Are you well equipped?

OK, I know this question can make some think of quite different matters than photography. Only the most serious of photographers will keep a very straight face and answer the question without even the slightest sign of a smile.

I’m not sure that kind of seriousness is good for you!

Photography is a hobby or profession with need of at least some equipment, I hope we can agree that it is rather impossible to take a photography without no apparatus at all. - At least if photographic memory is to be kept as a separate issue. And why don’t we keep it at arms lenght at the moment, please.

The knack when it comes to equipment, is to know that there must be limits, - both ways; your kit can both be too sparse and too abundant.

A photo motive just popped out on my imaginative retinas here, a overloaded press photogapher - rather big, red in the cheeks, overloaded and crowded with gear around & about. And next to her, a thin, pale, kind of lonely character with a single camera & nothing more. A expensive camera, maybe, but nothing more. She could look a little lonely and wanting, maybe looking with a sceptical eye down on a Leica apparatus anyone would envy her.  The photo should state that none is better than the other, rather that happiness most likely lie somewhere between the two illustrated extremes.

I’m thinking his older sister versus his daughter.

Oh, I’d love to take this photo one day. I’d make sure to be well equipped before I took it, though. ;o)

These days I’ve been one lense short, so I’m not as well equipped as I am normally. My Sigma 18-125mm was acting strange, threw the lenses inside around at certain zoom-points, and placed there it acted as if the electronics inside was haywired. Since the lens is only a little over a year old, I sent it off to the camera doctor today, hoping the repair is covered by the guarantee. Either way the process got me in the mood to buy a new lens. … And a new camera … and a flash, and a new tripod, and some more lenses, and ...a photo studio, and …  some filters and extenders and photo bags and books and a new car to transport it all around with and … It may be a form of insanity maybe.

A good link for the photo insane: The Camera Wiki, a place to look up all sorts of camera gear.

One thing to consider when thinking about buying a new camera, is should it be full frame or crop sensor? And does it really, really matter that much, - really? To try and find out, I had to find out what really is the difference between a full frame and a crop sensor. So I read this page on the web. I found this article quite useful for teaching me something new and interesting, and now I’d like a 7D camera even more. I’ll just have to save up and start a campaign with the wife to get there.

After sending the Sigma 18-125mm off with the post today, I got an acute fit of separation anxiety. I had to quelch the symptoms by visiting my favourite photo shop in Sandnes and buy a new lens.

I ended up buying the Canon EF 17-40 f/4 L USM, much to my own surprise, who had promised myself a lightstrong lens with a wide zoom range. But when I tested the 17-40mm, I fell as long as I was flat on my back and said, gasping for air, “I’ll … take it. Please! ”

The evening has been used for testing it’s qualities.

Along with the lens (and the obligatory UV filter) I bought a remote control for the camera. Self portrait was never easier.

If the damaged Sigma is not repaired, I’ll have to look into getting hold of a new zoom lens for “everyday use”. I like the possibility that lies in a zoom lense too much to be without it! - I think. Maybe the 17-40mm will teach me otherwise. Time will show.

And anyway, to justify today’s purchase for both myself and the world around me, I’ll have to improve my photo skills. So off I go!