A few years later, I was no longer sure about the direction that I should take and contemplated no longer bothering with those big DSLRs. I hemmed and hawed for awhile, but in the end I made a commitment of sorts by purchasing an all-in-one lens that could extend from 18mm to 275mm and still produce acceptable results.
When I upgraded to a 7D, I used that lens almost exclusively, but when I graduated (if that's the right word) to a full frame 6D, that 18-275 lens wouldn't work. So, I bought the 6D with a kit lens: a 24-105mm lens with a maximum steady aperture of f4. Kit lenses aren't always of the best quality, but this is a good one, and I am pleased to still use it as my standard lens.
Since then, I have purchased a 70-200mm lens, followed by a wide angle 15-30mm lens. These are both Tamron lenses. Tamron makes some very good lenses that can rival Canon lenses but are sometimes considerably less expensive. Finally, just recently, as anybody who stumbles by this blog knows, I purchased a dedicated 90mm macro lens, also a Tamron. All of these lenses open to f2.8 which is great for letting in much light and helping to obtain soft backgrounds.
Although you's think otherwise from my recent spate of flower photos, macro photography isn't my main love. But I figured it would give me something to work with indoors in winter, especially in winters such as the last one, which wasn't very appealing for outdoor photography. There was more ice than snow, and it just wasn't very pretty for the most part, never mind the footing.
I know it seems like a heavy investment in lenses, but I add to the collection slowly and carefully and try to find quality lenses at not too exorbitant prices.
If there's one more lens that I would like to have in my kit, it would be more of a telephoto lens, maybe a 100-400mm lens. In the photos that I posted the other evening (such as the one below) I would like to have gotten closer, but I was limited to 200mm, so I had to put up with including background that I didn't exactly love.
I guess that's the gear report for now unless anyone has more questions.
This info amazes me. I just point and shoot.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have lots of lenses as well . Lovely photo . I have Nikkor lenses for my Nikon they are light weight and have VR built in them Vibration Reduction and like you I have one that I use all the time and that is my telephoto zoom 55-300mm it works well for my bird and nature photos lets me get close with out getting to close to scare them off lol all my blog photos are done with my telephoto zoom lens , I also have a macro 60mm and a wide angle 18-55mm . It is then lenses that are costly with my Nikon the camera bodies ardent to bad in price. My hubby also has Nikon camera equipment between the two of us we have 7 different lenses all though his are the older heavier ones I like my light weight ones better lol ! We both use back pack camera bags with all our equipment in for when we go out hiking but hubs works and doesn't get as much camera time as I do . Thanks for sharing another great post about your love of photography , it is a wonderful and fun hobby isn't it ? Have a good weekend !
ReplyDeleteI would like to get better equipment and I hope to be able get some at some point. However, moving countries is not cheap and it will probably have to wait a few years.
ReplyDeleteThanks, John, for the rundown on your photo gear. years ago in the days of 35mm SLRs, I had a variety of lenses for the Pentax Spotmatic cameras I used exclusively. Most of these were Pentax Takumar lenses, but I also owned a couple of Tamron models which performed extremely well. Years later I switched to digital cameras and my first was a Canon Rebel, then later a couple of digital Pentax models. Again, I had assorted lenses from a macro to medium telephoto. Over time, I tired of lugging the camera bodies and lenses and eventually sold off the equipment. Now I have an all-in-one Canon zoom and a smaller Canon digital as well as an Olympus Tough weatherproof camera, and the "bargain" Olympus Stylus purchased a couple of weeks ago. And, yet the camera that is usually with me is the smaller iPhone I usually carry.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot have too many lenses! Or cameras. Somedays I'm sorry I gave away my old camera.
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