October’s Desktop Calendar

October’s desktop calendar was taken of the wheat fields in Idaho. The wide screen version is available for download HERE and the standard size is available  HERE. I’m looking forward to this weekend and my Chicago workshop. I really hope the weather holds – as Chitown is starting to prove it’s windy city nickname.

I’ve had a lot of questions lately regarding camera equipment. Specifically, what lens I should buy or what camera body is best? I don’t take buying a camera lightly. Shopping for a new camera often feels like going out and buying a new set of wheels. The experience can be wonderful or tragic. My recommendations are simple: First, be forewarned – this can be a very expensive hobby and if you’re thinking about doing it “pro style” get ready to dig deep so start with a realistic budget. You need to consider the cost of the body, the lens, a bag, memory card, etc. Don’t make the mistake of buying more than you need. The reality is many of us aren’t using our current cameras to their fullest capabilities. Know your limits and buy the body that pushes those abilities a tad. A great example is my father, who loved his Canon 40D and was taking great pictures with it. But along came his son (me) and said you need a full frame 5D. “It’s so slick…you need one,” I said. He relented, and frankly, he’s struggled for many months with it because it was simply too much to learn compared to the 40D. I’m happy to report he’s doing better now after a few lessons from his number one son. Or should I say, his only son..;)

Next, start doing a lot of research on the camera and lens you’re looking to buy. There are many wonderful resources available to you on the internet. I highly recommend reading the user reviews on B&H Photography website or Amazon. One site I’ve come to love for reading about Canon related lenses is www.the-digital-picture.com and thank you Ronnie Ruiz for the Twitter reply that led to this great Nikon source www.bythom.com.

Third, don’t go too cheap on the optics. The one nice thing about today’s SLR is we can build a lens collection, that if properly researched, can follow you as you migrate to newer bodies. Finally, for those of you looking to make a really expensive decision on a piece of equipment – or even those of you who don’t have any clue on what you want, then I strongly recommend renting. For instance, I’ve been looking at 85mm lenses for quite some time now, but the two that I have in mind are quite expensive. I decided to rent both lenses from www.borrowlenses.com to give them a test drive. I figure it makes sense to try the gear out for an extended period of time before I blow a wad of cash on something I don’t like, or worse yet, don’t need.

The bottom line is that this hobby isn’t cheap. But what is? A friend of mine just spent $600 on new golf irons. To each his own. He still shoots over par… the clubs can only do so much… the magic is in the swing. Getting the right equipment is key, but remember, your talent, creativity and imagination is the real key to the kingdom.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 11:58 am. It is filed under Desktop Wallpapers, equipment, General and tagged with bh photo, borrowlenses, bythom, october's desktop calendar, rent a lens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.