Why you should buy quality glass.

[koffiejunkie]

LOL - excuses to keep the dark side at bay

 

[bwana]

LOL - excuses to keep the dark side at bay

Finances are generally a good excuse.

If nikon came to me and offered to swap all my gear out I'd probably do it as long as they included that 200-400 and matched my current kit.

 

[koffiejunkie]

Now that I've seen the 24-120mm f/4 G ED VR review, I'm not so excited about the idea of a D700 anymore

Have you thought of using the Sigma 200-500 f/2.8? I know it's much more expensive, but it will replace a few lenses in one go.

 

[bwana]

Now that I've seen the 24-120mm f/4 G ED VR review, I'm not so excited about the idea of a D700 anymore

Have you thought of using the Sigma 200-500 f/2.8? I know it's much more expensive, but it will replace a few lenses in one go.

R167,000.00 worth of unwieldy (16kg) glass - no thanks.

 

[koffiejunkie]

Ah right. I didn't really look at the price.

 

[koffiejunkie]

As if I haven't bought enough glass last year, I decided to buy the 35mm f/2 again (last piece of my stolen kit that I hadn't replaced yet), mostly to have a fast but slightly wider lens for new year's eve party. Of course, once I got to the camera shop, my mind had drifted to the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM, the shop had it in stock, and I could not help myself.

Initially I regretted it. It's twice the price, and the extra stop is pretty hard to use, especially close up. But around 1000 photos later I can definitely recommend it. It's an almost 50mm-on-film field of view on a 1.6x crop body, the focus is quiet and fast and as far as I can tell pretty accurate. The colours easily match my L glass. Build quality is in line with Sigma's EX glass, and it comes with a hood and pouch.

On the downside, it's tough as nails to use if you want to take advantage of the wide open aperture. But if you nail your focus, what little is in focus at f/1.4 is tack sharp and the bokeh is pretty nice.

I'm pretty happy now. It gives me hope for Sigma's 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.4 too

 

[bwana]

Sigma makes some nice glass

 

[koffiejunkie]

Yes they do! I'm so stoked with this one, I almost broke my rule and posted a picture of myself taken with it.

 

[Yogotta B. Kidding]

I only wanted real quality glass once I started using it.
As a hobbyist it is sometimes extremely difficult to justify buying expensive kit. Lets take a 300/2.8LIS which I really really like and want. Orms had a couple between 20-25K, but they looked they were dragged through the gulf war. So make that 30-35K for a nice one. It is not a small amount of money.
However, ones kit depends on the seriousness of the hobby and the depth of the pockets.

 

[koffiejunkie]

However, ones kit depends on the seriousness of the hobby and the depth of the pockets.

Agreed. Fortunately I don't have that other hobby most of you guys have (i.e. "wife"), so I have some cash for myself

 

[Yogotta B. Kidding]

The story of a wives is another subject.
My wife, the darling she is, does not need me to support her, and she is not the keeper of my finance. Yip, I did ask her to manage it, in other words tell me when there isn't any.

The people who rely on us to look after them are kids. If you have them you undertake to look after their well beign and education to the point they can do so themselves.

 

[koffiejunkie]

The people who rely on us to look after them are kids. If you have them you undertake to look after their well beign and education to the point they can do so themselves.

Fortunately I don't have any of those yet either

 

[bwana]

I only wanted real quality glass once I started using it.
As a hobbyist it is sometimes extremely difficult to justify buying expensive kit. Lets take a 300/2.8LIS which I really really like and want. Orms had a couple between 20-25K, but they looked they were dragged through the gulf war. So make that 30-35K for a nice one. It is not a small amount of money.
However, ones kit depends on the seriousness of the hobby and the depth of the pockets.

I soon realised that I'd have to turn professional to support my hobby. Unfortunately I picked one of the more expensive disciplines.

 

[Rouxenator]

Well, you certainly have the skills to be a pro so I don't think you can regret taking that route.

But photography as hobby does not have to be expensive. There are some fairly cheap (Kodak) and fairly good (Canon) bridge cameras that gives amateurs the needed flexibility to get into photography without spending too much.

Oh, and there are crazy people like me that like using telephones for pictures - bizarre - but I am not sure that is on the topic of quality glass (or plastic for that matter).

 

[RanzB]

Oh, and there are crazy people like me that like using telephones for pictures

I'm sure serious photographers looks down on camera photogs like surfers look down at bodyboarders.. But that's only because they haven't seen your pics

 

[Synaesthesia]

Photography is a great leveler. You can take a wonderful photo with a ****ty lens. Or a terrible photo with the best equipment.

 

[Yogotta B. Kidding]

LOL, I would agree 100% if you replaced lens with camera. You cannot see properly through dirty spectacles ....

 

[bwana]

Well, you certainly have the skills to be a pro so I don't think you can regret taking that route.

But photography as hobby does not have to be expensive. There are some fairly cheap (Kodak) and fairly good (Canon) bridge cameras that gives amateurs the needed flexibility to get into photography without spending too much.

Oh, and there are crazy people like me that like using telephones for pictures - bizarre - but I am not sure that is on the topic of quality glass (or plastic for that matter).

That's mighty kind of you to say.

While I'm often very impressed with the images you make I often can't help but wonder what you would be capable of given more advanced equipment. But yeah, when shooting for fun gear should be the least of your concerns. Photography should be all about the enjoyment.

 

[Rouxenator]

I have to admit, I have looked at a few DSLR deals like the cheap ones you get from Game and HiFi Corp - but that is just to keep up with what is out there and what it goes for. Still, it's impressive to see what you can get for relatively little money when you start looking for an entry level DSLR, it certainly made me change my tune a bit. I would still recommend a bridge camera for someone that wants lots of zoom on the cheap, but if you are willing to spend a little more you can get a whole lot more in terms of image quality, low light performance and scalability when you go DSLR.

Personally I use my camera for videos most of the time and after a few years of Kodaks I was hugely impressed with the Sx20 that I now have. Guess I'll stick with it for quite some time to come. BTW, thanks for the compliment