sonicbuffalo
No longer a newbie, moving up!
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2013
- Messages
- 316
- Reaction score
- 42
- Location
- Durham, NC
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
It was just about this time last month that I realized something. I suddenly realized that I had spent a small fortune on investing in Nikon's Holy Trinity and two camera body's. I had the 14-24 mm f/2.8, the 24-70 f/2.8, and the 70-200 VR II f/2.8. All of this plus I had some DX lenses left over from my beginning DX days. I had bought first a D5100, sold that and just about broke even, then I bought a D7100 as I heard without the Anti- Aliasing filter, it took pretty near perfectly clear pictures. What I really yearned for though was a full frame camera. Don't ask me why, except that my first of the 'Trinity', the 14-24 mm was said to be so much better on a full frame body. So, now I owned a D7100 (a great camera by the way), and a D610, which is another great camera.
Well, I took quite a few pictures with the different rigs, and was happy with the results. I also realized since I was fairly new to digital photography, I had quite a lot to learn about post processing. I found a great website, and decided since I already had Photoshop Elements, I might as well grab a copy of Lightroom. The Creative Cloud hadn't yet come out, or at least I hadn't heard of it. I just don't like giving anybody a certain amount of money a month for the use of their programs. I get claustophobia. So far, I surmise that I have spent close to $7000.00 by buying my 'Trinity' lenses used in excellent condition. They really were.
After my months of shooting using the new gear and weighing my backpack, which topped out at over 35 lbs. with the Trinity Lenses in it, I decided to do a little investigating. I started looking at mirrorless cameras after seeing some pictures taken by a Sony NEX that had blown me away. The pictures were every bit as sharp as mine were, and the clodhopper who took them was probably laughing his butt off as he told us (on his blog) about what camera he had bought (his GAS is nearly as bad as mine still). I still loved the look of his pictures from a camera nearly half the size of mine. I mean when you're lugging around a 3 lb. 70-200 lens, it gets very heavy, very quick. Then if you want to change lenses, you have to have them with you, duh!
I finally had done enough watching YouTube videos on the Fuji XT1 and had my choices narrowed down to that camera, and the Sony A7 or A7r. I knew a guy on another forum who had a Nikon D800, which is also a 36 mp camera. After reading his comments over the months, I gathered that 36 mp's are just too much. I mean I can live with 24, but 36 just takes so much more gb in storage space. Plus the A7r didn't have an AA filter which almost tipped the scales in it's favor. I realized I was just selling my quality stuff for something I wanted that was smaller. Both the D7100 and the D610 had 24 mp sensors. The D610 obviously had the full frame sensor. I finally decided to invest (for good this time) in the A7. As I said, I wanted to downsize, not have to buy more storage space for a 36 mp camera. The Sony A7 had everything I wanted. It had the full frame 24 mp sensor. I also bought (and I know you really shouldnt) the 28-70 Sony kit lens, and ordered a Sony 70-200 f/4 zoom. All I really want now is to find me a good wide zoom (Sony is playing catch up now with producing lenses for their full frame cameras).
The rest of the story is this. Don't get caught up in the buy it all now GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). A year from now, you'll want something newer and better. You will lose money in the long run. One of my main reasons for buying and selling now is simple. More and more photogs are buying mirrorless and will continue as they improve on what they have available. I don't get paid for writing all this, but Sony and Fuji are the apparent leaders in mirrorless cameras. I prefer the Sony for several reasons. It has the full frame sensor for one thing, and an excellent EVF. It does take some getting used to though after coming from a couple of mirror cameras with pentaprism viewfinders. With the Sony, you get your EVF directly off the sensor as there is no mirror. Let me also mention that a friend on another website said he had a mirrorless camera and a regular Nikon DSLR, and they both had the same problem (I forget what it was), and he said that it costs less to repair his mirrorless camera than his DSLR. I thought smaller, therefore requiring special equipment and hence, repairs would be more expensive on the mirrorless. I was pleasantly surprised. Well, I've written a small book, and all I will be able to do is to post pictures now, and hope my photography improves as my days shooting mirrorless increase. As of now, I don't regreat my choices of selling my Nikon gear and buying the Sony. I'm happy where I'm at with the exception that darn it, I really want a wide angle zoom, or a wide prime. I neglected accidently to tell you I did buy an off camera flash for the Sony. I guess it's in my blood now!
Well, I took quite a few pictures with the different rigs, and was happy with the results. I also realized since I was fairly new to digital photography, I had quite a lot to learn about post processing. I found a great website, and decided since I already had Photoshop Elements, I might as well grab a copy of Lightroom. The Creative Cloud hadn't yet come out, or at least I hadn't heard of it. I just don't like giving anybody a certain amount of money a month for the use of their programs. I get claustophobia. So far, I surmise that I have spent close to $7000.00 by buying my 'Trinity' lenses used in excellent condition. They really were.
After my months of shooting using the new gear and weighing my backpack, which topped out at over 35 lbs. with the Trinity Lenses in it, I decided to do a little investigating. I started looking at mirrorless cameras after seeing some pictures taken by a Sony NEX that had blown me away. The pictures were every bit as sharp as mine were, and the clodhopper who took them was probably laughing his butt off as he told us (on his blog) about what camera he had bought (his GAS is nearly as bad as mine still). I still loved the look of his pictures from a camera nearly half the size of mine. I mean when you're lugging around a 3 lb. 70-200 lens, it gets very heavy, very quick. Then if you want to change lenses, you have to have them with you, duh!
I finally had done enough watching YouTube videos on the Fuji XT1 and had my choices narrowed down to that camera, and the Sony A7 or A7r. I knew a guy on another forum who had a Nikon D800, which is also a 36 mp camera. After reading his comments over the months, I gathered that 36 mp's are just too much. I mean I can live with 24, but 36 just takes so much more gb in storage space. Plus the A7r didn't have an AA filter which almost tipped the scales in it's favor. I realized I was just selling my quality stuff for something I wanted that was smaller. Both the D7100 and the D610 had 24 mp sensors. The D610 obviously had the full frame sensor. I finally decided to invest (for good this time) in the A7. As I said, I wanted to downsize, not have to buy more storage space for a 36 mp camera. The Sony A7 had everything I wanted. It had the full frame 24 mp sensor. I also bought (and I know you really shouldnt) the 28-70 Sony kit lens, and ordered a Sony 70-200 f/4 zoom. All I really want now is to find me a good wide zoom (Sony is playing catch up now with producing lenses for their full frame cameras).
The rest of the story is this. Don't get caught up in the buy it all now GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). A year from now, you'll want something newer and better. You will lose money in the long run. One of my main reasons for buying and selling now is simple. More and more photogs are buying mirrorless and will continue as they improve on what they have available. I don't get paid for writing all this, but Sony and Fuji are the apparent leaders in mirrorless cameras. I prefer the Sony for several reasons. It has the full frame sensor for one thing, and an excellent EVF. It does take some getting used to though after coming from a couple of mirror cameras with pentaprism viewfinders. With the Sony, you get your EVF directly off the sensor as there is no mirror. Let me also mention that a friend on another website said he had a mirrorless camera and a regular Nikon DSLR, and they both had the same problem (I forget what it was), and he said that it costs less to repair his mirrorless camera than his DSLR. I thought smaller, therefore requiring special equipment and hence, repairs would be more expensive on the mirrorless. I was pleasantly surprised. Well, I've written a small book, and all I will be able to do is to post pictures now, and hope my photography improves as my days shooting mirrorless increase. As of now, I don't regreat my choices of selling my Nikon gear and buying the Sony. I'm happy where I'm at with the exception that darn it, I really want a wide angle zoom, or a wide prime. I neglected accidently to tell you I did buy an off camera flash for the Sony. I guess it's in my blood now!
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