The Photography & Video Guru
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The Photography & Video Guru
A Photographer's Dilemma Switching Systems and Satisfying the Tech Urge
Ever struggled with the decision to switch camera systems and felt overwhelmed by all the options? Join me as I share my personal photographic journey, starting from my early days with Minolta in the 1980s, through my experiences with Nikon, Sigma, and Fuji. We'll explore the complex blend of technology, personal preferences, and sometimes brutal financial realities that can influence such a decision. From the heartache of parting with favorite gear to the thrill of discovering new capabilities, this episode is your guide to understanding the practical and emotional landscapes behind changing camera systems.
We'll tackle the distinct needs of landscape versus sports photographers and how different camera systems cater to these demands. Whether it's the allure of medium format for stunning landscapes or the necessity for high-speed autofocus in sports, the choices can be daunting. We'll also touch on the power of brand loyalty, the often irresistible lure of corporate marketing, and the notorious Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) that tempts us all. Reflect on your own camera journey and consider whether new equipment truly fills an unmet need or simply satisfies a craving for the latest tech. Let's navigate the world of camera switching together, balancing desire with practicality.
So you want to switch camera systems. But do you really need to switch a camera system? Do you really want to go from one to the other? I mean, what's involved in switching camera systems? Today I'm going to talk to you a little bit about what's involved. I mean, there's some obvious things, but do you really need to switch camera systems? Now, I've done it and I've made a lot of mistakes in the past, so I will give you my insights and you can determine whether switching camera systems is something that's right for you or maybe you can let it go for right now. I'm Curtis. I'm your photography and video guru, and today we're talking about changing camera systems. So I've changed camera systems multiple times over the years.
Speaker 1:1986, I was shooting with a Minolta camera. I had two Minolta bodies. I was shooting professional sports. Were they the best cameras? They were the first autofocus cameras, so they had a single point autofocus point in the middle, so you had to focus and then reframe. It was fairly successful. But then Minolta decided to change the lens mount in 1989-ish, somewhere around there. So I jumped ship and then I went to Nikon and I shot with Nikon for oh gee whiz, a good number of years. In fact I even had their Nikon D1, which was their first digital professional SLR, and it was a great camera, I mean compared to what we have today. I mean it was back then, it was the stuff right, but I mean compared today. Cameras today are far better for autofocus and all kinds of things, and I shot with Nikon for years and then, for whatever reason, I decided to jump ship from Nikon because I'd gone away from sports and was doing more landscapes and portraits and things like that, and I don't know why I did this.
Speaker 1:But I switched over to Sigma cameras. Sigma came out with a fovean sensor and, for whatever reason, I thought the fovean sensor was a super cool idea because it had a three-layer sensor, a red, green, blue sensor layers to the sensor and each layer captured was dedicated to each of the primary colors. So even though each layer was 12 megapixels, they calculated it that you're really getting 36 meg. I forget what it was. Anyway, I drank the Kool-Aid and switched over to Sigma. Now I got some nice images with Sigma and I mean you can get nice images with any camera, but it was really an awkward system because Sigma made you process raw files through their proprietary software. You couldn't put it into Lightroom, you couldn't put it into Capture One. They didn't share the secret sauce to translate raw files so you could use them in those softwares, raw files so you could use them in those softwares. And the software that Sigma had to translate raw files was just horribly slow. It took forever and it was an added process. So then I went from Sigma and guess what? I went back to Nikon. Okay, so I'm back to Nikon and I probably had one of my most favorite cameras, the D700. And to this day I still love that camera, even though I don't have it anymore.
Speaker 1:I was shooting with Nikon and then I still had Nikon, but I also purchased a Mamiya 645 with a Leaf Aptus digital back, a CCD back, 28 megapixel back, and I shot with those two for different things. I was using doing commercial work with the Mamiya for product photography and things like that. It was doing 16-bit files, absolutely beautiful, great in the studio. I could take it out and do portraits with it, but you know it wasn't really good for too much else. Basically your autofocus was non-existent. So you know it was a slow camera, a slow system. And then I went from the Nikon and Leaf Aptus and I thought well, I'm going to switch over to the Fuji GFX system. So I sold my Nikons and I sold my Mamiya and went over to the GFX 50S and it was a great camera, really good photos. Autofocus system was slow, but it was okay because I really wasn't doing anything that required fast focus, fast moving subjects. I was actually doing dog photography with it. It was great, as long as I could get the dog to sit still. At the time I also had a Sony a6400. So if I needed action shots, I would shoot that with the 24 megapixel Sony a6400. Okay so.
Speaker 1:So whenever you sell a camera system, if you're going to sell your stuff, you're going to take a bath on the value of your cameras. No doubt about it. You're going to lose money like it's going out of style. Camera systems do not hold their value. The longer you hold them, the less they're worth. So if you sell them to someplace like Adorama or whatever, they give you 70% of whatever they're going to sell it for. So they're going to give you basically wholesale price and then they mark it up 30% and then sell it and those prices are going to be low to begin with. Okay, so you're going to take a bath.
Speaker 1:So, in addition to taking a bath, then you got to buy new equipment, which is more expensive, and then you're going to have to buy lenses for it, all your accessories. You're going to have to change your flash transmitters all that good stuff because there's no universal, unless you just have, like a pocket wizard that doesn't recognize a brand. But if you want to use the ttl flash modes on anything for off-camera flash, then you'll have to upgrade all your triggers and things like that, all your accessories, your remote shutter activations. If you have want to put it on tripod and do long exposures, you're going to have to have the shutter trigger that fits your particular camera. Nikon's shutter trigger, the connection, is different than a Fuji, it's different than the Canon. So you're going to have to upgrade all that good stuff. So you're talking about the expense of the new equipment. You're going to lose the upgrade, all that good stuff. So you're talking about the expense of the new equipment. You're going to lose the value of the old equipment and then. So you have to make up the difference.
Speaker 1:Now for me, I found out that after shooting with the Fuji GFX system that well, I had it and then I broke it Right. So I broke the bottom plate off the Fuji GFX and knocked over my tripod and it just totally torqued and ripped off the bottom plate that it was screwed into the tripod exposing you could see the inside of the camera Sent it off to Fuji. Fuji said they can't fix it because part of the body was ripped off, part of it too and so they offered me to buy a new one, a refurbished one, and I said no, it's okay, just send it back to me. And at that point I haven't had insurance on it. So I went and got, I invested back into the Nikon system Fast forward.
Speaker 1:Now I still have that GFX 50Ss. You just can't mount it on a tripod unless I got some special. I bought a special collar for it which enabled me to uh connect it to a tripod. But honestly, uh, the nikon shot just as well as the gfx 50s because they're both 14-bit files. The GFX 50s is not a 16-bit file, it's only a 14-bit file, just like the Nikon, and about the same resolution. And honestly, you really couldn't tell too much between the difference between the two. So it didn't really make sense for me to purchase another 50S Now.
Speaker 1:Recently this year I did purchase a GFX 100S and that gives me a true 16-bit file and I do use that for still lifes and it serves a need that I had because I make large prints and the hundred megapixels allows me to create tremendous files. For that Did I absolutely have to have it? No, I probably could have used my Nikon Z7 II and then used Gigapixel to res up the files, so I really didn't have to have it up the files. So I really didn't have to have it, but I really kind of just wanted it Right. So, um, and I had my uh Cambo Actis all set up for it, so it was easy. I would have had to modify the Cambo Actis to accept the Nikon uh body and I really didn't want to do all that good stuff.
Speaker 1:So a question also that you have to ask you if you want to change camera systems, is the new camera system going to fill a need that you currently have that your old camera system does not? My GFX system, the autofocus was slow. It really wasn't great for shooting fast-moving subjects. I thought I could make it work. I did make it work, but it wasn't ideal.
Speaker 1:So upgrading or changing systems over to the Nikon in that situation makes sense. Well, let's say you're a landscape photographer and you're switching over to sports photography. The GFX system makes sense for landscape photography, but it doesn't make sense for sports. If you want sports, then you would maybe go to a Sony A9 or the Nikon Z9 or Z8. The Nikon Z9 or Z8, something along those lines, with fast autofocus and the ability to give you those shots that you would need, and also, if you like shooting sports Nikon, canon, they have the long lenses that you would need to be able to shoot sports. The medium format GFX system does not have those long lenses and they are just slower on focus. So it's one of those things that the new equipment would fill a need. And then you have to take in consideration to the hype that these corporations do. Of course they want to sell you a new camera system and of course they're going to hype up how much better it is over your old camera system.
Speaker 1:But is it really? I mean it probably is in many aspects, but in many aspects it probably isn't either. I mean, you can pixel peep all day long, you want all day, and are you going to really see a difference? Yeah, you might see a difference when you're pixel peeping. But when you zoom back out and look at the photograph, or after it's been printed or after it's been on the web, you can't tell what camera took what. I don't care if it's an Olympus camera, micro four thirds, or it's a medium format camera. When you see it on the web it's going to be a JPEG file, 8-bit file, and you really can't tell what it is that took it. Because when we're taking photographs, we're taking it for the subject matter and how we took it and what it looks like, and not so much what we took it with looks like and not so much what we took it with. And it doesn't really matter if you took it with a 20-megapixel camera or a 100-megapixel camera. If you're looking at it on the web, you're not going to be able to tell the difference.
Speaker 1:Honestly, with my GFX 100S, making prints is easier. If I do a still life and I want everything in focus, I can back the GFX 100 S away from the subject, giving me greater depth of field, but the subject is smaller. But since it's a hundred megapixel camera, the actual focus, the amount of pixels I'm losing, doesn't matter, because even if I lose half of my pixels, I'm still down to a 50 megapixel image after final crop. If I'm shooting with a 50 megapixel camera, I still may have to back out that same distance, but then I'm down to 25 megapixels. Now software like Gigapixel will fix it for the most part If it's an original photo, a good quality photo. Gigapixel is a fantastic software and you can upgrade your software no problem whatsoever. So I guess it all boils down to does switching camera brands fill a need? Brands fill a need If you're shooting with a major camera brand right now Sony, canon, nikon, fuji all those cameras are great cameras, so you're going to be able to get a great image from any of those brands.
Speaker 1:I liked Nikon because the ergonomics of it fit my hand better and felt better in my hand than the Canon did. The Canon was a great system. I've shot hundreds of thousands of photos with the Canon and in the studio in a studio environment. Fantastic camera systems, fantastic lenses I have no problem with it. But I would always gravitate towards either the Nikon or the Fuji for ergonomics before I would go with a Canon. And I'm not talking about the medium format Fujis, I'm talking about the X-series cameras. Maybe you like more retro type cameras with the dials and knobs on them like the Fuji has. Well, that's you know we're talking about. We're getting down to nitty gritty and personal preference here. So I like Nikon because of the ergonomics. Fuji users like it because of the ability to change functions on the camera without diving into a menu. That's a big thing. You know, sony cameras have some incredible features and they have some incredible glass lenses that you can put on them.
Speaker 1:You may like Sony. I remember buying the first Sony A7R and I bought it. I jumped ship from Nikon to Sony because it was a 36 megapixel camera and I was shooting with a 12 and I was doing still lifes and I wanted more pixels. And I adapted that Sony to my Cambo Actis camera so I could use my Cambo Actis with the Sony body. And then eventually I went with the GFX system and I adapted the Cambo Actis to take the GFX system, which, by the way, is not cheap.
Speaker 1:Anytime you talk about Cambo Actis you're talking several thousand dollars for the camera that you have to put another camera on. So it's a camera for a camera, but when you actually have to adapt a camera to it for instance, when I went from the Sony to the GFX I had to buy a kit to put on the Cambo Actis, which was $1,500. So I had originally purchased the Cambo Actis for probably sometime just below $3,000 when it was new. Then I had to spend another $1,500 on it to put the Fuji on it. And now I recently wanted to put a Hasselblad lens on it, so I had to buy a plate for the Hasselblad lens on it, and that cost another $500. I can't remember the it's around there or something like that. Then I wanted to shoot macro photography with it, but I needed a longer rail. So I needed a longer rail for it. I needed longer bellows for it. Each piece costs probably five or $600. So that's another $1,200. So I've got a lot tied up in this Cambo Actus. It's a great system. I love it, but it's not cheap.
Speaker 1:And every time you make a switch with your camera system and you want to use that system with the new system, then you have to make an investment. So is switching cameras for you. Do you feel like you actually have to have a new camera system or switch brands from one system to the next, whether it's Lumix, canon, nikon, olympus, sony, leica? Well, if you're buying a Leica, you could probably afford to switch anyway. So Leicas are insane, but there's considerations to be made. I mean, how much can you use your current system? Will it get by and suit whatever needs you have currently? Or is it just absolutely positively? You know, it just won't suit your need and then you need a new tool, and that's what cameras are. They're tools, they're instruments for us to use to get the image that we want.
Speaker 1:I would love to shoot macro photography with the GFX system, but the only way I can do it to get a true one-to-one or better macro image is with the Cambo Actus and the long rail and the extended bellows. But I can't take that out in the field. It's if I'm trying to get shoot a photograph of a mushroom on the ground. It's just too bulky, it's just I can't do it. So then I have to go to a system that is capable of doing that and then I switch back to the Nikon system. I put an autofocus lens on it. It'll automatically focus stack for me and things like that.
Speaker 1:Would I love to shoot a mushroom, one-to-one mushroom with the Cambo Actus? I guess if it was off the ground and I didn't have to put the camera down to the ground, let's say it's on a log. Yeah, I could use the Cambo Actus, but it's a lot to carry around and a lot of times mushrooms grow where mushrooms grow and it would be really difficult to do. It can be done, but it would be really difficult to do. It's much easier to use a mirrorless camera to shoot something like that, to shoot macro photography.
Speaker 1:So in the description of this podcast you can send me a message. I would love to know if, number one, you're going to change camera brands, what camera brand you're going from, what camera brand you're going to change camera brands? What camera brand you're going from, what camera brand you're going to, why you're going from one camera brand to the next? Is the camera you're going to? Does it fill a need that you currently don't have? I hope this was somewhat interesting. You know I love cameras and I get gas just like everybody else Gear acquisition syndrome, and I love cameras and I get gas just like everybody else Gear acquisition syndrome and I love new gear. But I hate losing money too. If I don't have to have it, I probably won't get it, but then again I might find a way to get it. Let me know about what you're doing Until next time. We'll see you later.