1DS mkII or keep the junk? (very long)
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ray_stinger
Senior Member
You can send in your camera bodies to Canon and request them to check for you how many actuations it has been through, at a cost of ~$20.
Hey canonfan
I think you've already answered your own question. Money seems to be of your lesser concerns and if you want a camera that wont limit your photography and will fit your wife's lenses, go with the 1dsMKII. Waiting for a new body is absoutely nonsensical because
1. You need the camera for your baby
2. I doubt you're in dire need of the new technology on the MKIII
3. We all know the current camera works fine (posters armed with flaw lists of the camera go post your own thread)
After all, the deppreciation value of that camera is nothing compared to the ratio of what you'd lose per year on your BMW.
About selling your stuff, just put it on ebay with a reserve and a buy now price. I'd imagine it to be far easier than dealing with locals who are incredibly fussy on superficial condition and have too much time on their hands and will haggle till they suck your price down to near nothing.
Hope that helps
David
I think you've already answered your own question. Money seems to be of your lesser concerns and if you want a camera that wont limit your photography and will fit your wife's lenses, go with the 1dsMKII. Waiting for a new body is absoutely nonsensical because
1. You need the camera for your baby
2. I doubt you're in dire need of the new technology on the MKIII
3. We all know the current camera works fine (posters armed with flaw lists of the camera go post your own thread)
After all, the deppreciation value of that camera is nothing compared to the ratio of what you'd lose per year on your BMW.
About selling your stuff, just put it on ebay with a reserve and a buy now price. I'd imagine it to be far easier than dealing with locals who are incredibly fussy on superficial condition and have too much time on their hands and will haggle till they suck your price down to near nothing.
Hope that helps
David
ray_stinger
Senior Member
My experience there was it took 30mins for the entire procedure to be completed. You can always get yourself a cuppa coffee/milo/tea from their dispenser, sip your drink, read some magazines and your done...canonfan said:
Btw, I would suggest that if you have 18k to play with, the 1DmkII will be a better choice. Use the rest of your money; after buying the 1DmkII, to get lenses like 16-35L, 24-70L, 70-200L f/2.8 IS (IS is excellent for old man :sweatsm: ), 50 f/1.4, 85L f/2, 135L, 300L f/2.8 IS. Perhaps you will have to expand your budget abit (add another 10k?) to get all these lenses and also not forgetting a bigger dry box or even a dry room for all your new gears, keeping them cool and away from the humid weather of Singapore. Equipped with all these lenses and 1DmkII, you will be well "armed" and will definitely be able to take very nice photos of your baby in the future. Also remember to invest in a good bag such as Domke's J-2 so that you will be free from shoulder + back ache (no joke bout this!). A good carrying strap like the Optech's is also highly recommended. All in all, 18k sounds like a good budget for 1DmkII but not 1DsmkII because you still need to get excellent lenses + accesories listed above to complement your fantastic camera.
I hope all these will help you better decide on which camera, lenses and accessories to get.
dslang said:
Hi David,
It seems that the night owls amongst the ClubSNAP community offer more value add than the ones who keep regular hours. I am suffering from rather bad jet lag, having just returned from 2 weeks in California. And as a golf fan, I am watching a live telecast of a particularly gripping final round of a US PGA tournament.
It seems you have actually bothered to read what I wrote, and formulated your answer/comments/suggestions taking in account the timing issues and concerns about premature obsolescence that cloud my decision.
Your suggestion to sell my items on eBay rather than on this forum to avoid the inevitable issues of having to deal with an inherently anal, unreasonable, stingy, and ungracious populace suggests that you have had first hand experience dealing with these types of people.
For what it is worth, I have had more than my fair share of experience of what you have alluded to when I tried to clear my garage of surplus unused parts from my previous BMW's. At least camera parts are easily sent by mail, while car parts are not.
A bit of haggling is fine, but the mean spiritedness exhibited by local bargain hunters goes beyond the pale. Once again, please accept my sincere thanks for your input, which if nothing else, merely confirms what I have always felt about the condition of the human spirit in Singapore.
ray_stinger said:My experience there was it took 30mins for the entire procedure to be completed. You can always get yourself a cuppa coffee/milo/tea from their dispenser, sip your drink, read some magazines and your done...
Btw, I would suggest that if you have 18k to play with, the 1DmkII will be a better choice. Use the rest of your money; after buying the 1DmkII, to get lenses like 16-35L, 24-70L, 70-200L f/2.8 IS (IS is excellent for old man :sweatsm: ), 50 f/1.4, 85L f/2, 135L, 300L f/2.8 IS. Perhaps you will have to expand your budget abit (add another 10k?) to get all these lenses and also not forgetting a bigger dry box or even a dry room for all your new gears, keeping them cool and away from the humid weather of Singapore. Equipped with all these lenses and 1DmkII, you will be well "armed" and will definitely be able to take very nice photos of your baby in the future. Also remember to invest in a good bag such as Domke's J-2 so that you will be free from shoulder + back ache (no joke bout this!). A good carrying strap like the Optech's is also highly recommended. All in all, 18k sounds like a good budget for 1DmkII but not 1DsmkII because you still need to get excellent lenses + accesories listed above to complement your fantastic camera.
I hope all these will help you better decide on which camera, lenses and accessories to get.
Hi Ray,
Noted about the usage check procedure at Canon Service Center.
As my stars (and my wife's career) dictate that we move countries on a fairly regular basis, I try to keep purchases of extraneous items to a bare minimum. While it would be nice to have all those great lenses you listed in the arsenal, the fact is I probably will end up with only the bare essentials.
Ignoring the outlay for the 1Ds MkII, and assuming I have a $3,000 budget for portraiture lenses, which lenses would you suggest I shortlist (ie your desert island lenses)? Convenience and ease of use are of equal import to absolute lens quality.
Thanks for your advice.
ray_stinger
Senior Member
I would suggest a combination of the 24-70L, 85L and 135L in that case, provided you stretch your budget by abit to around 4k. Omit either the 85L/135L if 3k is the budget.canonfan said:
ray_stinger said:
Are you suggesting that I buy the lenses slightly used? Isn't a new 85mm 1.2 L USM around $3k by itself? The 135 2.0 L USM seems much more reasonable at S$1,350 although it obviously lacks the wow factor of the huge lump of glass of the 85 1.2L. The foundation 24-70 2.8 L USM splits the field at S$2,100.
If I went with the 24-70L and 135L, would I be missing a lot without the 85L?
Cheers,
ray_stinger
Senior Member
Oh yes, I forgotten the fact that 85L is the ultimate bombshell. :bsmilie:canonfan said:
You will probably not miss the 85L as much. You can always spend a few hundreds on a 85mm non-L which is also an excellent performer if you think the gap between is too huge.
Belle&Sebastain
Senior Member
canonfan said:
value? thanks for the entertainment, keep the good perspective for yourself.
still entitied to form my thoughts, buy the $12000 camera for your baby, i bet he/she will thank you for taking such great photos of him/her when its old enough to think seriously.
congrats to the addition to your family!
canonfan said:
Well if we can compromise on a day and time, I don't mind making a trip down with you to TK, since I have a lens to buy in mind as well. Having said that, they are honest with customers who visit them the first time. I browsed the shop a few times asking for my camera, and in the end I bought the cam from another place. But when I came back to the shop for lens, they still offered me invaluable advice for a beginner at that time. By saying that I get "regular" treatment, I mean I don't have to haggle for prices (which actually applies to most if not all shops), but can readily get the lowest price. Trust me, I was one of those kids who knew which shop sells bread for ten cents less, and I grew up with that scrutiny on prices. I digress. PM me. If you're going down one of these days, we can always arrange to go together.
As for lens recommendation, 85mm 1.2L would be an excellent lens for portrait face shots. Excellent, if not the best. 35mm f1.4L is my "targetted" lens as well, but I had been practising taking portraits using 35mm, and there had been distortion which appears very frequently (face will look stretched out than it actually is, when focused on face). I guess I need to brush up my skills, as I have seen other photos which handled the distortion well by playing with perspective. Another lens you can consider is 24-70 f2.8L. This is a very good piece of lens even for portraits, despite people thinking it is a "general lens" (some examples here:http://www.pbase.com/deepamp/bali). The downside of this glass is its weight. Coupled with your future 1Ds MkII, I guess you get both good shots and strength training as well. The upside is that it's more forgiving if you are not familiar with the exact focal length to use. If you are confident of handling primes, then my personal first choice would be 85 1.2L for grown ups(low light, extremely shallow DOF), 135 f2L (also good for head shots, and offers a much faster focus, fitting your needs nicely, but missing out on DOF which 85 f1.2 offers), or 35mm f1.4L for kids and babies.
85 f1.2L would be in the region of 3.1k.
35 f1.4L would be in the region of 2.1k
135 f2L, about 1.4k
24-70 f2.8L about 2.3k
The sinful thing about SLR or DSLR, is that there is no "best lens" in terms of focal length. It is highly dependent on individual preferences, as well as the desired shots and perspectives. You get the 135 f2L, you get a certain kind of shots. You get the 24-70 f2.8L, you'll end up using it very differently altogether. If you get 85 f1.2L, you'll still be missing what 24-70 offers and vice versa.
Lastly, I beg to differ, and risk being a public enemy, on the popular notion here on clubsnap: "equipment does not make the pictures, the person behind the camera does"
I personally feel that given a piece of good equipment speeds up learning. My foray
into photography is plagued with confusions on figuring out whether my errors are mistakes I made, or limitations of my camera. Like what was mentioned on other threads, "the best equipment tends to be less forgiving on mistakes." And it was also mentioned here that you would have no more excuse for lousy shots. Put them both together, you actually identify your areas of weakness far more easily. At least that's my experience so far.
canonfan said:
Actually after reading all your posts, I find it rather pointless in advicing you on your above questions. It seems that money is no object to you, so you can sell your stuff anywhere. The difference you get from your old stuff is but a small percentage of what you are going to spend.
As to where to buy your new equipment, well anywhere is fine if price is no object. As for service, most shops have good service if you intend to spend 18k in their shops. Besides, unlike of other exlucisve electronics (maybe speakers), you deal with canon directly instead of the agent for future servicing so the choice of whom you buy from is not as impt.
so in conclusion, no point is asking for advice here. Just spend on what you want to spend and where you like.
Ave said:You're not alone, I feel the same way too :thumbsup:
Skill and equipment each have their own part to play in the whole photographic process. Why downplay one aspect for the other? A balanced view is the best, to me.
Cheers
My view is slightly different. You should have the appropriate equipment for the job but it need not be the best in its class. Having the best equipment without the right skill will not deliver the pic, similarly for having the best skill but inappropriate equipment.
Hmm.... somehow I feel that the entire MegaPixel thing had everyone going gaga and ppl starts comparing megapixel count.canonfan said:
The 1DMkII is a 1.3 crop camera whilst the 10D is a 1.6 crop camera. Whilst in terms of megapixel count, these 2 ain't much of a diff, the sensor quality, build quality as well as all other extra features (like spot metering which is so useful for any situation), custom curves, weather sealing, high fps, etc is primarily what one pays for (and thus the difference of over $3K between these 2 cameras).
Since u're probably earning a living frm photography, I'd guess getting a 1-series camera would justify in all sense.
And honestly, if I have like over $20K to bust, I'll opt for the 1DMkII.
The rest of the money can save to buy lens and other equipment.- Status
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