When you buy used gear, you will not get the pleasure of unboxing a brand new product that now one has used before you. But you will potentially be able to save a lot of money and lay your hands on some gear that you would never be able to get hold on if bought from new. My Nikkor 70-200mm lens is such an example in my case.
What do you need?
Be careful that the low price is not a pitfall: make sure you really have a need for the product or that its features are important to you.
You may think that a f/1.2 lens is super nice and can render soft backgrounds and all that, but when you then look at the stats in your Lightroom database, you may find that the f/1.2 lens is used 99.9% of the time stopped down. So you’ll find that you bought a lot of glass that you are in fact not using.
Be honest and write a list of requirements before you start searching for gear. It is OK to buy gear that you really don’t need, just because you – say – enjoy owning top level gear, but be honest about it: are my requirements from a rational need (2 card slots for an event photographer) or are they more driven by emotion (a camera that looks cool). There are no wrong requirements, only requirements.
Look and feel
The issue with buying anything online is that you cannot touch and test the product prior to buying. Many producers of furniture have physical shops where you can try and test the product before buying, so you know exactly what you get. That is not so easy when buying used.
If it in any way is possible for you to try and test the product before buying, then that is the best way to get assurance that things are as they should be. Provided of course that you know how to test the product: if you buy a lens but you have no idea how to test the sharpness or if potential fungus influences the image quality, then the point with trying and testing the product is lost. So when you test used ger, it is important you know what good looks like, otherwise the test is of no value.
Returns
If it is not possible to test the product, then the first thing to look for is the ability to return the product if it does not match your expectations. This is probably where I have seen the most photographers being disappointed: the product has shortcomings, but it is not possible to return it.
If you are a consumer buying from a professional, then you typically will be protected and allowed to return the goods if it does not match your expectations. You need to check the legislation in your area, but this is the way it is in many countries. So I always buy from a professional vendor where I can return the goods if I want to. Make sure to check the terms and conditions before you buy.
Now, now, now!
The oldest trick in the handbook of a salesman is: put time pressure on the client! Create a sense of urgency! And many salespeople do. My guess is that it works, otherwise they would not do it.
So you may find that you are tempted by an offer that seems like a really good one and the seller tells you it is a one time offer that is exceptional, but you have to make your decision NOW! But as most who have bought on Black Friday know: the offer may not be so special after all.
So my advice is never to buy a product without having followed the prices for some time. This way, you build a baseline and an understanding of the price level before making the purchase. Yes, it is an investment in time and effort, but IMHO it comes back to you when you get an offer that is really exceptional: you know what good looks like, because you know what average looks like.
To sum it up
So the sum of my wisdom (it is short) is:
Plan your purchase. Know what your decision criterias are.
Never rush into that “exceptional offer”. Take your time. Get to know the market. Get to know the price level.
Make sure you can return the goods, especially if you cannot try it.
Be careful buying used if you are not competent to assess the quality of the product – get help if you can from someone independent with the required skill set.
Camera producers know that many consumers look to parameters and arguments that are easy to compare. So a camera with a certain amount of megapixels must be inferior to a camera that has double the megapixels, right? That is at least what the producers want you to think, so you buy a new camera or a new smartphone with better technical specs. But it may not necessarily be so that 24MP is better than 12MP. Let me explain why.
The need for MP
You actually need less MP than you think. Obviously, the more MP and the more resolution on your sensor, the more fine grained the image is and all things equal that must be better, right? Yes and no. Notice what you do when you view an image: instinctively you hold it in a distance so you can take in the entire scene. If you hold it too close, then you feel like you are watching a tennis game: your eyes ping pong all over the place, and it does not feel natural.
You can try this with your TV: If you go very close to it, you can probably spot the individual pixels, but as you move away, it all gels together to lines and curves and colors and shades. So the viewing distance is key to determine how much resolution you need. And the further you move away, the less resolution you actually need! I have not tried this, but the rumors has it that a billboard only has 1-2MP!! So the further away, the less resolution you need!
There are however some situations where lots of resolution can be useful.
Cropping
If you often find that you crop a lot in post processing of your images, then obviously the more MP’s you got, the more you can crop and still have an acceptable number of pixels left for the final image. And the more you have to start with, the more likely it is that the final result has sufficient resolution.
Viewing distance
Sometimes your viewers do not hold a natural viewing distance, simply because they use your image in another way than traditionally. For example I often stand in filled trains with – if not billboards – then large adds, and in those cases I get very close to the ads and hence the resolution needs to be good in order for me not to see a lot of unrelated dots. It can also be an exhibition where the audience find it natural first to view your image from a distance, and then go close to the image to study a detail. Also here the viewing distance is the parameter the necessitates lots of pixels.
Post processing
In some cases when you do post processing of your images, and especially where you use one part of a picture to repair or fill in another part of the image, it can be easier to do if the material is more fine grained when you work zoomed in several hundred percent. Again, it is because your post processing work takes an “unnatural” viewing distance.
How much is enough?
I have with my Nikon D700 (12 MP) printed images in size 70×100 cm and the client was very happy with the result. That is how little you need to print large. So if you just want to print large with a viewing distance, then in most cases 12MP will suffice. Also, if what you primarily do is upload your images to social media, it will undergo a lot of compression etc, so you have no benefit of a higher resolution. But, admitted, it seems like the normal resolution for a good enthusiast camera – both APS-C and FF – is around 24 MP.
Any disadvantage to high MP?
The file size will grow with increasing MPs and your hard disk and computer will feel the weight if you shoot RAW especially. Also, camera shake is more likely, as the fine grained sensors will be super sensitive to even the smallest movements, where there is more forgiveness in a sensor with big and fat pixels. Also, because the light is being hashed up to smaller and smaller units, the exact reading of the amount of light becomes more difficult and precise micro contrast is more difficult to obtain with a high resolution sensor.
Bottom line?
I shoot with anything from 12MP (Nikon D700), 16MP (Nikon D4), 24MP (Nikon Z6ii) to 36MP (Sony A7Rii). And one of my biggest disappointments was to work with the Sony files in LR. I may have had expectations beyond what is reasonable, but I must say that I did not reach the true “nirvana” that I had hoped for.
My experience tells me that it is much more important that you have a great lens that can feed the sensor with the best light possible combined with a sensor able to read the light precisely, than it is to have lots of megapixels. And that is probably why so many photographers in this day and age still hold on the their Nikon D700 coupled with some AI-S glass from back in the days, as it still delivers images with 3D feel and micro contrast far beyond what many more modern and high res sensors can deliver. But it is a complicated message to convey, and not one that makes the marketing headlines easy to make, and hence we will probably continue to see the pixel war continuing for years to come.
There are arguments for and against a fast (or faster lens), and in this short blog I want to go through some of the pro and cons of a fast lens. I will not make a recommendation, as I think the decision is yours as you have to live with the consequences of the choice you make, not me. So I think it is important that the decision stays with the decision maker: you.
Fast versus less fast
One of my favorite lenses: The 135mm DC from Nikkor. Also comes in a 105mm version,
Fast glass is glass that will allow you to go to a small f-stop number i.e. a large aperture. This is also referred to as shooting wide, as the lens’ aperture blades are opening up as wide as they can to make use of all the glass in the lens. When you have fast glass, the glass will allow you to shoot at fast shutter speeds, as the exposure time can be kept down (= fast) because the lens takes in a lot of light.
There is not absolute definition of what fast glass is, but I would say that from around f/2 and wider (say f/1.4 or f/1.2) we are talking very fast glass. And some glass can go down to f/0.95, but when talking Nikon, I believe their fastest glass is the 50mm f/1.2.
One characteristic of fast glass is that the front glass is BIG, and the longer the lens, the bigger it gets. For a short lens like 24mm, you will probably not notice if the glass is f/2.8 or f/2, but the longer the lens gets, the more “crazy” big the front glass gets. You have probably seen bird or wildlife photographers with long, long lenses and crazy big glass at the far end of the lens. They need all the light they can get to freeze a bird in flight with a fast shutter speed.
Weight and size
This brings me to the first point about fast glass: it is heavy, and you will need to be prepared to carry a significant weight if you want to have fast glass. And the longer the lens, the worse it gets. Secondly, the sad observation is that ONLY when you shoot very wide will you benefit from the glass at the edges of the lens – the rest of the time you only use the center part. So if you shoot wide very seldom, you will carry a lot of glass for some very rare occasions. It may not be worth it, if weight is important to you.
Lens design and image quality
I am no expert on lens design, but I have shot with so many different lenses that I can tell that the wider the lens gets, the more difficult it is for lens designers to maintain the good characteristics you see when you are shooting with middle-of-the-road apertures. Lenses wide open often suffer from being soft overall, being extra soft in the corners and if you shoot into the sun or stark contrast, these lenses also tend to suffer from chromatic aberrations to a significant degree. If you are willing to buy an expensive lens, then the lens designers can mitigate these issues, but – as far as I can tell – there is something that makes a fast lens difficult to design with good control of sharpness and aberrations. You can study the MTF chart of the lens to get an idea about how it performs wide open.
Depth of field
Shooting wide gives a wonderful shallow depth of field, and if that is what you are after, then a fast lens can be wonderful. However, be mindful that depth of field is not only a question of aperture, but also distance to the subject. So you can actually get a shallow depth of field if you (zoom out and) move close to your subject. Of course this may not work if you are shooting with a prime, but try it out and see if moving close to your subject will give you the depth of field you seek. Any macro photographer is suffering the opposite issue: even though they are shooting at say f/22, they are so close to the subject that the depth of field is super shallow anyway!
Shooting with a shallow depth of field can give wonderful background blur.
Better sensors
The world moves forward, we get better and better technology, and the image sensors in cameras are no different. Today they can be “starved” with light and still come out with decent results. I think this is both due to the sensors getting better and better, but also because the noise reduction software in the cameras gets more and more advanced and can do computing that is much more advanced than just 10 years ago.
The camera image sensor, here from the Nikon Z50. In a mirrorless camera the sensor is completely exposed when the lens is removed; on a DSLR the sensor is hidden behind a diagonal glass.
I often shoot at ISO 800 with no problem, and I know that I can go higher. So to some extend a modern sensor can compensate for a lens that does not take in much light. And that is why you will see that more and more new lenses are designed with a not-so-impressive maximum aperture. Lens designers prioritize other factors (weight, size, etc) over the speed of the lens.
Price
As you have probably guessed, the price if a fast lens is high, simply because there is more or larger glass involved. You can get fast glass that is not too pricey, but I ask you to study the MTF charts before you invest! You may find that the lens quality wide open is not what you hoped fore. Many lens producers use the speed of the lens as a marketing tool, and hence the engineers are pressured to design a fast lens with the image quality being second to the speed. So learn how to read an MTF diagram, and study it well before you invest.
Psychology
The last thing I want to mention is pure psychology, and maybe not much to do with the images you bring home. But if you can choose between say a f/2.8 lens and a f/4 lens, and you go for the f/4, then every time you come home with an image that suffers from either camera shake or subject blur, you will ask yourself if this was because you did not go with the fastest lens alternative. If you buy the fastest and the best lens of the two, then you have taken out that excuse and know that the issue is due to you and not your gear.
Conclusion
I hope the above was useful. I may just have confused you at a higher level, but I hope you see my point that I really don’t want to make the decision for you. I hope this post has helped you make a (more) informed decision – best of luck!
Back in 1947 Nikon started making lenses and cameras for the F-mount, and even today (September 2021) they make both the lenses and DSLR cameras for this legendary mount. Contrary to Canon, Nikon’s F-mount is to a large extend backwards compatible all the way to the very first lenses.
Z-mount for mirrorless
A few years back Nikon introduced the Z-mount for their mirrorless camera series. The mount is bigger and has a smaller flange distance, which according to Nikon should give better image quality. I think this is most relevant for short lenses as long lenses will angle the light the same way irrespective of the mount size.
The Z-mount is not directly compatible with the F-mount. You need a so called FTZ (F-mount to Z-mount) adaptor to use the F-mount lenses on the mirrorless cameras. More about this later. Nikon is working hard to deliver more and more lenses to their mirrorless cameras and they have a roadmap defined for when what lenses comes out, but currently there are a lot to be desired and at the time of writing this, it is regarded as one of the drawbacks of the Nikon mirrorless cameras.
F-mount History
In very broad terms, Nikon has made 3 types of lenses for the F-mount:
1947: Manual focus (pre-AI, AI and AIS)
1986: Mechanical auto focus (AF and AF-D)
1998: Auto focus with a focus motor built into the lens (AF-S or G-series)
(1) The manual focus lenses of course do not provide any sort of automated focus capabilities; they were designed long before auto-focus technology was invented. So no matter how advanced your camera body is, the manual focus lens will stay manual focus.
(3) The auto focus lenses with a built in motor (AF-S) is the latest and greatest technology for the F-mount. A built in motor enables the focus to work both very fast and very silent as the motor can sit very close to the glass it is moving. It is a engineering masterpiece in terms of space management, as the motor and mechanics has to be squeezed into a very small space.
(2) The mechanical auto focus (AF) is based on a cooperation between your lens and the camera body – it is a very good practical illustration that it takes two to tango: The focus motor sits in the camera body and drives a metal piece that sticks out of the camera body, whereas the glass has a purely mechanical focus drive that links into the motor of the camera body.
The focus motor drives shown here – it goes flush with the lens mount when the switch on the camera body is change from AF to M
The camera body can then via commands to the motor drive the lens glass back and forth. Such glass is typically named AF or AF-D by Nikon.
Mechanical AF
One of the Nikon related questions I get the most often relates to AF glass: Will the auto focus work for this lens? The answer in most cases is yes, but there are a few exceptions: these are what Nikon call the entry level camera bodies in their DSLR setup. The Cameras named D3x00 and D5x00 (e.g. D5600) do not have the focus motor built into them and hence there is no way the camera body can drive the mechanical auto focus. That is why I do not recommend the D3x00 and D5x00 camera bodies. It is not because these cameras are APS-C cameras (i.e. cropped sensors relative to full frame) but because Nikon decided to leave the motors out of these bodies in the expectation that buyers of these bodies were unlikely to buy AF glass. For enthusiast level APS-C cameras such as the D500, D7100, D7200 and D7500 there is a motor in the camera body.
Here is the little screw that drives the mechanical AF. You can actually take a screwdriver and turn the AF yourself to get a feel for how it works!
Unfortunately Nikon did not build an autofocus motor into their mirrorless camera bodies, and hence these share the same fate as the D3x00 and D5x00, i.e. that AF F-mount glass will not yield auto focus. One could have hoped that Nikon would have built the motor into the FTZ adaptor, but so far this has not been the case. We are still many that hope this will come, either from Nikon or a 3rd party provided, but so far (September 2021) no luck! The AF-S series lenses where the motor is built into the lens will work with the FTZ adaptor, and hence some F-mount lenses do give auto focus on a mirrorless camera, but not those with mechanical auto focus.
Distance information
The difference between AF and AF-D lenses is that the -D ones gives distance information as well via the CPU contacts. This helps the more advanced metering options such as the matrix metering to give better results. As a rule of thumb, the AF-D lenses are optically similar to the -D lenses, but there may of course be slight variations for specific lenses.
The Nikkor 35-70 is a classic lens in the AF line-up, and it gives distance information
Lens motor built in or not
Should you buy AF or AF-S glass? It depends very much on your budget and ambitions. AF-S glass is significantly more expensive than the AF glass, but it also works fast and silently, so for e.g. wildlife shooters or video shooters with a microphone close to the lens this could be crucial. Also, AF-S glass will work on a mirrorless camera with a FTZ adaptor, so if your plans are to go mirrorless at a later stage, then the AF-S glass is “future proofed” with autofocus.
AF glass on the other hand is available on say e-Bay for a bargain, and if you buy from a seller with a good reputation (and even factor in import taxes and transportation costs), you will find that you can get glass that is of astonishing quality for a fraction of the price of modern glass. But your camera body needs that AF motor…
Nikon 28-105mm with variable aperture and a macro mode. It is surprisingly light for a zoom lens and the image quality is really good. Only issue is the bad CA and that getting a good copy can be a challenge. AF on this one only works of your camera has a built in AF motor, e.g. AF will not work on the Nikon D5600.
Back to the past…
Glass that is older, i.e. AI, AIS and pre-AI, can also offer price/performance ratios that you will never get close to with modern glass. The further you go back, the more challenges you will face. The pre-AI requires you to modify the lens mount slightly to fit on a modern camera and the older lens constructions often have optical flaws and limited control of flare or distortion etc. So for these lenses you may want to do your homework carefully before buying, check that you don’t mind focusing manually AND make sure to look in the mirror and confirm that you see a vintage lens enthusiast before you buy.
Zoom versus primes
Zooms versus primes is a debate as old as photography itself. Back in the days the primes were clearly more sharp than zooms, as the construction is much simpler and hence easier to make consistent from copy to copy.
Variations between copies from the same production line is a known issue – Nikon has always been good at managing this, especially for lenses “made in Japan”, but the wear and tear on any lens can deteriorate performance, no matter how perfect it was when it left the production line.
More modern lenses have clearly proved that zooms are at level with primes, so I think that most AF-S zoom lenses can be considered as sharp as a prime. But the zoom still has two major disadvantages: weight and price. And if a zoom has to cover a large range, it becomes difficult for the lens designers to maintain a constant maximum aperture – here the (short) prime often makes mincemeat of the longer zoom lenses.
So if low weight and small size is important to you, then a prime may be the way to go. Also, a prime can be a true challenge as you impose a limitation that the zoom does not, and that limitation can spark some creativity that you did not know you possessed! And both weight and cost wise, you can “afford” two primes in the camera bag (say a 24mm and a 50mm) and still be below the price of a zoom to cover the same range.
I shoot both mirrorless and DSLRs and enjoy both of them. But there are differences, and in this post I want to share how I see them, and give you advantages of both types of cameras. My DSLRs are the Nikon D750, D700 and D5600, whereas my mirrorless are the Sony A7Rii, Fuji X-T3 and X-T20.
Nikon D700 in the background, Fuji X-T3 in front
Where mirrorless is better
Viewfinder options. The electronic viewfinder (EVF) gives some options for combining camera metrics and the traditional viewfinder in one screen, where the DSLR primarily gives the view through the lens, and allows a bit of data to be displayed beneath. The EVF can show you what hits the sensor alongside with vital metrics like the histogram , just to give one example, and the DSLR has no chance to do so, other than in live view mode.
Autofocus. The autofocus capabilities of a modern mirrorless are nothing but astonishing. It is probably debatable if the software in the camera is artificial intelligence or just very powerful software, but the result it delivers cannot be disputed. With continuous software updates the manufacturers can push new and better software to do face recognition and eye detection, and the recent Fuji X-T3 software update is a brilliant example of the progress made. Also, there is typically no limitation to where you can put the focus point for single point focus – on a DSLR that is more or less limited to the center of the frame.
Exposure preview. If you, like me, shoot at lot in manual mode, the exposure preview in the EVF is a huge help. What you see in the viewfinder emulates exactly the picture you will take when you hit the shutter, so if your settings underexpose the picture, your viewfinder shows a dark picture. I know that a DSLR has a metering scale that says the same, but I am often so occupied with looking at the subject, framing, etc that I forget to look at the meter. The “warning” that you get from the EVF has saved me some frustrations more than once.
Shooting with old manual focus lenses. The fact that the EVF allows you to zoom what you see in the viewfinder, is a huge benefit to manual focus, and this in combination with focus peak points makes manual focus on a mirrorless so much easier than a DSLR. In fact, these features in combination with a dumb adaptors, makes it possible to use vintage lenses from various brands on any mirrorless camera. So the huge amount of cheap but high quality vintage glass available has suddenly been brought to new life due to the features of the mirrorless camera bodies.
Silence. Maybe a specialized feature, but you can shoot absolutely silent with a mirrorless camera. No moving parts when you hit the shutter, if you switch on the electronic “curtain”. It is a very strange feeling when you try it first time, and I have my camera simulate the sound of a DSLR to give me feedback that a picture was taken. But I can see that wedding photographers taking the “I do” picture or the discrete street photographer enjoying the stealth mode of their mirrorless cameras.
Video capabilities. The mirrorless cameras get more and more computing power and this also makes it possible to process more and more resolution and frames per second. We have seen 1080p grow to 4K and 8K, the bit depth increases and the max frames per second also seems to double every second year. And this technology is primarily available in mirrorless, with the Nikon D780 being the exception to this rule. So demanding hybrid shooters probably only look towards mirrorless when choosing a camera these days.
Where DSLRs are better
The optical viewfinder (OVF). No matter how good they make the electronic viewfinder (EVF), it will never be as good and as fast as the optical one. There is no lag at all, and what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG). On the EVF, you are watching TV. Modern EVFs are fast and have a lot of resolution, but it will never be as fast and as high resolution as the real deal.
The battery life. Provided you don’t shoot in live view, the advantage of the DSRL is that it doesn’t have to fire up and power a TV screen (the EVF) that drains a lot of power. So the battery life of a DSLR is much longer than the mirrorless. You probably want to get a vertical grip for your mirrorless alone for the reason that it holds one or more extra batteries to compensate for the fact that a mirrorless chews your batteries like packman chews coins.
Ergonomics. I am of the opinion that a camera should either be so small you can carry and operate it with 3 fingers (like the Sony RX100) or so big and bulky that it fills your hand and has a good grip, like the Nikon D700. Anything in between is a mistake. Both Fuji X-T20, X-T3 and Sony A7Rii are unfortunately in the “in between” zone, and for all I have had to buy battery grips, not for the sake of more battery power, but to give me just decent ergonomics. I think it is fine that the body is more slim and the weight is a bit lower than on a DSLR, but please give me ergonomics like the good old DSLRs!
Price. DSLRs have been around for many years, and a good guesstimate is that more than 95% of the cameras out there today (October 2020) are DSLRs. And many cameras produced today are still DSLRs. So if you want to buy used or make a good deal on a black Friday, you will get much more camera for your money when it comes to DSLRs than a mirrorless. I am a big advocate for the Nikon D700, and although dated and only a 12MP camera, it produces absolutely amazing pictures and can be found for 400 EUR (used of course). And with a bit of luck, your copy will not be too beaten up and has a shutter count with plenty actuations left still. Be aware that the camera manufacturers stop producing spare parts after some years (how many varies) so eventually it will be difficult to have your trusty DSLR repaired.
What should you choose?
Camera choice comes down to personal preferences. You need a shoe that fits your foot. You cannot assume that because I like a certain shoe, that it will suit you. Feet and preferences are different. And so are photographers.
That said, I think that photographers shooting things that move fast like sports and wildlife will enjoy the AF features a mirrorless provides. But on the other hand the Nikon D500 (a DSLR) still has one of the best and fastest AF systems any camera can offer.
People photographers (wedding, portrait, friends/family) may enjoy the AF capabilities of the mirrorless, especially face detection and eye detection, to maximize the number of pictures in focus. It is a big relief that you can focus on other things than obtaining focus, and once you have gotten used to this comfort, I think it is hard to turn back.
Hybrid shooters will enjoy the evolution of the video capabilities in the mirrorless cameras. But a Go-Pro camera can also do astonishing things if your zoom/lens requirements are not too advanced, so a better option could be a cheap DSLR with a Go-Pro on the side.
And just to round off with a bit of perspective: Many of the pictures that are classic and that you probably have seen and admired many times, were made with technology far less advanced than the camera in your smartphone! Choosing a good camera body is vital, but subject, scene, colors, light, timing and composition are even more important. So maybe your good old DSLR is not so bad after all.
Memory cards do fail. It is as simple as that. But they do so very seldom, in fact very, very seldom. But it can happen, and therefore, with so many memory cards out there, it will happen.
Dual card slots on the Fuji X-T3
I have 5 cameras, shoot in the vicinity of 30.000 pictures a year (RAW format), and have never had a memory card fail on me. But you cannot use the past to predict what will happen in the future – the probability of a card failing on you is bigger than zero. It is as simple as that. It will happen, maybe not to you this year, but it will happen to someone this year.
So do you need dual card slots? It comes down to your risk profile. Most wedding or event photographers turn pale thinking about the conversation they will have with the client, when it turns out that some or all the pictures are lost. So many pros will be very risk adverse and demand dual card slots. And for a good reason: resilience is the cure.
For happy enthusiasts the situation may be a bit different. It is not necessarily a catastrophe if your pictures are lost, and that in combination with the paper thin likelihood of a card failure, leads many to settle for a camera with only one card slot. And the camera producers know this, and save some money making most camera models with only one card slot. And you can make your own version of resilience, and bring two 1-card-slot cameras where you alter between the two throughout the day – not as resilient as two cameras with two cards slots, but a lot better than only one 1-card-slot camera.
So my answer to the question is as annoying as when you ask your bank advisor for investment advice: the first thing they ask for is your risk profile. But it is really what it comes down to. With this reservation, my answer without knowing your risk profile is yes if you are a pro and probably not if you are an enthusiast.
Further, to preserve your data, you probably do backup the pictures on your PC to some alternate form of storage. But remember that it is not only the data that needs duplication to make a good backup, it is also the location. I once worked in a company that carefully did backup of their servers every night. Only to find that thieves one night ran with both the servers and the backup drives. So make sure that your backups are at a different location than the original, to counter both theft and fire. Cloud based backup solutions fulfill these requirements, so please factor this in next time you are to choose between a physical backup drive or a cloud based ditto.
Thank you for reading this far! Comments and questions more than welcome!
I lost my beloved Nikon D7500 in a salt water accident some years back. I was walking on some slippery stones on the beach, and suddenly lost grip and stumbled and fell! In order to support myself, I had to use both hands, but one of my hands held my D7500! So for a fraction of a second I had to dip my camera into salt water – and that was the end of it. Tried to save it with lots of TLC, but it was dead. Salt water kills your electronics with astonishing speed and efficiency!
So I learned the hard way that a camera strap is key, and I got one immediately. But did not like it. So I got another one. But did not like it. You get the picture.
I ended up with this leash strap from Peak Design. I am not sponsored by Peak Design, but have affiliate links to their products below, as I find they are a very good solution. The leash model is depicted here:
The Nikon D750 and the camera strap model leash from Peak Design.
It is a very thin strap, and I would not recommend it to heavy cameras like the Nikon D700 with say a 180mm vintage lens, as this package is more than 2.5 kilo and the thin strap would cut into your neck and shoulder unless wintertime with lots of insulation between you and the strap. But for most cameras this strap is more than wide enough. good news is that Peak Design makes their straps in different widths and for my D700 I have chosen a much wider strap, that uses the same anchor mounts as the thin one.
The strap is really easy and fast to adjust in length in both sides using the mechanism depicted below. You simply lift the black strap and adjust the length, let go again and the length is adjusted:
This system makes adjusting the length of the strap easy!
And finally the strap can be detached from the camera real quick by a simple but safe mechanism where you push a button like mechanism and the strap and the anchor mount can be detached. It looks fragile but is not – according to Peak Design, the strap can take a load up to 90 kilos!
The release mechanism in the Peak Design leash strap.
Although I am a strong advocate of having a camera strap, I equally much enjoy to work with my cameras at home without a strap. So the release mechanism has served me well, and it also enables you to share the same strap amongst different cameras if need be.
The lineup of Nikon cameras is indeed overwhelming and especially with the introduction of the mirrorless cameras, the number of choices has increased and you may find it is even more confusing. Despair not – I will give you my overview of the DSLR enthusiast cameras, to help you make an informed decision choosing a camera body.
The two entry level cameras here in 2020 is the D3500 and D5600. I have had the please of owning a D5600 for a few years, but sold it to upgrade my gear. I found the D5600 to be a very good camera, but for me these two cameras have one big drawback: the lack of a built in AF motor. This means that the huge collection of auto focus (AF) Nikon vintage glass out there only works with manual focus. Not that I mind manual focus, but I also like the comfort of AF.
The so called mid-range cameras D7100 and D7200 are probably the cameras where I have seen most posts from people loving and defending these two cameras. Although both APS-C cameras and no longer in production, the fans of these two models seems almost to have an emotional attachment to the cameras that I cannot really explain. This is probably why the follow-up camera, the D7500 is the camera many love to hate. I have never owned a D7100 or D7200, but I did own a D7500 and absolutely loved it. It is a very good all-round camera, and although I cannot prove it, I think some of the explanation stems from the relatively modern EXPEED processor that sits in the camera. Unfortunately I lost that camera in a salt water accident, and that is why I today am one of the strongest advocates for camera straps, so you have 2 hands free to support yourself if you suddenly stumble and – almost – fall!
Like both the D3500, D5600, D7100, D7200 and D7500, the D500 is an APS-C (cropped sensor) camera. It is a little unusual, as the 4 character (Dx00) name is usually reserved full frame cameras. But the D500 probably earned its position amongst the 4-characters because it is a top level camera, targeted at the sports and wildlife photographers. Even today in 2020 and despite it being a DSLR with a mirror flipping and all, the D500 is still considered one of the best enthusiast level cameras for shooting many frames per second with a blazing fast auto focus.
The D600 and D610 are the entry level full frame cameras. Nikon calls full frame for FX and although I have never owned a D610, I have the feeling that Nikon here made a camera where the only premium about it is the sensor size and resolution. So I have stayed clear of the D610 and recommend you do the same, and instead look at the Nikon D750 (they are both 24 MP cameras). To me the Nikon D750 with a superior AF system borrowed from the much more expensive D810 is a gift to anyone (like me) that loves shooting in low light situations. The D750 can literally see in the dark. And the all round features of the D750 has made this the wedding photographers work horse, if not as the prime camera, then as a solid backup. You can read about my reasons for selecting the D750 back in 2018 here: https://frederikboving.com/why-i-chose-the-nikon-d750-dslr-in-2018-for-stills
The D750 has today been replaced by the D780, a camera that probably shows that Nikon has understood that 98% of the Nikon cameras in circulation are DSLRs with F-mount lenses, and if they want to sell new bodies to photographers with Nikon glass, they need to continue to produce and develop DSLRs for some time still.
With the D750 and the D700 we are in the class that Nikon calls the high end. Back in 2008 when the D700 camera was released, it was probably the best enthusiast cameras available. You can read my blog about the D700 here: https://frederikboving.com/the-legendary-nikon-d700-still-relevant-in-2020/ – This camera has an extremely loyal fan base and I count myself one of them. Although “only” a 12MP sensor, the camera has many other features that has established a solid fan base: the build quality of the camera, the low price (no longer in production, can be bought used), the fact that the camera can go on and on far beyond the max promised shutter count by Nikon, that the in camera image processing renders pictures with colors and especially skin tones like no other camera ever since, etc. The down sides of this camera is that it is heavy, bulky, has no video recording capabilities and the resolution puts limits to the cropping you can do. And it is difficult to find a good not-too-beaten-up copy here in 2020. But many enthusiasts love this camera and say that even though they have moved on to other cameras, this one is still something special.
With the D800/D810/D850 we are at the top of the line when we talk Nikon enthusiast DSLRs. If you want more, then we move into the professional line, the D4, D4S, D5 and so on. But as enthusiast the D850 is the dream camera. A monster with a 45MP sensor and the embodiment of all Nikons experience gathered in one camera. Even today with mirrorless entering the scene and Sony making a big push to enter the scene, many photographers still think of the D850 as the best enthusiast camera ever made. It is big and bulky, the sensor is 45MP and many don’t need that resolution at all. But if you do, this camera should definitely be on your short list. The predecessors D800(e) and D810 are also good cameras, although recalls and some criticism of the color rendition from some reviewers, has at least made me stay clear of these cameras and focus my “cameras-I-cannot-afford” attention to the D850.
If you dream about going mirrorless, then Nikon offers for example the full frame Z6 and Z7. It seems to me they are the equivalent of the D750 and D850. The big drawback is that the Z cameras do have a new lens mount, and you need a so called FTZ adapter to allow you to use F-mount glass on your Z series camera. And you will not get the mechanical lenses to work with auto focus, as there is no AF motor built into the camera or the adapter. So you are left with manual focus, unless you have some more modern glass, where the AF motor is built into the lens (like the G series). So for this reason I am still sitting on the fence a bit when it comes to the Z cameras. My collection of vintage glass with seems to drift towards manual focus anyhow, so the lack of an AF motor is less and less of an issue for me, but the size of the issue depends on how important AF is to you.
Thank you for reading this far! Please don’t hesitate to drop a question or comment – I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Photography gear is expensive. Maybe not as expensive as gear for playing golf, but close. The list of gear required seems endless (camera, lenses, bags, straps, grips, light, flashes, tripods, backdrops, stands, etc) and the photography gear industry keeps pushing new products on the markets that is better that the previous generation; higher, faster, longer…
All this meets your limited budget. Unless you are Rockefeller or one of the original investors in Apple, you – like me – is on a limited budget to optimize within. But do not despair – there is hope. The good news is that you can get started with good gear without breaking the bank. All it takes is a bit of thinking on your side – and a few tips from someone who has learned to optimize the hard way (that would be me!).
A lot of time we are driven by emotions: it feels really good to unbox a brand new piece of camera equipment and know that no one before you has used this gear. And flashing the latest camera model on the local cafe while sipping a cafe latte may feel great, but it comes at a price. So if you want to get the max bang for your buck, you will need to think more and feel less. It is not sexy. But being on a budget seldom is.
Know yourself
This is probably as boring as it gets, but it is my best advice: know yourself as a photographer. When I was brand new to photography, I was really struggling to understand what type of photography I would be doing, i.e. would it be: Friends and family, portraits, landscapes, astro photography, still life, products, lay flats, events (weddings, birthdays), sports and action, wildlife, video, etc
If you are new to photography, you may be struggling to figure out what you will be shooting. I did. I took a major detour around birds photography, including buying a long and very expensive lens, before I realized that this was not for me. I was not good at it, and most importantly: I did not enjoy it.
The reason why it is important to know what you will be shooting is that it drives the requirements to the gear. If you are shooting sports and wildlife and other fast moving subjects, then auto focus and frames per second is ABSOLUTELY vital. If you are shooting landscapes, you probably could not care less. So paying for gear that has great auto focus capability when you are a landscape photographer is money out the window. You are paying for functionality you do not need. You want to spend your money on functions and features that are important to you.
So write down a list of things that are important to you. And make the list prioritized. What can you cave in on, i.e. what is only nice to have? What is absolutely need-to-have? Try lending or borrowing gear aimed at a specific type of photography, and see if it works for you.
Buy dated
Have you ever noticed that from time to time, the car producers suddenly seem to be very friendly and sell you their cars with lots of extras at almost no additional costs? Are they being friendly? Of course not, it is business as usual. They have a new model coming. Everybody knows it. The car reviewers have already been test driving the new model, you have probably been reading about it and everybody wants the new version with the new improved design and features. But what about the car factory? They still produce the old car for some time while this is going on – how are they to continue to sell a model that everybody knows is about to be replaced with a new one? The answer is to pump the last copies of the old version that leaves the factory with lots of extras, and sell them at the same price as before. So you can make a good deal, provided the prestige of having the latest model is not your thing.
When you are on a budget, you cannot afford prestige. It is as simple as that. The sooner you accept this fact, the faster you can start to optimize your budget. Yes, the manufacturers will argue that the latest version of their camera now shoots x+2 frames per second, where the previous version “only” shot x. And they are right. It is an improvement. But check the list of things that are important to you: is the improved features important to you?
The camera manufacturers know that a lot will simply buy the latest version of their camera by default – wealthy enthusiasts, prosumers and professionals that can optimize their workflow with the improved features. So they set the intro price to skim the market. This is not where you want to be, if you are on a budget. Wait. The price will drop, both on the new version and on the previous. Not to mention the version 2 or 3 generations back.
This brings me to the second advice I have for you on a budget: never buy the latest version – always buy dated. Go as far back as you can in terms of versions, looking at the list of things that are important to you. Be careful not to cave in on your requirements – you will regret it, but try to see if there is an (older) camera model that meets your requirements still. You will save a lot of money, and still get what you are after.
Buy used
Buying used is not fun in my opinion – I love the unboxing of something brand new and the feeling that I touch something (almost) as the first in the world. But it is an expensive feeling to say the least!
Buying used also introduces a risk, that the goods you get are not in perfect condition. You may not know the history of what you are buying – has the camera or lens had a rough life? How many years are left in the gear when you get it? Is there a scratch in the lens or maybe fungus? And so on. But if you buy via your local photo shop (yes, they often have used gear along with brand new gear) or buy via the big e-channels like e-bay and amazon, then you have options to make complaints and return the goods if you are not satisfied with your purchase. Check the specific conditions in your case. And go for the vendors that have good ratings – they probably want to continue to have good ratings, i.e. they don’t want you to be an unhappy customer.
So buying used via a “serious” channel mitigates the risk of buying used gear. That said, my third advice to you on a budget is: buy used if at all possible. I have bought MANY used vintage lenses on e-bay and amazon, and trust me, you will get the hang of it after a few purchase. I find that especially lenses and vintage lenses are a great way to save money – you get lenses of a quality you could never afford from new, if you look carefully you will get a lens that is as good as it was when it was brand new and you can probably later sell the lens via e-bay again, should you grow tired of it.
Garage sales or flee markets is another source of used gear. The advantage here is that you are not necessarily dealing with a professional salesperson, i.e. they do not know the true value of the gear they are selling. I have heard of many who have bought vintage lenses for a few dollars, pretending that they were interested in the camera the the lens sat on! There are made millions of copies of great lenses the last 50-60 years and many of those probably sit in a garage sale or flea market somewhere, waiting for you to pick it up!
Study the market
Dad jokes aside, study the market to see if you can find the sweet spot. All things being equal, the more you invest, the better gear you most likely will get, but the investment has diminishing returns. It is like when the farmer adds fertilizer to the soil – at some point the effect starts to decline. In the beginning you will get a lot of extra for adding a dollar more, after adding many dollars, an additional dollar has little effect. That is probably why there are more Volkswagen than Bentleys out there.
Speaking of studying the market, if you have zoomed in on a certain product that you consider buying, make sure to study reviews. And not just one or two. Study MANY reviews. Both those on Youtube and those in writing. You will be surprised how many opinions there are out there. And how much peoples opinion differ – probably because their list of priorities differ. And you will quickly learn which channels are systematic and serious and which are more entertaining. So take your time to study the market and use many sources. No hasty decisions – there will be a new black Friday coming up. Informed decisions are the best.
What is available today is amazing!
You may feel that you are missing out on a lot of new features like faster auto focus, more megapixels and so on. But find comfort in the fact that almost all the picture that are famous today (like the ones from Henri Cartier-Bresson) were taken with cameras and gear that is nowhere near the technical capabilities of a 3-4 year old camera on the market today. So unless you are in the photography game for technical reasons and like to get hold of all the engineering behind the modern camera, you will find that you can take some absolutely astonishing and great pictures with a 5 or even 10 years old camera. If you don’t believe me, try googling for blogs about the Nikon D700. I have never owned such a camera, but those who have absolutely love it and often claim that – if they have sold it – it was the best camera they ever had and that they regret to have sold it every day since.
What no camera manufacturer will ever tell you, and most youtubers seldom, is this: all the cameras on the market today are good cameras! Why? If a really bad camera came out, the word would spread on social media with lightening speed, and sales would decline almost immediately. So if a camera manages to “hang in there” and get a crowd of happy users, it is probably because it is not doing too bad!
The Nikon D5600. A really good APS-C camera that I can recommend to anyone that is new to photography.
So find comfort in the fact that the camera that you may already have is not so bad at all! Also, the speed by which product manufacturers push new models to the market has increased dramatically over the last 10 years, so only those that do reviews of cameras and maybe professionals that really need the latest features of a new camera to optimize their workflow, have a rational need for the latest generation of a camera. The rest of us are just will do fine with a camera that is 2-3 years old, like the Nikon D5600 in the picture above. It is a DSLR (not mirrorless), it is not the latest and greatest and it has been around for some time. But it is a very solid performer, you can get one at a very fair price (especially used) and it will probably serve you for many years with good pictures. You can see the conclusion from the dpreview of the D5600.
Try before you buy
You will be surprised how much you can learn about a camera just holding it and using it for a few minutes. It tells a lot more than reading many reviews, although I also recommend you do that.
So if at all possible, see if you can get your hands on the gear you want to buy without buying it. See if your local camera store, friends / family or the camera club / association in your area can give you hands-on access to whatever you are in the market for. In my experience, ergonomics is one of the areas that matter the most after you have owned the camera for a while. Image quality is of course king, but if you don’t like the ergonomics or the viewfinder is annoying or the camera too heavy, then this will bug you more and more as time progresses.
No matter how many reviews you study, the moment of truth is when you start to use a camera or a lens or a tripod or whatever. That is when you know it is the right one for you. Especially gear where ergonomics is vital is difficult to assess based on a written review or a Youtube video.
Sell your old gear if not in use
When you have been into photography for a little while, you probably will find that there is some gear you use all the time, and some gear less so. And maybe even some gear that you do not use at all! Yes, it happens. I know it is not a nice feeling to “sell an old friend”, but if that old friend has been lying around for months without being used, maybe it is time to say goodbye? And make some other photographer a happy with a good purchase? And give you (partial) funding for a new investment?
If you have some gear that you think you are not using, but not ready to let go of, put it in a dedicated box, write on the box when you did so and let time pass. If you after say 6 months find that you have never opened the box or missed the gear in the box – maybe that is then the time to let go of the content of the box?
I recently sold my Nikon D5600. It was my first DSLR. It was not a nice process to initiate. But a few weeks after the sale, it actually felt good. The “camera in the drawer” was actually a mental burden, and now I am happy to know that it has found good use with a new owner.
If all of us gets the “gear in the drawer” out on amazon or e-bay, then we also contribute to the options available for all us shooting on a budget. So in my mind it makes a lot of sense to sell the gear you don’t use, both for the benefit of you personally and the photo community.
See what you already got in a new light!
I have said this many times in some of the videos on my channel, but I am happy to repeat it here: study the manual of your gear! I know it is boring and not many do it, but you may find that the gear you already got has the features you think you are missing! You can also try to study reviews of the camera and lenses you have – you may learn something new about your gear and see what you have from a new angle! Many cameras can do much more than the average user knows about – often we just get a “drivers license”, i.e. a minimum skill set to operate the camera, but it can do so much more than that. So if you miss something like bulb mode or the like, start out with the manual!
Many photographers start out with an APS-C (cropped) sensor camera and make their first system camera shooting experiences with such one. And with good results. But as you dive more and more into the photography universe and all the gear debate, you unlikely come across the big question: what sensor size is right for you?
The full frame (FF) name comes from the fact that the sensor size on full frame is the same as good old analogue 35 mm film negative from back in the days when photography wasn’t digital at all. A cropped sensor (APS-C) is a tad smaller and the micro four thirds is even smaller than that. To confuse things even more, an even bigger sensor size is now starting to gain a larger market share, the medium size format. So there is plenty to choose from.
The Nikon D750 is one of the most popular cameras Nikon has ever made. Full frame, but at 24 MP the resolution is at par with many APS-C cameras.
What attracts you to full frame (FF)?
When I upgraded from my Nikon D5600/D7500 (APS-C) to D750 (FF) it was for 2 reasons (1) curiosity and (2) I had to see the improvement for myself. Retrospectively I can say that the difference is not as big as you may think. And it is expensive to switch all your glass! Only some glass from APS-C can be used on FF and often with some vignetting, although the mount may be the same and the lens hence fits fine irrespective of sensor size. So be prepared to invest in a new lineup of lenses if you make the leap from APS-C to FF. Good news if you are a Nikon or Canon shooter is that there is plenty of vintage glass out there so you can upgrade your glass collection at a fraction of the cost compared to buying new glass. But it is still a significant investment, especially if you insist on prime lenses and need to cover the full range of focal lengths.
Many will probably be surprised to learn that the APS-C sensor size only makes up 42% of the FF sensor, i.e. the FF sensor is more than 2 times larger than APS-C.
Put the question upside down!
If you want to understand what FF will give you compared to APS-C, you could look at it the other way and ask: what will a downgrade from APS-C to micro four thirds take away from me? As far as I can tell, not much. Portrait photographer Joe Edelman has made the shift, and so has the British landscape photographer James Popsys. None of them seem to miss anything, and they are happy that their gear and especially lenses weighs a lot less after they made the switch. So what is it with FF that is so attractive to some? Lets look at 3 arguments in favor of FF.
Low light performance (1/3)
One of the areas where FF shines is in terms of low light performance. The fact that the sensor is simply bigger dictates that it can pick up more light all things equal, i.e. that the APS-C and FF has the same pixel count.
Further, provided you compare sensors with the same pixel count, the larger sensor gives space for larger pixels and hence each pixel can attract more light. And all this points to better signal to noise ratio. This may sound very technical, but it simply means that the larger sensor is better at picking up the image then there is very little light.
If you are a portrait photographer like Joe Edelman using flashes left, right and center, this means very little, as flashes makes sure there is plenty of light. But if you shoot in low light situations where a flash would ruin the mood, like a restaurant, then the low light performance is key. So the dynamic range of your FF camera is typically better than it is for APS-C or micro four thirds.
Notice that the dynamic range is not the same as the ISO range. The ISO is simply a factor that is multiplied to the sensor reading, so an impressive ISO range simply means that your camera can multiply the sensor readings with a large number!
Background blur (2/3)
Another area where FF is often praised to be better than APS-C is when it comes to background blur or the separation of the subject and the background. Although this is true, you can get much of the same simply increasing the distance between your subject and the background. Or shooting with a more shallow depth of field. But there is no doubt FF has the upper hand here.
Some argue – and this is a long debate with many viewpoints – that the aperture is also to be multiplied with the crop factor, and hence you would also need a smaller (faster) aperture on the APS-C camera to get the same aperture effect (DOF / background blur) on an APS-C as you would for full frame. As far as I have been able to test, this is true, but most compare likes for likes only with regards to focal length and not aperture, and hence the short version is often that FF has more background blur and that the glass is heavier.
Curiosity and one excuse less… (3/3)
When I upgraded from APS-C to FF, the main driver was not so much the arguments in favor of FF, but rather that I was curious. I had read tons of articles, blogs and reviews explaining the difference between the two, but I had to see it with my own eyes. If you are like me, maybe the best and cheapest way forward is simply to rent or borrow a FF camera and get your curiosity satisfied. Then that itch is out of the way and you can see clearly again.
The other thing I wanted to achieve was one excuse less. Although not very rational, I often blamed the gear when my pictures disappointed me. Now I have one excuse less. This is of course a completely silly and irrational argument, but the more excuses you take out of the equation, the more the truly determining factor remains: the photographer.
The price to pay
Besides the obvious investment in a new camera body, you will also have to invest in glass that covers the full frame sensor. If you have a lot of APS-C glass already, this could mean that you need to change your entire lineup of glass. Further, if you are a photographer on the move, be prepared to carry more weight. The glass is more heavy.
Another thing you loose when you move to FF is the lack of cropping. The smaller sensor size on the APS-C means that a 200 mm lens is suddenly a 300 mm lens. Wonderful when you are a sports and wildlife photographer. So with FF you will need to buy longer lenses to get the same reach as APS-C. And I can assure you that long FF lenses are very expensive.
Should you shift to FF?
As you have maybe picked up from the above, I am not a strong advocate for FF cameras from a rational point of view. I think APS-C cameras are often wonderful (I love my Fuji X-T3) and with modern sensor and processor technology, the gap between FF and APS-C in my opinion has declined rapidly the recent years.
Further, what no camera manufacturer will tell you is this: You probably have a great camera! Most of the cameras that are out there in the market today are great, because they have been reviewed by thousands of bloggers and youtuber’s and passed the test. If they had not, the gear would not sell and the manufacturer would have pulled the product out of the market instantly. The transparency the internet has created is fantastic – and terrifying if your product is less-than-great. Camera manufacturers will blow new features and improvements out of proportions in the marketing of their latest model. They do not make any money if you buy used vintage glass on e-bay. So remember to scale down the excitement the next time you see a manufacturer marketing a new version of a auto focus system or image stabilization system. The previous camera was probably also great.
Finally, many of the photographs that are iconic today have been taken with camera gear that by today’s standards are classic, vintage, old-fashioned, out-of-date, dated, etc. So go figure: how come the best pictures have been taken with so primitive gear? The answer is: the photographer makes the difference. You.
Fan Ho or Henri Cartier-Bresson did not worry about their gear as far as I know. They worried about taking good pictures. And maybe we should learn from the masters. Happy shooting!
Questions and comments
Thank you for reading this far. I hope you found this blog useful. Questions and comments (and likes!) are more than welcome!
