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Messages - ClaridgeJ

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276
Actually you be surprised how handy and useful it can be. I didnt care about it at first but I soon changed my mind. Obviously IS, VR, is a waste on wide-angles, etc, no need for them there but once you get above 100 mil, then its really effective. Would you believe I am shooting the Canon 400 mil.2.8 IS, handheld down to around 90th/sec because of the IS, it weighs a ton. The Canon 70-300L, the white one is one of my most used lenses, weighs 1.3 kilos, thanks to the IS, I have never even put it on a tripod.

well my 2c.

277
Cameras / Lenses / Re: Anyone using Nikon D800?
« on: November 24, 2012, 02:20 »
I'm looking to hear from anyone who has had some actual use of the Nikon D800, as I am considering purchasing one in January.

I know it's certainly good enough for stock etc, but what I would really like to know is how you think my current lenses will cope with the sensors quality. I currently use a Nikon 80-200 f2.8 AFS ED lens (non VR model, prior to that) which is still pin sharp, a Nikon 28-105 AFD Macro (cheapish lens, first one I ever bought and it's still going!), and also a lens I will have to sell - the Nikon 17-55 2.8 AFS ED DX (will have to ditch it as its DX, not full frame)

So with the first two lenses, the 80-200 in particular, anyone using that on a D800 and finding it quality enough? For a $2500 lens I surely hope it is, but still it is a bit old now, so I'm not sure.

Also, with the lens I need to replace, I was considering either the 12-24 or the 24-70 from nikon - any experiences with either? Pro's/Con's? ( I do a bit of travel/hiking so zoom lenses are very useful for me, although I know I will get a lot of comments to get primes only. Just not sure I can justify a prime, other than perhaps a 50mm 1.4 or something)

And after a few months of use now, how are people finding the D800 overall?

Thanks so much for all of your feedback to come, much appreciated. :)

Yes got it., Not using it too much though, got it purely as an investment rather then giving the taxman. Good camera, 36MPs and all that.
I prefer my D3X anytime. However its an unforgiving camera and you will need the best optics, primes would be the best choice. The 14-24 is a good option and so is the 70-200 VR.
The actual Raw-files straight out of the camera without any sharpning and noise at zero are IMO, not as "clean" as the files straight out of the Canon MIII or the MII. Needs quite a lot of PP.

278
General Stock Discussion / Re: The end is nigh. What will you do?
« on: November 24, 2012, 02:08 »
One thing that everyone might agree on is that the microstocks - the big ones at least - have made it ever more of a PITA for buyers.  The marketing brains at these agencies think that all these constantly changing pricing plans, credis, tiers, subscriptions, 'price sliders', special collections, search options yada yada yada are giving buyers "choice". 

Except Shutterstock __ and that is precisely why they are doing fantastic business and every other agency is suffering in accordance to their 'greed quotient'.

'Microstock' is simply returning to it's roots. It won't please everyone but that's business and, with SS spending $30M+ per annum on marketing themselves, there's probably not much you can do to change it. Personally I'm very comfortable with the microstock model that SS has developed and mastered.

Yeah, yeah, just wait and see. Sorry to rain on your SS parade as the masterplan of all plans. Takes a bit more the some years in micro to be able to judge any comparisons. Would have thought you would have known that by now.

279
General Stock Discussion / Re: The end is nigh. What will you do?
« on: November 24, 2012, 02:03 »
Quote
The market is so completely oversaturated that the supply outstripps the demand by a million percent.

You know, I hear that all of the time, but whenever I'm looking for a photo for a client, it seems like I can never find what I want!

Ha, ha! and thats exactly why!  too much choice and 80% garbage. Thats the human eye syndrome, it will register the whole intake but finds it difficult to actually select one.
An AD at the Getty-RM once said to me. Put 50 almost similar pics in front of a buyer and he will find them all good or all rubbish, put 2 pics in front of a buyer and he will be looking for the other 48. Thats micro buyers for you. They dont come here looking for pics following a brief or layout, etc. They come here because its cheap.


280
General Stock Discussion / Re: Thanksgiving Holidays
« on: November 23, 2012, 13:20 »
Thanks; your opinions are the ones that mean most to me.   They are always so well stated.  ::)

And yet they state the obvious.  Seriously, what was the point of the post?

The point of the post, Sean, was "Why" are Thanksgiving sales slow?  It should affect only US businesses. 
I did receive several informative responses -- one PM was especially enlightening.

As for being stupid -- I probably do ask some dumb questions.  Some posts I have regretted.  Posting does tend to expose one's ignorance.
As for attention seeking -- * right I seek attention.  Isn't that what selling is all about?  I want to be seen and heard.  I want buyers to know me and my images.  Anyone who claims otherwise is a fool.

Thankfully, I am wrong about Thanksgiving.  My sales have been great today ... so far. 
Thanks to those who tried to satisfy my curiosity. 
A few of us are in awe of the intellectual egotists.  Keep the insults coming.  As they say in advertising ... even negative publicity is publicity.   :P

Warren!  and people say I have a bad attitude at times? ::) on another note. I lived in NY for 8 months and during a Thanksgiving period. Not much to it, just another weird holiday the Yanks have come up with. I still dont really know whats it in aid for and neither does most Americans if you ask them.
Same as the Irish with all their Saint this and that holidays,  another word for just going to the pubs I suppose.

One day, St Paddys, biggest day of the year, and no other St this days. Just normal BHs like the UK and Europe. They call boxing day St Stephens day, but most countries have 26th Dec off.

Have you ever been to St Paddys? You should. Every country has a national holiday, Holland has Queensday.

Dont mock cultures you dont understand :)

As for the pub comment, the Irish dont need to invent days to go to the pub.  8)

Ha! St paddys day in Ireland is great! was in Cork few years back and on that day, great fun. Youre right though the Irish dont need an excuse for the Pub.

281
Canon / Re: Canon 24-70 F2.8 L USM II vs Tamron 24-70 F2.8 DI VC
« on: November 23, 2012, 13:17 »
To be honest I have never tried the Tamron but I do have the Canon 24-70, latest model. Its good but like all mid range zooms nothing to stand up and shout for. Its sharp and all that, gives a bit of CA at the wide end and thats just about it.

It hasnt got a chance compared with say the Nikon 24-70.

All in all they fall under the boring focal lengths so maybe your just as well off with the other one. Many people prefer the 24-105 actually.


282
General Stock Discussion / Re: The end is nigh. What will you do?
« on: November 23, 2012, 07:16 »
True. First misstake as a photographer is to skimp on the equipment. Some here will say Oh but its only low res this and that, it doesnt matter.
It does matter and it matters a lot. Many micros are going towards macro and second class equipment just wont cut it. The lens you just bought is just about a kit lens, no more and if you can afford it get a better one, a second hand L optic wouldnt hurt actually.

283
General Stock Discussion / Re: Thanksgiving Holidays
« on: November 23, 2012, 03:27 »
Thanks; your opinions are the ones that mean most to me.   They are always so well stated.  ::)

And yet they state the obvious.  Seriously, what was the point of the post?

The point of the post, Sean, was "Why" are Thanksgiving sales slow?  It should affect only US businesses. 
I did receive several informative responses -- one PM was especially enlightening.

As for being stupid -- I probably do ask some dumb questions.  Some posts I have regretted.  Posting does tend to expose one's ignorance.
As for attention seeking -- * right I seek attention.  Isn't that what selling is all about?  I want to be seen and heard.  I want buyers to know me and my images.  Anyone who claims otherwise is a fool.

Thankfully, I am wrong about Thanksgiving.  My sales have been great today ... so far. 
Thanks to those who tried to satisfy my curiosity. 
A few of us are in awe of the intellectual egotists.  Keep the insults coming.  As they say in advertising ... even negative publicity is publicity.   :P

Warren!  and people say I have a bad attitude at times? ::) on another note. I lived in NY for 8 months and during a Thanksgiving period. Not much to it, just another weird holiday the Yanks have come up with. I still dont really know whats it in aid for and neither does most Americans if you ask them.
Same as the Irish with all their Saint this and that holidays,  another word for just going to the pubs I suppose.

284
General Stock Discussion / Re: The end is nigh. What will you do?
« on: November 23, 2012, 02:32 »
I believe the microstock industry will become increasingly inaccessible to amateurs ... it's only a matter of time. Too many images are added every day on the agencies collections.... something must be done in the future and this is the only way...

This I agree with 1000%!  its to weed out the amateurs and a hell of a lot of generic garbage. This has got to be done just to get a clear overview of this mess. Some of them have already started with strignent reviewing, etc.

They slso have to realize that in the search, the heart of the agency, they simply have to include the commercial sellers, the bread and butter stuff that ensures revenue. The days when they could just sit and wait for great portfolios are over.
As one CEO of an agency said to me on the phone, 99 new ports of 100, are just pure rubbish.

285
General Stock Discussion / Re: The end is nigh. What will you do?
« on: November 23, 2012, 01:56 »
Ok, one possible scenario consists of two sides of the coin(just playing around with probabilities) :
1. There is a huge low quality demanding market (in terms of resolution and technic) which MS stimulated at first: Bloggers, private websites, etc.. Possibly this market will focus more and more on even cheaper offered crowd sourced material which incorporates phenomena like instagram or phone photography. This market segment never hd been soooo quality sensitive like e.g. the prepress and print segment when it comes to image quality. On the other hand this trend might get pushed from the content creators too. Many People will not see the point anymore to buy a 36 MP / 2 Kg DSLR and walk around with that but will rather just switch completely to other mobile devices, low end system cameras or whatever.
So: imagine a site like Flickr working as a Agency. People upload their content directly from their device. Quality is not that a huge issue anymore, so inspection process is easy. Content is available almost immediately. Clients download the images for 5 or 10 cents a unit or have incredible cheap sub-plans. Most content is from mobile devices and includes not only creative material but editorial too.

The natural rebound effect to 1. is:

2. Because most of the low end / private clients / consumer market is covered by sites like above and most photos / creatives do use lower end devices instead of high end heavy and expensive cameras there are less and less people who shoot in this area. Buyers who are looking to buy these images are mostly professionals who seek out for either exclusive material or printable or high quality stuff. Prices here establish at a higher level and although the market is nowhere near where it was in the old, traditional stock days it may make some people remember those days. This high end market is not a mass market anymore since devices for creation are not considered as "sexy" anymore by the mass nor there is such a huge demand anymore for 50MP files since most of the media moved to the net. Exclusivity may be a important matter in this field. Photographers here may make a good living anyhow since competition might not be as harsh anymore.

....well, just playing around with concepts and strange predictions :-)

Good predictions! very probable scenarios indeed. Exept the Trad RM agencies will always play a part. There will always be customers willing to pay for rights, etc. simply because they have to.
Example: a German corp. just purchased 23 images for a campaign and in a futile effort to actually save the company and they needed the rights for logos and trademarks changes and for a profile, etc. These kind of clients will always exist.

Same as you, my own RM sales have doubled in the last two years.

286
General Stock Discussion / Re: Exclusive or Not for beginner?
« on: November 22, 2012, 15:30 »
Hi #ClaridgeJ may be you are right, time show me too :)
Now I can earn money and also teaching me photography also.
What do you think about rejection for small size photos in your portfolio? May be technology renewing stock portfolios or encouriging.

Rejections about small portfolio? you mean your portfolio? I dont think rejections are based on the size of your portfolio. In maicro rejections are normally based on technical issues, etc.

Well the ports you have are mainly isolations, so ofcourse you will be in competition with millions of photographers also doing isolations and a few, just a few are extremely good at it. So its not a laughing to the bank prospect is it?

287
General Stock Discussion / Re: Exclusive or Not for beginner?
« on: November 22, 2012, 14:11 »
You want to become a microstocker?  surely you can think of better ways for a nervous breakdown, stroke, coronery occlusion or suicide?

Man you are coming in to the last orders of micro. The boat has gone.

288
General Stock Discussion / Re: The end is nigh. What will you do?
« on: November 22, 2012, 13:16 »
I've seen posts here on the forums where some contributors apparently have the gift of seeing the future and outlined that this race to the bottom will supposedly go down to paying us %1  ::)

Two years of falling income despite fairly steady uploading has shown me that I am unlikely to maintain my current income levels.  However I do agree that, barring any unforeseen disasters, the decline will be gradual.   

My plans, if that is the case, are to get my daughter through her last two years of college and out supporting herself, and then I won't need to make nearly as much.  I can semi retire and go back to shooting what I like when I feel like it, and doing stock on a much more PT basis. 

I'll probably leave the primary wage earning to my hubby, who loves his teaching gig and is planning to do it up to age 65 or 70.

OTOH, if the world economy recovers, we may see a big boost in sales.  And there is always a chance the sites will begin to feel the effects of the demotivation their royalty cuts have caused and decide to begin raising rates again.  If the money improves again, I can see myself getting motivated to plan, finance, and execute more shoots again.

Dont know about bad economy. How strong economy do you need to buy dirt-cheap pictures off the peg? The market is so completely oversaturated that the supply outstripps the demand by a million percent. The agencies have brought it upon themselves, advertising they have 20 million shots, etc. When an agency have 20 million shots it just means they are not selective. i.e. tons of garbage. any serious buyer will know that.

289
Adobe Stock / Re: Fotolia Hotshots!
« on: November 22, 2012, 13:02 »
I thought you'd gone to the pub!

 ;D ;D. Nah not yet anyway.

290
Adobe Stock / Fotolia Hotshots!
« on: November 22, 2012, 12:59 »
I cant believe it. Every year its the same. Same slimey, plasticky people and kids. Every bloody year. Where is the imagination? what happend to the old man Santa and his deers? or the O&M campaign showing cosy rooms, streets and cities. Looks like the agencies have got a lot to learn from the AD world.
Same old ghostly, pale looking digital faces. Bah.

291
General Stock Discussion / Re: The end is nigh. What will you do?
« on: November 22, 2012, 12:43 »
Im going down the Pub. Its half dead already. Nothing gained nothing lost.

292
If you pay for me to come visit Oslo and see what you have on the table, I'm in.  ::)
"Isn't it good, Norwegian wood"

I have never heard of Norwegian wood?  oil and fish. Thats what the Norwegians live on and their sole export. :)

293
iStockPhoto.com / Re: Downloads have Stopped
« on: November 22, 2012, 07:11 »
I dont get this, your sales plummet at IS, but you see an increase at DT and you are all ecstatic about it. In my books that doesnt make sense, in my books thats just balancing the books.


Well to be able to balance the books is an art in itself. In accountancy that means it evens out, etc. Thats great news.

Cheers and bottoms up! Heineken! ;D

294
Alamy.com / Re: Alamy cutting all commissions by 10%
« on: November 22, 2012, 03:51 »
"You can't be serious right? See a pattern? Yes, times are moving on to where we will be making 1% of almost nothing. "

Wait until SS sees how happy everyone is here to take less...

Actually I think you might have a big point here!  once the shareholders start tightening the loop, screaming for more money, etc. I think the majority might be in for a bit of a shock.

295
Shutterstock.com / Re: gutted by the appoval ratio - 3 in 94????
« on: November 22, 2012, 01:55 »
BS!!!!!

For those saying small batches only that is total BS!!!!

There are many who submit well over hundreds at a time and some thousands.

It has nothing to do with how many you submit!

Well if thats the case?  why complaining in the first place. So they were rejected!  I would have thought it goes with the territory? no?

296
As I am already and have been for years, a "sleeping partner", in a trad-agency and a micro-agency. The answer is: no. I would definetely not want to be nor invest in any further micro. This industry burns you out and it doesnt matter if youre an agency owner of full time microstocker, it burns you out.

297
Adobe Stock / Re: Shocking Fotolia Earnings Drop
« on: November 21, 2012, 17:23 »
FT, invest in newcomers and low ranks are given preferance in search. Emeralds and Golds are pushed aside. Their files dont seem to be important anymore. Since they dont need them maybe we should find a better use for them.

298
iStockPhoto.com / Re: Downloads have Stopped
« on: November 21, 2012, 08:29 »
I have never seen such skyrocketting sales at DT, as now and on a daily basis.

Same here.  I hope that this default search doesn't get changed for a while.

Yup, so do I. Its not only because of the search though. DT, is clever, they pretty much stay out of the limelight of troubles plus the fact its a very good agency, well run, etc. The bosses also take a personal interest in their agency, not just moneywise but the way things are run. That can sometimes make one hell of a differance.
Yes. DT is on its way, BIG time.

299
Shutterstock.com / Re: gutted by the appoval ratio - 3 in 94????
« on: November 21, 2012, 02:26 »
Are you mad? why do you put up 90 shots in one single batch?  spread them out instead, 30 at a time or something.

300
iStockPhoto.com / Re: Downloads have Stopped
« on: November 21, 2012, 02:05 »
Cant complain too much about the IS sales but Lisa is right, the majority of sales are going elsewhere and not just to SS. In 7 years I have never seen such skyrocketting sales at DT, as now and on a daily basis.

Im sure the plan from the very start was to seriously weed out micro or at least make a dent in this industry and for better or worse? it looks as if they are somewhat succeeding.

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