Ohhh, tcole, we need to have a talk with you. You don't really "need" anything for your camera? You realize you're talking like a crazy person. We all NEED all the extra farkles we can possibly afford, and some we can't afford. Really now, get with the program !! :-)
Has photography stopped you from pursuing your other hobbies/interests?
(49 posts) (26 voices)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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I am less than 10 days away from buying my Leica M9 with its 28mm 2.8 ASPH lens (september 15th). I've been saving since September 2009. Listen to warprints! :)D
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warprints said:
Ohhh, tcole, we need to have a talk with you. You don't really "need" anything for your camera? You realize you're talking like a crazy person. We all NEED all the extra farkles we can possibly afford, and some we can't afford. Really now, get with the program !! :-)hahaha! +1
Posted 2 years ago # -
All my other hobbies are supported by photography and vice versa. If I can't afford an item, I just save until I can :o)
Posted 2 years ago # -
The only hobby photography has been limiting me from pursuing is photography, hah. For instance I am all worked up and excited about the d7000, however sept 25 is photographica, a great photo swap meet, sale, and live auction as well, at which I am planning on buying a bronica set up or if not, who knows what, its a fantastic event that has cameras at all levels of affordability.
Suffice to say its going to cut deeply into my d7000 budget, which is more or less nonexistent as of now (what I can get for my canon gear)
Posted 2 years ago # -
I find photography complements my life very well. I never took a picture until I was 22 but had a brother who was very into photography and cameras. I did read his photo magazines. Medium format was the thing to him then. He was amazed by how well I had done with 35mm when I got into it. Finally I got into many formats up to very large and to look back on that it was the worst era and made me the most image as a pro. I regard DSLR as my golden age of taking photos. I feared losing Fuji Velvia and Kodachrome.
Now I shoot Nikon DSLR and also am free to feel the moment more and to assist others. Although I tried P&S cameras very seriously for awhile I was very disappointed in my results. But when I look at even a D70 or a D90 image I find myself often saying it doesn't get much better than that. I do find myself trying harder with my D700 and really feel HD video adds much to still photography for me. I also feel now that each of us should get our value out of a purchase instead of just racing from purchase event to purchase event.Posted 2 years ago # -
Hey NSXType R, believe it or not I am actually serious! haha really! Even if it sounds like overkill I have wanted a full frame digital Leica for so long. September 15th is going to be a life highlight for me right up there with graduating university. I am so excited after saving hard this past year. This is the most extravagant thing I have ever bought, and will probably not happen again. :)
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@Kanuck: Sounds like you have researched this Leica DSLR extensively. What are you thinking of buying? I owned a Leica and it sure had an amazing lens on it. That though was film era. I admit I have not followed Leica very much, and some of them would set you back greatly. I do know my D90 that I bought just because I had been recommending it to those getting into DSLR and being very impressed with their results. I have decided tohe D90 is a very practical and important milestone camera. The D7000 will be my next DSLR? But Leica is, and I guess always will be a leader in 35mm photography. Maybe this shows my standard of living as a retired scientist is declining? Good luck with your career after graduating! I'd like to know what one of these Leicas costs today.
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kanuck said:
I am less than 10 days away from buying my Leica M9 with its 28mm 2.8 ASPH lens (september 15th).The M9 is their newest rangefinder with a full-frame (35mm) sensor, DaveyJ. They set you back well over $5000 (closer to $8000, I think). You'll have to let us know how it goes, kanuck, and how it compares to your D700.
What did you study, by the way, DaveyJ? I just got a phd in physics.
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I'm a newbie to the photography scene and love it and yep its definitely an expensive hobby to start with esp when you want to get better than decent shots...I've been spending lots of time researching firstly cameras, and now lenses, speedlights and other accessories...
It does not deter from my sports/time with kids but actually adds because now I bring my camera and can take some fantastic shots of where ever I go whether the kids are playing in the park, I'm at volleyball, watching live sporting events, at weddings, parties and occasional events I shoot. Its added because now I can record a lot of the things happening in my life in a much better way.
I can understand though with people having other expensive hobbies but for me my hobbies are sports and I can still do that and I love to travel so even better I can take my camera and take so much more better shots...
But these start up costs are huge and tough to know what to buy...but its been fun doin the research...
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Yes I love Nikon and always will, but the Leica M9 that I finally will be able to buy next week is kind of like that one crazy thing that you have always wanted in your life. Kind of like the sports car, or that big trip to somewhere special. I'm not married so I am able to do this a lot easier than others so that helps.
Speaking about education, I will also be beginning my long delayed masters degree program in education. My Leica purchase coincides with my furthering education so I'll be spending a lot these next few months. I'm trying to beef up my resume and skills because currently I am teaching as well as making a living off of commercial photography and a small magazine, but who knows how long that can last.
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@Johnnyapple: Awesome. A physics PhD!! I am impressed!! My son probably should have done that and he was very set on doing the physics PhD, but reality has its way of changing our lives. He builds timber frame homes and sure has been very successful. Your PhD will allow you to teach, do research, etc., and it is quite marketable to industry. My PhD is in environ. science but at one point I was heading to being an eye surgeon. I am very happy with my choice and at 67 I am satisfied that I made good choices. I sure have owned some exotic rangefinder cameras myself like the Hassy panoramic. I feel the medium format Fuji GX 617 was a better rig though. The M9 is very out of my league now but I can use just so many cameras though. There are some really top notch people on NR and I have begun to look forward to hearing others experiences and gear plans, which ALWAYS should go hand in hand. One of my favorite physics professors wrote a modest textbook in physics and I distinctly remember how practical and reflective he was. I still have the textbook.
@Kanuck: Well I saw Johnnyapples estimate on this Leica cost! Quite beyond my reach. It would be really neat to try and rangefinders are very practical and hard to beat field cameras. I spent time as a assistant prof and that was very rewarding for 4 years in two colleges.....but I am glad I don't have to do that today as autumn is one of my favorite times to just wander and photograph and that is when you're on when it comes to teaching. I also taught in high school and it is amazing how many letters i still get from former students! I really got into slideshows teaching and the first year won a National Excellence in Teaching Award which got me an SLR and Kodak Projector, etc.. But that is now ancient history! I would comment that both of you are going to be using cameras and images a lot in your professional work I believe. I do worry that this economy is something I NEVER dealt with. When I graduated from University I had 20 offers to teach Biology alone! Today those kind of openings just don't exist it seems. However I had better admit I have been predicting that the stock market, federal reserve etc. and global markets would see the standard of living in the USA fall off like a rock falling off a cliff and I was saying that to classes in the 60s. One bright area though has been photography.....what wonderful developments this hobby has seen! Has photography kept us from pursuing our other hobbies/interests?? No way! So to you younger talented guys, GOOD DAY and I hope I continue to hear from you both in the future. Every show I do I have people saying how dramatic my photos are......well......it in someways is the window to our souls. It also has been my best way of seeing what other people have seen, and some of that I never will get to see, but my happiness is much greater for having seen what other things are out there, maybe beyond my reach, but it sure can make me happier!
I always have had the urge though to get image capture gear good enough to capture some of the fantastic beauty we are surrounded by. I have had people come up after shows where they were at the same place taking photos and they were blown away by what I had taken. Often the most inspired are the point and shooters. The working pros though get images that are proper and part of that is good gear. So that is why I am here on NR, quest for knowledge, and great gear! Thanks Guys!Posted 2 years ago # -
You're too nice, DaveyJ. I got lucky and got a job teaching what was my first choice of places to teach. I'm on a temporary (full-time) faculty position for now, but I hope it becomes permanent. I'm less than three hours from both yellowstone and grand teton nat'l parks. I don't have a lot of time for photography recently as I had to get ready for classes and things, but that's not stopping me from selling my beloved D90 to get a D7000 when it comes out. Maybe next year I'll get out more or even this winter.
What kind of photos do you put in your shows, DaveyJ, and how do you put them together? My dad was really into multimedia slide shows back in the day and he was very good at them. Now he uses a non-linear video editor and it's a -whole- lot easier for him than it used to be. I remember him putting soundtracks down from phonograph to reel-to-reel out in our garage in the '80s and I loved watching him splice tape. Then he went to a four-track recorder and DAT, and embraced digital audio editing fairly early (sound forge). It seems like he paid around $1000 for a license back in the '90s, but maybe I'm making that up. It's crazy to think what that used to cost him in time, effort, and money compared with what you can do with $100 software and a $500 machine these days. Well, that's my setup, anyway. He's got Vegas pro and a nice PC.
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@Johnnyapple: What a great location and also work! PhDs in physics are a real pinnacle and hopefully you will get a permanent assignment you want. To get a permanent assignment where you are within driving distance of Yellowstone and the grand Tetons seems unusually ideal. In the old days I used multiple Kodak projectors with the best projection zoom lens I could buy and the standard was to project to 12'x18' but since I did most of my shows with smaller groups and three or four with 2,000 to 3,500 I needed real zoom range projection. I used Clearlight Micro Diamond dissolve control (made in Florida) and again primarily used Kodachrome and Fujichrome slides. I really put a lot of work in soundtracks and used Sergio Leones movies a lot for ideas on sound, a lot of which I recorded myself of everything from waterfalls to windmills to rivers, mountain streams, and back in the day had permission to use a number of recording artists tunes for public show. Some of these presentations paid enough to stimulate me to buy more equipment. When I did lectures in fairly big auditoriums I was the only prof that could come in with my tech presentation and hand a projectionist a couple of reels of slides to illustrate almost any topic from biology, earth science, environmental matters, agriculture, etc. That lead to involvement in a number of specialty movies but here I was a participant and not the principal, even when I was filming i only did specialty scenes. Some of the underwater scenes where almost always mine as few entered that arena. Large format, medium formats cost me lots and was very, very difficult to slideshow.
Until recently National Park Service used multiple projection shows with some of the same gear at the bigger parks that had visitor centers. But that was then and this is now. What it would be best for me to address is leave those historical notes just as facts to support my present system as that is really all that matters now. I now use Apple computers, iPhoto, Nikon DSLR and can have a program on almost any subject from a motorcycle race to some remote park in Alaska ready in minutes even down to sound and I have both sound and music libraries which are quite complete. The images are extended desktop run on often a Samsung 55" LED state of the art HDTV or bigger if the audience requires that. However the big audience shows are done. But I can come into a setting with 200 programs ready to go and adapt to the audience age and interests. Currently I am able to go almost anywhere and do it without any power if the show can be done on say a 17" Hi def laptop. Even a base model MacBook can run a 55"HDTV LED slideshow and even a MacBooK pro won't do it any better. I should note that the images are done as JPEG fine large and NOT as RAW. I apologize for the long answer but those who have seen the results including full time photo pros are amazed at the results. Now enter the AVI clips from say D90, D300S, D3s. They play seamlessly with the program by jumping out into Quick Time Player and if the native sound recording is good enough it is quite inspiring. Some subjects need the motion and the sound adds much there. So when the float plane segment of the program is reached the plane lifts of the lake and roars by, or the Alaska scenic railway thunders by, or the river comes to life and you can see the clarity and roar of the water and the agility and power of coastal Brown Bears. In Yellowstone or Grand Tetons you could have the deep snow and closeups of Plains Bison exhaling in the bitter cold air.....all very dramatic and compelling. It has made me wonder why so may ask me for big prints after seeing the shows. If I were them I'd just start doing my own slideshows! I should also note that I have premium prints from Cibachrome, dye transfer, etc. and the slideshow rules.Posted 2 years ago # -
Hi all,
There are other interests? ;-)
I've been at this since the late 60's which makes me a tad on the gray side, but I _prefer_ think of it as experienced.
My background is in photojournalism, although in the day we were just press photographers. I was a combat photographer in the US Army during the war in Vietnam.
I find that the cost of shooting today far, far less expensive than it ever has been. In fact, I think it's less expensive to be a photographer now than 35 years ago by a country mile (and that's a long ways). When I was a freelancer in between graduate school and my return to the US Army, my processing lab fees were well over $2K a month, and that was in 1975 dollars, and $2K could buy a F2 Photomic kit with a lens or two.
It was terribly expensive to be a working photographer.
The studios, the Army, the newspapers, and wire services that I worked for afforded me opportunities that I wouldn't have had to, ah, 'develop' my skills on their dime, something that today's digital cameras really have changed. Anyone can have a look at their work in the LCD panel for instant, no additional cost, feedback. That's pretty terrific.
Just saying it's a different world. It might seem expensive, but comparing, maybe not.
The work places I came from in my early career were fiercely competitive, but mostly I gravitated to government and education, in my later years teaching journalism and photography.
If one is doing this as a hobby, then I'd certainly recommend getting a grip on the expenses, even more so if it's a business.
But at the end of the day, you got to figure out what is the satisfaction you derive from it and is it working for you?
My best to all,
Mike
Posted 2 years ago # -
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Thanks for the details, DaveyJ. Your shows sound awesome.
I think people lose that perspective, Mike, and it's a pity. I've always been interested in military history and I have a Vietnam in Photos book kicking around somewhere. Maybe there was some of your work in it.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Mike Gunter's Vietnam assignment sounds like real experience. My time during that episode was spent in USA Med Lab and that is a long way from a combat assignment! Some of the most interesting history courses I have taken were military history and it was from ancient to very recent. Also great comments and perspective on this topic. Makes me realize why I photograph and why I have developed the attitude towards watching expenses in the pursuit of this passion.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thats why I really enjoy this forum because its so nice to meet interesting and kind people such as yourself DaveyJ. Its amazing how much you discover you have in common with others. Love of photography and teaching. I'm sure you will be provided with an overwelming amount of knowledge and great photos on this forum over the next few months!
welcome Mike Gunter! Your experience will be real bonus to this forum I think. I have gotten great information from Chris Lange regarding film from this forum for example. I hope you plan on getting in on the discussions here whenever you have the time :)
Posted 2 years ago # -
Heh, Photography is my hobby outside of my work. I hope one day I can move it over from hobby to Something that pays my bills, but that's a dream in of itself.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Hobby is hobby; we feel fun and happy from it but shouldn’t be our main career and consumption. I am keen on photography and already own some gears like D300, D5000, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, etc. Of course they cost me much too. While I don’t think it stopped me from pursuing r other hobbies. Every time I wanna to get a gear I would think over and over, compare price and quality. Some times, I brought it from my friends (hah) and share mine new gear with them that would save us much money. Another way to save money is purchase online, find a good online shop and buy many things from the same shop would save shipping charge and sometimes I could get lower discount. I recommend two shops: one is for cameras and lens http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/lens/index.htm, another is for GPS and accessories http://www.e-geotag.com/accessories.aspx, they are in high reputation. So I would have spare money for my other hobbies.
Posted 2 years ago #
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