Sudden urge to buy camera gear, how to get over it

He he he..

Well, that might have been true 20 years ago (well, it was), but the times have changed.

Where do you get this from?
 
Why to act "professional" if amateur approach works brilliantly too. Shooting to film is another story.

I belive he gets it from his teachers? old photographers who do act professionally, because they have shot to film 20 years?
 
Just got my remote control for the D300... And just ordered a nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-S G :D

I'm actually concidering the 14-24 for the simple reason that I can shoot with it all summer, and then sell it when winter comes. Guess I'll have to shave off about 200 USD off the price I bought it for, but 200 USD for "renting" a fantastic lens all summer long is cheap.
 
sifu said:
Why to act "professional" if amateur approach works brilliantly too. Shooting to film is another story.

I belive he gets it from his teachers? old photographers who do act professionally, because they have shot to film 20 years?
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Maybe. It is quite common to learn that you shouldn't photoshop, you shouldn't do this and that, this and that is important.

Thing is, most professionals will use RAW in the end. Some used dias film in the day, but negative was more common, and you did things to that in the dark room.

What people seems to misunderstand is that yes, while learning to expose, it is nice not to photoshop all the time. That just lets you get lazy with your exposure. With JPEG, you have less working room in the files, so you end up having to learn to expose the hard way, a bit like dias, only JPEG gives you more room to recover.

But, as another teacher told me once, crap in, crap out. Photoshop can't help you if you're completely lost.

As for light meters, I see their use, but I fail to see how they are crucial or even important.
 
I satisfied my sudden urge and ordered an umbrella holder and two umbrellas from dealextreme.com. Cost me about 18,60e (shipping included), I'd call that dirt cheap :)
 
The guy I'm getting this from has been using Photoshop since the early days and compared to him, even with my demi-god knowledge of the program (as stated by others) I come out as a complete noob. He also says that there is no such thing as the correct exposure, you always have to correct something in photoshop, but just because today you have histograms and image preview on your camera to fine tune the photographs, does not mean you should throw away every approach developped over the decades.

As for lightmeters, they just make things easier and the workflow faster.
 
And I tend to disagree, that's all. :)

With the state of metering at this day and age, you really are set up for most situations. In which conditions do you really feel the need for a light meter?
 
Just blew my money on these... :p Anyone wanna guess what I am doing here?

2 x Manfrotto MA 241FB Saugfuss mit flacher Basis 149,00 EUR
2 x Manfrotto MA 035 Super-Clamp 31,60 EUR
1 x Manfrotto MA 179 Rapidadapter 15,50 EUR
1 x Manfrotto MA 482LCD Kugelkopf 69,00 EUR
 
No more human rig? :(

Nomix: Yes, most situations, not all. They are useful for high contrast scenes, where you have contrasting highlights and shadows. Yes, you can take a few shots to get the exposure right by checking the histogram, but with the lightmeter you just walk up, press a button, shoot away.
 
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They are useful for high contrast scenes, where you have contrasting highlights and shadows. Yes, you can take a few shots to get the exposure right by checking the histogram, but with the lightmeter you just walk up, press a button, shoot away.
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They are also useful for scouting a scene, to see what type of lighting you might be able to get at a certain time of day, and they are more handy than using a spare body (or main camera) to meter. Also saves on battery life when you are in the field. I find them useful, though as you say, not "mandatory." They can be especially helpful for somebody trying to train their eyes to pick-up on certain lighting conditions.

FWIW, I shoot RAW and still like having one. I find them to be handy little buggers. But, like, what do I know? I'm one of those "old" photographers who shot film for ages before going digital.
 
While I'm one of those young photographers who've shot digital for ages before going analog. Okay, not all analog, but I enjoy it.

:p
 
Aaaaw, fudgepackers!!! The store I ordered the nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-S G from suddenly DIDN'T have it after all :censored: Now I'm suffering from camera gear depression. Gotta order something, FAST!!! :-D
 
Now I'm suffering from camera gear depression. Gotta order something, FAST!!!
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Oh dear, that's almost worse than wanting new gear. The old "so sorry it's on back order" (or the equivalent) tailspin head whack. You have my deepest sympathies.
 
markryder said:
Aaaaw, fudgepackers!!! The store I ordered the nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-S G from suddenly DIDN'T have it after all :censored: Now I'm suffering from camera gear depression. Gotta order something, FAST!!! :-D
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Get the Sigma 50mm instead, it's awesome.
 
Then got to Fotovideo or Japanphoto and just test it before you buy. They'll let you. :)
 
nomix said:
Then got to Fotovideo or Japanphoto and just test it before you buy. They'll let you. :)
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If you can accurately spot things like back/front focus problems by shooting with a lens in a camera store then massive kudos to your awesome lens-problem-finding-skills - they are indeed legendary :D
 
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