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Author Topic: Equipment - High End vs Low to Mid End  (Read 6372 times)

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tab62

« on: March 24, 2011, 10:06 »
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Hi Stock Folks,

How many of you feel that a High end camera (ie Canon Mark IV) with top notch glass is a huge advantage over say someone like me using the rebel t2? I few of my friends have spent 15K to 25K on camera equipment and don't even do commercial or any other type of sales- they just want to have the best for their hobby of taking photos. Heck one of my friends trip-pod cost more than my camera and lens! I often wondered if I had this camera would my results be better- I feel maybe but lighting, composition and photo development skills are at least 50% or more of the game in my eyes. I guess what I am asking is where is the best place to invest my hard earn cash and time to truly reap the benefits of being somewhat successful in this stock world?

Thanks.


Tom


« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2011, 10:52 »
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you have more than enough camera, 18MP you can get XXL on Fotolia and IS, you just need some lighting equipment and perhaps a nice tripod if you are going to do studio studio (objects, food, etc..)

I got a D90 and a cheap tripod (really cheap one not going to even talk about it eheh) you just need to focus on photography, shooting weak, better, whatever, shoot! :)

I use mainly a cheap 50mm nikkor lens

digitalexpressionimages

« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2011, 11:29 »
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The advantage of a high end camera is in things like low noise at high ISO, sturdy construction which includes a sealed body to keep dust and moisture out and of course rocking image quality. The glass is also critical unless you can constantly shoot in the sweet spot of a cheap lens. There's a reason top of the line lenses cost more. You get more.

As far as studio stuff a tripod is important but I don't have lights. I have a flash, reflector and a window with excellent diffused light most of the afternoon. Angle the flash to bounce off the reflector and you have a great key and fill light set up. I shoot with longer exposures using a remote shutter release sometimes to get the great, isolated white background images that seem so popular.

You can get great studio stuff with some ingenuity but i won't compromise on the camera or the lenses.

« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2011, 12:06 »
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Some people will tell you its about the Camera other will say its about the image. I've stuck with one rule for over 20 years, buy what you can afford then learn how to use it.

sc

« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2011, 12:57 »
0
Hi Stock Folks,

How many of you feel that a High end camera (ie Canon Mark IV) with top notch glass is a huge advantage over say someone like me using the rebel t2? I few of my friends have spent 15K to 25K on camera equipment and don't even do commercial or any other type of sales- they just want to have the best for their hobby of taking photos. Heck one of my friends trip-pod cost more than my camera and lens! I often wondered if I had this camera would my results be better- I feel maybe but lighting, composition and photo development skills are at least 50% or more of the game in my eyes. I guess what I am asking is where is the best place to invest my hard earn cash and time to truly reap the benefits of being somewhat successful in this stock world?

Thanks.

Tom

That's the whole game.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2011, 13:07 »
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As above, but what gear you buy depends on what you want to shoot. I think you get what you what you need NOW and are careful about what you add as you develop. I'm not as bad as many for buying stuff, but I've bought stuff highly recommended by others that I never use. I've also bought stuff I thought I'd use for new things I thought I'd like to photograph, then didn't follow it up, or got bored very quickly.
If you've got the money, fine; but you can also do fine with basic good enough equipment.
I changed that because some very 'basic' equipment can get you into trouble with artifacting etc.
« Last Edit: March 24, 2011, 13:08 by ShadySue »

tab62

« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2011, 13:36 »
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I have notice some purple or yellow fringing around my objects when I zoom in at 100% during my pre-inspection of the stock photos on my my Canon 17-55 IS lens. Usually the Lens filter in CS5 fixes it but I've been to consider using primes instead such as the 35 mm. I guess the bigger the range the most risk of this type of issues...

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2011, 14:26 »
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I have notice some purple or yellow fringing around my objects when I zoom in at 100% during my pre-inspection of the stock photos on my my Canon 17-55 IS lens. Usually the Lens filter in CS5 fixes it but I've been to consider using primes instead such as the 35 mm. I guess the bigger the range the most risk of this type of issues...
Again, if primes work for what you like to do, why not?
A prime is one of these things people said I really 'ought' to have, but I never use.

« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2011, 14:33 »
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Some people will tell you its about the Camera other will say its about the image. I've stuck with one rule for over 20 years, buy what you can afford then learn how to use it.


Best advice so far IMO

If you are not earning enough to buy more things then you have to learn to use what you already have.  There are some really great shots made with some pretty simple equipment.

For bang for buck, primes are the way to go.  I feel they also encourage creativity as you are forced to compose with your feet (walking around) instead of standing in a single place and zooming.  Primes are cheaper because they are easier to make and offer better quality due to fewer parts inside the lens.  If you don't have the 50mm 1.8 it should be on your shopping list.  Then a reflector of some type.  An official photography reflector or a sun shade reflector thing for a car :)

« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2011, 14:38 »
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I have notice some purple or yellow fringing around my objects when I zoom in at 100% during my pre-inspection of the stock photos on my my Canon 17-55 IS lens. Usually the Lens filter in CS5 fixes it but I've been to consider using primes instead such as the 35 mm. I guess the bigger the range the most risk of this type of issues...
Again, if primes work for what you like to do, why not?
A prime is one of these things people said I really 'ought' to have, but I never use.

I have a 100mm prime and I love it, but the lens I shoot with the most is a 28-135mm Canon.

I think some people can shoot great pictures with a low- to mid-end camera and equipment, if they know how to use it properly and light properly, and I think some people who can afford the most expensive gear out there need to take a few lessons. So I agree with the statement "buy what you can afford and then learn how to use it."

« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2011, 14:45 »
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I've had a very good approval rate for my images done with a lowly Nikon D80 and accompanying 'kit' lens.   If I were using it just for microstock, I wouldn't spend another dime.

tab62

« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2011, 16:09 »
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Great replies from everyone! This makes me feel great and confident now with some future considerations on my next equipment. My approval rates are very good with the Middle Tier (70%o to 92%) but once I hit the Top Tier my approval rates really fall fast (Fotolia 70%, Dreamstime 50%, Shutter 40%) due to higher standards in both composition and technical quality. 

« Reply #12 on: March 24, 2011, 17:03 »
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Your camera and lens are absolutely fine. It really is what you do with it. I know of a least two photographers who each sold 60K+ images on Istock before upgrading from their original 6MP Rebel & kit lens combo. Any of today's modern DSLRs are streets ahead of what is actually necessary to produce technically perfect stock images.

In my short time as an inspector on one agency I saw plenty of examples of truly awful images taken with high-end equipment, because the owners didn't know how to use it and/or hadn't a clue about post-processing, and also plenty of breathtakingly perfect images taken with the most basic equipment.

« Reply #13 on: March 24, 2011, 17:44 »
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I have about $10k in gear, the amount of gear I've bought, found I didnt use or like and then sold again if phenomal.
At one point I had 2 bodies and 12 lenses :), now I have sony a900, 16-35mm, 24-70mm, 100mm macro, 70-400mm. I'm thinking about a 70-200 again :), but I've been thinking about it for more than year and now I expect what I buy to see a lot if use and value. Some gear does make things quicker / faster / easier - L-brackets, vertical grips etc etc really nice when you've got spare cash and built up over time, but isn't essential and is often the stuff that you personally have to try and decide if you like or not.

Lost my tripod and RRS head last year :( replaced with triopo $179 tripod and head from linkdelight, expected crap but it was what I could afford in a hurry. The head doesnt 'feel' as nice as the RRS, but with RRS brackets it's actually doing a * fine job (as good as the $900+ combo I lost) and I now dont see a need to replace it (well not in a hurry , the RRS head was really nice - and I think there's the point for plenty of gear for me, nice to use, I hate the feel of the grip on Sigma lens feels like a powertools so i dont use them, regardless of optics (I know others do like it).

For all gear that I've bought some of my favourite shots and still best selling photos were taken with 6mp pentax and 2 lenses I bought from a pawn shop for about $25-$35 each

lisafx

« Reply #14 on: March 24, 2011, 18:46 »
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Again, if primes work for what you like to do, why not?
A prime is one of these things people said I really 'ought' to have, but I never use.

Know what you mean.  I have six fast primes in my closet gathering dust.  Awesome image quality, definitely, but not versatile enough for my stock shooting style.  My 24-105 has outstanding IQ, so I hardly ever take it off the camera. 

If I had to get rid of the primes, the only one I would keep is the 50 1.8 - the cheapest of the bunch but the most useful and great image quality.

« Reply #15 on: March 24, 2011, 20:55 »
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If you need it, buy it.  I have over $40K in photographic equipment; use every piece of it most every week.  All my camera bodies are middle tier (Nikon D300s and D7000); I owned a D3s once but sold it as it did not get enough use.  My most expensive piece of equipment is my 600mm f4 lens but I use it almost every day.

The good thing about quality equipment; you know it is your fault when a picture sucks!


 

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