Photographers, untie!

[casey]

Any shutterbugs out there? Let's talk camera talk! What's in your camera bag? Are you pro? Plan on going pro? Have experience in film and/or digital? Lay it on me, baby.

[Tossin]

I'm on my way to doing wedding/family photography full time in a few years once the little one (and any later little ones) get into school. I'm currently second shooting with the photographer who did my wedding and have shot ~30 weddings in the last year including a few weddings for friends that I have done solo. It's a complete blast and, for the most part, I enjoy doing it.

I am a bit of a gearhead and like knowing what the latest and greatest is (even if there's no way in hell I'll ever be able to afford it).

In my bag resides a Canon 40D, 17-55 f/2.8 IS, 85 f/1.8, a rarely used 50 f/1.8, and a 135 f/2 (along with various flashes, batteries, more memory cards than you can shake a stick at, Rebel XTi as backup, etc.)

[Dex]

I don't think I could do it as a pro, but I guess you could call me serious hobbyist. I currently shoot with a Rebel XTi. 90%+ of the time, it's got a 17-85mm IS USM on it. I also have a 55-150mm IS and a 50mm f1.8. The former was a cheapo lens bought specifically for taking nature shots on vacation and the latter to take indoor shots. A bunch of the shots that I've posted in the photo thread were taken with my now dead P&S, a Powershot a70 (I think that's the model) that had a grand total of 2.3 MP. I take thousands of photos a year but do essentially no post-processing (this is due in part to time constraints and to personal philosophy).

Three things that I'd like to buy to round out my kit would be a circular polarizer and a Sigma 10-20 3.5 and a Speedlite flash.

Lately I've been getting frustrated with either (1) lugging around the dSLR, or (2) missing out on a fantastic shot because I can't be bothered to do (1). It's a pipe dream right now, but at some point I'd like to get a nicer P&S that I could take with me every day. Probably a Canon G11 or Lumix GF1.

[Meetzorp]

I am the opposite of a serious hobbyist.

You could call me an enthusiastic hack. I do.

While I strictly use a point-and-shoot (Canon Powershot G9, A70), and often on autopilot, I do take quite a bit of care in setting up many of my shots and occasionally get some good ones.

I would say that my strengths are pets/animals, flowers, architectural detail, and landscape, in that order. I take few photos of people because I feel awkward and because I so hate to be photographed I think I project that EVERYONE hates it, whether or not that is true.

I find having to know shit and tote around a bunch of gear to be tedious, so I am almost consciously an ignoramus. My camera is smarter than I am, it was designed to be, and I let it!

I used to use a regular film SLR back in college...a Nikon "Nikkormat," and I cannot tell you how much I hated that camera. It weighed about 3lb in and of itself, and when it had the flash on, which was powered by 4 AA batteries, the whole shebang weighed a good 5lb, I swear! It required a lot of thinking and fussing and after I got all my f-stopping and focusing dialed in, the moment of the shot had passed. Easily 80% of what I shot didn't turn out for crap, either. I wasted so much time and film with that bastard of a camera.

I love digital because it is so much more cost effective. You waste nothing but your time if you snap a few (or a lot) of lousy shots. You can just delete them as easy as you please! Film is such a pain in the ass. You have to develop and print (or have it developed and printed) and there's quite a bit of expense either way, plus either the time involved in processing it or the time to run it to a facility and then retrieve it. Being able to get prints through Flickr is one of my favorite things.

[Jennerose]

I am another hobbyist. I actually went to art school originally, intending to major in photography, then discovered that I 1. hated drawing and 2. was super bad at drawing and 3. had to take like five drawing/painting classes for my major, so I decided to downgrade to a hobby and have been very happy with that decision.

I'm currently working with a Holga, as my crappy cheap digital point and shoot has decided to die on me. When I come home, I'm planning to reclaim my beloved Canon Rebel 2000. It's a great camera and I've had some good times with it over the years. I'm also going to get some sort of digital SLR - any advice from the gearheads on that? I've been doing some research and Canon seems to be the way to go, but if anyone has a different opinion I'd love to hear it.

[Tossin]

I'm currently working with a Holga, as my crappy cheap digital point and shoot has decided to die on me. When I come home, I'm planning to reclaim my beloved Canon Rebel 2000. It's a great camera and I've had some good times with it over the years. I'm also going to get some sort of digital SLR - any advice from the gearheads on that? I've been doing some research and Canon seems to be the way to go, but if anyone has a different opinion I'd love to hear it.

Even though I use Canon gear, you really can't go wrong with either Canon or Nikon at the moment. Actually any of the dSLR manufacturers are good - they're so close in most regards. That being said, if you have lenses for an old Canon SLR, going with another Canon is probably the best thing from a cost perspective (i.e., if you have a couple of lenses, you won't have to replace them - as long as they're EF or EF-S lenses, they'll work on any digital Rebel).

The intro level rebels (XS or T1i) would serve you well; or look for a gently used older Rebel for much less but will still be more than enough camera for you. I don't know much about the Nikon/Sigma/Olympus/Pentax brands, so I can't really speak to what will work best for you there, but their intro level cameras should be fine as well.

[casey]

I agree with Tossin, and I think even just going to a store, and holding both in your hands will be a good experience - get a feel for where the controls are and what not - what is the heft like in your hands.

I am a Canon snob through and through. I started out with a Canon Rebel XT in late 2007 (got that for Christmas that year) and recently upgraded to the 5D Mark II, which is a beastly machine. I love shooting full-frame.

I got the 50mm f/1.8 "nifty fifty" not too long after I got the XT and that became my go-to lens - my focus is portrait photography. When I got the 5DII I also got the 85mm f/1.8 lens and it is delicious. Love it.

I was talking to Tossin on facebook about this; I tried out a 35mm lens the other day and love it. I think I'm going to ask for it for Christmas, and save up for shinier and prettier L glass.

[Tossin]

I got the 50mm f/1.8 "nifty fifty" not too long after I got the XT and that became my go-to lens - my focus is portrait photography. When I got the 5DII I also got the 85mm f/1.8 lens and it is delicious. Love it.

While the nifty fifty is a wonderful lens to work with, for what I do it's impractical. Slow focusing lenses have no space in my bag (that's why it's infrequently used and probably will be sold soon). The 50mm f/1.4 USM is a solid lens that focuses quickly in low level light - and like the nifty fifty, it's not that outrageously expensive for what it is.

I was talking to Tossin on facebook about this; I tried out a 35mm lens the other day and love it. I think I'm going to ask for it for Christmas, and save up for shinier and prettier L glass.

Another lens to consider if you don't have a longer lens is the 200 f/2.8 along with the 135 I mentioned on fb. Both give you more range and the length of the 200 and 135 gives you some really nice compression when taking images of people.

The other thing to keep in mind is that instead of buying new, go to either fred miranda or POTN and browse their sell ads - you can get great copies of these lenses for less than new. Unlike cameras, lenses don't necessarily have a shelf life.

I'm dying to go full frame at some point - it's just going to cost me a lot as I'll have to off one of my lenses that I love (17-55 f/2.8 IS). I use my boss's 5D when I shoot with her and love it as well. So much glass and gear, so little time.

[casey]

I do have a zoom - a 70mm-300mm f/5.6 but honestly I hardly use it - the last time I did was when I took a close up of the Golden Gate Bridge from El Cerrito. Hah! I find myself gravitating toward primes.

I will check out POTN!