Endless Pursuit of Photographic Gear

For a long time, I have been asking myself why the endless pursuit for more camera/lenses, and do expensive lenses make me take better pictures? Surely I am not the only person who is obsessed with lenses and cameras, otherwise we won't have acronyms like GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), LOL (Lens of Lust), COL (Camera of Lust), etc. I have known for a long time that expensive lens/cameras do not necessarily make better pictures.  But what drives me into obsession with camera gear?

I consider some of my camera/lenses to be better than average, especially when it comes to Canon lenses.  I have used/owned most of the L lenses from 24mm to 300mm, except the 200mm f2.8L and the 300mm f2.8L, plus the L zooms from 16-35mm f2.8L II to 100-400mm L.  These lenses include my favourites such as the 35mm f1.4L, 85mm f1.2L II, 135mm f2L, and 200mm f1.8L.  The Canon cameras that I have used include the original 1D, 1Ds, and the later generations of 1D Mark II, Mark IIn, and lastly the 1D III, plus the 5D classic and the 5D II.  I would think that having the best should stop me from buying more gear, but that is just not true.  Very soon I found out that there is no such thing as a perfect lens or camera; they all have negative aspects that give rise to further excuses for more gear.  The reason is usually too big and too heavy.  If you have ever shot with a 1D-series and the EF 200mm f1.8L, you would know what’s like to hold 10LBs of gear in your hand for longer than 10 minutes, or walk around with that weight on your hand/neck for a couple of hours.  The image quality is superb, but how often do you want to walk around with this much weight?

Jump, from 2008 - Canon 1Ds & EF 200mm f1.8L @ f2. Click for larger. 

The only pictures I hang on my wall, are the pictures of my kids, taken more than 10 years ago, with the original Digital Rebel 300 and the cheap Canon 75-300mm f4-5.6 (non-USM) and the Plastic Fantastic 50mm f1.8 II. These are some of my favourite pictures, and I consider them better than most of the pictures I have taken later using exotic/expensive camera/lenses.  For each piece of gear that I used longer than a few months, I had a certain emotional attachment to it.  Amazingly, every time I see my pictures, I often know which lens was used to make the pictures; they invoke that warm and fuzzy feeling of the time, place, event, camera, lens that made up the pictures. It occurs to me regardless of what equipment I used to take the pictures; they almost all give me equal enjoyment.  Better equipment gives me sharper and cleaner pictures, but this only matters technically, not aesthetically.  I have a lot of pictures that I like and they were taken by the 3.2 MP Canon Powershot G1.

Ryan, 2007 - Kodak SLR/c full frame & Leica-R 90mm f2 Summicron. Click for larger.

Then is the aesthetic side to the images.  This one aspect has gotten me to become a gear whore, because image aesthetics is very subjective and every lens is different.  Unfortunately, there is no right, or wrong, or good, or bad to it.  A lens could have terrible corners, very soft, has little contrast, but produces dream-like pictures that appeal to me.  An example is the Sima 100mm f2 soft focus plastic lens.  Conversely, a lens could be very sharp from corner to corner, with high contrast, and almost no distortion (most good enlarging lenses), that produces images that are sharp, technically perfect, but not necessarily pleasing, but satisfies the senses that appeal to the technical side.

So, perhaps, I am not looking for anything specific at all, just gear that produces different and interesting images.  As such, there is no cure in the foreseeable future.

Whatever the reason is, which is not really important any more, after so many years, but there is a happy by-product out of this: continuous production of images obtained with combination of camera/lenses.  Occasionally, I even get a few pictures that I like.

Rose, 2006 - Pentax *ist DL & Sima 100mm f2 Soft Focus Lens.

Flash Back on the Old Love

Megan -- Canon 1Ds & EF 50mm f1.8 Mark I

Going through some of my old pictures and found this one above that I took more than 3 years ago for testing the 50mm f1.8 version I (metal mount) on the original, very old 1Ds.  For some reason, I LOVE the colour from the 1Ds and its image quality at low ISO is still one of the best.  If not for the abysmal LCD screen, very slow operation and the one level of image magnification on playback, I would have kept this beautifully made full frame camera.  I really took this camera everywhere I went since it was my only camera at the time, and I am really glad that I did.

By the way, the 50mm f1.8 Mark I is really nice.  If Canon can upgrade the Arc-Form Drive motor to Ultra Sonic Motor (USM), it will sell like hot cakes if priced under $200.  But then again, Canon wants you to buy the 50mm f1.4 or 50mm f1.2L.

A Look Back at the Canon 1Ds Full Frame Camera

Maple Leaves -- Canon 1Ds & Schneider 105mm f4.5 Enlarging Lens. Click for larger.

I have been sorting out some old pictures I have taken for a photo book project, and came across photos taken with Canon's first full frame camera, the 11 MP 1Ds.  This was a slow camera with an awful LCD screen and noisy high ISOs above 400.  I sold it mostly because I couldn't stand the glacial write speed.  But, some of my favourite pictures were taken with this camera.  I love the low ISO quality of this camera, especially the colour and sharpness of the pictures.  Perhaps one day, when this once $10,000 camera can be had for a few hundred dollars, I will pick one up again.

Colours from Older Cameras

Fall Leaves 2008 -- Canon 1Ds & Schneider 105mm f4.5 Enlarging Lens. Click for larger.

Looking back at some of the pictures I took with older cameras, I found that I prefer the colours from those cameras.  This is especially true for the original 1D and 1Ds.  I just love the colour fidelity of the 1Ds at base ISO.  The colours seem more saturated and pleasing than, say, 7D or T2i.

Canon's New 1DX

When I first saw the specs of the 1DX, my jaws dropped and mouth foaming uncontrollably.  This is the sensor I wanted Canon to make for the last few years!  The 18MP is a sweet balance between high quality and enlargerbility and speed.  Many think this is the end to the high pixel war, but I think not.

My thinking is that Canon will likely be repositioning the premium product lines: 1-Series of cameras will only be about speed.  It will always be a sports camera from now on.  For those who need high pixel count, they are usually studio or landscape use and the camera does not need to be built bullet proof.  I am sure the 1Ds III is not selling that well, as most people will buy the much cheaper 5D II instead, as the image quality is near identical with its bigger 1Ds III brother, as both having identical sensors.  What we will be seeing on the high resolution cameras will be a new product line called the 3-series.  This series will be a cross between 1-series and 5D II in terms of features and build quality and may have unique features of its own, like the eye-control of the film 3D.  This 3D may be split into two versions, one will likely have a 32 to 36MP sensor with relatively good high ISO performance for studio/landscape use, and the other will use the 18MP full frame sensor of the 1DX, but at a reduced frame rate, perhaps 7 to 8 frames per second for enthusiasts and sports shooters who can't afford the 1DX.  Both 3D models will have the last generation of AF system found in the 1D IV.  These two cameras will be sold with a price tag of around $3500.

For entry level full frame, the 5D III will have the 18MP sensor of the 1DX but shoots four frames per second and priced under $2000.  The AF system will be based on the Canon 7D.  Personally, I think this version will sell like hot cakes and Canon may never make enough to keep up the demand.  I am sure I will buy one!

Megan from the old files -- Canon 1Ds & Takumar SMC 85mm f1.8.