Dear Reader (2019-05-12),
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was a time of successes. It was a time of pain. At long last, spring returned, and the new back deck was open again. April and I went galivanting through CBC’s Calgary Reads book sale and found a suitcase of books. I had my second session with a model. It was an outdoor session in a seldom used corner of Fish Creek park. The diet of Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, and Amoxycillin has grown thin. The dietary restrictions should end tomorrow morning, after I have had a root canal. In the afternoon I return to the working world. The income will be good. The loss of time will reduce the frequency of daytime photo rambles – the night rambles return.
Having an income leads to the possibility of a new camera. Now there is a rabbit hole which you may want to skip (go to bye bye rabbit).
I am not interested in making movies. All I want is a really good still camera with the capability to correct perspective. Up until yesterday, I thought I was bound to Nikon. Actually, I only have one lens that could be used on a full-frame Nikon that is of sufficient quality to support a high resolution. In other words, my bias towards Nikon is familiarity, habit, and emotion.
The first contender is a 4 x5 digital view camera that LargeSense is still developing and will have an estimated retail price of $US 48,500.00. That is just crazy talk and is only a lottery win away. A Phase One camera is equally priced and unobtainable. It doesn’t even have perspective controls. Really – what’s the point? The tonal range and pixel size of a medium format is very appealing, but traveling with one reminds me of an observation made years ago, when I was wandering questionable streets of Quito, Ecuador. My camera of the time, which I still have, was a Nikon FM, and I was shooting Kodachrome with a polarizing filter (for the blue). I remember seeing a woman off to my left with a Hasselblad around her neck and dressed to match. Nothing says rob-me quite like a Hassy. There are still some trails to walk literally and figuratively. So, I’m back to a camera that supports a full-frame sensor, to which I can attach a tilt-shift lens. At this point brand is unknown – stay tuned
Bye Bye Rabbit
There are two collections today. The first collection is from this past Wednesday. Unable to concentrate I went out to a familiar area (Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park) and walked a new trail. The skies were at times ominous and wet. The second collection is from yesterday. Sunray Suzie (see Model Mayhem) was a pleasure to work with. She also gets credit for making all three of the dresses she posed in. This was my second shoot with a model, and I was pleased I had first practised studio lighting with the also ever so helpful Elora Dawn (see Model Mayhem). As I started to assemble the collection, I realized that putting Suzie with Glenbow Ranch was too disconcerting, so today is only a short introduction.
Cheers, Sean
I hit send too soon. Some of the new mirrorless FF cameras might meet your needs
Thank you for visiting and commenting. Sony seems to be the most mature on the mirrorless FF cameras. Cannon and Nikon are still in their infancy, and I have no desire to buy version 1.0. Pentax has a 645z which is appealing but it is near its end of life. Much of the Canon world is foreign to me, and will require further investigation.
I quite liked the first one with the railway crossing. The slight amount of haze on the hillside is perfect. You knew I’d like the blue flower. Something didn’t quite work for me with the shed. The roof lines draw the eye upward but the sky is disappointing. Perhaps there is detail in the full size version that is not apparent in the web version. The next one, though, ooh la la!
As for camera’s, it sounds like you have a detailed enough list of features to go shopping to see what is both available and affordable. I saw a used Canon 5DSr (essentially a medium format camera) go by on the facebook photographer’s garage sale, put a tilt shift lens on that baby and you’re good to go.