Tag: photography

I’ve been working on this post for literally two months. It isn’t groundbreaking, super important, or one that I think my readers will finish and say, “Damn! That was some good blogging!” It’s just a post about hobbies and how my interests change over time.

The problem is I keep turning it into a lengthy philosophical rumination about how/why we select our pastimes instead of getting to the point and sharing a bit of news. So I’ve dispensed with all that bullshit…

About two months ago I sold my camera gear.

Crazy, I know.

I realized my camera and lenses were spending way more time in my office cabinet than around my neck being used. Which tends to happen with everyone’s camera kit eventually. While I could have just left it there, waiting for the few times each year I needed it, that felt like a waste of perfectly good gear.

There were two other factors that helped push me to sell.

First, I did not take my camera to Italy. I had an intense internal debate on whether to take my Fuji X-T2 or instead rent a Fuji X100V or Ricoh GR III to pack along. I decided, though, I didn’t want to deal with taking a camera through airport security and then lugging it around all day on our Italian adventures.

That seemed to work. Ninety percent of the pics I took with my iPhone were great. A few night shots would have looked better with a bigger sensor and faster lens. But those few additional photos would not have justified the hassle and risk of carrying a traditional camera for a week.

I also found the photography process much more casual with the iPhone. I could listen to our tour guide, walk, and snap a pic all at the same time. With a stand alone camera I would have had to stop, let my old man eyes adjust to the viewfinder, frame the shot, make any adjustments to the settings, and then fire away, likely missing what our guide was saying in the process.

Second, L got her own camera last year. It’s not a Fujifilm camera, but rather an entry-level Canon with budget lenses. When we need to take a picture that requires something better than an iPhone, there’s still a perfectly fine option in the house.

After a few weeks of research, I listed my camera on eBay and sold the lenses on KEH. I certainly didn’t make all my money back, but I did get a nice chunk of change. And people who are actively taking pictures can now use my old gear instead of it sitting ignored in my cabinet.

These sales weren’t without some serious second thoughts and regrets. I loved the Fuji X-series system, and learned so much about photography in the seven years I owned an X-T10 and then X-T2. They were the perfect mix of old school, analog camera style and modern digital technology. They looked cool; lots of people asked me if they were film cameras. They were fun to use once I mastered their controls. They forced me to learn about photography rather than just flip to Auto or Program and fire away.

I thought about dumping the earned money into an X100V. That fixed lens platform has really come into its own in its latest iteration. It isn’t quite small enough to be pocketable, but it does solve some of the size problem of carrying an interchangeable lens camera.

However, X100V’s are insanely popular right now. You can’t find one at a retailer and second-hand prices are nearly twice retail right now. Fuji has suspended taking orders for new ones and there are rumors they may not be making them anymore as they transition to the next version.

So that wasn’t really an option.

In the end I went back to my original argument: my iPhone plus L’s Canon are enough for now. I know Apple will keep improving their cameras, so when I next update my phone (a year from now at the very earliest) I’ll be tapping into better lens technology that will further narrow the gap between phone and traditional camera.[1] I’m hopeful their software will also continue to improve so that those occasional photos that look super processed appear far less often.

That is the story I’ve been trying to share for two months.

And then two weeks ago I did something unexpected. And maybe kind of dumb. But more on that later…

Without those pesky kids around during the day, I can finally knock out a few longer posts that I’ve been sitting on for months. First, a post I know Billy is looking forward to: a summary of my adventures with my new camera.

To reset, I purchased an Olympus OM-D EM–10 back in May. It is the first “real” camera I have ever owned, with “real” meaning one that offers full manual control and interchangeable lenses.

In the nearly four months since the camera arrived, I’ve probably taken more pictures than I’ve taken in the past couple years combined. Part of that is just me taking pictures more often. Another part is me taking 10–15 shots for every one or two I used to take. I learned quickly to take as many shots as I could get of a particular scene and then hope that one of the dozen or so would look good when I got home and reviewed them.

Since I was starting from basically zero in my photography knowledge, I did a ton of reading in the first couple months I owned the camera. I learned about aperture sizes, shutter speeds, and ISO settings. I learned about the different modes on the camera and which one served which needs the best. I really enjoyed this part of my new hobby but admit that I don’t always retain the knowledge the best. Or rather I should say that I can’t always recall the information when I’m out shooting. “What was it I read about aperture size and shutter speed when shooting action in mid-day sun?” Because of that, I tend to lean on the Program mode of my camera, letting it pick most of the settings for me. Or I try either aperture or shutter priority modes first, then flip back to P and let the camera decide so I can compare when I get home. I’m still learning how to select the best possible setting from frame one.

And I have a bad habit of turning on my camera and beginning to shoot without checking my settings from the last time I used it. For example, on the first day of school, I took a bunch of shots of the girls and when I reviewed, they looked terrible. That’s when I realized the camera was still set up to shoot quickly in bright sunshine rather than inside in morning light. A couple tweaks and I finally got some decent shots to put in the albums.

Something else I discovered quickly was that photography can be a real money pit. Even starting with a camera that is considered a pretty fantastic combination of capabilities at a reasonable cost, you can get sucked into spending a lot of money on glass. My camera came with a basic 14–42mm kit zoom lens.[1] It took OK pictures, but I knew I needed to upgrade. I quickly added an 40–150mm lens that would be better for snapping the girls at their sporting events.

Shortly after that I rented a 30mm prime lens that wasn’t terribly fast (f/2.8), but was awfully affordable. I really enjoyed the pictures I took in the two weeks I had it, but I ended up going with a 17mm lens I found fairly cheap on eBay. I was really interested in doing casual street photography and this focal length hit that desire just about perfectly. Again, not a super fast lens (also f/2.8), but one that seemed like a good starting point.

I shot with that lens most of the summer and began to get frustrated with some of the results I got from it. I looked long and hard at getting a much nicer Olympus prime lens, either a 25mm or 45mm f/1.8 lens. In the end, I decided to save money and buy a refurbished version of the 30mm lens I had used earlier in the summer, selling my kit lens to finance it. The new lens arrived last week and I’m anxious to get to work with it. So now I have 17mm and 30mm primes and the 40–150mm zoom. No high-end glass in there, but that’s a solid assortment for someone learning my way around photography. I’m confident that 45mm lens will join the collection at some point down the road.

But what about the photography itself? Since most of my pictures have been of the girls, I can’t share them here, of course. But, at a minimum, I’m definitely getting better pictures of them for use in future calendars, albums, and so on. Thus I’ve met my goal for making the investment.

There’s more to it than just taking pics of the kids, though. I take my camera with me just about every time we go out to do something and try to get pics of interesting buildings, signs, or people. I’m working hard to learn how to get the right focus points, frame the photo in a cool way, and so on so I’m not just taking another picture of a building that’s been photographed thousands of times. I’ve also done the obligatory Lego photo sessions, when I can use the tiny plastic toys to play around with focal points and depth of field. I never understood why there were so many pictures of Lego figures on the Internet until I got my camera. Now it makes sense!

My only disappointment is that I have not mastered the birthday photo yet. The lighting in our house has always made birthday pics tough. I’ve had two chances so far, and on both birthdays my pics have been subpar. I have a hard time getting the balance between allowing enough light into the camera and taking the photos quick enough to capture moving kids. Hopefully I can get that down soon.

I’m also trying to simply get comfortable having a camera and shooting often. There’s a certain casualness that I think good photographers have. They aren’t drawing attention to themselves when they are shooting. They can get candid pictures of people without their subjects looking posed or awkward. I still feel a little weird sometimes when I put the camera to my eye and start to capture images. That will pass in time, I’m sure.

So, bottom line, I’m happy with my investment. For a starter camera, I highly recommend the EM–10. It is soooo much smaller and lighter than the Nikon and Canon DSLRs many people start with. And when you’re trying to move up from smartphone photography, I think that is a huge deal. Is it better than a DSLR? That’s a matter of opinion and not worth arguing about. I was awfully close to buying a Nikon, after all. I’m enjoying the self-education process and look forward to my pictures getting even better. And, as a bonus, my desire to get pictures in a variety of locations has us looking at new places to go visit on weekends.

Here are a few fun pics I’ve taken over the past four months. None of them are great, but they’re something to share, I guess. I can’t wait until I can look at a scene and immediately see what the interesting photo will be rather than just snapping a weird looking tree and hoping it turns out as a keeper. One goal for the fall is to put non-kid pics like these online in some kind of gallery. When I get to that point, I’ll let you know where to look.

I hinted last week that I had made a purchase that would require a lengthy post. I’m sure some of you immediately thought, “That glorious bastard bought an Apple Watch!”

Nope.

My feelings about the Apple Watch are pretty similar to how I viewed the initial iPhone back in 2007: cool gadget, but I don’t see the need for one in my life. I think we’ll all be wearing some kind of connected watch in the relatively near future.[1] I’m just not ready to jump in yet.

So, what did I buy? Read on!

Each November I sit down and go through the pictures I’ve taken over the past year and build a photo calendar that we print three copies of: one for ourselves, one for my step-dad, and one for my father- and mother-in-law. It’s always fun to look back on the previous year, pick out the best shots of our favorite moments, and arrange them in a way that fits the natural rhythms of the year.

Over the past couple years, though, I’ve noticed my pool of pics from which I can select has gotten slimmer and slimmer. Like a lot of parents, my photography went through the roof with the birth of each kid, but has slowly tapered off since. Thanks to our iPhones, we rarely take out our Canon point-and-shoot anymore. When we do, I’m frustrated by its slow speed and limited abilities. And while the iPhones take good-enough pictures for small screen viewing or printing for school projects, many of its photos look very noisy or lose their focus when blown up to calendar size.

One saving grace is that I have a sister-in-law who is very into photography and owns a high-end Nikon DSLR with a good assortment of lenses. She’s always there to take pics at family gatherings or when we need a quick, high quality photo.

At C.’s First Communion I got out the Canon to try to get a couple better-than-iPhone pics. It/they sucked. I had already been toying with the idea of upgrading our camera, but that day pushed me into the mode of serious research.

Or into Obsessionville, I should admit. Over the next couple weeks I spent most waking hours when I wasn’t at, or traveling to-or-from, a sporting event researching cameras. I began with articles aimed at folks like myself, looking to get into more serious photography and away from smartphones and point-and-shoots, but not looking to spend a mortgage payment on gear. From these overviews, I drilled down and bookmarked dozens of reviews of individual cameras which I skimmed through. Next I built a list of contenders which I carefully cross-referenced against the best body + lens deals available on Amazon.

My big discovery in this research is that most photo experts no longer recommend jumping into the DSLR realm when moving from low-end cameras. The mirrorless category of cameras has matured enough that most recommend starting there. Which was perfect to me, as I loved the looks and size of most of the mirrorless cameras I was considering. My worry, though, was that the quicker speeds of DSLRs are better suited to sports photography than mirrorless cameras.

Thus I hit my conundrum: speed for sports in a larger package vs. a smaller, more stylish body that still takes great pics but may lag in the speed + distance area.

Two weeks ago I had my list narrowed down to two cameras: the mirrorless Sony a5000 and the Nikon D3300 DSLR. The a5000 was listed by some as the best beginner’s mirrorless camera, and Amazon offered a nice deal that included both a 50mm prime lens and a 16–55mm zoom lens for a hair over my preferred entry cost. The D3300 is considered by just about everyone the very best entry-level DSLR, would allow me to borrow lenses from my sister-in-law, and for a little less than the a5000 package I could get two zoom lenses and a bag.

For the next 48 hours I was maniacal about reading about each camera. Comparing specs. Finding flaws and deciding whether they were deal-breakers. Reevaluating my wish list. Finding similar cameras that I threw into the mix, only to later delete them. It got a little ridiculous.

I had each camera in my Amazon cart at least twice, but then went through one last check of details that made me change my mind.

By two Saturdays ago I had reached an impasse. I could not make a decision. I went back to my first thoughts: I wanted something that was relatively small, at a decent price, but which a) still took great pictures and b) gave me access to good quality glass for building a lens collection.

While at one of C.’s softball games, something tickled the back of my brain and I made a mental note. When we got home, I went to two different websites I read for non-photography reasons, remembering some camera discussion in the past. I found the two posts I was looking for, read through them, then spent the entire evening on a crash course learning about mystery camera #3.

At roughly 11:30 pm, I clicked Place Your Order. There was no going back.

Although I had selected regular delivery, at about 5:30 pm Sunday, our doorbell rang and a small package was sitting there when the girls opened the door. I was officially the owner of an Olympus OM-D E-M10.

Why the change from the Sony or Nikon? The E-M10 is mirrorless, and part of the Micro Four Thirds family of cameras that use common lenses. Olympus makes great glass, and any Panasonic or other manufacturer’s MFT lens will fit it. The E-M10 is roughly the same price as the Sony, but a much better camera. In fact, it’s not far off in performance from its big brothers, the E-M5, which is several hundred dollars more, or the E-M5 Mark II, which will set you back over a grand for the body alone.

In short, it’s a small, good looking camera that captures great images and gives you high level performance for a relatively modest price. It ticks just about every box I was looking for.

My entire life I’ve been a point-and-shoot photographer. I will occasionally use my sister-in-law’s Nikon, but almost exclusively in full auto mode. I don’t know anything about shutter speeds or aperture sizes or ISO. Since the camera arrived I’ve been reading books and websites to try to figure out how to use it in more than just Auto or Program mode. I still need to do some review to make sure I have the concepts straight in my head, and the controls on the camera figured out, but I think I’m going to go and and do some shooting in full Manual mode this week. If you’ve got the tools, you have to know how to use them.

So far I’ve only taken a few pics, mostly of the girls. As my policy is not to post pics of them here, I don’t have any early examples of my efforts. Hopefully I can get some decent non-kid shots to share here soon. L. and I are headed to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a field trip Friday. That seems like a perfect spot to start.

It’s been fun to read and learn about photography. I’m looking forward to using the camera and being able to actually use real photography terms in conversation. While I’ve only done limited shooting, I like the way the camera feels and works. I’m excited to gain more control of it as my knowledge expands.

And, like any good, adult hobby, I’ve discovered that photography can be a real money pit. Sure, you go buy a body and lens to start off with. But you need a bag to protect the camera and glass.[2] And you need a cool strap to replace the crappy one included in the box. And then there is the lure of better lenses, many of which can match or exceed the original cost of the camera body. As I’ve quickly learned, there is no such thing as a cheap accessory in the photography equipment section.

So that’s my latest purchase and my newest hobby. You’ll be hearing more about it.

Pre-teens walk around with smartphones now. Technology is unrelenting and undeniable.  ↩

I ended up just buying a small insert I can use in bags I already own.  ↩