There's a lot made about switching camera brands, with comparison of specs and the latest features driving most of the discussion. However, this thoughtful video essay takes a much more pragmatic approach to the question, and it's well worth watching.
Coming to you from Sean Tucker, this great video takes a look at a common question among photographers and videographers and details both why he switched camera brands and his thought process behind doing so. It's certainly very interesting to hear the story behind how Tucker came to own three distinct sets of gear and how his desire to consolidate all that extra equipment into one set drove his decision, but it's the second half of the video that details his decision process and the philosophies that drove it that's especially worth applying to your own experience. Most of us are tempted at one point or another by the allure of the latest and greatest, and I'll be the first to admit that there's certainly a bit of fun in geeking out over the newest gear, but we have to be careful not to confuse that with understanding what the best tool is for our professional work.
Be sure to check out Tucker's book and prints as well.
Brave of him to take his gear straight to a store for a quote, feels like he left a bunch of money on the table. I've given up on used gear online / in person stores as they always quote me 30-40% less than what I can get on Craigslist, with a little bit of patience. Given enough gear, than can quickly add up to thousands of dollars :(
Great point. Maybe the delay to get more money was outweighed by needing complete set now.
In my country, we don't have Craigslist. Your options are TradeMe (getting damn hard to make money there now), the local "eBay-lite" or retail.
I ended up going the retail route and trading some old Canon gear for more than I could have made at auction, so for me I understand the author just rocking up to a shop. Admittedly I had to see two shops, one of which had a list of all items and serial numbers beforehand...
...not right now. That's when. ;-)
Well like he mentioned in the video, it doesn't really matter what brand of camera you have or what gear you have, at some point, people are going to see your images and make up their own minds whether you're a good photographer or not. I get it, people want to switch for whatever reasons they choose, but if you can't take good pictures with brand X, brand Y isn't going to make your picture taking skills any better.
Even for an amateur like me, it is very expensive to switch brands. I own a Sony a6300 and 7 lenses. Switching all that to another brand is something I don't like. Sony might be the hottest brand for FF, theey seem to have forgotten aps-c. For the time being, I am happy with the results I get although I am not happy with the ergonomy.
But if they continu with not supporting aps-c, I will have to switch.
I watch Sean Tucker and like his photography, but I also watch other film makers and photographers. Some paid online courses, some free Youtube etc. I see a lot of comments about this is not for beginners, he is wrong, he is right. It doesn’t matter. He had a thought, made a video and put it out there, take what you want from it. He never claimed this video is for beginners to tell them what they should do. I love my Blackmagic Design cameras, they feel like using a Mac vs PC, I feel more creative using them, thats why I use that brand, because the way in which the company thinks and approaches their customers, comes across in the finished product. That is the main reason I choose a brand. That’s my view anyway.
Sometimes we also need to change what brand what Youtubers we should watch ...
Or...he could have bought a 5dm4 and be happy. It’s small, light weighted and has good image quality for both stills and video...he could have used just one brand all this time. From a business standpoint I don’t see going with Sony would bring extra benefit to his type of work.
What I am saying is a 5d could just handle all the professional tasks that a A7Riii would do
It certainly is. If you can complain about the weight of a 5d then perhaps you are restricting yourself to a lot of areas in photography. A tripod or a studio strobe or even two lenses could easily be heavier. Unless you are doing landscape where extreme hiking is required, I don’t see the weight/size difference between a 5D and any mirrorless matters a whole lot that one would have to switch system.
For pro photography business the entire system is more important, keeping in mind a business could evolve. You could be doing street photography today who knows if commercial or wildlife photography may draw your attention. Just saying.
Judging by the list of his gear, he's had G.A.S. and still has G.A.S. And his G.A.S. had a lot to do with his move to Sony. It would be interesting to see how many cameras and systems he's gotten 5 years later after this switch to Sony. Nothing wrong with it if you can afford it and make use of it, but it's an endless pursuit always wanting the perfect all-in-one gear or even all the features on multiple systems. The perfect camera or having all the features you need is a myth. And you can buy all the best features and tick all the boxes today, but you will have a new list of things you don't have in a few months. Photography is still photography. With good gear and good light, you should be able to deliver an image without compromise for the appropriately sized deliverable. You don't always have to have the best every day.
Totally agreed. I have seen many who made the switch eventually had to switch back again or jump to another brand...very GASsy