G Dan Mitchell | Photography

Recently I’ve seen an upswing in the number of “which camera is best” posts in some of the online forums I follow - perhaps due to a minor Gear Lust epidemic after announcements of new cameras by Nikon and Canon and others?

I posted a reply to one question about whether it would be better to purchase a Canon 40D or 5D and my response got some supportive responses - so I’m posting it here:

The 5D can produce better image quality than the 40D (unless some miracle is revealed when the camera is available for actual testing) because it has a) greater MP dimensions, b) larger photosites.

That said, the question remains whether the “betterness” is a) noticable, b) significant, c) worth the cost.

(Selecting one camera over another because it is “better” is kind of like buying one car instead of another because it is faster. Let’s say one can go 120 mph and the other can go 125 mph. I suppose that 125 mph is “better” than 120 mph, but what if you never drive faster than 70 mph…)

A crop sensor 10 MP DSLR can produce outstanding image quality. With good technique (oh yeah, and inspiration…) you can get photographs that will reproduce at quite large print sizes. (I sold 16 x 24 inch prints of photos made on a 350D.) If you aren’t going to print this large or if you will mostly distribute electronically, frankly there is little to be gained from FF. (And, yes, I’m a full frame camera user: 5D plus L lenses.) You’d probably see more difference in your photography by taking the money you saved by getting the 40D and investing in good lenses, tripod, filters, etc.

By the way, it also remains to be seen how much difference the extra two bits makes in actual images.

So, yes, the 5D is “better” than the 40D (OK, not if you need a fast burst rate…) on the basis of image quality. However, the 40D - or even the excellent 400D - could be a “better camera” for a particular user.

My point is not so much about the specific comparison between the Canon 5D and the newly-announced 40D. It is more about what it means to look for the “best” camera.

I believe that “best” is a very subjective concept here. The important question is not “which camera is best?” but, rather, “which camera is best for [the kind of photography I do]?” The answer would be quite different for each of the following:

• Professional photographer doing studio portrait/product photography.
• Photojournalist shooting professional sports.
• Landscape photographer shooting while hiking/backpacking. (Hmmm… that sounds familiar, somehow… ;-)
• Serious photographer shooting wildlife with long lenses.
• Serious, experienced amateur shooting a variety of subjects and making letter-size prints.
• Casual amateur shooting family events for electronic sharing and small prints.
• Beginner with no previous SLR photography experience, unsure of where/how interest will lead.

I’m not going to make specific recommendations, with one exception. If you are new to this DSLR stuff, please don’t listen to those people telling you to immediately invest thousands in pro-level lenses and bodies… that are appropriate for their photography. Start small; a Canon 400D/XTi with the kit lens (or the equivalent from Nikon, Sony, Pentax, et al) is a far more appropriate place to begin. Take a lot of photographs; explore and learn - before long you will begin to understand what your best camera might actually be.

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.31.2007 :: Equipment, Ideas :: 1 Comment »

Dock and Steps, The Embarcadero. San Francisco, California. August 29, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.31.2007 :: Photographs: San Francisco :: No Comments »

Yesterday and today were declared “Spare the Air” days in the San Francisco Bay area. There is a silver lining behind this gray (brown?) cloud, especially for Bay Area photographers with some time on their hands - like me, since I’m a college faculty member who doesn’t return to classes until late September.

On Spare the Air days, almost all Bay Area rapid transit systems offer free passes. (A few, like BART, Caltrains, and ferrys do charge after 1:00, but others are free all day.)

It is no secret that the challenges of photographing in San Francisco and surrounding areas include a) getting there, and b) parking! Spare the Air Day neatly solves both issues.

Since I live in the South Bay Area and like to shoot on foot in the city, my plan went something like this. Up at 4:45 a.m., I caught a bus near my house that took me to a Caltrain station in time to catch a very early “Mini Bullet Train” that gets to San Francisco in about an hour. I was off the train and walking toward The Embarcadero a few minutes after 7:00 a.m. (Another “silver lining” - on typical hot Spare the Air days there is shirt-sleeve weather even in the early morning in San Francisco.) There is a lot to photograph on the walk between here and the Ferry Building, and it took me a good hour and a half to finally make it to espresso at the Frog Hollow Farms shop. In the past, I’ve gotten on one of the free-today ferries to Sausalito or elsewhere, but today I decided to wander up into San Francisco and do some photography on the street. A bit after 10:30 and I was back at the Caltrain station, ready to catch a train back home.

A couple notes. I’ll post a few photos here in the next week or two - but go here if you just can’t wait. And, yes, I managed to completely avoid driving yesterday and I hope to do so again today - though today I’ll be taking a bus to the college to work on moving my office…

OK, one photo:

San Francisco Bay Bridge. San Francisco, California. July 29, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.30.2007 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

Three Cars, Pike Place Market. Seattle, Washington. August 21, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.30.2007 :: Photographs: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Urban :: No Comments »

As part of an answer to a question posed by a reader last week I wrote:

(One final note on the [Lowepro] Slingshot [200 AW]. I’ve used mine heavily for a year and a half or so and it has generally performed well. However, last week I discovered that one of the main zippers is coming apart where it curves around the “top” of the bag. I’ll have to reserved final judgment until I find out what Lowepro has to say about replacement or repair when I contact them later this month.)

Shortly after I wrote that I emailed the Lowepro customer service department to ask about a repair. “Maury” wrote back immediately with instructions for sending the bag to their service facility in Sebastapol, California for repair. I sent it off last Friday.

Today (only three business days later!) I received a brand new Slingshot 200 AW from Lowepro. Even though I hard removed interior padding and so forth, they sent a full new product package including all accessories and components.

Good work, Lowepro - I’m very impressed!

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.29.2007 :: Commentary, Equipment :: 1 Comment »

Window View, Pike Place Market. Seattle Washington. August 21, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.29.2007 :: Photographs: Pacific Northwest :: No Comments »

George Barr (Behind The Lens) posted an interesting perspective on the ways that doubt can hold us back:

Doubt Doubt creeps into photography everywhere, from thinking that you won’t find anything today, to pessimism over the weather, to thoughts about the quality and volume of your photographs, to how you think others will perceive our work. Doubt can literally keep us home when we should be out shooting, or giving up, just before the sun finally breaks through and highlights the subject… - George Barr [Behind The Lens]

Follow the title link to read the whole thing.

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.28.2007 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

Sosio’s Produce, Pike Place Market. Seattle, Washington. August 21, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.28.2007 :: Photographs: Pacific Northwest :: No Comments »

If you enjoy some of my Sierra Nevada photos, you might also enjoy a story I just posted at one of my other blogs, dan’s outside.

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.27.2007 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

Here is an informal “scorecard” I recently posted at another site - some thoughts about how new Nikon and Canon products stack up against one another.:

1DSMKIII v. ? - Canon wins until Nikon (or Sony?) announces a very high MP FF body

1DMKII v. D3 - Purely on features, I’d say the Nikon wins. The difference in fps is pretty inconsequential, but the D3 wins on most other counts. Of course, in the real world, both of these cameras are extremely powerful and very well suited to the sort of work they were designed for.

5D v. ? - Canon wins since it is the only company with a FF body in the sub-$3000 (more like mid-$2000) price range. While it lacks the speed of the more expensive cameras, it is extremely well suited to the needs of many photographs for whom image quality is paramount.

D300 v. 40D - A slightly awkward comparison since the prices are significantly different. On features, the D300 beats the 40D. In a sense, the D300 is today’s camera, while the 40D would have been an outstanding product introduction… last year.

A few words of explanation…

1. I don’t really place much stock in which camera/manufacturer “wins” or which product is “best.” I really believe that the determination of “best” has more to do with the photographer’s needs than the intrinsic qualities and features of the products produced by top-tier manufacturers.

2. Any advantage that one manufacturer has over the other is likely to be temporary.

3. All of the cameras included above (and others not mentioned) are excellent products, and all can produce fine photographic results.

G Dan Mitchell :: Aug.27.2007 :: Commentary, Equipment :: No Comments »