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Do you use more than (1) camera?
- Thread starter jwolf6589
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For the fun of it and to capture the moment. Video allows me to go back to a scene and relive the scenery and what not better than a still does. For example I have VHS-C & Mini DV tapes of the good old days that I can relive since I have such an ancient camcorder in my possession. However these days I use a 64GB memory card in my Canon camcorder that shoots in HD that is so much clearer than VHS-C and even mini DV tapes.
I like to shoot family events or nature scenes.
But are your videos interesting. Nothing worse than horrible video.
To me they are because they capture the moment and my audience is just me. Sometimes I will share video with family members but they don't usually find them as interesting as I do. When I went to the zoo in recent months I took lots of video of the animals which I find interesting since I love animals. But those that do not love animals like I do will not find the video interesting.
I'm reminded of stories from the "good old days" when the dad in a family would shoot family "home movies" at holiday time or birthday celebrations, as well as family "on vacation" movies and then bore innocent visitors to the home to tears when insisting on showing these while the kids squirmed in embarrassment, uncomfortable with the whole thing.....
Well this is embarrassing…. I have 4 film cameras, 7 digital cameras, 3 GoPros and my phone. I recently sold my Leica CL so I am moving in the right direction….. slowly….
I am really not into video but have the gopros for capturing time lapses and for taking pics of my daughters doing things like paddle boarding. Don’t know why but video just doesn’t float my boat. In fact if I look on my GoPro sat here next to me, it has videos of the girls playing in the swimming pool on holiday some 4 years ago. So not only am I not into video but apparently I am not into housekeeping on my GoPro memory cards.
You need to get those tapes digitised while you can. Those formats are dwindling and you don’t want to have memories in reach that you cannot access.
For me it is three. A Canon G7xII for carry everywhere, a Nikon D3100 if I want a bit better and a Nikon V1 on 300mm + 1.4 TC sitting on a tripod watching the field behind us for deer and birds. Actually there is also a Nikon D40 but I have not used it much since I got the D3100.
I can't recall ever using more than one camera at a time. Of course I am getting old. It could be there was a time in my drunken youth when I tried to double down, but I have no memory of it.
I have used two cameras at once (easier than switching lenses back and forth), but there's also a difference between owning (which I think is actually what OP means here) and using multiple cameras at once. 🙂
Here is an interesting read. i'm not sure it exactly aligns with this thread, but it touches on enough to be relevant. He also notes that there is no "professional camera or lens" and that they are all just tools....where have we heard that before??
Anyway, he's always a good read regardless.
davidduchemin.com
Anyway, he's always a good read regardless.
Are You Using the “Right” Camera?
There is tremendous freedom when you finally stop worrying about meeting the expectations of others, most especially the expectation of doing things the way you should do them. For years, my Achilles heel was the expectation that I had to do certain things and use certain gear because that's how...
davidduchemin.com
Thanks for this link, Molly! I have one of his books -- The Visual Toolbox -- and I see that there are a couple more titles now in which I think I'm interested, so will take a more thorough look through the website in a little while.
Good article. Here is a quote from the piece.Here is an interesting read. i'm not sure it exactly aligns with this thread, but it touches on enough to be relevant. He also notes that there is no "professional camera or lens" and that they are all just tools....where have we heard that before??
Anyway, he's always a good read regardless.
Are You Using the “Right” Camera?
There is tremendous freedom when you finally stop worrying about meeting the expectations of others, most especially the expectation of doing things the way you should do them. For years, my Achilles heel was the expectation that I had to do certain things and use certain gear because that's how...
"But this obsession with gear can show up in your work if you’re hoping that upgraded gear will take the place of upgraded skills or thinking.
Cameras of any brand or size do not make photographs. You do. They either help or they get in the way. Only you can know which is which, but an expensive pro-sized camera or lens can get in the way as much as one designed for the average guy, which I will always be, no matter how much I spend on my kit. Don’t let the expectations of others determine for you which is which."
Lightweight
A couple of weekends ago, my wife and I took a weekend trip and I decided, just for the heck of it, to use film.
My main tool for the weekend was my Hasselblad 500C, but also along was my F6, my favorite F2, and an FM2n. That was 4 with me, and a bunch more at home. I went on a collectors quest a while back to get at least one of every model Nikon film SLR. I got into variations(like getting all the F2 metering prisms) and have a lot of models that are so available in both black and chrome. The one that I never bought, though, and not for lack of ability but more because i never could justify what it did for the price, was the FM3a. To me it was kind of a camera trying to be too many things, and in particular I really don't like the FE2-derived meter display in it. In general, meter read-outs that are on the left side of the viewfinder bother me, as do ones that intrude on the frame. The FE, FE2, and FM3a do both
In any case, I have four DSLRs in active service-my D800/D810 pairing, my Df, and my D3s. The D3s is for action, the Df for a handy, convenient, and light DSLR with crazy good low-light sensitivity and the ability to work with every single Nikon lens I own, and the D800/D810 basically for everything.
I often go out with the D800 and D810 side-by-side in a bag, or with one around my neck and one over my shoulder, or one out and one in a bag. Generally if I'm being serious about it, the D810 gets the 24-70 f/2.8 and the D800 gets a special purpose lens(often the 14-24mm f/2.8 if I feel like carrying it, but plenty of others). With the 14-24 and 24-70 in particular, I DON'T like handing those off the camera in the field, so not having to change is a huge benefit. The D810 gets the lens I anticipate using the most since, even though they're very similar cameras(which is why I use them side by side) all the "massaging" the D810 got does make for a very nice overall package. The shutter sound of the D800 gets me every time I go back to using it from the D810.
BTW, I too don't care about video on my cameras. In fact, my Df doesn't do video, and I didn't realize it until someone else pointed it out to me as a reason they wouldn't buy it.
For the times I need video, my phone works fine. I'll take or exchange videos with someone to demonstrate or show something that can't be conveyed through a photo(and is more accurately shown with a video than with words). One of my last ones was a noise in my MG that I couldn't locate and that I could "feel" through the car. In an attempt to get helped, I rigged my phone up so that you could see the gauges in the car(to see if anyone else saw a speed or RPM correlation) and took a drive around the block. That's the kind of video I take. On my private youtube channel(only accessible by a direct link) I have a few(very bad) videos up from where I was helping a friend set up a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer. I did some videos showing actions and giving narration since I had some experience(and access to) the specific model he was working with and there was nothing else in the way of videos that showed the kind of stuff he needed to know. A video is a good way to show "This is what the manual means when it says retract the ion volume 2cm and insert the column until it stops. If you don't retract it enough, this happens which is why it says that".
For me it's not editing, it's just that when I put my "serious" hat on I'd much rather concentrate on framing a picture that tells a story than just capturing an event.
Part of what's soured me on amateur video, too, is the sheer amount of junk that's out there on Youtube. There are a lot of what are supposed to be "informational" videos there that to be honest are just a bunch of rambling from a know-it-all with bad information...but maybe I'm just salty over that. I've noticed it seems especially prevalent with film camera reviews, and a lot of them are just bad. A few months ago, I was having a conversation with someone in a camera shop about the Pentax 67 and they said "The mirror vibration is just so bad on that". I asked where they'd seen that show up and they said "Everyone on Youtube who handles one the first time says that, but I've never actually seen one in person." I didn't have mine with me, but had a discussion about how a loud shutter doesn't mean a lot of vibration, and just various other things that are common misconceptions that keep getting repeated about the camera usually by people who have never used one or have had it in their hands for 5 minutes.
For the times I need video, my phone works fine. I'll take or exchange videos with someone to demonstrate or show something that can't be conveyed through a photo(and is more accurately shown with a video than with words). One of my last ones was a noise in my MG that I couldn't locate and that I could "feel" through the car. In an attempt to get helped, I rigged my phone up so that you could see the gauges in the car(to see if anyone else saw a speed or RPM correlation) and took a drive around the block. That's the kind of video I take. On my private youtube channel(only accessible by a direct link) I have a few(very bad) videos up from where I was helping a friend set up a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer. I did some videos showing actions and giving narration since I had some experience(and access to) the specific model he was working with and there was nothing else in the way of videos that showed the kind of stuff he needed to know. A video is a good way to show "This is what the manual means when it says retract the ion volume 2cm and insert the column until it stops. If you don't retract it enough, this happens which is why it says that".
For me it's not editing, it's just that when I put my "serious" hat on I'd much rather concentrate on framing a picture that tells a story than just capturing an event.
Part of what's soured me on amateur video, too, is the sheer amount of junk that's out there on Youtube. There are a lot of what are supposed to be "informational" videos there that to be honest are just a bunch of rambling from a know-it-all with bad information...but maybe I'm just salty over that. I've noticed it seems especially prevalent with film camera reviews, and a lot of them are just bad. A few months ago, I was having a conversation with someone in a camera shop about the Pentax 67 and they said "The mirror vibration is just so bad on that". I asked where they'd seen that show up and they said "Everyone on Youtube who handles one the first time says that, but I've never actually seen one in person." I didn't have mine with me, but had a discussion about how a loud shutter doesn't mean a lot of vibration, and just various other things that are common misconceptions that keep getting repeated about the camera usually by people who have never used one or have had it in their hands for 5 minutes.
This is nicely said (all of it, but this section struck me). On a slight tangent (and it wouldn't be this forum without one
) it highlights the fact that it's often a matter of learning your tool. Even if a camera does have challenges with a mirror - and the MF SLR bodies have large ker-chunk mirrors - if you learn the nuances and what you need to do to work within the constraints a given body has, you can create some astonishing images using the benefits of a given system. A lot of times people don't spend the time to learn their system or body and go chasing after some piece of "magic" that "the next big camera" has. Or they'll maybe compare an older system to newer ones and say "oh, the mirror slap on that old thing makes it useless" when what they mean is "I didn't spend time learning how to use the tool to create great images so I don't like it". Quite clearly, people create great images with most every system (or body within the system) out there. For example, there were probably one, maybe two great images created with the Pentax 6x7 bodies. My father had a 67ii as part of a number of great cameras he used in his advertising business. It was his job to create great images for his clients and "somehow" he managed it.iPhone 12 Pro Max
Sony RX100 Mk V
Nikon D800 x2
Toyo View 45G II
Rochester Optical King 8x10
I have also setup the two D800s on a rig to take long exposure panoramas.
Sony RX100 Mk V
Nikon D800 x2
Toyo View 45G II
Rochester Optical King 8x10
I have also setup the two D800s on a rig to take long exposure panoramas.
Lightweight
A couple of weekends ago, my wife and I took a weekend trip and I decided, just for the heck of it, to use film.
My main tool for the weekend was my Hasselblad 500C, but also along was my F6, my favorite F2, and an FM2n. That was 4 with me, and a bunch more at home. I went on a collectors quest a while back to get at least one of every model Nikon film SLR. I got into variations(like getting all the F2 metering prisms) and have a lot of models that are so available in both black and chrome. The one that I never bought, though, and not for lack of ability but more because i never could justify what it did for the price, was the FM3a. To me it was kind of a camera trying to be too many things, and in particular I really don't like the FE2-derived meter display in it. In general, meter read-outs that are on the left side of the viewfinder bother me, as do ones that intrude on the frame. The FE, FE2, and FM3a do both
In any case, I have four DSLRs in active service-my D800/D810 pairing, my Df, and my D3s. The D3s is for action, the Df for a handy, convenient, and light DSLR with crazy good low-light sensitivity and the ability to work with every single Nikon lens I own, and the D800/D810 basically for everything.
I often go out with the D800 and D810 side-by-side in a bag, or with one around my neck and one over my shoulder, or one out and one in a bag. Generally if I'm being serious about it, the D810 gets the 24-70 f/2.8 and the D800 gets a special purpose lens(often the 14-24mm f/2.8 if I feel like carrying it, but plenty of others). With the 14-24 and 24-70 in particular, I DON'T like handing those off the camera in the field, so not having to change is a huge benefit. The D810 gets the lens I anticipate using the most since, even though they're very similar cameras(which is why I use them side by side) all the "massaging" the D810 got does make for a very nice overall package. The shutter sound of the D800 gets me every time I go back to using it from the D810.
Ha Ha Ha….. I think you have been bitten by the bug really bad….
I cannot imagine the level of load-out anxiety you must feel before heading off on a trip.