Category: Photography

Full frame or DX; Micro Four Thirds or one inch sensor compacts.  What about Large format or Medium format; or a camera phone or small sensor compact.

Every week on the forums you see camera A is better then camera B, format size W is better then X, yet in many ways its difficult to compare different formats.

If I had to pick just one then it would be an impossible job.

I much prefer to have a selection of tools available, I was jealously reading the other day about a professional photographer who had grab bags all packed and ready to go for Medium Format, DX mirrorless (Fuji), and a large sensor compact.  Depending on how he felt, where he was going and what the shoot was for, he would just gab the appropriate bag and go.  He also had grab bags for different lighting solutions!

So money no option what would I go for.

Well for landscape I would have and I do have Large Format and Medium Format.  Large Format is not common today and is difficult and challenging to use.  Many would say you can get the same results with full frame 35mm and a high quality PC lens.  If your having to walk a long distance though a full frame mirrorless solution is a great compromise.

Studio I use a mix of equipment, either full frame 35mm or Medium format.

Street shooting is my little Leica, small and not screaming photographer is the ideal, Fuji mirrorless and Microfourthirds is also idea.

So for my formats it would be:

• Large format 5 x 4 inch
• Medium format 6 x 6 cm
• 35mm Full frame SLR for Wildlife
• 35mm Full frame Mirrorless for everyday
• Microfourthirds for travelling light.

Oh course I am now going to ignore the above and mention some cameras.  What would I like to own looking at the cameras available today.

• Large format – Ebony
• Medium format – my Hasselblad and I would also add a Leica S
• Full frame 35mm – Nikon D4 & D810, Leica M 240
• DX ( ok so not on my list but I love the …) – Fuji X100T
• Microfourthirds – Olympus OM-D E-M10

Every week on some forum or the other you will see someone exclaiming that they have ditched their SLR gear and gone mirrorless.

The sales figures for 2014 though still do not show the big pickup in mirrorless sales.  While once again SLR sales are down, they are still vastly greater then CSC sales, which are still not really growing in the western market.   In the far east its a different matter and CSC sales are far better.

The other year I visited a museum that had just had a party of Japanese women visit, every single one of them had something like a Olympus Pen or Nikon J1 round their necks, not one had an SLR.

Certainly as far as sales go here in the UK, its the highend mirrorless that is selling and its selling as companion cameras to SLR users generally.  Though I have noticed more and more of the older generation ditching the SLR for the CSC due to weight concerns.

The big question is are Canon and Nikon going to advance the SLR anymore, because in a few years focus and EVF viewfinders will have reached parity with SLR’s and then where are people going to put there dollars?

I know Leica equipment is very expensive but they really understand customer service. Issues are dealt with well.

With the Nikon D750 and its recent flare issues we have now had the last four full frame cameras released with issues. Now problems do happen but Nikons response to its customers has not been good.

Come on Nikon, up your game.

This week we have CES2015, a show that now seems to contain everything from Cars, TV’s to Computers and Drones.

If you get the chance check out the self parking Audi/VW video showing a dog parking a car, very funny.

It’s been the camera and lens announcements I have been listening out for. Particularly Nikon news.

While the camera announcement of the D5500 with its improved fully articulating screen, did not interest me the announcement of a new 300mm f/4 lens did. While I am not in the market for this lens, a good quality f/4 lens is something that Nikon needs more of. Not everyone can afford the fast f/2.8 lens and the slow consumer lens just do not cut it. What we want is a full range of quality zooms and this is something that Nikon have been slow to do unlike Canon.

So 2014 is over and we are now in 2015.  Last year had a small number of shoots, several experimental shoots testing ideas for some future shoots, and a few very complex shoots came together to produce photographs like the one above.

Over the next month i’ll be doing a lot thinking of new ideas and things I want to try, so once again, while i’ll not be producing a lot of work I hope to produce two or three stunning photographs like these.

Last year also saw me continuing a long term project documenting the Lincoln Bailgate area for a book I am planning.  I’ll be continuing this as well as completing a few other long term projects.

Always have a project you can turn to, to keep your mind focused.

Last year I shot very little wildlife so i’ll be wanting to correct this and also shoot more more large format landscape.

Its looking to be fun and busy year ahead.

Its approaching the end of another year, and I am likely to do a recap closer to new year then today but I thought I would have a dig through my photographic archive looking for a Christmas themed photograph, and what better then a picture of the lovely Amy.

The Christmas party season is well upon us and as well as the questions; what are we going to wear, and who will be the designated driver, the other big question is, what camera will we take?

Parties now are also social media events, with people posting photographs on to there favourite social media site. It’s because of this and because we always have them with us, that the smart phone has become the most used camera.

With more then good enough quality for the web and Internet connectivity it make the obvious choice.

Personally I take a small Mirrorless as well, usually my Leica or Nikon V1, occasionally a moment occurred when you wish you had a better camera.

So the other day I went out shooting birds with the typical setup most photographers would choose.

DSLR, long lens and a tripod (or monopod).

Chris had his high end Mirrorless system, so the question some may ask is, which was best?

Well it’s a slightly more complex question then you might think, and it’s less of which is best, but more about which is more suitable.

A few years a go I would have said that an SLR is the only way to go.  Mirrorless cameras were just too slow to focus, but then the Nikon V1 with its on chip focusing sensors appeared and the game changed.

Now the high end Fuji X-T1 and Olympus OM-D E-M1 are knocking on the door of the midrange SLR’s, and in some areas are surpassing the high-end SLR’s with some of their focusing modes and especially with the Olympus its in body five-axis image stabilisation.

While a Canon D1X or Nikon D4s may still have the upper hand its far less cut and dried then it was a few years ago.

The ‘bigger’ thing to consider is actually the smaller sensor, and while many complain about the ‘lack’ of ‘full frame’ no selective depth of field and poor Bokeh etc, having a smaller sensor brings a number of advantages to the game, and its these advantages that cause Nikon D300s users to complain about the lack of a new model.

A smaller sensor gives you longer reach, lower cost long glass and size and weight advantages.

While if your parking up and only having to lug a full frame SLR and long lens a few hundred meter’s its one thing, but another matter if your having to hike a long distance.

So in answer to the question which is best, as always in photography the real question is what do you want to do.

Birds in flight, complex movement, well the traditional DSLR still has the advantage, but you need to hike ten miles with a 600mm lens to get to a spot to photograph a puffin coming out of its burrow, a smaller sensor allowing a smaller lighter camera and smaller lighter lens would definitely be my choice.