Gah.... probably going to go full frame now...

[fuzzybabybunny]

Nikon D300 just has a number of things broken with it that I'm going to need to send it in for repair. Rather than rent a camera for the time that it's going to be in for repair, I'm thinking of just buying a whole new body.

D300: doesn't AF about 90% of the time. I've gone through 3 remotes and I'm pretty sure it's just the jack on the body that's messed up now. Today the remote control crapped out in the middle of shooting a house and indoors HDR practically requires a remote. I HATE the feeling of having equipment break in the middle of a job.

Thinking about just buying a D700 while the D300 is being repaired. I'd rather spend the money to own rather than rent. And of course this means I'll have a backup body. This of course mean I'll be swapping lenses as well because my 17-55mm and 11-16mm are both no good anymore.

Garrrrrr.....

 

[Madwand1]

If you're dumping your lenses and want to save some money in FF, you could consider Canon again.

In either case, I'm not sure what the ideal lens would be for very wide-angle work on a FF. Some cropping might be needed for edge/corner sharpness, and then you might reconsider DX lenses for the interim at least.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

D300
D700

 

[Deadtrees]

If I were you, I'd get a used 5D and TS-E lens.

Damn, though I use 5D mk2, I miss 5d due to its superb color redention+balance, gradation and general quality of images.

 

[arrfep]

I second the votes for a 5D. Mine's left me wanting nothing (okay, except some decent lowlight AF) for the past two years. If you want to stay Nikon, consider buying refurbished. There's a couple places you can get a refurb D700 for $2100, and it was as low as $1999 just last week. That's cheap enough that I've considered buying it just to try it out with the possibility to resell if I don't like it and lose very little money.

I don't want to say FF is the way of the future and you might as well convert now, but if you are planning on upgrading anyway due to a broken body, I think you might as well make the switch.

 

[randomlinh]

this time, don't shower test it

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: Deadtrees
If I were you, I'd get a used 5D and TS-E lens.

Damn, though I use 5D mk2, I miss 5d due to its superb color redention+balance, gradation and general quality of images.

Real estate photography is not architecture photography. It is a mass produced product that is not art. It does not require a T/S lens.

I would not be able to do my job with a 5D / 5D MKII because of its lack of bracketing features for HDR. I'd have to go with a Nikon DXXX / DX, or Canon 1D series.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: Deadtrees
If I were you, I'd get a used 5D and TS-E lens.

Damn, though I use 5D mk2, I miss 5d due to its superb color redention+balance, gradation and general quality of images.

Real estate photography is not architecture photography. It is a mass produced product that is not art. It does not require a T/S lens.

I would not be able to do my job with a 5D / 5D MKII because of its lack of bracketing features for HDR. I'd have to go with a Nikon DXXX / DX, or Canon 1D series.

$2000? Really? Where was this? At this point I'd rather buy a refurb camera than a used one because a refurb at least carries something of a warranty.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Well, after looking at the prices, looks like I'm staying with APS-C.

D700: $2000
D300: $700 selling price after factoring in repair costs
Difference: $1300

Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8: $1350 used
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8: $550 selling price
Difference: $800

Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8: $1600 used
Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8: $900 selling price
Difference: $700

So this would actually be a $2800 upgrade cost.

Goddamn it.

 

[Deadtrees]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: Deadtrees
If I were you, I'd get a used 5D and TS-E lens.

Damn, though I use 5D mk2, I miss 5d due to its superb color redention+balance, gradation and general quality of images.

Real estate photography is not architecture photography. It is a mass produced product that is not art. It does not require a T/S lens.

I would not be able to do my job with a 5D / 5D MKII because of its lack of bracketing features for HDR. I'd have to go with a Nikon DXXX / DX, or Canon 1D series.

Well, I don't know much about real esate photography but this person that I knew used a wideangle TS-E lens for his real esate photos. I thought TS-E makes sense as he can control distortion. Also, he used TS-E lens for that miniature look.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: Deadtrees

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: Deadtrees
If I were you, I'd get a used 5D and TS-E lens.

Damn, though I use 5D mk2, I miss 5d due to its superb color redention+balance, gradation and general quality of images.

Real estate photography is not architecture photography. It is a mass produced product that is not art. It does not require a T/S lens.

I would not be able to do my job with a 5D / 5D MKII because of its lack of bracketing features for HDR. I'd have to go with a Nikon DXXX / DX, or Canon 1D series.

Well, I don't know much about real esate photography but this person that I knew used a wideangle TS-E lens for his real esate photos. I thought TS-E makes sense as he can control distortion. Also, he used TS-E lens for that miniature look.

You don't have much distortion if you just shoot a room head on and level. And you can always fix lens distortion with software (PTLens). I do like the miniature look though, but that's for play, not for work. You'd still want a T/S for high end architecture work.

The bigger issue though is still the 5D's lack of bracketing features (and other features just in general).

 

[magomago]

Yeah honestly in your initial post I saw none of your complaints that would have been resolved with "I need FF"


weren't you the one who said that you got cheap ebay remotes? Maybe get a real nikon one this time lol?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: magomago
Yeah honestly in your initial post I saw none of your complaints that would have been resolved with "I need FF"


weren't you the one who said that you got cheap ebay remotes? Maybe get a real nikon one this time lol?

I just figured that this would be a good time to go full frame since I'm going to need to buy a new body anyway. During the time that my old D300 is in repair I'm going to need something to shoot with, and I'd rather not throw money into a black hole by renting something.

I've used cheap ebay remotes for years with Canon. Never had a problem. Then I switch to Nikon and suddenly have three of them fail in a row, and now one of the highly reviewed wireless remotes as well? Seems a bit suspect.

 

[finbarqs]

well, with the D700, you'll have one of the best low light shooters available! When I went from the D300 to the 5D Mark 2, one thing I noticed: Build quality significantly dropped...

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
I just figured that this would be a good time to go full frame

If the rumors are roughly right, the end of year might be be a better time, when the D700x/D800 is released, assuming that the pricing is closer to Sony/Canon which is unfortunately dubious based on history.

You can also start at least the mid-range lens migration at any time, though the DX mode would be more viable with a higher MP camera.

 

[jpeyton]

Wait until the fall; Nikon definitely has a D700x in the pipeline. Even if you don't want one, you can get a good deal on a used D700 when people inevitably upgrade.

D700 files are very "clean". Lots of dynamic range, excellent for HDR work. If you need to focus at the edge of the frame, think about using Live View with contrast detect AF...it's much more accurate for critical focus, and it's suited to tripod work. You can place the focus point anywhere on the frame in Live View.

 

[chipy]

fbb, how's your business going in cali? read your story a while back and was wondering how everything is.

 

[Aharami]

you must be making some pretty decent money with your real estate photography business to afford all these cameras so often. i dont understand how your cameras break so often

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Thankfully, the jack doesn't seem to be messed up and I guess I just had a string of really bad luck with remotes. I've since gotten a Phottix wireless (worked but fried itself after accidentally putting the batteries in backwards for just a moment) and a set of radio remotes by Yong Nou that work great.

I'm not making decent money. I haven't bought any new gear except for a couple of cheap used strobes and some umbrellas so that I can get into off camera flash. I don't even have a second backup body which is BAD.

I'm making maybe $1000 to $1500 a month. High volume is hard to come by. Taking a lot of tax deductions which is great (start a part time photography business people for the tax deductions!!!). I live in Palo Alto, CA and rent is $500 a month because I live with my cousin and she's doing me a huge favor. The people here are generally very well off and materialistic but they've taught me the value of thinking with an entrepreneurial mindset and how good it is to be financially secure with a stream of passive income from a business. I have no friends and no people who are poor like me and just want to have fun doing simple things like sleeping outside and diving in the ocean and foregoing eating out for our camping stoves

I almost wanna just move to Washington or Oregon, but for the first time in my life I feel trapped to a place - if I move now I will lose my client base and everything that I have worked for for the past year. *sigh*

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Thankfully, the jack doesn't seem to be messed up and I guess I just had a string of really bad luck with remotes. I've since gotten a Phottix wireless (worked but fried itself after accidentally putting the batteries in backwards for just a moment) and a set of radio remotes by Yong Nou that work great.

I'm not making decent money. I haven't bought any new gear except for a couple of cheap used strobes and some umbrellas so that I can get into off camera flash. I don't even have a second backup body which is BAD.

I'm making maybe $1000 to $1500 a month. High volume is hard to come by. Taking a lot of tax deductions which is great (start a part time photography business people for the tax deductions!!!). I live in Palo Alto, CA and rent is $500 a month because I live with my cousin and she's doing me a huge favor. The people here are generally very well off and materialistic but they've taught me the value of thinking with an entrepreneurial mindset and how good it is to be financially secure with a stream of passive income from a business. I have no friends and no people who are poor like me and just want to have fun doing simple things like sleeping outside and diving in the ocean and foregoing eating out for our camping stoves

I almost wanna just move to Washington or Oregon, but for the first time in my life I feel trapped to a place - if I move now I will lose my client base and everything that I have worked for for the past year. *sigh*

Considering where your dreams of the NW got you after Phoenix, maybe it's about time you put those aspirations on the back burner for a while. Establish something for a few years before you just decide to up and move again.