I’m not into bird photography, but I’ve got a full frame SLR and a 400mm lens… yup, what you say rings true. I can get the job done, but can easily tell that even that setup (about $3500 brand new) wouldn’t fully cut it if that were my primary focus.
Reminds me of hanging out on the speed skating fora… when people bitched about the cost of gear, cyclists would chime in.
You can great pictures from nearly any camera these days, including your phone.
The advantage any real camera has over a phone is interchangeable lenses. Although there are some kits out there, they’re just not very good. I can’t easily take macro shots on my phone, I can’t use a wide angle lens or a telephoto lens. I’m also more likely to get the shot with a real camera, since it’s far easier to press a button quickly than it is to press a spot on a screen. I’ve missed many shots on my phone that I would have gotten with just about any real camera.
An expensive camera has a number of advantages over a smaller camera, but they’re less important to the casual photographer. Typically an expensive camera allows you to take more photos per second (critical for sports photography and has better, quicker autofocus. My expensive camera has shutter speeds down to 1/8000 of a second, which allows me to use some of my faster lenses wide open in the daytime without blowing out highlights, whereas my less expensive camera only goes down to 1/4000 of a second. It does make a difference sometimes.
The camera on the phone is like a utility knife. It’ll get the job done a lot of the time and if’s a lot easier to carry around than a full toolbox, but if you need to get serious work done you’re usually better off with the full toolbox. Most people don’t, though.
Also, to my fellow SLR snobs ’round these parts… at work we have a pair of Lumix GH5s with Olympus 12-100 lenses. As much as I love my Canon gear, my next camera will almost certainly be a GH6. They don’t touch the Canons in terms of UX, but in almost every other way, they whip llama ass like it’s their job.
And yeah, I can very easily tell which camera took a given photo: we have a mix of GH5, high end Nikon, mid grade Nikon, and my Canon 6D. Zoom in on some hair or fur, even with studio lighting, and all doubt will fall away.
I can kinda see it. Make a girl feel beautiful, claim they can get them into modeling. As far as seeming not broke, they do have a camera that costs $5k…
ETA: A friend of mine who used to model tells me even the real professional photogs have a lot of scoundrels among their number. I am sure I would be horrified at the stories.
In other news, professional cannot spot the difference between an email created on a $5000 desktop workstation and a $20 flip-phone. Journalists write ridiculous story about how ridiculous it is to own a PC.
Like comparing a Saturn V to a bottle rocket, based solely on the ability to fly 20 feet in the air.
Yeah, I was joking. He looks like he has a lot of mileage on him. Still, he’s a majestic and dignified creature in his old age. Photos of animals are so much more satisfying and fulfilling than shooting them and hanging them on a wall. Good job.
I know 
It was fascinating to me to see “old men” walking around with the young buffalo, watching a range of ages and abilities, and how they helped each other.
Thanks for the kudos!
You have to consider the intended output of the photos. If you are photographing under average conditions just for use on the Internet or small printed images, your money is better spent on lighting equipment because web resolution is low compared to what you need for large print output.
I’m totally unsurprised because my old Lumix is still my camera of choice for blog pics. It has a good optical zoom and good macro ability, easy to focus. I don’t need gigapixels.
You’re that good at texting?
I prefer a full keyboard. Not because I’m one of those people who can touchtype best on a Model M keyboard, but still.
That is a beautiful bird. Another nice shot, and you’re welcome.
Or better yet, a $500 distraction free writing machine!
I have this lens plus the 1.4 teleconverter. It’s unbelievably sharp with or without the teleconverter, easy to handhold and the dual image stabilization (lens + in-body sensor) makes shooting without a tripod simple. Atmospheric haze and heat distortion are the limiting factors to shooting anything at a distance. With 12x magnification (17x with teleconverter) the big issue for me is finding the flying bird or plane with such a narrow angle of view.
If I did NANO this year, which I’m not, this is what I’d use.
(Not necessarily that particular pen; I need to find what I did with my fountain pens since we moved, though.)
that’s what wildlife refuges are for! Or in a pinch, zoos.
Shutter drive speed is a big thing for high end cameras. Like you want more than 15 fps at f/1.4 @ 85mm for wrestling indoors … and that little fast shutter motor is expensive and expensive to maintain.
Then the glass … then the sensor (maybe except sensor dimension).
That was what the expensive things were for in order of need for editorial newspaper photography in my experience.
A body with fast motor for fast wide f/2.8
A body with fast motor for fast long f/2.8
If you fancy your 50/85 f/1.4 will have one, too.
And it was because we didn’t have time to change lenses when shit is firing off at either a protest or cutest baby contest. You just had to be ready.
And the papers paid for everything. So the money wasn’t a problem until an intern broke something.
Ah well.
Reliability is also an issue. When I was doing archaeology in hot, humid caves and bunkers in the Western Pacific, I killed a bunch of mid-priced cameras, and one very expensive Nikon DSLR. I ended up splurging on a Leica system, and have kept with that ever since.
The big thing is that I am happy with the mechanical and image quality, It is comfortable to carry everywhere, and I can use it without needing to think about what I am doing.
For me, I travel a bunch, and have a set of objects that I always have with me. Those things are the best and most reliable I can get.
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