upgrading from a D5100. My current project is learning the various groupings for AF-C, which was kind of irrelevant on my old body.

 

[astroNikon]

Why don't the higher end Nikon bodies like the D500 and D5 have a AF assist lamp if it really helps that much? Or do those bodies have such superior AF systems that they don't need it?

I have yet to find a situation where the D500's AF doesn't perform well without an assist lamp. The low-light performance is incredible, and I'm still in awe of the AF system after upgrading from a D5100. My current project is learning the various groupings for AF-C, which was kind of irrelevant on my old body.

I've found the AF on-par with the D600/D750 w/no assist lamp in really low light situations in a few tests that I've done.

 

[robbins.photo]

Why don't the higher end Nikon bodies like the D500 and D5 have a AF assist lamp if it really helps that much? Or do those bodies have such superior AF systems that they don't need it?

Ok, so a couple of thoughts here in no particular order. First, as to the above question, my assumption is that most folks who spend the kind of money you spend to get a D500 or a D5 probably don't need an AF assist light all that often. Normally with cameras like that your going to be shooting stuff that your far enough away that an AF assist light wouldn't prove all that useful. Also most folks who spend that kind of money on a camera body are probably going to invest in some expensive, high end glass that doesn't really need an AF assist light as much.

As for our autofocus discussion, I highly recommend you try using AF-C 9 point and leave the points in the center. On the D600 and D610 the 9 center AF points are all cross type - and as a result they tend to be able to grab focus quickly even in low light situations.

My preferred method of shooting is to leave them in the center, shoot wide and crop in post. While I realize that a lot of folks prefer "getting it right in camera" for a guy like me that really isn't as much of an option. What I shoot most often are moving targets in cluttered backgrounds. As such the cameras AF system often struggles to decide what best to focus on - I found out very quickly through trial and error that I got my best results, my highest keeper rates using this method.

My other issue of course, I'm shooting blind. That's not an exaggeration. I am at the moment legally blind. I can only see out of one eye and the one eye I have that works has something like 20/300 vision. When looking through my viewfinder I can't even see the numbers at the bottom clearly enough to make out my ISO, shutter speed, etc.

And yet even though I am legally blind I still rarely if ever miss a shot because it's OOF.

My last recommendation, well I'd probably echo Astro here. I think you'd be much better served learning to use what you already have and developing a shooting method that works well for you, as opposed to trying to solve the problem with new gear.

 

[nerwin]

The question is what are you needs?
What is holding you back with your existing equipment?
Have you done everything to learn and understand all the features of your camera/gear, learned the workarounds and techniques, etc before getting itchy to change/add cameras?

A new camera won't fix technical or education/knowledge issues.

The camera won't do it on it's own. In AUTO mode it will make it's own decisions (and I've found the wrong settings to what I would use). So *you* either have to do everything in your capacity to get the shot right or just get whatever you get. Education & practicing is key.

I don't know what my needs are to be honest. Everyone says to focus on one thing, but I don't know what the one thing is because I like everything and I just don't have the opportunities that every photographer online seems to have.

You really want to why I buy and sell camera gear often? It's because I've been battling depression for years and if buying and selling camera gear and discussing it makes me feel better and is a distraction from doing something stupid to myself, it's a price I am willing to pay.

With that being said, I NEVER intended for this conversation to get to this point. The previous night I simply was just talking to a friend of mine about camera gear and what we could see in 2017 for a video he was making and he mentioned that he was close to switching to Canon which in return made me think about it and if there was any benefits of actually switching from Nikon to Canon in 2017 and there isn't really any benefits as discussed here and that's all I wanted, was simple discussion about if it was worth switching at this point in time and never intended for it to be specifically about me. I never said I was actually going to switch. But apparently I was wrong, I'm stupid and I apologize for the confusion.

Yes, I do have a problem. I don't know where I want to take my photography. I look at all this amazing photos that are shared here at TPF, on Flickr, Instagram, Facebook and wherever and it makes me incredibly jealous because I know, I'll never be that good and makes me want to sell everything and give up. But I don't want to give up, I'm trying my best man. I always feel like I NEED to shoot everyday, but do I really need to? Some say yes and some say no so I don't know.

I honestly don't know what to do. @Gary A. mentioned I think the X100T because it has a fixed prime that coulden't be removed which forced you to shoot with that no matter what and I had the orginal X100, it really did make me think about composition and what not so maybe I should just stick with one single prime for a while..like a month or two and just force myself to shoot everything with that instead.

I overthink things a lot, I know. I give up on life... (the holidays certainly are not helping my case either...)

 

[Derrel]

Do what you need to do, man. Whatever makes you happy. But do remain open to learning new things, and learning more about the system you have. For example, have some FUN, and try out the 9-point AF sometime, just to see what it can do, or how it works. Using one focal length of lens will teach you about how perspective works: perspective is based on camera to subject distance, not on lens length, and a singlke focal length lens makes you move the camera, changing perspective, all the time.

I follow you on Instagram. You ARE getting better, and are exploring things more and more! keep shooting, keep having fun!

 

[coastalconn]

The white-light AF assist system can take $30 and $40 second-hand zooms, like say the Tamron 28-80 f/3.5~5.6, or the $35 Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.3~4.5, and make them SNAP to focus indoors in dismal lighting, as if they were $1,999 f/2.8 lenses like the old AF-S 28-70, or the new $2,400 f/ 24-70mm. All of this on ANCIENT camera bodies, like the Fuji S2 pro or the S5 Pro/D200.

Why don't the higher end Nikon bodies like the D500 and D5 have a AF assist lamp if it really helps that much? Or do those bodies have such superior AF systems that they don't need it?

I think you can safely assume the Pro bodies don't have an AF-assist light because they don't have a pop up flash. If you are in a situation where you would need a flash, the flash itself would have the built in AF assist..