A parable

A very interesting parable that may save you hundreds of dollars:
http://luminous-landscape.com/essays/p​arable.shtml

That's great if you have talent. Some of us have to hope that our expensive equipment will carry the day.

Yes, I wish I could do more with less...imagine the amount I could have saved and then spent on other more pressing issues.

Some of us actually enjoy owning and using the premium gear too

I wouldn't say he's completely wrong...I have taken some amazing shots using my P&S, that I C&C now using everything I know, and the shots still stand the test of time each and every time I look at them. I believe the part about the vision - it was all about the vision in those days since I could care less about the P&S. I really didn't like it to be honest. Damn thing was always running out of battery at the worst moments.

Meanwhile, I am trying to get back to the point where my system is transparent, to know it enough that it becomes invisible as the P&S did, leaving just me and my vision once more.

I'll get there...some day I try to leave the gearhead hat behind on shoots (and mostly do succeed thankfully)

Everything is relative..
A 1DMK2 or a 5D and any L lens would be a lot of people's dream camera.
Next to a Hasselblad H2 though...not so "top shelf" anymore.

So I could consider myself one of the "gear heads" for having a 400 5.6L , or I could be considered the photographer in the article as I don't have a 400 2.8 L.

Hmm , I'm confused , which group do I belong to ?

I think I fit in a bit of both.. I'm a bit of a gearhead and I like gadgets and fiddling with toys but I have a fairly realistic idea about what I need to buy (or I think I do, anyway....). I mean, I wouldn't be buying a 24-70L IS because I don't get any camera shake at those lengths as is so the extra (hypothetical) grand would be wasted.

I know a good photographer can do a lot with little, but some stuff will help more than others. I just try to buy what fits and nothing more. As I'm basically done with all my big glass and body buys. The rest is using my skill and learning from each experience.

Does anyone really want to learn from someone else's experiences? I have a lot of fun making my own mistakes and trying different gear, regardless of what anyone thinks of me owning it. I very much prefer learning by doing rather than just accepting what someone else thinks I should or shouldn't do.

FretNoMore wrote in post #2251357
Does anyone really want to learn from someone else's experiences? I have a lot of fun making my own mistakes and trying different gear, regardless of what anyone thinks of me owning it. I very much prefer learning by doing rather than just accepting what someone else thinks I should or shouldn't do.

Actually that is true... I've realized that some things I cannot teach others, I will simply have to let them experience it themselves because nothing else will give them the insights other than walking the path.

I've bought and sold MANY lenses.. each and every one has left a lesson behind. I can still name 'em and what they taught me, even if it was not to my liking.

Lightstream wrote in post #2251629
I've bought and sold MANY lenses.. each and every one has left a lesson behind. I can still name 'em and what they taught me, even if it was not to my liking.

Name em, good learning opportunity for some of us!!
Here's what I have so far and have learned from them

18-55 Kit lens - I need a good wide angle lens.
50mm 1.8 - The 18-55 was krap, this lens could still be better (1.4)
Sigma 24-70 - Suck it up and pay the price for good Canon glass
85mm 1.8 - Oh, that's what pics should look like. Now I want L glass.

woffles wrote in post #2251773
Name em, good learning opportunity for some of us!!
Here's what I have so far and have learned from them

18-55 Kit lens - I need a good wide angle lens.
50mm 1.8 - The 18-55 was krap, this lens could still be better (1.4)
Sigma 24-70 - Suck it up and pay the price for good Canon glass
85mm 1.8 - Oh, that's what pics should look like. Now I want L glass.

Ya sure? I don't want to open up a can of worms when I name someone's favorite and then have them rabidly come in to defend it. Anyway here goes, bear in mind these are personal opinions and YMMV..

Also, remember some of these were bought and sold due to changing needs and not because they are bad.


18-55 kit lens, I liked it at f/8. Bit too strong barrel distortion at the wide end, one of the comments I received is "I sure hope the building doesn't lean like that in real life" well, nothing I could do about it except upgrade lenses. Taught me that 18 (28mm equiv) is wide enough for me on DSLR. Was like a breath of fresh air, set the new wide end benchmark for my standard zoom.

28-105 f/3.5-4.5 USM - Wrong focal length on crop camera, 44-170 never worked out for me. Taught me to love USM

Tamron 70-300 - overexposure and flare problems without filter and with hood. Taught me EOS lenses are worth it, and also, how to handhold steady at 480mm equivalent without a stabilizer.

Canon 75-300 Mk1 non USM - cheap filter and no hood, no overexposure/flare. Canon glass is worth it. Acceptably sharp only at f/11. Cough up money for good zoom.

Tamron 28-75 - same as yours. Buy the L.

Canon 10-22 EF-S - this is a huge favorite of mine and I am *VERY* sorry to see it go. I upgraded to full frame, but life goes on and the zoom sold for not very much of a loss so I am happy. I hope it has a good life ahead of it... it taught me to buy the dang lens and NOT worry about future compatibility, because if I hadn't bought it, it wouldn't have landed me one of my prize winning shots that couldn't have been taken any other way.

Sigma 50-500 - nice lens but too heavy for me. Taught me my max weight limit for glass alone is below 1.4kg (it is 1.85)


PROBABLY for sale in the future.. 50 f/1.8. Nice and sharp but 50 is just not my FL. CA is horrible at wide open apertures which is the reason I bought it. If I wanted a f/4 I have an IS-enabled 50mm as part of a superb zoom package. Focus drive is a little inaccurate at times.

I read the parable yesterday and slept on it. Seems I too am caught up in the "got to have it" craze. When I was young and without money I too had a fun time with my simple Canon A1. But I will say this just to add my 2 cents......anyone with anything from a pinhole to a hasslebad can take "a" great shot. But to take "the" great shot you really need good equipment. What I mean is "the" great shot is under certain conditions in time constraints. Sports shots for example. Koby going to the basket one on one, needs a fast long lens, with IS, on a body that has a high FPS capability with lots of res. I don't think my A1 or a simple P&S will do.

I could easily narrow my bag down to one body and 3 lenses. But not so easily to 2 lenses. And have a lot of fun with just one lens.....but they'd all have to be high quality.

Tools have always been important to me, and I learned early in my life, that in most instances, buying the best quality was the best route. I have always considered my photo equiptment as just tools. Some tools work, but create poorer results. Some tools provide good results initially, but start to fail thus providing the user with unnessessary stress and anxiety that ends with poorer results. If I must wage a bet, I will bet on the person armed with the most knowledge, and the best tools to get the best results in the least time.

Don Powell wrote in post #2259827
Tools have always been important to me, and I learned early in my life, that in most instances, buying the best quality was the best route. I have always considered my photo equiptment as just tools. Some tools work, but create poorer results. Some tools provide good results initially, but start to fail thus providing the user with unnessessary stress and anxiety that ends with poorer results. If I must wage a bet, I will bet on the person armed with the most knowledge, and the best tools to get the best results in the least time.

very well put