RaymondC

I think I will compare my optical viewfinder to the live view mode and see any differences with a door frame etc. The earlier shots on the computer the person looked she was leaning her head back a bit. The ones later when I said lean forward more, was better. Could also be I was maybe paying less attention to the viewfinder while asking the person to stand properly, chin too high, too low, face the camera and turn the sholders, turn this way etc etc ... So complicated.

Not too tall. LCD meaning on the LCD playback after the shot is taken. Not Live View.

Usually I am not so picky. I was just doing a family portrait here with a single person which is something I don't usually do. What looked good in my viewfinder, the image on the LCD screen the person looked like she was slightly leaning back a bit. So I had to tell the person to lean a bit forward. Lens used was a Nikon 85mm F1.8D taken with a white backdrop and prob something like 3m away from the person. Cheers.

While there is a F mount DX 17-55mm F2.8 that lens was never updated by Nikon. Some might argue that now that there are FX cameras if people wanted such a DX lens Nikon would indirectly tell them to go with FX F mount or Z mount. Z FX mount there is a 24mm F1.8. I just checked. The F mount 24mm F1.8 is a FX lens also. Yep they need to add a super wide zoom 10-24 DX kinda lens and a 35mm DX lens. Maybe a 40mm Z macro.

It would be interesting to ask in 2030 or 2035 if they are still only using Nikon dSLRs. There are a number of duplication in those F DX lenses thou like the super wide zooms and the 18-55mm's, and the 55-200mm and the 70-300mm. Z DX have already the mid zoom lens right and a Z DX tele zoom.

I have just gotten interested in astro photography and while my D600 does an OK job there are better ones out there since I am now in polar opposites to my past ie extremely high ISOs than my usual previous landscapes at base ISO. Which has questioned me; how long can people hold onto their dSLRs for the next 10 or 15yrs? And should Nikon and Canon stop or limit financing R/D with their SLRs.

After a day thinking about this here. I think it can get a lot of flak on photography websites. However it is fun camera for certain audience. New users might just want a nice fun retro camera. While Nikon in history has not provided a lot of DX lenses in their F mount system, maybe there is a group out there who don't intend to get many lenses. One can use standard Z FX lenses on it many users might not do that anyway. Speaking about what many people do, many people do just like to chill and have some fun many might not take photography too seriously and shoot mainly in daylight where the consumer lenses are OK, plus their end output might just be shared online and perhaps the odd print. Likewise a Nikon geek with a truckload of stuff might wanna chill on travel and on their relaxing weekends and go and have some fun with it without getting too stressed with it. From my camera club, you get a few people who are more seriously with their photography but many more of them seeing as a fun activity to meet and greet people and have conversations and have a meal together afterwards. Many of them have crop sensor cameras and they don't have the 3 trio of 2.8 lenses or 1.4 lenses. I myself gotten a used Fuji XT1 a year ago more it is much lighter and smaller esp with the F2.0 primes or the kit lens. I would still agree with Shun to go with Fuji or even a M43 camera like some of my camera club members esp if they want longer reach and without breaking their backs and their wallets. Those brands have a lot more camera models and lenses to choose from. Maybe this is one way Nikon gets to tap into this customer type esp for those who don't intend to get all these lenses. Admittedly while some dSLRs at my club have moved from APS-C or FF dSLRs to Fuji or M43 the majority I think are still using a Canon / Nikon crop sensor dSLR that is 5 or more years old. Over here at least in NZ is the reality when you go and meet people in person, it's quite different from many website forums.

What is the reason for that mirrorless body that satisfies your needs?

What are your guys views on your reasons for making or not making the switch to the Z cameras? For me, dSLR already is very good and while I won't mind nicer newer gear nowadays gear has less appeal to me and considering for me I generally share them online with people I know or I only make modest prints for myself. Others don't wants prints. For travelling, I have gone for something smaller that is smaller than full frame mirrorless but I have gotten the used older models. I have already spent enough on photographic equipment for a hobby. Is it for something newer? The mirrorless user interface / experience? For video use? You really are going to take advantage of the newer optics and with your usages? Something else?

Pretty much it is yep but the Ricoh GR is said to have better focus if I recall correctly. The Coolpix A is discontinued now and the Ricoh has the GR3 now. It is also the same sensor as the Fujifilm X70 but the Ricoh is said to be a tad sharper. The X70 is now the XF10.

It was a lot simple wasn't it. I still have my Nikon D70 on my self and it was simpler back then. Plus many people had a lot less gear back then which made the decision easier. Travelling light yeah is different to each and every person. While I never carried a 70-200/80-200 F2.8 with my overseas travels or when I didn't have my own transport. Even going from a D70 to a D600 I could notice the extra weight and size. Squeezing a UWA zoom and 2 primes into a Lowepro Photo Runner bag was maxing it out. I have never travelled with a photo backpack doing city backpacking trips, ie 2 or 3 nights in each place and then move onto the next. Even as a solo traveller. The modern same equiv lenses over the years have also gotten larger. Even a 50mm F1.8G now has a 58mm filter thread. I guess Nikon Z the body is smaller but the lenses make up for it. FWIW, I just got a second hand Fuji X and I intend to get the same lenses as my Nikon for travelling that is a UWA zoom and 1 or 2 primes. If I was just chilling I might just leave the zoom at the room and go out with just the 1 or 2 primes. I am also really loving my Ricoh GR esp if I am city bound and I am not catching that sunrise or sunset honing into some landscapes or cityscapes like in the daytime. One thing I like for casual photography is that compact cameras or premium compact ones have a macro feature so you can document your travels with friends and family a lot easier like in the plane, the train, at the station etc, at the cafe. Although many people now just use their phones for that. Edit. I don't do much in the areas of even visiting a wildlife park or a zoo and photographing wildlife ........

It is almost to the point, yeah I am never going to use it so why keep it. A bit like the original iPhone or the other earlier iPhones or other brands. Even thou we can still text message or make telephone calls or check our Gmail on it, people don't really use old phones anymore. Fortunately since 2013 all the stuff have been second hand like the Nikon 18-35g and 70-200 F4 G lens. My Ricoh and Fuji X has been second hand also. The different thing is that now my much newer cameras are cheaper and I also don't need so much stuff. Many people could just use FLs between 24 to 70 or 85mm. Out there many people might not do dedicated landscapes or sports and wildlife even to an amateur level with a 200mm.

If you have moved over to FF or Z or even a newer DX have any of you just kept your old stuff. Have many of you guys sold it. I find there is really not much value in many of the older gear and for many of the DX specific lenses. While I could pick up another DX body (and spend money doing so) well into the future that is maybe not such a sensible decision .... Cheers.

These days I buy used, the last new item I bought was the D600. My Fuji X has been used, my film cameras have been used, going forward they all would be used unless new isn't that much more. My 2 newer Nikon lenses are used. I think for a hobby and as you say it might be a temporary thing and knowing many people at my camera club from 20s years old to 60s and 70s year olds. Many do not have full frame bodies, 3 F2.8 trio trinity pro zooms. I think if you look at the NZ Photography Society and the UK the average age group might be 60yrs. Many haven't embraced the fancy new mirrorless gear irrespective of brand. Many are still using 6 or 8yr old dSLRs, some with a 24-70 2.8 and then a macro or a nifty fifty maybe a consumer 70-300 etc ... Yes a few do have 3 pro zooms but not many of the group. I think the D7000 and the D700 full frame are both great cameras still, maybe they don't do video not sure how important for you. They are not that expensive now. I think some of the D5000 series can be an option too cos it is smaller. Even with my own travels I have thought that it would be more convenient than to lug my D600. As a general hobby I've never found it truly necessary to have E lenses compatibility or dual card slots etc ... Oh yeah I still have a working D70 not the best image thou or for a night evening walk after dinner re: higher ISOs.

FWIW there is a photographer tour leader in Australia when they get into wildlife photography. Many of the customers just use breathing techniques and taking rest breaks and handholds the lens. It was prob a F4 lens but hey ... They went to our camera club to speak for the evening and some of us asked if they used a monopod or a beanbag but overwhelmingly most people just found it easier to handhold it and take rest breaks.

Nikon D600, 18-35g lens.

A bit with the who makes that decision. For my own hobby I am siding with what some pros do. They use tools to get the job done and then move on. Many may not strive for the technical best. Working artists may however if they can work to their own terms, they might even shoot film and have it drum scanned, large format even (!). If for many it doesn't get noticed or the client or my target audience do not care maybe I won't spend time on the detail as a camera nerd. The Nikon D850 is highly regarded, I don't have one but many working pros don't use that.

I only have a Nikon D600 24MP and with my Epson R2880 used cos that is the only way to print economically and esp I am not in the USA so ink and paper are 2x to you guys. Anyway. With my camera printed at 13x19 it's so dang good so much better than my lab that uses a Fuji Frontier I haven't used their wide format inkjet prints yet and it cost more money. So from what I seen on my own printer I don't see anymore of a need. I guess cropping but that is largely posted online for myself I don't print with that. From the 1 or 2 wedding pros as 100% of their income I know in person they shoot with 24MP dSLRs.

Which why I have sold and donated various stuff over time to do something else with my life. Including film. I bought a bulk roll of HP5+ sat in my freezer and I pretty much sold every roll but 4 rolls for myself and literally just the 1 or 2 rolls I used at the start and I've also sold other films I had. Still have a RB67 and a 500CM and I have thought about why not just have 1 of them for the time being at least the value has got a bit up. I am also not getting more stuff. There are more compact film stuff like rangefinders but I figure if I don't have the time or it is not suitable then just shoot 35mm film, or a more compact digital.

On at least one occasion they forgot to ask me to take my "serious" camera. Yeah I was thinking my phone is quite old, nowhere as modern as many of theirs. I am looking at upgrading my phone in 2021 bc running out of memory and storage and apps don't perform correctly, the chat apps like WhatsApp doesn't always notify me of messages and sometimes can logoff by itself. Anyway so they asked me to just use my 4.5yr old phone it cost something like $250US probably $200US cos the USA is more competitive. I got the same feedback and the same amount of it, compared to the serious camera. Yep, apart from myself with myself or among the few photographers I know (hobbyists) with the others it doesn't matter. I coulda just taken this $200US phone and travelled the world and saved all this money, LOL. I've also since my last new D600 Nikon from the year 2013 I have gotten a second hand Fuji XT1 and a Ricoh GR first version both woulda been 5 or 6yrs old when I got it. In a way is a bit like getting my normal life back without all that camera weight and the difference in optical isn't seen much by many anyway. Oh as a early riser? I am in New Zealand. ;-) Either way. I could be photographing the group or you are asked to do so then they are shared online now right like Christmas, New Years, birthdays, a trip to the beach or the park with a BBQ, baptism etc etc Or it could be my own overseas travels or domestic trips to a remote place to see lakes and waterfalls. Not complaining. These days they just look at them on their devices, the few people might like it or post a comment and that is about it. Printing, I guess 1 or 2 accepts it but many might think it's a task to store away but I don't do that anymore b/c over the 8 or so years no one has requested any files or any prints, they just want it online. The comments online have always been, where did you guys go, where is this, what restaurant, you look pretty and skinny, looks yummy. Speaking of an 5MP camera. With the 6MP Nikon D70 I printed a A0 print for a work colleague she paid the lab fee (no profit) and was interested in it. My much better 24MP D600 has only done a A3 and the client was myself ;-)

I have been thinking about this lately. A few that I talked who enjoy photography sees it as an isolated activity or else it is chilling and holidaying with the family and friends and as it is now with this time of the year. We are in the southern hemisphere so it is summer but with rain (!). Maybe it is a camera nerds thing to think about all the equip all the time. Many of the others simply just share photographs on the Internet right or with things like WhatsApp. Heck one could still used a 6MP camera and it might be perfectly OK. They could also just used a $200 phone camera or just scanned some cheap film D&P 40yrs ago which they developed and printed at Walmart / Kmart. Scanned the print not the negs cos most people don't have a film capable scanner or simply use their phone to take a picture of the print. In the past I have offered some people a convenient 6x4 print but 1 or 2 of them politely declined. What have your experience been? At one time I wanted to delete my Flickr's camera phone backups but deleted everything, I did repost the other images under 1,000 right to be free since I keyword them in my photo database. Still none of my friends and families and followers noticed, haha. Maybe the photos people matters a bit more but we might need all of that and if my own photography typed photos were gone, how much would that matter ..... Cheers.

One person did say they like the photo very much. Both friends I know who are a couple with their young child taken outside on a cloudy day with a single speedlight. I gave them a print about A3 size. For free. Hahah. That's about the most I do with portraiture. But yeah. Having done kinda friends groups event photography you can say with Christmas, fun day trips out and about, and church baptisms. Done this for maybe 8yrs perhaps. Not one requested wanted the file or a print made. They were all just uplaoded to Facebook. No one had pulled me aside for a "portrait" type of photo. It might be a family who wants a photo of themselves with their children. Ahh .. yeah. Haha. I'm also not really a portrait type of a person. How do I pose? I have no idea, hahah. Just get up in the early mornings and travel out by myself, LOL. With these events apart from the Christmas and baptisms which I alluded to earlier on those are the more "event" things so I take a dSLR. The other stuff like having picnic outside or the orchards or bring a plate share a meal together I just carry a large sensor compact. So I can spend a bit more time eating my food, haha but it seems to get the job done also - images posted to social media.

I see it as a fun hobby. Some people play video games, some tinker on their cars for hours end a mechanic might even say what's the point, haha esp some old timer mechanics we know anyway. The ones that are not into the latest stuff. Prob when my time is due they would just throw my computer into the trash bin with the hard drives without even formatting them and take my cameras to the closest pawnshop. I literally hardly take photographs of portraiture people. I mean really. On a weekend I might go to the city I walk around and take photos of alleyways and buildings and kinda iconic name signs like this iconic area and the red colour arty sign or that rainbow pedestrian crossing or simply the civic square here. If the sky is good and if I am on the mood I might drive out to the waterfront to capture a sunset. Apart from a passport of family members at home, haha. They seem to like the China Aliexpress cheapo single speedlight 60x60cm softbox with a white reflector under just so it looks beautiful and classy hahah. Think it is called beauty and clamshell lighting. So other than that, if we have visitors we might go the peak lookout and fire off a few shots half body arms down looking straight at the camera with the speedlight tiled up around 45-60 deg with the white card, LOL. Edit. These days it is all online right. I don't do portrait type shots but we might have a Christmas party etc .. or a small group goes to a fruit orchard or a picnic outside at a park maybe with a BBQ, and I might take a few shots of people. So I suppose yeah I have taken a few. Nothing much happens thou, they just want them uploaded to Facebook and you get the likes from a few people, most people don't interreact online with them. No comments really about the photo, if any comments it's like oh where you guys go, it's so beautiful or saying you're so pretty and skinny. Never get requested for a single print or a file emailed to them but I guess that's what it is these days. With my own family. Much of my own photography they don't even see it anyway. Like I might had said, when it was as early as 2004 when digital photography was new and so exciting I used to provide a slideshow on the TV like off a USB Stick like 20 photographs of my travel to this city or this country but now I might still do but it is more like 8 photographs, hahah. The comments as expected is always like; oh the country is very modern and developed and bright at night. It was a long exposure hahah. Oh the streets are very crowded. I don't think it really matters if you planned a night blue hour shot or a sunset. To them it is just sky and buildings.

It is not these FB groups. It is that personally I have been told by my uncle and a uni friend who moved here from another city who I have known for 20yrs. They tell me because I am into photography (not portraiture) as a hobby and they tell me go and photograph weddings and make some money. Even after I told them I don't photograph people they tell me to go and learn it. They see it as such a waste. Because I get told by people, I assume other people who enjoy photography might get told as well. Therefore do people that go out and shoot weddings because they think it is easy money and they can make some money off their hobby. After telling my uni friend I don't like to photograph people, then the says to me go visit a food store and ask to photograph their food stock that I can sell them hahah. I guess they see it as other hobbies. I know people who enjoy baking and they take their food to the weekend markets to sell or they go and do fundraising. When my time is due, they would prob throw all my equipment and computers into the rubbish bin. I don't share my photos with them anymore now. The people I know at least are pretty much into portraiture of themselves and esp with their friends together. Even after a holiday now I used to give a 20 photo on the TV but not now.

Is it really true or not that more of them shoot portraits and weddings than other forms of photography? Now with digital it is more accessible. Would some see setting up a part time business as easy money? Curious about this, I don't have much interest in portraiture or generating income from it with an form of photography. Because friends and family automatically think or they ask if you shoot weddings because you have an interest in photography. When most people get interested about photos it is generally looking at photos of themselves and with their friends. With FB groups, they ask for gear recommendations and they say they photograph weddings, they have no webpage etc and there is no budget available for backup camera bodies. Ie, I have $2,000US what should I buy to photograph weddings and baby photos. I like it very sharp and no noise and something that is versatile. You also hear about those I have a $200US limit on indoor studio lights are these OK, I want to do baby photos at my home.