Advice for an enthu photographer
- Thread starter Exhaust
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Certainly. However some people are at times limited by their gear. Sure, a D3100 can do alot, but more accurate exposures & auto-focus can get that 1 shot you wish you didn't miss.
your current setup of D3100+sigma 17-55/2.8 is good enough. no need to upgrade for now. as others have already said, focus on honing your skills and getting better images. later you can upgrade to D7000 and keep your D3100 as a backup cam.
If D3100+kit lens is good enough for commercial paid job, why don't these famous/successful photographers with probably the best technical skills use them as main gear for wedding day shooting? Especially D3100+kit lens combo is much much cheaper than a D3s+FX lens. From business point of view, if a much cheaper tool can help you achieve the SAME result, you should go for the cheaper tools right? However, for equipment comparison alone, there are differences between D3100+kit lens and FX camera+FX lens. It's up to you to decide whether these differences can help you achieve your desired images and sell them to your clients successfully and frequently. Yes, they are not cheap and out of budget for some people. However, it's a business and you need some capital to setup a business right? I believe $5-15k is a reasonable budget range to setup a business. If you treat it as a hobby rather than a profession, it's expensive and probably out of budget, but you don't wish to tell your clients that you are shooting their wedding/event as a hobby right?
Yes, the person behind the camera is most important, however, the gear, editing style, aesthetic sense, business model and people skills are also very important to put yourself competitive with millions of photographers in the world. You can't dismiss any of them.
Yes, the person behind the camera is most important, however, the gear, editing style, aesthetic sense, business model and people skills are also very important to put yourself competitive with millions of photographers in the world. You can't dismiss any of them.
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My advice is that always do pre-wedding shot before even thinking of doing actual day. Worst come to worst if you screwed up a pre-wedding shot, the client can hire another photographer to do another pre-wedding for them. If you screwed up someone's actual day then it's like ..... Actual day only comes once in a lifetime, for most people. If not confident enough then don't do it. No offense.
Because, they can afford the best and greatest gear?
Let's face it, for working professional, I want to work with gear that allow me to create images... But at the same time, when one have spare cash, it would be nice to buy a M9P + 50 noct which cost close to $28k retail.
The entry level gear is capable of producing similar result to a degree if one know how to maximize it. But the gear head inside us will tell us, the best and the greatest gear is something we "want". I know for a fact that I could shoot with a $3k lens and a $300 lens, and produce result that is so close that you need to pixel peep to tell them apart. That is because I am familiar with the limitation of both lenses.
If you have the money and able to justify it, buy the best... If not use what you have and produce the best within these limitation.
There are times best gear give you an edge but most of the time you can go around it.
Regards,
Hart
Because when you've made it, you don't have to use a D3100 + Kit lens when you have options.
The point here is that you CAN use D3100 + kit lens to cover a wedding sufficiently well, but naturally having a D3X and a whole load of fast lenses will do the job better.
I'm quite sure not every single famous successful photographer was born with a D3 strapped to his arse. Along the way they probably used a whole load of cheaper gear.
Of course not to the extend of the best DSLR available like D3, D3X, D3s or Leica M9. Something like D700 or 5DMII is a reasonable cost to start with.
You can just do the calculation. Buying two D700 and some lenses and 2 flashes for sufficient backup won't cost you more than $15000. If you want to do a business as a freelance photographer, $15000 is a reasonable amount to start with, otherwise you can adjust the combination to a FX+DX combo, which can lower the cost to less than $12000 or even lower. Or is $15000 or $12000 too much to start up a business?
Photography is very subjective thing. If you think D3100 + kit lens can cover a wedding with different lightings sufficiently well(I assume you have shot a lot of weddings with D3100 + kit lens and have a good business in that), I can't comment anything, because some people may like your work and some may don't. Some may even argue that a m43 system or even iPhone can cover a wedding sufficiently well. There's no end of debate. But one thing is for sure - the profitability and survival of your business model. End results that sold to your clients are most important. As I mention earlier, if you find that your current camera gear can allow you to sell your photos frequently and successfully even if you keep increasing your price, from a business point of view, it's great and you don't have to worry about your camera gear. Just stick to it.
You can just do the calculation. Buying two D700 and some lenses and 2 flashes for sufficient backup won't cost you more than $15000. If you want to do a business as a freelance photographer, $15000 is a reasonable amount to start with, otherwise you can adjust the combination to a FX+DX combo, which can lower the cost to less than $12000 or even lower. Or is $15000 or $12000 too much to start up a business?
Photography is very subjective thing. If you think D3100 + kit lens can cover a wedding with different lightings sufficiently well(I assume you have shot a lot of weddings with D3100 + kit lens and have a good business in that), I can't comment anything, because some people may like your work and some may don't. Some may even argue that a m43 system or even iPhone can cover a wedding sufficiently well. There's no end of debate. But one thing is for sure - the profitability and survival of your business model. End results that sold to your clients are most important. As I mention earlier, if you find that your current camera gear can allow you to sell your photos frequently and successfully even if you keep increasing your price, from a business point of view, it's great and you don't have to worry about your camera gear. Just stick to it.
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Generally, I agree with the rest. A good photog doesn't need a good camera. But you need a camera good enough to suit your creativity. To state an example, you won't see bird enthusiasts shooting with a kit lens, would you? My friend is an enthusiast (little/no profit involved) but he bought a 600mm Canon L lens. It's up to the individual really.
Can your camera keep up with you?
Another thing, a 55 mm lens might be good for portraits on a DX but not on a FX camera. Just my opinion from helping friends out at their functions.
Happy Shooting!!
Can your camera keep up with you?
Another thing, a 55 mm lens might be good for portraits on a DX but not on a FX camera. Just my opinion from helping friends out at their functions.
Happy Shooting!!
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