Camera gear discussions

Discussion in 'Photography and Cameras' started by Bill-P, Oct 15, 2015.

  1. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    This is 100% why I haven't found anything to replace the RX1R II
     
  2. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Also first post-covid (pre --- if in terms of me catching it!) travel...

    Took my Sony APS-C a6500 and two Tamron Zooms, 17-70/2.8 and 70-180/2.8. It was mostly forest/jungle type stuff. I'd usually have the two zooms in the car, but usually carry the camera with only one, when on foot.

    GAS...

    I photograph mostly Southern-Indian classical music. Often the stage is lit badly, and not-much. I'd love to do everything with fast primes! My sequence is to use the 17-70 for group shots; a 60/1.8 for groupish shots, or one person with more background; my totally wonderful 85/1.8 which probably takes most of my best portrait shots; the longer end of the 70-180/2.8 for closer-in and head shots.

    I have been dreaming of a 135/1.8 because these pesky musicians will not keep their heads still! Remember this is APS-C, so crop factor of 1.5 makes this even more telephoto than it would be on full-frame.

    The Sony 135 is well beyond my means (well, OK, anything can be saved up for) but Samyang now have a 135/1.8 which is much lighter and a fraction of the price (albeit still not exactly cheap).

    Bought it.

    Very happy with it! he background separation and blurring is super. Sometimes, the depth of field is a little too shallow (I'd rather have both eyes in focus!) but I am getting better shots and more keepers than the zoom at 135 would give me.

    I only bought the two zooms last year, total $,$$$! But really, I do prefer primes.

    I am concerned at this chip shortage thing, and Sony almost closing down camera manufacture except for some FF models. My APS-C a6500 is litterally irreplacable at this time. If anything happened to it, I'd have to buy some A7 full-frame thing. I am a determined to remain amateur, but the photography has become an integral part of my relationship with music and the musicians.

    I wouldn't object to having a FF camera, but it is low on the wishlist. I am happy with the size, weight, and crop factor of the APS-C --- and only a couple of my lenses are actually full-frame. Although the APS-C lenses will give a cropped image on FF.

    The a6500 shutter count is well over 50,000. Maybe I should wish it long life every time I pick it up!
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2022
  3. Syzygy

    Syzygy Friend

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    If I were going all the way to Italy (from Texas), I'd take my X-Pro3, not the X100V. That "kit" lens that Fuji bundles is no typical kit lens. The quality is superb. But that 35/1.4 has magical rendition (if it's the original, at least).

    I think it has to do more with the activities you plan on doing. If you're hanging in town/cities where the buildings are close then it's likely the X100V will suit just fine. If you're out in the country, or you're gonna have wildly differing focus distances then I think you'd want to be able to swap lenses or zoom.

    When we last went on vacation to the beach in Texas, I took the X100F. If we'd been doing something different, I would've wanted the 100-400 for wildlife, the 16/f1.4 for big vistas or macro, and the 35/f2 for people (those are lenses that I own).
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2022
  4. Deep Funk

    Deep Funk Deep thoughts - Friend

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    For walking around and quick pictures a 35mm, 40mm or 50mm is versatile enough.

    I love the pancakes lenses for M4/3. Some of those little lenses are gems. Fujifilm makes some awesome kit-lenses and even pancake/smallish lenses for the street-photography fans.
     
  5. Bina

    Bina MOT - Shanling

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    Wanted to share something bit different.

    Our photoclub had workshop with Nons, local manufacturer of Instax cameras. They run with standard Fujifilm mini or square, but they are proper SLR, with standard EF mount (I tried mine with my Pentax lenses) .

    They are far from ideal, but if you are really dedicated Instant shooter, they are so much better than anything you can nowadays get from Fujifilm or Polaroid.

    [​IMG]
     
  6. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    I'd take 40mm from that list. I had a Fuji X-T2 with Fujinon XF27mm f2.8 and I couldn't do everything I wanted with this lens while outdooring. Ideally 40mm + 60mm with macro would cover all my needs.
     
  7. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    Thought I'd share my travel photo backup system after using it daily during a recent two week trip:
    [​IMG]
    The Ugreen dock has both SD and microSD slots, 2 USB3 full size ports, and a USBC port for power delivery (and an HDMI port that I never use). Here it is attached to my Samsung Tab S8 tablet as the "brain" for the transfers, but I ended up using my smartphone for the majority of the trip since I was backing up photos from it as well. With a modern phone, backups are lighting fast (SD slots are a theoretical 100MB/s rated). I originally had a different, cheaper dock, but despite being "USB3," the SD ports were USB2, so quite slow when dealing with the file chunks I was. The power delivery rocks because it powers the device as well as the hub and attachments.

    Anyways, if you are traveling without a laptop like I prefer, this is a way to backup your SDs quickly with pretty minimally sized devices.
     
  8. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Super. I guess that is a portable SSD you are backing up to?

    Will that setup power a usb HDD?
     
  9. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    Yes, a 1TB NVME based SSD from Sandisk. About $100 or less if you get one on sale. Much, much smaller than my older 2.5" SSD based drive. Super fast, so offloading from it to my PC, it transfers at something like 400MB/s so my whole trip offloads in like 20 min instead of over an hour or more like in the past.
     
  10. scblock

    scblock Friend

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    After half a dozen trips in the last year where I didn't even try to bring my Fuji setup because of the size I realized it was time to re-think things.

    I used to shoot with an X-E1 and small lenses like the 35 f/14 and that worked really well for me. I could slip the camera and lens into the small front pocket of the small shoulder bag I used with my iPad. But a few years back I was tempted by IBIS and the fast zooms and higher frame rates and ended up with an X-H1 and mostly used the 16-55 zoom. All really great as a camera, but it crossed the line into huge and heavy. I'm keeping it for dedicated photography stuff, but I hated trying to take it with me on normal trips.

    Even when I did take it with me, mostly on road trips, I'd leave it behind at the house or hotel as often as not unless I had a specific plan for photos. I just used my phone. Which makes fine snapshots but never actually looks great when you really dig into it.

    I thought about getting an X100v for travel since it's much smaller and 35mm equivalent is my favorite focal length. And I definitely have a thing for Fuji and the retro style. But in the end I ended up with a Ricoh GRIIIx instead. The 40mm equivalent lens is a little tighter than my favorite but a better fit for my style than the 28mm of the GRIII. Body size is almost the same as my old Olympus XA, which is really impressive. I'll have to get used to no viewfinder but the screen is decent enough, though I can't see it in portrait with polarized sunglasses.

    If I throw it in a bag for a weekend flight without debating if it's worth taking or not (a debate the big camera has lost repeatedly) it'll be a win.
     
  11. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    They say the best camera is the camera you have with you.
     
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  12. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    Are they available for purchase? Does it have any sort of analog to digital built in?
     
  13. Bina

    Bina MOT - Shanling

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    https://nonscamera.com/ This is their e-shop.

    They are fully analog, simply SLR for the Instax film.
     
  14. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    Just took a look at these NONS systems and was rather surprised by their prices. I didn't expect a $500ish Instax camera. Very cool stuff.
     
  15. Bina

    Bina MOT - Shanling

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    In that case also take a look at Mint RF70, proper Instax Foldable rangefinder at 900 USD

    https://mint-camera.com/en/shop/cameras/instantkon-rf70/
     
  16. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    Is there a P&S that is an upgrade to an iPhone worth carrying around?
     
  17. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Short answer, I don't really think so.

    Longer answer, probably the Ricoh GRIII, the Fuji X100V, or the Sony RX1R II are three I've shot that I like.
     
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  18. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    What is the goal of your photography? If it is just high quality snapshot, then I want to say that their isn't. With the AI currently available on the latest smartphones, you can get snapshots that rival or even surpass full setups when the light is good due to multiple shots being taken at the same time to compensate for a number of things. Obviously, you can't beat physics, so real glass and larger sensors will be better for more challenging scenes like indoors and night shots. I have a Sony RX100IV (a very capable P&S from several years ago) that sits in a drawer because what marginal quality beyond a current smartphone I can get from it in some situations, if any, doesn't justify bringing it and all its accessories. The jumps in quality/capabilities that I get from my still pretty compact Sony A7C+prime lens makes it worth carrying extra stuff beyond a smartphone. For reference, I am a novice/amateur shooter that wants the best possible travel photos/videos that don't require large/heavy gear or a lot of planning, so I have experimented and thought a lot about these issues.
     
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  19. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    Perfectly answered. I know ZD and Marv both liked the Sony, but you're right. I have an iPhone 11 Pro that takes decent photos. I'd like a little more control of aperture and shutter speed. Sometimes I don't like things so sharp. Probably get an app for that.
     
  20. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    This is my take: if my trip is under a week, I take my iphone or pixel or both.

    If I'm gone for 1-2 weeks or more, I take the RX1R II.

    Computational photography can be poo-pooed by people with ADHD and hyper-fixation like me, but for 99.9% of cases, it's fast, easy, and produces really usable results.
     
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