Need Help of a Different Kind

My wife gave me a Canon sx1610. Great little camera. Its stated purpose was to take photos for article submissions to a machinists magazine. It is wonderful at that.

Then, I went to a pawn shop, and saw a Canon xti and a Nikon d5000, each for $500. Since, I have discovered Ebay t3i for $400. d3200 for $350. Then, there are the bundles on Amazon! Why am I DOING this? I'm making both of us nuts.

The sx160 is nore than adequate for what I need. I even get bokeh with some shots! I can add drama to a shot of a pet by increasing the shutter speed. I have old software (Micrografx Picture Publisher) that handles post, well, it could do better. But, it does crop, do some effects like outline, or cartoon, and, can lighten, though without sophistication. With PC Paintbrush, I can do slight blem touch-ups at the pixel level.

I need help in avoiding buying more expensive cameras. I'm NOT going to be a pro, I'm NOT going to photo sports, or faraway landscapes, and sell the photos to Conde Nast. I'm going to machine, weld, bend metal, and kludge simple electrical controls and motor applications, take pictures of it, and sell them to Home Shop Machinist, or Machinists Workshop. After learning CNC, I may sell to Digital Machinist.

How do I save myself from gear creep?!!! HALP!

Well, I hate to be a spoiler for your intended purpose; but you're either lacking something or you desire something else?

I have a Canon 40d, having had a 20d and 30d, and have no desire whatsoever to sell it. It does everything I want it to do and is very easy to use.

On the other hand, I got a Powershot SX-1 for my wife and now desire something a little better for her (low light).

FYI, I have the 20d for sale and will soon list the SX-1. PM me if you need to, ha, ha.

Ralph

Ralph III wrote in post #16111824
Well, I hate to be a spoiler for your intended purpose; but you're either lacking something or you desire something else?

I have a Canon 40d, having had a 20d and 30d, and have no desire whatsoever to sell it. It does everything I want it to do and is very easy to use.

On the other hand, I got a Powershot SX-1 for my wife and now desire something a little better for her (low light).

FYI, I have the 20d for sale and will soon list the SX-1. PM me if you need to, ha, ha.

Ralph

Egad! Like offering whiskey to an alchoholic!

(heavy sigh)

Just took a portrait photo of my wife in my kludge studio. Used incanscent light bounced off the cieling onto her face. Background was a simple white sheet. For a halo light, I used an automotive trouble light with a refrigerator bulb, taped behind the chair. I used the widest aperture I could, and adjusted brightness with the shutter speed. The camera was only 3 feet away, but I still had to zoom to frame the shot right. White balance was set to incandescent. Two photos. Both came out wonderfully. All this with the sx160 in M mode.

But the d5100 is callin' my name. The d3200 is moanin' that it wants me. The t3i is stretching langourously in front of me.

You could always get your wife a Canon 60d or a Nikon d7000. Then, there are the lenses. Be sure to buy ONLY "L" glass! You need a good, high quality tripod. The GOOD ones start at $150. You'll need a brand-embossed full backpack, at least Alice sized, for $250. Don't forget the speedlights, NOT Yongnuo, but brand name! Then, the soft boxes, the Pocket Wizard. If you get into lighting, don't kludge, like me, with the cardboard, styrofoam, and bedsheets, buy the pro stuff. Umbrella stands! I forgot them! And the umbrellas, both bounce and light thru. Gels! You need gels! Not the cheap stuff, the pro stuff. And there's the software packages. Dozens of them! You need 'em all, as each does some one thing really well, but not all you need.

Gear creep.

Well, I'll post tomorrow and tell you if I made it thru the night w/out gear creep. There's a d5100 and a d3100 on Ebay at 10 pm. If I miss that, there's still the Amazon d3200 package for $550.

Crisis time!! Was going to wait until next April, then 30 Sep, now, it's tonight!

Does gear creep get us all?

You need some therapy...read the below links;

http://www.dpreview.co​m …logs-about-gear-addiction

http://www.dpreview.co​m …gear-acquisition-syndrome

Dennis

The only way to deal with Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) is to take a hard look at the new object of desire and ask yourself what that you need to do you can't do with your current camera but that the new one will let you do. If that approach isn't going to work for you, call it Therapeutic Money Spending (a term originated here by our own Permagrin, a master of the practice).

I MADE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT! The Ebay auctions expired. Canon and Nikon DSLRs went for 1/3 to 1/10 their retale prices, but not to me.

In evaluating my current camera, here is what it will not do or does very poorly.
-Does not do RAW, so a lot of post processing is not available to me.
-Manual focus is very inconvenient and does not work well.
-ISO goes only to 1600.

I can live without post processing on the machinists' shots, but for walkarounds, manual focus is VERY necessary, especially at lower aperture. The sx1610 has you using the little dial at the back of the camera. That dial also invokes four other programmed adjustments. If you press at all when rotating the wheel, it leaves manual focus and gives you, say, ISO adjustment, or timer. Annoying.

I guess I have to grab myself by the stacking swivel, and eat my nose about becoming expert with WHAT I HAVE! After all, I've done that for 55 years. Why would my camera be different than my other tools?

What I WOULD like to find is a GOOD post processing program that works on JPEG. Most are brilliantly effective on RAW. Currently, I have Microsoft PC Paintbrush, Micrografx Picture Publisher, and Adobe Photoshop v5. All great for web work, but not for serious post. If I could find such software, the sx1610 would do for a year, at least.

Did I tell you I rigged a hot shoe?

We are the ghosts of Camera's present! OOOOOOOOOHHHH!

1Dxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx!
24-70 II ...............!
70-200II ...............!

We need a home, or we'll haunt you foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Does shock therapy work?

Whew
Amazon noticed I was lookin' at cameras, so is now bombarding my email with their latest and greatest. Talk about the ghost of cameras present.
Ebay is the ghost of cameras past..
Cameras future does not bother me. I have paid less for CARS than what is asked for a new Nikon or Canon DSLR! In 1976, I paid $250 for a 1965 Chevelle with 283 V-8 and 4 on the floor. 1985, I paid $1,600 for a 1982 Chevrolet Citation. No, the ghost of cameras future can go get a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
Back to the original game plan of April 2014. Then, I'll know if walkarounds and hobby photos are a real hobby, or just a response to having the sx1610 new. The prices will still be there on Ebay and Amazon. Perhaps a t3i or a d5100. But, not today.

I think I'm beating GAS!

What I would need of a new camera.
-Changeable lenses, with manual and auto focus
-High ISO for taking those afternoon shaded forest or thicket shots
-Saves in RAW

The sx1610 will always be the machinist's camera. The DSLR will do everything else. BUT! Is there going to BE an "everything else"?

I won't be visiting Bryce Canyon in my lifetime.
I doubt seriously if I'll ever go back to Iceland.
I may see Stonehenge in 2015, but the sx1610 can do for that. Okehampton Castle. A medieval abbey or two.
Unless someone else funds it, there will be no African safari.
No Surinam, Thailand, Victoria Falls, Scottish Isles, or the coast of Scandinavia, all the pro photographers' favorites. Besides, that's been done.
If I find a good JPEG post, I MAY do portraiture in my kludge studio. If not, then not.

No, a DSLR is not a necessity. It's nice to have, but, for now, it's a live without. Besides, decent lenses will take huge bites out of your wallet! "L" glass? Egad!

Congratulations on (almost) overcoming your GAS. I am going into the Belly of the Beast later today. I really (think I) want a 6D. I am taking an SD card to BestBuy with me. I'll snap a few ISO 12,800 and 25,600 pics and come home and compare them to my 5D's best. If all I am getting is one-stop of NR/ISO, I don't need a new camera. I don't need all the other stuff it offers. With the exception of being limited to 1600, I like my 5D just fine.

This is how I quit smoking 27 years ago. Stare the devil square in the eye an tell him to his face, "YOU DON'T OWN ME!" Wish me luck.

ISO 25,600? What is ISO 25,600 used for? My point and shoot just goes to 1600.

Bravo on the smoking thing. Mine was 1986. My daughter was only 2 weeks old, and I watched my mother die of emphysema. Not pretty. Stopped and never went back. Did feel the pull, but remembered my mother's face and her last breaths.

The delightful thing about being a cheapskate kludge artist is all you can do yourself. Why buy Bowens or Elinchrom when a spray painted piece of cardboard taped to a stepladder will do? 3'x3' pieces of styrofoam insulation make great soft reflectors. Why NOT use incandescent? You can color balance for it! Need a snoot? Rolled up cardboard! Soft under chin fill light? A flashlight with a piece of toilet paper over the lens.

Now, if you're finding you do this twice or three times a week, buy a few Chinese items. If you're starting to generate revenue from it, THEN get Bowens or Elinchrom.

Me? Ain't nowhere close to that. Cardboard, styrfoam, black cloth scraps, bed sheet backdrop, kludged hot shoe on the camera.

But, last night, I was ready to vastly enrich Amazon, buying all kinds of gear. You guys saved me from making a big mistake.

I just got back from BestBuy with my 6D photos. I shot raw+Ljpg and shot 2-each at 6400, 12,800 & 25,600. I simply can't believe what I am seeing. The SOOC jpgs at 6400 and 12,800 are completely useable. I did some simple NR and sharpening on all three ISO levels and I am blown away. I may have to cave to GAS and go back tomorrow and buy one of these. If I do, look for a 5D and all my efs stuff in the sale section.

5D Whew! A little bit much, even for me. The highest I was considering was a t3i or a d5100.

For lenses, the 18-270 Tamron PZD, and a "nifty fifty". Not great, but versatile enough I can do pretty much anything while I save for "good" glass. Er, that is, in April.

Gotta hold the line!