Camera Labs

I've just posted my Sony kit on a sale forum elsewhere which will enable me to go full steam ahead with Canon. As a rough estimate, if everything sells it will mostly pay off the 7D kit I just got.

Before they go, I am looking back on the great times I had.

The A350 was my first DSLR. I picked it at the time over the 2d choice Canon 450D mainly for the fast AF live view. It is a feature I will miss, but I think I can make do without. The other plus was the built in image stabilisation, which you can't get on bright primes on Canikon.

My first lens was the 50mm f/1.4. It actually arrived before the camera. At the time, I didn't "get" it at all. I got it for low light ability, but the shallow DoF made focus a nightmare. It was only after many months before my skills and usage awoke to using it, then I was hooked on bokeh. It went from something I rarely used, to something I regularly used.

The main lens I used is the Carl Zeiss 16-80. In a way this was a bad choice, in a good way. As it was my first zoom, it set the expectations for everything after it. Of course, it was top of the range, so everything else seem lacking compared to it. Took me a long time to realise that. Still, it was a versatile lens that could be used wide open without fear. Before the recent release of the Canon 15-85, if I could have one lens moved from Sony to Canon, it would be this lens.

My first used lens was the Tamron 28-300. It was cheap on ebay, and I took a gamble. Turned out this was the oldest version. This taught me about focal length shrinkage and also enabled my first attempts at birds in flight. The performance on the long end wasn't the best, and I even started to replace it with the newer equivalent. That was even worse! So I ended up keeping the old one.

And the last lens purchase was the Sigma 10-20. My first experience of Sigma build quality and after sales service. If only they put a bit more effort into the 1st, people wouldn't need to rely on the 2nd so much.

I even came very close to buying an A900 - having got bored of waiting for the A850 to show up, the A900 was quite attractively priced. I said to myself I'd wait a week for the new credit card cycle to start before buying, but that week was too late. Price increases kicked in hard and never recovered since. The A550 I think is the best featured upper-entry level body at the moment, and if I was buying starting fresh today in that price range, it would be my choice.

Of course there is some loss in selling kit, but I felt I got my money's worth out of it overall. No regrets going Sony to start with. I still think they have the most potential of the big 3, but right now I'll let them catch up a bit more.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Glad you've seen the light. Canon or Nikon or nothing Just kidding.

Good luck with your sale.

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I've upped my Iso, now up yours.
Nikon D700, Nikon D80, Micro Nikkor 105 f2.8 AI-S,Nikon 85mm 1.8D, Nikon 50mm 1.8D, Nikon 35mm F2D, Nikon 16-35 f4 VR, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 AF-S, Nikon 70-200VRII, Nikon 70-300mm VR, 300mm f2.8 AI IF ED, SB-800, SB-900. Noiseware pro,NIK Dfine, Nik Colour Effex, Nik Sharpener Pro

You did what's best for you! I've been on the side of the Sony ship, decided to keep sailing it for a while longer, but if Sony keeps messing up what their customers ask for, I'll jump aboard the yellow-sailed boat!

- Bjorn -

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Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

Each company is in the business of making MONEY first, and pleasing photographers, LAST. Nikon isn't going to release a 14-24 F4 just because I want them to. Same as Sony releases 3 entry DSLR's with nothing more different than a flip out screen, and a difference in mp. Same reason why Canon didn't keep their original mount (something alone the lines of their old film camera lenses not being compatible with their digital slr's), their DX lenses can't be used on FX bodies etc etc etc. It's a case of going with whatever brand suits your needs.

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I've upped my Iso, now up yours.
Nikon D700, Nikon D80, Micro Nikkor 105 f2.8 AI-S,Nikon 85mm 1.8D, Nikon 50mm 1.8D, Nikon 35mm F2D, Nikon 16-35 f4 VR, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 AF-S, Nikon 70-200VRII, Nikon 70-300mm VR, 300mm f2.8 AI IF ED, SB-800, SB-900. Noiseware pro,NIK Dfine, Nik Colour Effex, Nik Sharpener Pro

While businesses are out to make money, somewhere along the line that does involve giving people what they want. Maybe not all people everything, but enough people enough stuff to make it profitable.

Sony was very much on the borderline of being kept on. If the A700 replacement and 70-400G came sooner I wouldn't have got the 50D and 100-400L. If the A850/A900 price increases didn't hit when they did, I wouldn't have got the 7D. Even then I still think about keeping the lenses and using them with the A550...

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

As far as what sony brought out lens wise, they brought out a few kit lenses, and a few pro grade lenses, to get people's attention and to show people what they are capable of. I suppose it's just your loss that they didn't have the same range as some of the big players, and a poor decision on your part, from the get go to predict that there would be something missing. I suppose though, without people like you, Sony wouldn't be heading where it is, up.

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I've upped my Iso, now up yours.
Nikon D700, Nikon D80, Micro Nikkor 105 f2.8 AI-S,Nikon 85mm 1.8D, Nikon 50mm 1.8D, Nikon 35mm F2D, Nikon 16-35 f4 VR, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 AF-S, Nikon 70-200VRII, Nikon 70-300mm VR, 300mm f2.8 AI IF ED, SB-800, SB-900. Noiseware pro,NIK Dfine, Nik Colour Effex, Nik Sharpener Pro

When I started, I didn't know what I want in the long term. Who honestly really does? With no experience in serious photography beyond a bridge P&S, even a starter DSLR seemed like a large fortune to spend. At that stage, it is not possible to know what you will want in six months, a year, two years time. A lot has changed since then, and Sony hasn't kept up with my direction. While they do cover a lot of the mainstream ground now, they're don't have quite the coverage on the higher end.

It was the best decision at the time though. The shortlist alternative was the Canon 450D. I would have missed shots from not having the tilting screen and fast AF live view. Those are features I do miss from Canon, but the E-P1 more or less fills that hole. Offsetting that perhaps I wouldn't be jumping ship now if I had gone Canon from the start. Yes, I will take a small financial hit selling the Sony kit, but I have had some 18 months and 40k shots from it, I don't feel that wasted.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.