Ian Taylor

last evening, Pt. Petre <p> <img src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5615/29522745894_d0c8f8f886_c.jpg">

<p>Great that he saw this project through. Incredible amount of work and dedication. Anyone know if he's still shooting 5x7? That can't be easy stock to find these days.</p>

<p>I am shooting almost everyday with my 503CW and have just got my great-grandfather's Cycle-Poco 4x5 fixed and am planning to shoot with that as well.</p>

<p>I ditched my X System. It's nice for weight and price, but no match for Canon on image quality and performance.</p>

<p>I have photographed kids full time since 2005. I used Canon 5DMK2's until last year, they are fine for the task. They can be found for cheap used. Just find one with low mileage.<br> Probably <a href="http://iantaylor.ca/">75% of these</a> taken with 5DMK2.</p>

<p>Any full frame one will be totally fine, depends on your budget.</p>

<p>I have a hard time calling that sensor "medium format". </p>

<p>Bokeh has nothing to do with the camera, just the lens IMO. You could get a used Fuji XT1 and the 35/1.4 (50/1.4 equivalent in 35mm terms) for your budget. That gives OK out of focus backgrounds.<br> I kind of like the effect of the Petzval which I use on Canon and Sony. </p> <p><img src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5343/17232924605_9df89e2289_c.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p><img src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7488/16135310998_84ba16f452_c.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p>And can't go wrong with the Canon 135/2, although it costs around your total budget for a new model.<br> <img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8336/8115192703_750c24699e_c.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>I just picked up an unused 503CW Millennium model with the 80mm from 2003 for around 40% of the new price. (Store tag was still on it.) Using it all the time and considering buying a back for it. Best gear purchase of the past couple of years. (Along with the Ricoh GR.)</p>

<p>I sometimes use it on my Sony A7R2, works incredibly well, as does the eye detection. </p>

<p>Cool effect, but the price does seem a bit high for the thing. I paid that for the Petzval, but that seemed worth it given the construction. i definitely have "the disease", I love shallow DOF.</p>

<p>I find that armchair experts in these forums see "flaws" in photos that the other 99.999% of people don't 'see'. Maybe they were never there to begin with.</p>

<p>I have worked with a couple of pro models. Basically every time they hear the shutter they switch up their pose, makes it very easy to get a huge variety of images quickly. </p>

<p>With wide lenses and good technique can probably be done but some sharpness will probably be sacrificed.</p>

<p><em>"If it were me, then photographing kids running around with a manual camera and high-resolution back would be a very certain failure - focussing is "delicate" at the best of times!"</em><br> <em><br /></em>Thanks Richard. I think you missed the part where I said I would still use Canon for action. Half of my work is static portraiture which is what I am considering the back for. I reckon I can figure out how to focus the thing.</p>

<p>Shoot the same scene using all the metering modes till you find something that works for you.<br> That shot isn't drastically underexposed at all IMO.</p>

<p>Thanks for the great pro/con Daniel. It is definitely under consideration. I make most of my living as a <a href="http://iantaylor.ca/">kids photographer</a> in Hong Kong, Singapore etc, so travel weight is a bit of an issue, but not a deal killer. My sessions can be a bit frenetic, but I would use the MF for quieter portraits and still use the Canon for action. I tried to work the Sony into my workflow, but it's not really for me. (Amazing camera nonetheless.) <br> The digital MF would be great for travel stuff. I shoot far fewer pictures on those trips, so it would be perfect, probably just with a Ricoh GR. I had been using <a href=" M9</a>, so I'm used to slowing down. I was even using the Leica on kids sessions. <br> Anyway, I am going to shoot film on every job this fall as an extra for my clients. Get used to it and hand over something that nobody else is really giving their clients anymore. I usually do 70 or so sessions in Sept-Nov, so I should be up to speed on working with the thing by then. </p>

<p>I just picked up a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/IanTaylorPhotography/photos/a.606684386060220.1073741839.171846589544004/1284460608282591/?type=3&theater">like-new 503CW </a>and would love to get a digital back for it, but after talking with a couple of commercial photographer friends who only shoot MF they strongly argue that it's not worth it for this body.<br> I am a full-time natural light portrait photographer, so I would need it to generate income and obviously make my images look better than they do coming out of the 5DMK3 and Sony A7R2 combo I am presently using. </p>

<p>I have lots of model released images with Getty and some other partners. (Around 500 images.)<br> It's a completely dead market unless you are shooting full time for stock and submitting huge amounts of work. I used to make a bit but it has really dried up over the past few years. Not remotely worth the effort.</p>

<p>The tiny photos thing on V1 is very 1998.</p>

<p>Quality, reliability and service.</p>

<p>I have bought all my camera gear in HK for the past seven years. Just avoid Nathan Rd and the tourist places in TST, there you will get ripped off. </p>

<p>I just had dinner with a friend who shoots and manages a large Reuters desk. He has done many Olympics and Aussie Opens etc. He says "zero" of their people are using Sony or the new generation of bodies. Every one of his shooters wants to use Canon 5DMK3.<br> These companies have extremely streamlined workflows, RAW files are not permitted whatsoever, as is any editing at all on the images. Everything is JPG straight out of the camera. Cropping is the only thing allowed.</p>

<p>You need a ND grad, not ND. Can just handhold it, makes a huge difference with landscape photos.<br> I just picked up a mint 503CW Millennium w/80mm and am planning to use my Lee filter system with it.</p>

<p>I have a relative who is extremely successful in business. He told me that he doesn't judge companies by their successes, but how they dealt with their mistakes. <br> If you were a big company, yeah, 18 bucks is all they would get. But for you that's career suicide IMO.</p>