Pro Camera + Gear for under $20k

[astroNikon]

use your existing camera equipment

practice
take lessons / shadow / photo clubs to improve your abilities.

then when you feel the camera is holding you back, then buy a nice camera with the money you set aside for yourself.

 

[ThatAudiGuy]

Well if had that money I would look at these items:
Body - Canon 5DSR
Lenses (depends on subject) - Canon or Tamron 24-70 2.8, Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro and a 70-200 2.8
Strobes - 3-4 PCB Einstin's or Dyanlite's, Hensel or Broncolor depends on what you are shooting
Very nice tripod or Studio stand
6-10 C-Stands for strobes/rolls of Rasco paper/holding bounce cards...etc.
As for PC, I agree with Robbins.Photo this can and will turn in to PC vs Mac

But first if you haven't shot studio work before I would highly recommend attending some workshops first or buy a few tutorials from RGGEDU, Karl Taylor's Pro Courses to see if this is something you really want to do.

Thank you very much! And yeah Karl Taylor is part of the reason why I chose product photography, I've shot for a couple of local businesses with my K-3 II, its been a challenge, with no lighting except for a couple of Yongnuo speedlights on sticks, lol. But I enjoyed it thoroughly, shooting in multiple exposures to make-up for poor lighting.

Yes, I have purchased a few photography tutorials by Karl Taylor, FStoppers and Serge Remelli (mostly for Lr and Ph), I'd love to attend one of Kar Taylors workshops but they sell out pretty quickly.

I appreciate your input.

 

[ThatAudiGuy]

I guess a more important question is: What is your ultimate goal with this? Do you want to actually make a living from it, or enough to buy some new gear now and then, or just have fun?

Yes, my ultimate goal is to make decent money from photography. But I want it to be a steady transition from my current profession into photography, as soon as I am able to have a decent enough clientele, I'd be willing to quit my job and become a full-time photographer.

Worst case scenario; I am unable to break into the industry, I still have a ton of cool gear I can play around with.

 

[ThatAudiGuy]

I know this is a little off topic (but still relative considering you're contemplating selling your car), so I apologize, but would you be able to afford a car if your company car disappears?

I thought my company was pretty stable being around 50K employees, until it got bought out by another 50K employee company. Then, the layoffs started happening (thankfully, I'm still here). Changes in organization. Changes in benefits. Changes in policies. Office location consolidation. More layoffs. More changes in organization. More layoffs. You never know what lies ahead.

Can you use your company car on personal trips? What if you go out of town on vacation, are you going to rent a car or will your company be ok with you using the car for personal reasons? If you get into a car accident while using it for personal reasons, will they cover the damage? Will you have to record mileage?

If I were in the same situation, I probably wouldn't sell unless I had a guaranteed way to get around, such as reliable public transit. Public transit around me is horrible. Also, I don't have the resources (i.e., capital) to make such big changes often, so I'm a bit more conservative with my approach.

I am 27, single and working as an assistant finance manager for an SME, I've always been good with my finances, I have zero debt, no credit card fees, no school loans, mortgages, also with a company car, my current wheels are an overhead I don't really need, hence why I want to get rid of it. Besides, I've got enough saved up that I could take a break for 16 months and not worry about my cash flow.

Moreover, the company that I work for does not have an SOP as such regarding company vehicles do's and don't, we have no mileage restrictions, the vehicles are fully insured and we refresh our entire fleet of vehicles once every 24 months.

And as for a backup car, my parents have an old Lexus LS460 they barely use, that I can "borrow" if I ever needed to. And by borrow I mean, just take it, lol.

 

[waday]

I am 27, single and working as an assistant finance manager for an SME, I've always been good with my finances, I have zero debt, no credit card fees, no school loans, mortgages, also with a company car, my current wheels are an overhead I don't really need, hence why I want to get rid of it. Besides, I've got enough saved up that I could take a break for 16 months and not worry about my cash flow.

Moreover, the company that I work for does not have an SOP as such regarding company vehicles do's and don't, we have no mileage restrictions, the vehicles are fully insured and we refresh our entire fleet of vehicles once every 24 months.

And as for a backup car, my parents have an old Lexus LS460 they barely use, that I can "borrow" if I ever needed to. And by borrow I mean, just take it, lol.

Good for you! (I'm being sincere, not sarcastic! ) If you have the money to splurge and you know it won't impact your future, splurge away. haha

 

[fmw]

If it were me I would probably put the money in the bank in case I need to buy a car in the future. But, of course, that isn't what you wanted to hear.

 

[ThatAudiGuy]

Well, I am shocked! No one has even hinted at what you will need to go with that top $$$ gear.... a STUDIO!. Not just any studio a good one, with great natural lighting as well as enough space for some more advanced sets. Yes. a fellow like yourself that has thought all this out, is certain of his future job-wise and even has the transportation thing solved...I would think such a fellow would find a studio and sign at least a two year lease.

I live in 2 bedroom apartment located on the 14th floor with a (1) room facing towards the north east, with floor to ceiling glass panels, so I get plenty of natural sunlight all through the morning but I work full time in finance, so most of my photography would be with artificial studio lighting equipment and client dealings would be after 3 pm and/or the weekends. Sooo, a studio would be a bit too much for now. And I don't think I could get enough gear and equipment for $20k (including camera + lenses) that I would need to lease a studio, lol.

 

[ThatAudiGuy]

I am 27, single and working as an assistant finance manager for an SME, I've always been good with my finances, I have zero debt, no credit card fees, no school loans, mortgages, also with a company car, my current wheels are an overhead I don't really need, hence why I want to get rid of it. Besides, I've got enough saved up that I could take a break for 16 months and not worry about my cash flow.

Moreover, the company that I work for does not have an SOP as such regarding company vehicles do's and don't, we have no mileage restrictions, the vehicles are fully insured and we refresh our entire fleet of vehicles once every 24 months.

And as for a backup car, my parents have an old Lexus LS460 they barely use, that I can "borrow" if I ever needed to. And by borrow I mean, just take it, lol.

Good for you! (I'm being sincere, not sarcastic! ) If you have the money to splurge and you know it won't impact your future, splurge away. haha

Haha, appreciated!

 

[Braineack]

Well, I am shocked! No one has even hinted at what you will need to go with that top $$$ gear.... a STUDIO!. Not just any studio a good one, with great natural lighting as well as enough space for some more advanced sets. Yes. a fellow like yourself that has thought all this out, is certain of his future job-wise and even has the transportation thing solved...I would think such a fellow would find a studio and sign at least a two year lease.

I live in 2 bedroom apartment located on the 14th floor with a (1) room facing towards the north east, with floor to ceiling glass panels, so I get plenty of natural sunlight all through the morning but I work full time in finance, so most of my photography would be with artificial studio lighting equipment and client dealings would be after 3 pm and/or the weekends. Sooo, a studio would be a bit too much for now. And I don't think I could get enough gear and equipment for $20k (including camera + lenses) that I would need to lease a studio, lol.

Break your lease and move back in with your parents and spend the rent money on a studio lease.

 

[ThatAudiGuy]

I can tell you how it worked when we started our studio, it may or may not help you:
Before we decided to open professionally we did what I would call a "soft opening." (We didn't call it that at the time). We own our own commercial building which is our studio space (a luxury, I know), so that was luckily a non-issue. We decided on a fictitious name, registered our tax ID and name with the state and were "above board" from day one.
We were working with our personal "prosumer" gear at the time. We consciously decided to hold off on pro gear until we were certain that we would make our money back on our investment.
We bought some simple paper backdrop rolls (your standard black, white, grey) and a nice brown mottled canvas back drop. We bought 2 tungsten soft boxes (entry level stuff; easy to correct for the color in LR). We already had LR, PS, and a good computer from our lives as "hobbyists."
When we needed to move the light source in the studio we unplugged them and rolled them over. We also shot on location in town and in the country (which we still do).
After about 3 months of operating like this, we were swamped with business. Referrals were rolling in and we were booking up to 6 months in advance.
We took a trip to B&H. We ran up a 10K bill buying a D800, top of the line zooms, and strobes. It was a fun time. If you can, go buy your gear in person. It's a great experience, and seeing and touching things before you buy helps you avoid pitfalls.
Within 3 months the 10K bill was paid off. For the rest of the first year we put most of our earnings right back into our craft. We spent a boatload. Now, we only buy things when they break or when we really think we need something that our current gear can't do.
This was 4 years ago. We currently book up every single season (focusing on weddings, senior pics, and a ridiculously successful Christmas holiday season (books up a year in advance!). We book families on a limited basis as we only have room certain times of the year. Whew. We ended up being successful!
Now, your idea scares the crap outta me! I think you should rethink your plan. Be a bit more conservative out of the gate. You can buy more as you go, but if you buy it all upfront, you could be out 20K.
Please let us know what you decide. Best of luck in your endeavor, just think it through!

You sir, are living the dream!. I think I might take up on your advice, spend the money gradually, buy things only if I really need to. But really though? Does $20k really buy you that much? I mean everyone here is freaking out, lol and here I was thinking that I'd be looked down upon as a mere peasant in the forums, lol.

Thank you for your advice, I really genuinely appreciate it!

 

[ThatAudiGuy]

Forgive me if I missed it, but did you clarify what you'd mostly be shooting? What types of clients? What type of "look?" That may help with gear suggestions. The worst thing you can do is buy something you don't need and find out too late that you really didn't need it.
I've never done the whole "home studio" thing. But, and this may just be me, I would never be comfortable going to someone's apartment for a photo shoot. It may be because I'm a woman and an overcautious one at that, but I would find that scenario off-putting at best, and creepy at worst.
If you live in a big city, have you considered renting equipped studios on an as needed basis? I know nothing about this, but I'm sure there are people on here who do.

I would like do more product shoots, I don't think I could do models and portraits at this stage, most of my training has been in product photography, mostly Karl Taylor's stuff.

As for client dealing, I've got a couple of friends that I work with, that do freelance creative design work and we usually meet up in coffee shops with our clients.

 

[Watchful]

For under 7000.00 you can build an awesome editing workstation.

This would be great: System Build - PCPartPicker
Its very similar to what I use.
Add a mechanical keyboard and mouse of choice and if you are able to do some coding and write plugins, you can get free software that is open source like gimp and paint.net and do things the paid software can't do and forego photoshop. I included a video editor and photo editor in case you are not comfortable with doing a bit of coding yourself.

 

[goodguy]

Product photography ?

Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm 2.8
Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 VRII
Nikon 105mm 2.8G VR Micro

 

[goodguy]

Product photography ?

Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm 2.8
Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 VRII
Nikon 105mm 2.8G VR Micro

GREAT advice! Although, the 70-200 may not be a total necessity right out of the gate. I'd suggest he start with the D810, the 24070, and the 105. I was holding back on being Nikon biased but...I'm Nikon biased!!!!

Agreed, I just think the 70-200mm 2.8 is such a flexible lens that if you have 20K to blow on gear might as well get this awesome lens but it is not a must for pure produce photography.

 

[Watchful]

Product photography ?

Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm 2.8
Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 VRII
Nikon 105mm 2.8G VR Micro

GREAT advice! Although, the 70-200 may not be a total necessity right out of the gate. I'd suggest he start with the D810, the 24070, and the 105. I was holding back on being Nikon biased but...I'm Nikon biased!!!!

Agreed, I just think the 70-200mm 2.8 is such a flexible lens that if you have 20K to blow on gear might as well get this awesome lens but it is not a must for pure produce photography.

Produce photography? Like fruits and veggies?