If you want to learn about the business and marketing of commercial photography - head here tinhouse-studio.com/product/commercial-photography-business-and-marketing-in-2024/
Hey Scott, I noticed your new portfolio has different photos with a lot of the same models. Do you think for people just starting out it would make us look inexperienced like we haven’t worked much? I always felt like I couldn’t use the same model too much in my portfolio. Am I wrong? A video on this would be great
My Dad was a keen and relatively good golfer. When he started he bought a set of Gary Player clubs off the man who used to service his car. He never bought another set of clubs. I can remember as a teenager asking him why he didn't upgrade the clubs. Everyone who played with him asked him why he didn't get the latest clubs. His answer was always the same, "Golf is hard enough without changing the clubs." I'd like to be more like my Dad in this respect.
You touched briefly on one of the greatest misconceptions held by most photographers...that camera companies make their cameras for professionals. If Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Pasansonic really focused their efforts on making cameras for professionals, they would soon go out of business. The VAST majority of camera sales are made to people who will never sell an image. This is the reason that it is unlikely that we will continue to see dramatic increases in sensor resolution. There is no way the typical camera buyer will ever buy a camera with 250MP, and the camera manufacturers know that.
Completely wrong. That is like saying your average driver is never going to buy a McClaren or a Ferrari. If you visited a camera store 3 or 4 times a week and knew the staff you would know that there are plenty of people with money that always want to have the latest and greatest. Stanley Kubrick would have killed for the average $2000 mirrorless modern camera. Professionals think a little to highly of themselves. Scott self-admittedly knows little about cameras.
@@bostonmass351 You have just proven my point. McClaren and Ferrari do not make cars for the average driver. Sure they sell a few, but they are a niche manufacturer for a niche consumer. Nikon, Canon, and Sony are the Honda, Ford, and Hyundai of cameras. They make their money by selling a lot of moderately priced cameras to the typical camera buyer. They will sell a few top end cameras, but that is not where the money is.
@@bostonmass351 You have just proven my point. Most people will never buy a McClaren or Ferrari. They are a niche vehicle made by a niche manufacturer. Of the 52 million automobiles sold every year, Ferrari had a banner year in 2022 and sold 13,000. Ferrari does not drive the auto business. It may be a leader in their niche, not a leader in car sales by any means. Canon, Nikon, Sony...and most main stream camera maker are the Honda, Ford, and Hyundai of camera makers. They focus on the mainstream, every day camera buyer. Those cameras are what drive the camera market and make the money their makers.
nice lesson! can you please make one video about your room with old cameras and how you keep em? please start developing those negatives and share em with us 😻
I have a solid, reliable kit. I shoot the Nikon D5, D4s, and D3 with solid Nikkor lenses. I am not in a hurry to do an upgrade. I shoot the pro bodies because they are solid and built like tanks. I have to always explain to rookies that newer does not mean better. Also, just because a new camera or lens comes out, that old gear does not stop working. One thing I like is the older pro lenses are a lot less money and deliver quality. I tell most rookies to start with Nikon or Canon DSLRs. They can build one hell of a kit very cheaply.
This is true in many industries. Even self-employed truck drivers often buy new trucks more frequently than would be economically efficient for them. However, people enjoy new things. We only live once, so why overly limit ourselves?
I'm about to turn over 50 years in IT, coming from a time when mainframes roamed the earth and the concept of PC as we know it today was unheard of. I'm basically a techy nerd, but I always remember what a good friend in sales told me: Always remember that you're not selling quarter inch drills (we hadn't gone metric yet!), you're selling quarter inch holes. I think this applies to cameras, supporting what you say. If your camera takes a perfectly good image of a quarter inch hole why should you need to upgrade just to have the latest and greatest?
Thanks for the viddie. I haven’t bought a “new” piece of gear since ‘83 and I rarely find myself in need of new equipment. I don’t have the pressures a pro has and occasionally get to write things off when I sell some work, but tech moves so quickly these days there are droves of barley used options to choose from at amazingly low prices. Don’t get me wrong, I do lust for some high end stuff, but I find after doing homework that there are less expensive options that perform just as well as the new ones, at least for my needs. Thanks again.
When I was a working shooter, I rarely bought anything except maybe an additional light, stand, maybe some brackets. Otherwise, stuff got used until it broke. And even then, it was preferable to buy a similar replacement instead of buying the newest model with features you didn’t need. Now that I’m mostly retired though, I’ve gone all kinds of kit crazy 😂 and having some fun. 😀
As Pros to use the best tools available - in the old days that was usually 10x8, 5x4 even if with a roll film back, but it gave you the necessary adjustments for commercial work to stand up and stand out. When we entered the digital world back in the early 2000;s things were not nearly good enough - (Nikon D1x anyone?). Fast forward 25 years and the options are actually better but vastly different - yes you can still use rail cameras with a digi back as we do but the acquisition is both easier and trickier in equal measure due to crop factors on LF lenses . What has changed the most is that we used to have 5 rooms of darkroom equipment and three full time specialists - now we have a Mac Studio Photoshop and LRC. The cameras have changed, the output has changed, the skillset has changed, but what has changed the most are the clients who are much more aware of what is possible with AI and digital exhibition. What has not changed is that imagery is just as important - it's how you evolve to create it that sets you apart.
I am fortunate to have had a very frugal business partner at the get-go. We NEVER bought anything unless we had rented appropriate kit a number to times for jobs that demanded it. Over time, we collected kit that was needed to do a gig not because some sales rep manipulated a sale to us. We rented first.We rented to do a job that specific kit was needed and we didn't have and back charged it to the client. As a result, I have the same camera I got in 2008 because for what I do, it does an exceptional job. I've had a few gigs where medium format was necessary but I friggin RENTED it. I would have been idiotic to buy a Phase for a gig or two. I therefore am not 'kit poor' and will stay that way til I am looking at the underside of the grass :-). Love your channel!!!
Valid points. What was that saying, when everybody is digging for gold, sell shovels! Saying that pro's benefit massively from the hobbyist market, there just wouldn't be enough research and development budget without them.
Had to laugh when you said about developing film. I just sent off my annual batch of colour rolls yesterday for developing and printing. But to me the joy is getting all the shots back of the kids that you'd forgotten taking!! Now saying that the black and white gets dev and printed straight away. The film photography is great way of separating work photography and personal!!
This is very true. I’ve owned and still use the same 24MP camera I’ve had since 2012 for the vast majority of my work (big ad campaigns through to covering small events). At no point in that time period has a client gone “this file isn’t big enough”. *I* tell myself it’s not big enough and end up renting the latest and greatest for jobs, and guess what. The images end up being the same anyway.
There is no doubt that there are many excellent photographers who are not good at business. I always wanted an agent so that I could just take pictures without messing about marketing, which I am very bad at because I am a true introvert who does not really enjoy that human interaction. Contrary to that, of course, is the fact that there are plenty of average photographers who are very good indeed at marketing - the internet has plenty of those.
Great timing on this video, I need to buy two highly portable lights for shooting outdoors. My studio mate lets me use her Profotos which is phenomenal, however, I have decided to NOT do Profoto because it's just too expensive to justify at this point. Mid-range is all I need for what I'm doing in the field.
The new full frame canon Billy , I want one , seriously if it wasn’t for hobbyists and happy snappers there Would not be a camera industry , all the professionals in the world don’t make up a fraction of one percent of camera sales, it’s hobbyists who keep the industry alive .
My main cameras were made 50, 30 and 20 years ago. I didn't go mirrorless, I went sensorless. I do use a nikon d850 to scan my negatives though. So Mamiya RB67... a real medium format size, not crop digital mf , Mamiya 645 pro tl and Nikon F6, F100, Fe, Fe2. And I am getting set to go 15x the size of full frame sensor with large format. Full circle back to a 4x5 like my first camera in 1959, a speed graphic.
The paradox is really interesting and insightful but my takeaway was what you shared about your passion for film photography. There is no shortage of commentary on what makes film photography somehow aesthetically 'better' than digital and I've never come across anything compelling that can explain why many of us are drawn to it. I think you hit the nail on the head as much as it is possible to do so. Photography isn't measured in megapixels and neither is it measured in profit. To do so is as pointless as disecting a poem,
Partly related: In the 1980s it was in my experience/memory simple (starting to shoot pictures in 1985): Pros bought ... - for 135 film the Nikon F3 (1980-) or the old F2 (-1980). Nikon FE2/FM2 for 1/4000 and for saving money. Leica M4 and later the M6 for silent shooting. High-end hobbyists bought same. Sure, there was also Canon, Minolta, ... but Nikon was dominant below pros. - all the medium format from Hasselblad, Bronica, Pentax, Mamiya + some others. Some high-end hobbyists bought also such. This category is "filled" by the Fuji GFX, Hasselblad X and others today. - all the large format like the Sinar, Arca, Toyo, Linhof, Plaubel, .. or used older cameras. Nearly no hobbiest bought any of those. This category is "filled" by e.g. the Phase One today. Background: - Starting with Nikon FE2, later F4 and old Linhof Technika in late 90s, I transitioned to digital Nikon D810/810 in 2012-. - After 2020, I was able to afford analog medium format Bronica GS-1 & Fuji GX680 as well as large format Toyo 45G with related lenses also from 1980/90s. You see and feel the differences of those pro cameras & lenses to most of what is sold today. Overall, taking also 1938s Zeiss Ikon Ikonta and others into account, I roughly calculated that my camera and lenses were in average put on market in the 1980s == they are in average ~ 40 years old. Nearly nothing younger than 10 yrs.
Just finished taking photos of half of my vintage camera collection, which I want to sell at a reasonable price because it makes absolutely no sense to hoarde so much gear and not use it. It's taking up space mostly out of vanity, and I want other people to enjoy it as well. Gonna find some up and commers and give them the fairest price I can for whatever they're interested in, and also give some stuff for free.
I have had this dogma of dividing even and uneven years in to "camera-year" and "tech-gear-year" so when its tech... aka computer year, whatever camera or lens comes out doesn't really matter because I'm not paying attention.. and stuff that breaks in this period has to be really damn important for me to replace it until its "camera" year. I find that this makes me focus on getting stuff done with what I have.. As a side effect this spreads out my expenses so that my taxes are relatively even year after year.
I'm a hobbyist who bought PRO gear (it just took 15 years of depreciation before I could afford to do so.) I got a used 2009 Canon Pixel Slayer XL with Turbo Sharpness.
That was an entertaining episode and how true!? If spend on marketing and business strategies what I have spent on kit I would be probably have enough work flow to leave the daily grind. But I am where I am, a kind of part hobbyist, part business hybrid
Just to answer your title question, and in no particular order, Alpa and Phase One, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, Leica, and Canon. Really depends on what you shoot.
There is very little division between Pro and hobbyist these days. Go back 30, 40 or even 50 years and you had the Nikon F2, F3, Canon with the F1 and all with associated exotic lenses and motor drives. You only bought one of these pro cameras if you were an actual pro, going to use it every day or about to enter some hostile environment. I'm guilty of buying a Nikon D3 secondhand, just to see if they really were different from say a capable D610 (at that time). It was built like a tank but I loved it. The only reason I'm not still using it is the back screen failed. I'm still a hobby boy but I'm not about to splash to 5 grand for a Z9 when a Z8, z7 or Z6 will do the same job perfectly well.
I’m a 68yo jaded fuck, 44 commercial and…90%+ of all gear is owned by AMATEURS. I realized that in the 1970’s; it’s only higher today, as is everyone claiming to BE a professional photographer. So kids, buy all your gear from amateurs/hobbyists who are working 40hr doing something else, sleep 40+, and literally have little time to use it! Works like a charm! Haven’t bought a new camera since 1978. NO NEED.
If I had my choice, I'd still be using my Contax Quartz with the Metz 45 CT Flash. ( I still have them) Sadly the Metz is not compatable with modern cameras and I believe it would fry the electronics. Still it's in my arsenal should I need it. Your marketing 101 is roughly $500 AUD, which is way out of my present budget. So I'll just keep plodding along.
Hi Scott, i think camera brands are pushing this idea of Pro. You can get "pro" services for camera model x and y only! Why? If you are a pro with a new mid range 24mpix Canon R or Sony A; why cant you buy pro support for those? You depend on them. I think some occupations also have this overflow from enthusiasts; like wood working. As you stated before; the only difference between a hobby photographer and a pro is whether or not you' re being paid for the work. The question is pointless if you think about it; if you get paid, you're a pro at whatever level of customer or work you are.
Canon, Nikon and Sony all have Pro Support available if you need, I never had an issue with which model it is. They may have different rules for how you apply for membership though.
Thanks for the video much appreciated. I am starting out in photography and want to build a portfolio where do I start and when can I start to charge for the work?
One invests, and just because they decide the way forward, your whole product support you invested in becomes a burden and nonexistent. It's not just the "gear" its software, OS, PC's and printers, " sorry, but its a NO".
Camera companies dont want good photographers they want good consumers. Every camera made after 2005 or maybe earlier is a great camera and capable of award winning photos. Every film camera from the film era which was used from professionals to bring food to the table was a good camera and still is. One needs no more than a camera with the specification he chooses( weight water resistand, sensor/film etc) and a lens he chooses. So make a very good research and buy a camera you like with the known compromises you decide to make( weight, photo quality, haptics, price etc) and live with that. Dont look back except you win an award from this camera or a job you didnt have before and you may think you could try something better. But dont overcomplicate things. You are not going to shout birds or wild animals on Panama every day, you are not going to carry your 2kilo camera outside, you are not going to print a 2x2m photo and you are not going to photograph in the dark. And if you do you will have to accept a huge bag to carry those things. Photography is fun, moments, street, lights, reflections, colors, motivs, expressions, buildings, all are great kinds of photography. Dont stuck yourself to the trap that you need a great camera. You need one that will be with you a lot of the times and that you like to have her in your hands. The rest will come if you spend the extra money on trips, photobooks, museums, workshops, learning videos, or maybe a scaner. No one will ask whats your camera if your photos arent good enough and most good photographers like specific cameras but can take decent photos with every camera.
If you want to learn about the business and marketing of commercial photography - head here tinhouse-studio.com/product/commercial-photography-business-and-marketing-in-2024/
Hey Scott, I noticed your new portfolio has different photos with a lot of the same models. Do you think for people just starting out it would make us look inexperienced like we haven’t worked much? I always felt like I couldn’t use the same model too much in my portfolio. Am I wrong? A video on this would be great
My Dad was a keen and relatively good golfer. When he started he bought a set of Gary Player clubs off the man who used to service his car. He never bought another set of clubs. I can remember as a teenager asking him why he didn't upgrade the clubs. Everyone who played with him asked him why he didn't get the latest clubs. His answer was always the same, "Golf is hard enough without changing the clubs." I'd like to be more like my Dad in this respect.
You touched briefly on one of the greatest misconceptions held by most photographers...that camera companies make their cameras for professionals. If Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Pasansonic really focused their efforts on making cameras for professionals, they would soon go out of business. The VAST majority of camera sales are made to people who will never sell an image. This is the reason that it is unlikely that we will continue to see dramatic increases in sensor resolution. There is no way the typical camera buyer will ever buy a camera with 250MP, and the camera manufacturers know that.
Completely wrong. That is like saying your average driver is never going to buy a McClaren or a Ferrari.
If you visited a camera store 3 or 4 times a week and knew the staff you would know that there are plenty of people with money that always want to have the latest and greatest.
Stanley Kubrick would have killed for the average $2000 mirrorless modern camera.
Professionals think a little to highly of themselves. Scott self-admittedly knows little about cameras.
@@bostonmass351 You have just proven my point. McClaren and Ferrari do not make cars for the average driver. Sure they sell a few, but they are a niche manufacturer for a niche consumer. Nikon, Canon, and Sony are the Honda, Ford, and Hyundai of cameras. They make their money by selling a lot of moderately priced cameras to the typical camera buyer. They will sell a few top end cameras, but that is not where the money is.
@@bostonmass351 You have just proven my point. Most people will never buy a McClaren or Ferrari. They are a niche vehicle made by a niche manufacturer. Of the 52 million automobiles sold every year, Ferrari had a banner year in 2022 and sold 13,000. Ferrari does not drive the auto business. It may be a leader in their niche, not a leader in car sales by any means. Canon, Nikon, Sony...and most main stream camera maker are the Honda, Ford, and Hyundai of camera makers. They focus on the mainstream, every day camera buyer. Those cameras are what drive the camera market and make the money their makers.
@@bostonmass351 Scott know what makes him money and in the end, that is all that matters.
People are really thrown off when I tell them I only own 3 lenses total. Those are all I need to run this business right now.
I also own 3 prime lenses! They cover everything I need for portraits: 35mm, 50mm, 85mm. It's been perfect!
Bingo.
24-70 , 70-200, 50mm, 35mm (All USED) | Canon Bag
45mm (Used), 20-35, 45-100(Used) | GFX Bag
Thats it.
nice lesson! can you please make one video about your room with old cameras and how you keep em? please start developing those negatives and share em with us 😻
I have a solid, reliable kit. I shoot the Nikon D5, D4s, and D3 with solid Nikkor lenses. I am not in a hurry to do an upgrade. I shoot the pro bodies because they are solid and built like tanks. I have to always explain to rookies that newer does not mean better. Also, just because a new camera or lens comes out, that old gear does not stop working. One thing I like is the older pro lenses are a lot less money and deliver quality. I tell most rookies to start with Nikon or Canon DSLRs. They can build one hell of a kit very cheaply.
This is true in many industries. Even self-employed truck drivers often buy new trucks more frequently than would be economically efficient for them. However, people enjoy new things. We only live once, so why overly limit ourselves?
Nice video as per usual..... personally I stopped worrying about gear after I got the 1DX MK1 + good glass.
I'm about to turn over 50 years in IT, coming from a time when mainframes roamed the earth and the concept of PC as we know it today was unheard of. I'm basically a techy nerd, but I always remember what a good friend in sales told me: Always remember that you're not selling quarter inch drills (we hadn't gone metric yet!), you're selling quarter inch holes. I think this applies to cameras, supporting what you say. If your camera takes a perfectly good image of a quarter inch hole why should you need to upgrade just to have the latest and greatest?
Thanks for the viddie. I haven’t bought a “new” piece of gear since ‘83 and I rarely find myself in need of new equipment. I don’t have the pressures a pro has and occasionally get to write things off when I sell some work, but tech moves so quickly these days there are droves of barley used options to choose from at amazingly low prices. Don’t get me wrong, I do lust for some high end stuff, but I find after doing homework that there are less expensive options that perform just as well as the new ones, at least for my needs. Thanks again.
I did this for a year now, not buying any gear and focus more on clients and work. It's been amazing so far,
When I was a working shooter, I rarely bought anything except maybe an additional light, stand, maybe some brackets. Otherwise, stuff got used until it broke. And even then, it was preferable to buy a similar replacement instead of buying the newest model with features you didn’t need. Now that I’m mostly retired though, I’ve gone all kinds of kit crazy 😂 and having some fun. 😀
As Pros to use the best tools available - in the old days that was usually 10x8, 5x4 even if with a roll film back, but it gave you the necessary adjustments for commercial work to stand up and stand out. When we entered the digital world back in the early 2000;s things were not nearly good enough - (Nikon D1x anyone?). Fast forward 25 years and the options are actually better but vastly different - yes you can still use rail cameras with a digi back as we do but the acquisition is both easier and trickier in equal measure due to crop factors on LF lenses . What has changed the most is that we used to have 5 rooms of darkroom equipment and three full time specialists - now we have a Mac Studio Photoshop and LRC. The cameras have changed, the output has changed, the skillset has changed, but what has changed the most are the clients who are much more aware of what is possible with AI and digital exhibition. What has not changed is that imagery is just as important - it's how you evolve to create it that sets you apart.
I am fortunate to have had a very frugal business partner at the get-go. We NEVER bought anything unless we had rented appropriate kit a number to times for jobs that demanded it. Over time, we collected kit that was needed to do a gig not because some sales rep manipulated a sale to us. We rented first.We rented to do a job that specific kit was needed and we didn't have and back charged it to the client. As a result, I have the same camera I got in 2008 because for what I do, it does an exceptional job. I've had a few gigs where medium format was necessary but I friggin RENTED it. I would have been idiotic to buy a Phase for a gig or two. I therefore am not 'kit poor' and will stay that way til I am looking at the underside of the grass :-). Love your channel!!!
Valid points. What was that saying, when everybody is digging for gold, sell shovels! Saying that pro's benefit massively from the hobbyist market, there just wouldn't be enough research and development budget without them.
Had to laugh when you said about developing film. I just sent off my annual batch of colour rolls yesterday for developing and printing. But to me the joy is getting all the shots back of the kids that you'd forgotten taking!! Now saying that the black and white gets dev and printed straight away. The film photography is great way of separating work photography and personal!!
This is very true. I’ve owned and still use the same 24MP camera I’ve had since 2012 for the vast majority of my work (big ad campaigns through to covering small events). At no point in that time period has a client gone “this file isn’t big enough”. *I* tell myself it’s not big enough and end up renting the latest and greatest for jobs, and guess what. The images end up being the same anyway.
There is no doubt that there are many excellent photographers who are not good at business. I always wanted an agent so that I could just take pictures without messing about marketing, which I am very bad at because I am a true introvert who does not really enjoy that human interaction.
Contrary to that, of course, is the fact that there are plenty of average photographers who are very good indeed at marketing - the internet has plenty of those.
Great timing on this video, I need to buy two highly portable lights for shooting outdoors. My studio mate lets me use her Profotos which is phenomenal, however, I have decided to NOT do Profoto because it's just too expensive to justify at this point. Mid-range is all I need for what I'm doing in the field.
@@kyranygard1773 i tell people all the time, unless you can find a used deal, just rent Profoto.
The new full frame canon Billy , I want one , seriously if it wasn’t for hobbyists and happy snappers there
Would not be a camera industry , all the professionals in the world don’t make up a fraction of one percent of camera sales, it’s hobbyists who keep the industry alive .
Love the idea about Camera models with actual names.
My main cameras were made 50, 30 and 20 years ago. I didn't go mirrorless, I went sensorless. I do use a nikon d850 to scan my negatives though. So Mamiya RB67... a real medium format size, not crop digital mf , Mamiya 645 pro tl and Nikon F6, F100, Fe, Fe2. And I am getting set to go 15x the size of full frame sensor with large format. Full circle back to a 4x5 like my first camera in 1959, a speed graphic.
I have an Agfa Billy in my shelf. 😅
Can you do a test shoot with the rp and the r6ii. I don't know why a stills shooter need anything other than an rp (For value) or r5 (for mega pixels)
The paradox is really interesting and insightful but my takeaway was what you shared about your passion for film photography.
There is no shortage of commentary on what makes film photography somehow aesthetically 'better' than digital and I've never come across anything compelling that can explain why many of us are drawn to it. I think you hit the nail on the head as much as it is possible to do so. Photography isn't measured in megapixels and neither is it measured in profit. To do so is as pointless as disecting a poem,
Naming sounds good. It worked for Henry, and you all know who I'm talking about. 😁
Partly related:
In the 1980s it was in my experience/memory simple (starting to shoot pictures in 1985):
Pros bought ...
- for 135 film the Nikon F3 (1980-) or the old F2 (-1980). Nikon FE2/FM2 for 1/4000 and for saving money. Leica M4 and later the M6 for silent shooting.
High-end hobbyists bought same. Sure, there was also Canon, Minolta, ... but Nikon was dominant below pros.
- all the medium format from Hasselblad, Bronica, Pentax, Mamiya + some others. Some high-end hobbyists bought also such.
This category is "filled" by the Fuji GFX, Hasselblad X and others today.
- all the large format like the Sinar, Arca, Toyo, Linhof, Plaubel, .. or used older cameras. Nearly no hobbiest bought any of those.
This category is "filled" by e.g. the Phase One today.
Background:
- Starting with Nikon FE2, later F4 and old Linhof Technika in late 90s, I transitioned to digital Nikon D810/810 in 2012-.
- After 2020, I was able to afford analog medium format Bronica GS-1 & Fuji GX680 as well as large format Toyo 45G with related lenses also from 1980/90s.
You see and feel the differences of those pro cameras & lenses to most of what is sold today. Overall, taking also 1938s Zeiss Ikon Ikonta and others into account, I roughly calculated that my camera and lenses were in average put on market in the 1980s == they are in average ~ 40 years old. Nearly nothing younger than 10 yrs.
Just finished taking photos of half of my vintage camera collection, which I want to sell at a reasonable price because it makes absolutely no sense to hoarde so much gear and not use it. It's taking up space mostly out of vanity, and I want other people to enjoy it as well. Gonna find some up and commers and give them the fairest price I can for whatever they're interested in, and also give some stuff for free.
I have had this dogma of dividing even and uneven years in to "camera-year" and "tech-gear-year" so when its tech... aka computer year, whatever camera or lens comes out doesn't really matter because I'm not paying attention.. and stuff that breaks in this period has to be really damn important for me to replace it until its "camera" year. I find that this makes me focus on getting stuff done with what I have.. As a side effect this spreads out my expenses so that my taxes are relatively even year after year.
I'm a hobbyist who bought PRO gear (it just took 15 years of depreciation before I could afford to do so.) I got a used 2009 Canon Pixel Slayer XL with Turbo Sharpness.
That was an entertaining episode and how true!? If spend on marketing and business strategies what I have spent on kit I would be probably have enough work flow to leave the daily grind. But I am where I am, a kind of part hobbyist, part business hybrid
Billy the Camera 😃!!
Just to answer your title question, and in no particular order, Alpa and Phase One, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, Leica, and Canon. Really depends on what you shoot.
No gear till April? Good luck on Black Friday! 😁
There is very little division between Pro and hobbyist these days. Go back 30, 40 or even 50 years and you had the Nikon F2, F3, Canon with the F1 and all with associated exotic lenses and motor drives. You only bought one of these pro cameras if you were an actual pro, going to use it every day or about to enter some hostile environment. I'm guilty of buying a Nikon D3 secondhand, just to see if they really were different from say a capable D610 (at that time). It was built like a tank but I loved it. The only reason I'm not still using it is the back screen failed. I'm still a hobby boy but I'm not about to splash to 5 grand for a Z9 when a Z8, z7 or Z6 will do the same job perfectly well.
The pro makes the camera bro
I’m a 68yo jaded fuck, 44 commercial and…90%+ of all gear is owned by AMATEURS. I realized that in the 1970’s; it’s only higher today, as is everyone claiming to BE a professional photographer.
So kids, buy all your gear from amateurs/hobbyists who are working 40hr doing something else, sleep 40+, and literally have little time to use it! Works like a charm! Haven’t bought a new camera since 1978. NO NEED.
Billy the GOAT camera
My camera is pretty old too. It's still a DSLR for me. But yeah, you're right. Why worry about a camera. It's more critical is the glass. Good video.
Your insights are sublime!
If I had my choice, I'd still be using my Contax Quartz with the Metz 45 CT Flash. ( I still have them) Sadly the Metz is not compatable with modern cameras and I believe it would fry the electronics. Still it's in my arsenal should I need it. Your marketing 101 is roughly $500 AUD, which is way out of my present budget. So I'll just keep plodding along.
100%
Great video! But will you rent?
Hi Scott, i think camera brands are pushing this idea of Pro. You can get "pro" services for camera model x and y only! Why? If you are a pro with a new mid range 24mpix Canon R or Sony A; why cant you buy pro support for those? You depend on them. I think some occupations also have this overflow from enthusiasts; like wood working. As you stated before; the only difference between a hobby photographer and a pro is whether or not you' re being paid for the work. The question is pointless if you think about it; if you get paid, you're a pro at whatever level of customer or work you are.
Canon, Nikon and Sony all have Pro Support available if you need, I never had an issue with which model it is. They may have different rules for how you apply for membership though.
Guilty ✋
Beaten to it, sad to say. The Agfa Billy exists
Thanks for the video much appreciated. I am starting out in photography and want to build a portfolio where do I start and when can I start to charge for the work?
One invests, and just because they decide the way forward, your whole product support you invested in becomes a burden and nonexistent. It's not just the "gear" its software, OS, PC's and printers, " sorry, but its a NO".
Camera companies dont want good photographers they want good consumers. Every camera made after 2005 or maybe earlier is a great camera and capable of award winning photos. Every film camera from the film era which was used from professionals to bring food to the table was a good camera and still is. One needs no more than a camera with the specification he chooses( weight water resistand, sensor/film etc) and a lens he chooses. So make a very good research and buy a camera you like with the known compromises you decide to make( weight, photo quality, haptics, price etc) and live with that. Dont look back except you win an award from this camera or a job you didnt have before and you may think you could try something better. But dont overcomplicate things. You are not going to shout birds or wild animals on Panama every day, you are not going to carry your 2kilo camera outside, you are not going to print a 2x2m photo and you are not going to photograph in the dark. And if you do you will have to accept a huge bag to carry those things. Photography is fun, moments, street, lights, reflections, colors, motivs, expressions, buildings, all are great kinds of photography. Dont stuck yourself to the trap that you need a great camera. You need one that will be with you a lot of the times and that you like to have her in your hands. The rest will come if you spend the extra money on trips, photobooks, museums, workshops, learning videos, or maybe a scaner. No one will ask whats your camera if your photos arent good enough and most good photographers like specific cameras but can take decent photos with every camera.
Billy The Camera 😅
Develop your film!
Not really, but really, develop your film, it’ll last longer. Developed then undeveloped.
I would 100% buy a Billy or Jane. GFX 100 Mark ii? What is that? Just all it Mark and get rid of all that other shit.
Billy is already used by IKEA 😅
Consumerism