Joel Slack
New member
Just like everyone else who progresses through the stages of photographic experience, I have landed on a specialization as a result of my native tendencies and interests, and it has brought me to the realm of nature photography. I am still either circling in on a sub-specialty, or (a more desirable option to me) I am going to find a wide gamut of natural subjects in my viewfinder, into perpetuity. That would be fine by me, but we go where it takes us I guess.
I currently do all my work with a Canon Mk II N, and it has been a great camera for many aspects of natural photography. Birding, wildlife, any longer-range telephoto work that might crop up, anything with action involved. As I'm sure everyone knows. We are moving to Great Falls, MT, in a few months, and I fully intend to shoot every square inch of the state 5 times over, including every known species of bird/mammal/insect, or fish if I could get under water.
The MkIIN is capable enough for landscapes, but hardly the best tool for that job. I've been looking very hard at the 1Ds Mark II, or whatever might appear this year in its place, but the super wide angle FF limitations are a concern to me, in the landscape department. If the MkIIN became the MkIII with 16 mp's...well, I could probably get past the 1.3 crop as a trade-off for slightly better birding capabilities. But I am more inclined to think that the next incarnation of the 1DMkII is going to be a 12 mp version. Even so, no matter how great the 35mm format is, there will always be limitations with using a smaller sensor compared with a larger one.
SOOOO, I have been contemplating keeping the MkIIN for birding/wildlife/telephoto work, and adding a MF camera for landscape or any other subject that isn't likely to get up and walk off while I set up to shoot it. Like everyone else, I absolutely want the best pictures I am capable of creating, and I'm thinking that going double format would fill both requirements nicely without my having to make compromises that might affect the quality of my images. I've been looking at the Contax 645, followed quickly by going numb with overload at trying to negotiate the maze of digital backs.
I assume that none of you were born shooting 645 or other MF/LF images. I'd like to hear of the experiences that pushed you to make the jump, maybe some helpful advice for the dreaded newbie (ugh), and how you settled on a particular format. I like the Contax because I've read great things about the lenses, because I can pick up a used one in good condition for a song (or even a new one at a couple of sites I found, supposedly), I would be able to choose from a selection of databacks from several different manufactureres, and because I've seen examples of images that I have found amazing. (and because I just like it)
Aside from software, databack, camera, lenses, the odd accessory, what else am I really looking at as far as accumulations of equipment? I'm sure it can't be as simple as slapping a back on the body, firing away, downoading images, printing images, selling images. I need a fuller picture of what's involved, and I'm not finding it on the 500 pages of internet searches I've been through. And I do recognize (and accept) the learning curve involved.
Any advice or expertise you fellows might like to offer me, I'm all ears! I have so much to learn. And no, I haven't made a firm decision yet. But I will have to talk myself out of it at this point. I'd say my upper range of funds will likely top out around $20k (though that's not set in concrete), so that has to be taken into consideration, of course.
I currently do all my work with a Canon Mk II N, and it has been a great camera for many aspects of natural photography. Birding, wildlife, any longer-range telephoto work that might crop up, anything with action involved. As I'm sure everyone knows. We are moving to Great Falls, MT, in a few months, and I fully intend to shoot every square inch of the state 5 times over, including every known species of bird/mammal/insect, or fish if I could get under water.
The MkIIN is capable enough for landscapes, but hardly the best tool for that job. I've been looking very hard at the 1Ds Mark II, or whatever might appear this year in its place, but the super wide angle FF limitations are a concern to me, in the landscape department. If the MkIIN became the MkIII with 16 mp's...well, I could probably get past the 1.3 crop as a trade-off for slightly better birding capabilities. But I am more inclined to think that the next incarnation of the 1DMkII is going to be a 12 mp version. Even so, no matter how great the 35mm format is, there will always be limitations with using a smaller sensor compared with a larger one.
SOOOO, I have been contemplating keeping the MkIIN for birding/wildlife/telephoto work, and adding a MF camera for landscape or any other subject that isn't likely to get up and walk off while I set up to shoot it. Like everyone else, I absolutely want the best pictures I am capable of creating, and I'm thinking that going double format would fill both requirements nicely without my having to make compromises that might affect the quality of my images. I've been looking at the Contax 645, followed quickly by going numb with overload at trying to negotiate the maze of digital backs.
I assume that none of you were born shooting 645 or other MF/LF images. I'd like to hear of the experiences that pushed you to make the jump, maybe some helpful advice for the dreaded newbie (ugh), and how you settled on a particular format. I like the Contax because I've read great things about the lenses, because I can pick up a used one in good condition for a song (or even a new one at a couple of sites I found, supposedly), I would be able to choose from a selection of databacks from several different manufactureres, and because I've seen examples of images that I have found amazing. (and because I just like it)
Aside from software, databack, camera, lenses, the odd accessory, what else am I really looking at as far as accumulations of equipment? I'm sure it can't be as simple as slapping a back on the body, firing away, downoading images, printing images, selling images. I need a fuller picture of what's involved, and I'm not finding it on the 500 pages of internet searches I've been through. And I do recognize (and accept) the learning curve involved.
Any advice or expertise you fellows might like to offer me, I'm all ears! I have so much to learn. And no, I haven't made a firm decision yet. But I will have to talk myself out of it at this point. I'd say my upper range of funds will likely top out around $20k (though that's not set in concrete), so that has to be taken into consideration, of course.