RaymondC

To me it would be, using them as tools to get the job done. A photographer might want that wide aperture F1.4 or F1.2 whatever, but does the clients care about that? If the clients do then perhaps. It sounds you are getting the job done with your current gear now. If I were going to get some better stuff, maybe yeah a 3rd party Sigma or something mid zoom F2.8 and after that maybe a 3rd party again 70-200. This of course after you are generating a steady income. Then the flash lights. One might target the different client base. Not going to please everyone.

I've had the famous Seagate SATA drive not working which was fixed by a updated firmware. I then had the drive replaced for me. I also had a failed WD Black SATA. I sold my WD Black replacement and go ta WD Blue and I have my Seagate Barrucuddas. To me it's hard drives are not that reliable so I have multiple backups. 1x SSD for boot. 1x HDD for data. I then have a drive internal just for backup. Automated daily backups. 2 in a drawer and 1 in a safe deposit box. I didn't use RAID. Good for downtime. But it doesn't help if the motherboard for eg .. breaks. I have my boot on one and a data on a 2nd drive. So the data drive can be read in my laptop or another computer. Sure, I could of had, 1x boot, 1x data and maybe I need 2 more for the RAID and perhaps a RAID card. Too complicated. Then, if the RAID controller breaks I am out of luck. So I prefer software synching so I can just drag my drive out and read it in another computer, or just drag one of the drives out of my drawer.

As a longer term backup solution - HDD are way cheaper than SSD. 2TB is expensive and 4TB etc are unheard of, least I haven't. For a shorter term project and you need portability? Maybe a laptop with a external SSD and only hold your more recent stuff so you can get away with a smaller size. I read that Lightroom is mostly CPU and RAM intensive. However for portability you may want the SSD for quicker write times when backing up etc ... when you are away from home etc. But you really need more than one copy for redundancy. SSD when it fails doesn't give warnings. If you are not going to use a laptop, I don't know because I heard that you can rig up a tablet etc ... to access memory cards but it can be quite slow. Maybe one of those battery operated HDD with the builtin memory card reader. Edit. For my personal stuff, if I wanted really lightweight. Travelling, no checked luggage etc. No laptop. I would then use a camera with dual memory card slots and have 2 copies with me and buy more memory cards. Also depends on how much you shoot and hopefully not videos.

Is this one of the longest running Nikon cameras? 2004, that's 14 years. One might say production has stopped, when would this camera finally come to a stop, 2025 ... 2035 ... 2095 LOL. Would the camera have a risk of failure because it's been kept in the box for so long. Surely they are still not running the assembly line. Cheers.

I found out that the testing software might not work well. I copied a lage file manually and was able to get much faster transfer speeds.

With some time over these holidays I tested my cards. I have a Toshiba Exceria 95MB/sec read with 60MB/sec write. I put this inside my laptop which has a builtin SD card reader and I get 76 and 20MB/sec resp. 20MB/sec seems quite a different to 60MB/sec. Any thoughts and how have you results been? Not sure if it is because I have a not so recent laptop but it is hitting 70-80MB/sec read speeds. Edit I used apps like HD Tune Pro and SpeedOut. Cheers.

In the film days I was happy with 1 roll per day when I was traveling. With digital not much have changed, well maybe 30-50 max images per day, sometimes even just 20, if I am at home maybe a bit less than that. Granted I don't do wildlife, sports etc ... With friends and family like Christmas function etc like with a group of 80 people .. I might fire out maybe 50 on that 2hr session but that's about it. I usually do some group shots but seldom do individual or few people together because many don't want a camera pointed at them. If they do it's just shared on social media and never a print. Something they just glance over in seconds. Over time with my own stuff I have also taken less because even if there are no film/lab costs many of the images just sit on my hard drive and never gets reviewed. For eg, I have a Nikon D70 from 2004 with 14,000 shutter count. My newer D600 from 2014 is 11,000. Cheers.

When the D800/600 came out in 2012/13 what was the speed of the Sandisk Extreme cards? Just want to get an indication..

I am mainly a tripod shooter or it's just friends/family so memory card issue has never been an issue for me. I found out with my D600 my cards are 30MB/sec read and 10MB/sec write. I see that the UHS-1 cards are rated maximum of 105MB/sec so that puts it in the area of the 95MB/sec read and 90MB/sec write cards or the former 90MB/sec read with 40MB/sec write. What memory card speeds do you use for your non D5 etc .. cameras .... Cheers.

Thr GR has a aps-c sensor. Going with IBIS. The only option I think with a larger sensor is the Canon G1 series which isn't that small, then it's the Micro four thirds which is a bit smaller sensor or the Sony's. The M4/3 are about the same body size as othe rmirroeless like the Fuji's which doesn't have IBIS. The Fuji X100F which has a reputation for street work also doesn't have IBIS. Or the Panasonic LX100. Sony RX100 but that's a bit smaller sensor thou still a bit larger than usual compacts.

For street work I was thinking of the Ricoh GR digital. Or just use snap focussing and get it roughly in focus. But much of the stuff with other are just family/friends snapshots, outside maybe having ice cream or coffee and inside a cafe etc. at the train station and the airport. Weighing 250g doesn't need a bag and can just tag along like another of their luggage. I don't do it anymore. They just don't like away from cities. In the past we have spent 90% of the 2 week or even once 3 weeks in rural or small towns. One could just station in the same place for 5 days and revisit and revisit until the ideal weather conditions arise. Carry own food and cooking utensils and cook ones own food every day. We even did that on 2 Christmas, not Christmas Day, but Boxing Day and the festival week. Self catering, with packaged and canned foods, stocking up at home and on the road when we got a semi decent township that had a relatively affordable supermarket.

We did a trip last year, and I thought about a premium compact because it's just for the odd street photography as the others are walking down the main road etc, most it is going to be going to cafes, restaurants, malls, dessert shops and ice cream parlours, specialist food places. Then put other photog to the side and just have a holiday. Earlier this year we did a trip more rural but it was in a small town which they didn't like and they didn't hide it. If I was carrying my dSLR I would be carrying it along the main road, into cafes and restaurants, mid afternoon. I've been told that next time please don't invite them if I were to do photography. I am not from the USA, as an example, going to Yosemite wouldn't be an option for them, here in NZ we don't have accommodation in the reserves, but even when we lived in motels etc ... in the township, population 12,000 or something they just don't enjoy it, they say the town is too small, no shops, few cafes and restaurants, they say it's just a place of nowhere just mountain and empty skies. Taking USA as the example, they would prob do holidays in places like LA, NYC and Boston.

We've done a few summer trips drive down to the South Island which is where more tourists head to and the locals stay in the North Island larger cities to work which is less landscapy. I also done a winter weekend and a April trip (autumn/fall). Many people do take shots in blue skies mid afternoons. I find to get more intimate shots - sunrise, sunset and maybe away from summer because a lot of the parks are booked out with campervans and tents when the kiwi's go on their summer holidays. Esp in the New Year like Queentown it's party central so people get drunk and jump in front of your camera but then again, for landcape shots you should be outside of the main cities and towns. I think winter and spring is good. Fall is nice but the hills can be quite barren so the odd nice looking yellow tree, photos online can be deceiving. Falls are quite nice in Arrowtown with the maple leaves etc and autumn hills. If you want misty low clouds - maybe the West Coast from autumn to winter or ideally between autumn to winter. A recognised pro Andris Apse who lives there actually runs his photography workshops in the mouth of May. Then there is Mt Cook, Wanaka Tree, the waterfalls near Invercargil, the lighthouse at the top of the North Island, Cape Reinga, Nelson top of the South Island for the summery blue lakes etc ... and obviously there is Twizel, Tekapo and Queenstown/Arrowtown. Take insect repellent.

I buy my stuff second hand now for the pass 10yrs, I wished I got my Nikon D600 used also. I don't know if New Zealand has a smaller population and therefore lower cost. Often things sell for under or they just remain unsold. I picked up a Nikon 70-200mm F4 AFS VRII for $800US here, and a Nikon 18-35G for $400US. The things that still is expensive are things like cult cameras like the Contax T2, Ricoh GR film , the digital GR is not bad it is holding its cost well and now and then someone still snap it up, the GR1 goes for $350US and the II goes for $400US. A used D800 Nikon or a D600 either could be had for $700US. These are local online auction prices. Sure, shops selling used would cost more but .... As how good cameras are now I also don't see a need of getting new. It's more for lifestyle changes like a smaller one to go out with normal non photographers and just enjoy life or that time with friends and family. If I cannot go to this great photography place or if I cannot stay out to do the sunrise or sunset with the golden hour .... there is more to life than that.

Through conflict I have changed my tune when I am travelling with other people. So I would choose more compact equipment etc ... and if I cannot wait for that sunset I will skip it. I am looking for a premium compact, although some might just use their smartphone. Through a handful of people I know locally who are into photography they tend to travel alone, or they go together the partner goes that way and the photographer goes the other way. If it is by yourself or you with likeminded shooters you can do any trips you want, like the entire trip fishing, diving or snorkeling but when you are with general people (non photographers) what sort of environment do you travel to? One might do a few days on a walking track living in a tent or the provided camping huts, carrying food and water but for the majority of the trip how is it .... I also found no one really cares about your pictures. For me, the ones that do more is my camera club. But then again photography can be a wide range, not everyone does hardcore landscapes and still prefer to sleep in and have their coffees etc. I found that most people are not into photography but more into snapshots of family and friends. Then begs the question, all that great equipment isn't needed always. It's to be viewed o the TV screen for once and then stored away or shared on social media. That's a question for next time. Many might only print the odd 8x10 or the odd A3. I think people at my camera club is guilty of that, and at times we get discounts from our local lab to support us.

Waterfront as posted above, on the Kowloon side looking towards the Island side. There is also a symphony of lights display at night. For street stuff maybe Mongkok and Sham Sui Poi and the side streets. Maybe look up the street food markets which are closing - current pple can still hold their license but new licenses are no longer available.

I am from NZ. Landscapes you don't need F2.8 etc etc nor should you need F1.4 etc unless you wanna do real portraits and take the NZ location out of it. Personally I use a 18-35 and a 70-200. F4's. If you want a prime the F1.8 are not bad if you wanna do the occasional portrait like a 50 or 85.

This isn't that relevant to me bit curious. Since I don't carry that much gear. We hear about Think Tank and how they are very nicely regarded. From the look of it they do look very nicely designed and thought out. If the airline says 8kg is the carry on limit whilst one could pack stuff more efficiently into various camera bags they are still gonna be overweight right? That aside, are these type of bags more for commuting and transit and then once you are in your hotel you switch to a smaller bag as the day is needed? Apart from big lens users I don't imagine on a daily basis most would be needing 2 bodies aand 5 lenses and a laptop to boot right .... Cheers.

Not at all :) As a family we had used film point and shoots and a basic Canon film SLR we got duty free in Singapore airport in 2000 which was not long before digital kicked off. I got into this hobby with a dSLR NIkon D70 in 2004 which was our first digital camera also (we didn't even have a compact digicam before), and only ever got second hand film SLRs to try out film which I found slide film but more recently I am pulling out and maybe doing the odd roll with b/w film. Main reason to me is the ease of use with my hobby subjects and that with a lack of a good and affordable scanner and the lack of dynamic range for nights that I enjoy. From some graphs it showed in 2008 the film activity really plummeted prob when the 8MP and 12MP were out and Nikon had their D3 full frame.

Just a curious post. I have been watching some videos about the past etc. Those of you who shot professionally with film how did it unfold? If you were a PJ were you suddenly just offered a digital camera and this is what you use now kinda thing. If you were a commercial guy did you have your film camera still stashed aside for the maybe, did your film usage first with less important jobs drop by 20% increments over the year to the point that you stopped using it as the technology improved? Cheers.

Just wondering in the past people were favouring dynamic focussing over 3D. Over these years have you guys now started using 3D focus modes for your sport / action shots? Cheers :)

I know that the VR doesn't stop action. For you guys have you encountered situations where VR was useful? I mainly would use a lens like this for portraits ie group shots and 1 or 2 people etc indoors at a function room or a dimly lit restaurant, inside a church etc. I could see it can be useful journalistic or walkabout style right without a tripod under low light. Just pondering about this idea, as the 24-70 without VR can be quite a bit cheaper now, for now I am just making do with a 35-70 F2.8 as it's not my main photog topic. The VR's larger filter thread my Cokin P would probably not be usable so it's gonna be a filter'less shooting ie - events, people etc.... Cheers.

Here is a sample Dropbox - 2017_November_12_0001.jpg

Yes, I do use the AF-ON button, by switching it from the AE-L/AF-L. The lens in those situations just hunt and hunt. When you look thru the viewfinder it goes a 360 circle the whole viewfinder is blurred out. I guess I could prefocus but I often shoot at F2.8 or F4 due to the light levels and I still at 1/60'ish. I tried the AF-assist red light with my SB800 - works a lot better. I probably do have low contrast. When they are on the stage it is fine but when they go into the baptism pool the clothing they were are often all black or very dark tones and then it gets all wet, their faces are also wet as well, wet hair etc. The pool is also in the corner of the room. Few available light as all the curtains are drawn some some tungsten lights indoors obviously not bright. It's not a sprinkle of water well for those who are older and have illnesses, the others they walk into a pool and dip their heads in the pool and then walk out afterwards. Black top, black pants or if a dark blues etc ...

I did think of the speedlight's red beam afterwards. There is also the body'a AF assist light. I am still not sure if I should use them though. The couple of people who walk into the pool and be beamed with a red or white light (?!). Yes on the speedlight's setup panel you can set the red light to be on without the flash firing :)