I know: most of you don't care. Sure, you might like some of the photos I take, but does it really make a difference whether I shoot with a big camera or my smartphone? No.
When I bought my previous D-SLR, in 2015, it was a 50th birthday present to myself. And that Nikon D7200 was a vast improvement from my first D-SLR, a D80. But when I bought the D7200, I debated whether I should spend the extra money to go full-frame, and invest in a D750.
No, was the verdict. I wasn't a professional photographer: why drop so much money on something that is purely a hobby? If I wanted to spend wisely, I told myself, invest in glass. And so, I bought the D7200 (a damned, fine camera) but put more money into a new lens, the 24-70mm, f/2.8G ED AF-S.
Over the years, I've taken some of my best photos with this camera and lens, but at times I wished that I could get just a bit more out of the D7200. At one of my Ottawa Photography Meetup photo shoots, I was working with a model and another photographer who was using the same 24-70mm lens as mine. He posed the model, lying on a wooden floor, stretching horizontally in front of a sofa.
When it was my turn to take a photo, I asked the model to maintain that pose, and I positioned myself the same way as the first photographer. Only, I couldn't get the model in the whole frame. I moved back, and back, and then found myself pressed against the far wall, barely getting the subject in the frame. I had to turn, slightly, which put the model on a diagonal, rather than horizontally. I had her change her pose before I took the shot (WARNING: this photo is not safe for work).
The other photographer looked at my equipment and said, "We have the same lens. Why do you have to move back?" He then saw my camera body and added, "Ah, you're not full-frame."
In other instances, I found myself having to move further back to get a subject to properly fill my frame. You see, the D7200 has a sensor that is only about two-thirds the size of a full-frame camera. That means that my 24-70mm lens was behaving like a 36-105mm equivalent in full-frame terms.
That's why I always moved further than fellow photographers at my meetup shoots.
Over the years, I saw the results with my photos, compared with similar photos shot with full-frame cameras, and I developed a bit of sensor envy. I wanted to graduate to something that would give me more than my D7200 can deliver.
Don't get me wrong: I still love that camera.
When I bought my D7200, I told myself that perhaps, come my 55th birthday, I might make the leap to a full-frame body. I have always wanted a second body, so that when I attended photo shoots or joined people in photo walks, I would choose two lenses, and without having to fumble in swapping glass, I would just reach for the camera that would fulfill the needs of the shot.
On Boxing Day, 2018, I saw a sale for the Nikon D750 that brought the price down by $800, and I was tempted to grab it. But my D7200 wasn't even four years old, and I thought that in another year, the price might drop even lower. And the five-year plan was still on track: perhaps, by then, Nikon would have a newer, better model.
So, two days before Christmas, last December, I saw the sale prices for this camera, for which a successor was rumoured for March, 2020, and I debated once again. Wait for the new model or take the reduced price on the camera that had received glowing reviews over the years, but was now considered old technology?
I decided not to wait. The camera was $700 off but Nikon was including a 50mm f/1.8 lens for free.
Sold. (And trust me, I'm getting to the photo part of this post. Hang in there.)
When I bought my D7200, there was a steep learning curve in graduating from the D80. Before I took my first photo, I thoroughly read the user guide and familiarized myself with all of the settings. I went five days without taking a single frame.
Moving up to the D750, I noticed that the buttons were almost identical to my D7200. I had made my purchase late in the afternoon: that evening, I set out to take my first shot.
My love for my city is immense, as readers of The Brown Knowser already know. And choosing a spot to take my first photos was equally immense. Where to go? How to capture the essence of the city?
A couple of days earlier, I has seen on social media how the OTTAWA sign, in the ByWard Market (when did they start capitalizing the W?), had been lit up in green and red, to mark the holiday. Capturing that sign at night is the best time of day, so that's where I headed.
I attached the new 50mm lens. My 24-70mm lens was a full-frame (FX) lens, which would mean that finally, I would see the correct magnification, but I was going to wait to move it from my D7200 body. With the 50mm lens, what I saw with my naked eye was exactly what I could see through the viewfinder, and my challenge for my first photos was to shoot exactly as I saw the night.
I shot a few images, playing with the exposure to capture the colours as I saw them, which left little light for the background, letting more light in to capture the surrounding area, and then slowing down the exposure to show motion (but which washed out the colours of the sign).
When it came to picking one of these for Photo Friday, I couldn't decide which one to use. So I added all three. Which one do you like the best?
I'm still getting used to the full-frame experience and have only used this camera a couple of times, including at a model meetup. Over the coming months, I hope to perfect my use of it. After all, I'm taking it with me to Europe. I'm also taking my D7200, which will have my 70-300mm zoom on it. Between the two D-SLRs, my 360 camera, and my smartphone, I'll have plenty of options.
Happy Friday!
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