jonathan_van_matre1

Also, the out-of-print Outdoors Austin: A Sierra Club Guide is still a good resource, and can be found very cheaply on Amazon ($.01 as of this post). My own copy is falling apart after years of frequent use.

 

The gardens at the Zilker Botanical Center and Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center should both be a riot of color at that time. Both are within the Austin city limits. Bring macro lenses, and try to visit them on a weekday - you'll be less likely to run into the swarms of pro photogs shooting spring engagment/bridal/quincinera/etc portraits. Don't miss the Taniguchi Oriental Garden at Zilker - a personal favorite.

 

Definitely make time to visit Enchanted Rock State Park to climb and shoot the beautiful monolithic granite dome. No technical climbing skills required - just strong lungs and good sturdy shoes.

Well, for what it's worth, you can still use your 545i as a holder for fuji Quickload film packets. A Fuji holder will give better results, but unless you're a nit-picker that 545i will serve well enough.

Stick with what you have gear-wise. Don't even buy lights - a good suggestion, but too soon. Buy some business planning books and software. Use them to write a business plan. Then hire an accountant and a lawyer to help you fine-tune it and get your business set up correctly - accounting software, legal forms, etc.

 

Your business plan will help to dictate what gear you need, and when you can afford to purchase it. What you buy should not be "the best gear", it should be the best gear for YOUR business and YOUR workflow. If you're a pro, you will need to buy gear for reasons that equal higher profits, not simply for gear-lust.

 

The first thing you need to "go pro" is not so-called "pro gear". It's professionalism. Plan ahead, have a clear course of action, and cover your butt both legally and financially. Only buy a piece of gear now if it is absolutely clear that you will be unable to profit in your chosen field without it. The rest of the gear can wait until you are profitable.

 

Frankly, if you're asking this question, I fear you're not prepared to be a professional in any genre, unless it's as a professional assistant to someone else who is going to teach you the ropes of running a successful business.

 

But if you really are going solo, please don't blow all your money on gear and have none left for the essentials any small business needs. Think of yourself as a business owner first, and a photographer second.

Fuji does make their pack film in 4x5 packs. Bear in mind, however, that it won't work with the 545/545i/545pro backs you are used to using with Polaroid 4x5 sheet film. You need a 4x5 PACK holder, which would be either the Polaroid 550 or the Fuji PA-45.

 

There's not that much of a price gap between used 550s and new PA-45s, so I would spring for the PA-45 if I were you. That gets you the benefit of a limited warranty, and a film and holder that are specifically manufactured to work together.

 

The Fuji packs will work in a 550, but they will likely work more reliably in Fuji's own product, just as 4x5 Quickloads work somewhat better in a Quickload holder than they do in a Polaroid 545.

 

As for the discontinued Polaroid films, my hope is that Fuji will license the formulas for some of their more popular products (Type 59, Type 55 P/N) and take over production. I can't see anyone else (e.g. Harman, Fotokemika) taking the risk of venturing into a family of products they have no experience producing. Their existence is tenuous enough as it is.

 

But Fuji remains committed to film, and already has experience producing instant peel-apart products. It's a natural fit.

 

Meanwhile, I'll be stockpiling Type 55 just in case my dream doesn't come true.

There are definitely PJ's shooting with primes, even some who still shoot film on Mamiya 6s, Mamiya 7s, old Polaroids converted to 4x5, etc.

 

Unless it's a feature story or personal project where the use of that camera is a by-design element of the story, though, these are not typically the only cameras/lenses they are going to be carrying.

 

But consider David Burnett, who typically carries a Holga, Mamiya 6, Speed Graphic, or Rolleiflex alongside his digital camera. He won a White House press award for a shot of Al Gore taken with a Holga. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/essays/vanRiper/010706.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/essays/vanRiper/040226.htm

 

There are many others, like Stephen Crowley, who shoots with an old Ikomat folder.

 

So while I doubt there are any full-time PJs using primes only. there are plenty using primes, film, toy cameras, and larger formats on a regular basis, and getting that work published.

 

So indulge yourself. If you enjoy shooting with primes, get yourself a prime. As a Nikon SLR shooter, I can highly recommend the Sigma 30/1.4 and Nikon 50/1.4 for DX format, or the Nikon 50/1.4 and 85/1.4 for FX format. The Nikon 28/1.4 is also reputedly excellent, but it's expensive and I've never had the pleasure of using one.

 

The 2.8 zooms may be the bread&butter tools of journalism nowadays, but a 1.4 prime will open up low-light shooting opportunities you can't get any other way, so they can certainly have their place in a well-rounded PJ kit. After all, "f/2.8 and be there" won't work if it;s too dark for f/2.9. :)

"BTW the DP1 is officially released today."

 

It's officially *re-announced* today, after a significant delay for redesign. It won't be available until "Spring 2008". Nicely vague statement on the part of Sigma, there.

 

As promising as the large-sensor DP1 seems, plenty of people are getting excellent results right now from tiny-sensor digicams by Ricoh, Sony, Canon, etc.

 

Don't fall into the trap of stifling your creativity while you wait for the "next big thing" in digital street cameras. I've been in that trap before myself - it's lonely, and there are hungry tigers! :)

 

Get to work now, with whatever you can find, and upgrade later if the next thing comes along and is sufficiently compelling to be worth the transition.

 

Right now, it sounds like the GRD or GRD-II is most in line with what you are looking for. Go for it, and have fun.

Wow, look at all the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) in here.

 

Listen, it's very simple...the answer to "How do I pick a good third party lens?" is exactly the same as the answer to "How do I pick a good lens?" To wit...

 

1) Decide first what optical problem you are looking to solve. Do you need a 1:1 macro lens? A super-tele for shooting sports? Fast glass you can use for "available dark" night shooting? Is manual focus OK? Or do you need AF? Do you insist on quiet AF-S/HSM/USM/Silent Wave style focusing? You should know what you need before you start looking for options. Shop by *your* photographic needs - what's right for you may not be right for someone else.

 

e.g. In the wide-angle zoom for DX format category, you might be looking for the best optical quality at any price (which might lead you toward the Nikon 14-24 2.8), or for the widest angle of view you can get (Sigma 10-20), or for the best optical bang for the buck (probably the Tokina 12-24 you're considering). Know what you want to accomplish before you start worrying about which lens is best...otherwise you might end up disappointed with a great $1700 lens that doesn't go as wide as you want it to.

 

2) Now that you know what your priorities are, consider every lens in your category against those criteria. Read multiple reviews of every lens, e.g. from the Sigma 10-20 to the Nikon 17-35 and everything in-between. Make notes of where each one does and does not meet your criteria.

 

3) Once you've got these notes, figure out which lens appears to be best for you. Now it's time to consider build quality...if the vast majority of those multiple reviews you read flagged your lens choice as a dud, look for a second choice. Otherwise, don't worry too much about overall brand/model quality - the majority of modern lens manufacturers are perfectly capable of producing high-quality lenses (including but not limited to Cosina Voigtlander, Zeiss, Tamron, Tokina, and Sigma) However, give a slight extra nudge to Nikon vs. a 3rd-party lens because you *are* less likely to have any compatibility issues on future Nikon cameras. That issue doesn't happen with every 3rd-party lens, not by a longshot, but it does occur sometimes, so that may be worth some extra bucks to you.

 

4) What you SHOULD worry about is sample variation. Nikon is not immune. Not even the venerable Zeiss is immune. Make your purchase from a retailer who will allow you to make returns with ease until you find a quality sample of the lens. That can be accomplished online, or in a local camera shop, but shop carefully and make sure your chosen retailer will work with you to find a good lens.

 

I got a dud the first time I bought the Nikon 50/1.8. You would not believe the crunchy noises coming out of that tiny lens. Hello, Amazon return policy.

 

5) If you buy locally, test it in the store for any immediately obvious flaws. You're not going to see every possible problem, not within a couple of hours in the store, but you should at least make sure the one you get is solidly put together and not making weird noises or severely mis-focused.

 

6) Once you take it home, or get it in the mail, shoot with it. A LOT. If you're really analytical about these things, you can try focus-test and resolution charts that are readily available online, but you can also do just fine shooting subjects you're already interested in. Try every aperture at multiple distances, on the same subject. Review the results, and if you're not satisfied, test again to make sure your technique is not the problem. If you're still not satisfied, test another lens you know you like, to make sure the camera is not the problem. If at this point it's clearly the lens, return it and try another sample of the same lens. Usually one retry is enough, but sometimes you may go through 4 or 5.

 

Some common lens issues to look for:

- AF is front-focused or back-focused

- Focus distances are improperly calibrated

- Lens elements misaligned (often apparent as an uneven softness in one part of the frame, e.g. left side much softer than the right on an equidistant subject)

- Lens not providing data to the camera correctly

- Lens doesn't function on one or more of your cameras (try every compatible camera you have)

 

And that's it! Eventually you should end up with a lens you're happy with. I'd use this approach even if you're buying one of the $5000 super-teles...expensive lenses aren't immune to sample variation either. Any manufactured product will have the occasional lemon, and that's what return policies and warranties are for. Don't assume that expensive is synonymous with perfect, any more than Nikkor is synonymous with perfect.

 

Don't be too afraid of third parties. Nikon makes nothing as wide as Sigma's 10-20, and no one else has anything comparable to Tokina's bizarre fisheye zoom lens. Sometimes that 3rd party lens is exactly what you need. Just have an established routine to vet any lens you buy, and scrutinize every one.