Camera Crossroads :)

[bdunbar79]

Well, thought I would close out this thread with the following. Since I'll be shooting only one wedding in November and nothing but Ashland U sports all year, and now I got into some HS sports in Mansfield, I'll be doing some 30 games/events per fall, winter, spring. That's going to be a lot of sports. So I made the decision to sell my 1D Mark IV, 1Ds Mark III, and a 5D Mark III. I picked up another 1DX and so have two of those and will have also a 5D Mark III. This way I can shoot at events with two 1-D bodies. My lesson is that the bodies you have now lose very little value. To sell those 3 cameras was roughly $9k. So if you purchase an expensive camera and feel apprehensive, don't worry at all. You can get it back. My past purchases actually were investments that you could argue ended up being a free 1DX plus change. That change will go towards a lens perhaps. I'm not saying to go spend a ton of money without care, but if you get worried don't because I sold the stuff no problem at all.

 

[bdunbar79]

Are you planning to do anything other than sports? If not then it would be worth getting more specialist kit.

If you are planning to do other things then versatility needs to be factored in.

3 bodies are fine - means one can be repaired whilst the other two are being used.

I just sent both 1Ds for cleaning/service, the 1D4 will go on their return, by which time the 1DX should be here.

I can always fall back on the 10D/5Dc combo if needed : : :

Yes, take your 10D to your weddings and then go shoot some indoor volleyball

 

[briansquibb]

My 1Ds3 had to have a new shutter fitted On holiday a couple of weeks ago I had a small number of pictures with the tell tale white line down one edge. Glad to say the service and repair has given me an as new camera, plus of course the shutter is now under warranty.

The good news is that the annual clean and service means I get a calibration done so AFMA is pretty much not needed.

It is good to be clear what direction ones shooting is going towards as it allows the kit needed to worked out and put out of your head.

I am on a full frame, slower moving route where I am taking portraits of humans and animals (big demand for animal portraits) plus architectural photos of older buildings, so that is the domain of the 1Ds2/3

I still enjoy the occasional sports/wildlife shoot so I will be keeping the 1D4 for that

I expect to do more close-up/macro work so my 7D will be useful for that - as well as for general backup/street

The 1DX that is expected shortly may push out the 7D. The 1DX I see more as a general purpose body which I expect to use as a walkabout/default body. Until PW get their act sorted then it will be limited as I use a lot of flash most of the time .

With the move to ff I have plans for a 300 f/2.8 II in order to compensate for the loss of 1.3 crop - until now I have been using the 200 on the 1D4 - which is clearly going to be shorter on ff. 200 on the 1D4 is a combo which I use a lot, so the new lens will be desirable. The 200 f/2 on ff is my favourite portrait combo - it is flattering for the subject - and the bokeh is just stunning

 

[bdunbar79]

Brian,

If I had the time and money, believe me, I'd keep the 1Ds3/1Ds2 combo and go shoot landscape for a week at a time. It's hard when you spend all your time doing one type of shooting because money comes into play and you sort of lose some of the fun of the hobby. But I guess it was my choice. No demand here for portrait work as heavily as you have it; it's all sports. There are no sports photographers to be found for universities for some odd reason. EVERYONE is doing weddings/senior pictures, so the current demand is sufficient, but the supply of photographers is also very high. I can honestly say that I am more skilled at sports/action than portrait/landscape. It would take me a lot of studying and practice to do those types of works. Weddings are a tad different as you can approach as photojournalistic.

As you can see, I sometimes miss my histogram and WB in indoor lighting. This is something I will have to get better at, but with gyms for basketball and volleyball the lighting is so even, it hasn't been a problem at all, whereras indoor events with mixed lighting is tough.