DSLR owner Poll

So i'm thinking of making the jump to a slr, after mentioning it to my older brother he brought up whether i really should invest that much money into the camera...so it's got me to thinking that maybe i'm getting more camera than i really need, i felt like right away it's the right step to take in order to get more serious with my photography...which leads me to my poll...are most SLR owners pros, hobbyists or somewhere in between...

No poll?
I am somewhere in between. I shoot for personal pleasure and have quite a bit of personal equipment so as such, I am an amateur photog. But I also shoot quite a bit at work. Though I am an engineer by training and managing an engineering team is my prime responsibility, I double as a staff photog taking the pics for training materials, product manuals, technical classes, product release notes and internal company web sites. I much prefer the photography I do for pleasure as electronic boards are all pretty much the same and the opportunity to express myself creatively is very limited. However, my work setup consists of some real nice gear. Now if I could only figure out how to temporarily borrow some of the equipment I'd be set.

By the time this poll ends you will have a large number of people in each category.

It is not necessary to be a professional (one who sells photographs) to justify owning a dSLR. If you are serious about wanting to take good pictures and especially if you need a camera that can cope with difficult requirements like low light and portraiture then a dSLR is worth getting.

I'm not going to tell you that a dSLR is cheap, and the costs generally go way past just getting a body and kit lens at Costco for $750 or so. If you are at all serious enough to really need a dSLR you will probably also want a flash unit, or a fast lens or a telephoto....or all of them.

It is possible to keep costs down a bit though. One concept for people on a budget is to keep a grasp on the concept of good enough. For a lot of hobbiests Canon's consumer primes and some of their mid-grade zooms can be good enough.

If you develop a mindset that nothing is good enough but the best then you can spend limitless cash on this stuff.

DreDaze wrote in post #4290964
he brought up whether i really should invest that much money into the camera

Invest? My hobbies are purely money sinks. If I was making money from it, I probably wouldn't be having as much fun. Which would defeat the point... for me, at least.

Riff Raff wrote in post #4291151
Invest? My hobbies are purely money sinks. If I was making money from it, I probably wouldn't be having as much fun. Which would defeat the point... for me, at least.

invest is just the term i use on something i plan on having for a while...helps justify it in my head

Riff Raff wrote in post #4291151
Invest? My hobbies are purely money sinks. If I was making money from it, I probably wouldn't be having as much fun. Which would defeat the point... for me, at least.

Im a professional and I still enjoy taking a picture as I enjoyed the first time I took one it's probably the best job in the world. But the word 'professional' is a little bit funny cause it kind of gives the wrong impression and it's too serious...amateur comes from amare that is "to love" in latin, so Im rather an amateur that makes money with it

I have no aspirations to become a professional photographer or even sell an occasional photo but I would like to be able to take a few pictures that I would be proud to hang on my wall. I was using a Canon G3 and it is a great camera but I wanted something better so I invested in a 40D and a couple of good lenses. Most of my pictures still look like snap shots I could have taken with the G3 but one of these days I will take that picture that I will print and hang on the wall.

Photography is my hobby and though I have a lot of money in my equipment it is still cheaper than a bass boat (I have no desire to fish), or rebuilding an old car (I would love to do that), or even golf (love the game but just don't have time to dedicate to it).

I think you will find once you do have a dSLR and get pretty good with it then you'll have people wanting prints from you. That's how it was for me at least. I rarely make money from my photos for my school district – at least for myself. I sell them to parents via the school to raise money for clubs, the yearbooks (for several schools within the district) and for advertising events (like UIL, choir, dance/cheerleading events. I've been toying around with the idea of doing more freelance work though. I can make 800-2000 dollars per event (like selling slide show/Kodac DVDs), depending on how large they are. One thing that really goes over well was a Strobits idea with pictures of kids in their sporting gear backlit by flash & gel (school color) for sports cards. Those sell really well. Since I know tons of people invovled with kids programs it would be a cinch getting in – but sometimes when I have hundreds of photos to go through an little time to do it it turns me off to the idea. I've also gotten offers from the Boys' and Girl's club, little league and United Way, but all of those would be mostly for charity with me getting only 10% off the top, but that could still mean hundreds of dollars.

Well, I'll stop rambling. If you love photography and know you'll stick with it, get the dSLR. It is by far much better than a P&S which many people use around me and once they see my photos say they feel like just tossing it out and getting a better camera.

Riff Raff wrote in post #4291151
Invest? My hobbies are purely money sinks. If I was making money from it, I probably wouldn't be having as much fun. Which would defeat the point... for me, at least.

I started a similar thread a while back because I was at a wedding and the pro there made a comment that I had really nice stuff for a hobbyist. It kind of threw me back a bit because I was already feeling a bit guilty for spending so much on a new "fun" hobby. Luckily for me, the guys on this forum pretty much all convinced me that if one can afford it, why not? So that's the way I see it. I am sure the equipment is better than me. Being a gearhead, I probably love owning the stuff as much or more than I like using it (I know....some will think that's a sin).

I tend to agree with Riff Raff though - somehow I think that if I was charging money for it, I wouldn't have the same freedom. Case in point: I have been to so many family weddings this year and have been asked to shoot (not as main) at all of them. Once someone thinks they like your pictures, they will ask. At one of the weddings, a distant relative of my wife's came up to me while I was eating lunch and said, "My kids and husband are in the living room...can you come get a shot of us?" I was thinking, "WTF....do I look like your b**** to you? I'm not the paid photographer, you know." I didn't say it out loud, but realized I don't ever want my shooting to be bound by a paying client. It's a service industry job, so if you do it for money, I'd say you better make sure you're ready for being treated as such.

I fall between the last 2. It's a hobby, not a side job.. but I've still sold prints here and there.

I shot my first wedding this past weekend, for a couple friends of mine: http://shawn.mchorse.c​om/11032007-BritKevinWedding/. I was primary photographer and agreed to do it because I've known the bride for seven years and the groom for three years. Heck, I tried to date the bride at one point. I also knew that they were flat broke from the rest of the wedding stuff, and my wife was already Matron of Honor.

Just shooting this one wedding was somewhat stressful, since I knew they were depending on me. It's not like they'd tar and feather me if I messed up, but they'd still be disappointed. I certainly didn't mind doing it and was mostly happy with the results, but it's more stress than I would like even doing it unpaid as a favor.

I work as a programmer, and I've always enjoyed programming also. But I don't really do much programming in my free time anymore, because it's not as fun when I'm doing it 40 hours a week already. I could certainly see myself doing photography gigs after retiring though, or if I had an unemployment period. Apart from that, I'm happy with photography as a relaxing and fun (if expensive) hobby.

Well, if you had a category with the choice of "Shoot semi-pro for free, mostly" that would be me.

SuzyView wrote in post #4291741
Well, if you had a category with the choice of "Shoot semi-pro for free, mostly" that would be me.

Ok, I got to ask, what is semi-pro for free?

Sell a few prints here and there but it's more of a side job.

For now, at least. I'm a senior in high school about to go to school for photography, so I'll be a professional within a few years - hopefully.

gjl711 wrote in post #4291759
Ok, I got to ask, what is semi-pro for free?

I'm guessing it means they'd like to be paid, but mostly they aren't.