UKC

Hi James. Hopefully you'll notice this thread and respond, and hopefully it's not been 'done' already. I'm a big fan of your photography and wanted to ask about your kit. I was going to PM you, but thought the info might be edifying to a wider audience, so started a thread.

From what I can tell, you used to use the 6D with Canon EF17-40 and Samyang 14mm 2.8 ED lenses. Is that right? You've got many stunning images taken with that set up. Now you seem to have switched to a Nikon D610. Which lenses are you using with that, and why the switch? Would you care to elaborate a little on the relative merits of these cameras, and the lens combos that you've used?

Thanks in advance for any info and wisdom you have time to share.

In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Go Nikon!

In reply to Mark Collins:

Why's that? At the moment I'm using a mirrorless camera and am dreaming of a full frame (while lots of people I know with 'big' cameras are dreaming of something smaller and more portable....).

In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Just saying I don't see many people changing from Canon to Nikon, and I use a Nikon for reasons I don't remember, and am now not even looking at anything else because of the lenses I have that fit a Nikon and what it would cost to change them and the body.

I have noticed that DSLR's have come down a bit in size and weight which helps those looking for something smaller, but I accept that they're probably never going to be as portable as a compact, or at least not for a while.

In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Hi Chris,

Always scary when you see your name on a UKC forum thread (panic!).

Thanks very much, very kind, I'm glad you like the photos. Yes spot on, for writing the Dolomites guidebook I used the Canon 6d with Canon 17-40, Canon 70-300 and Samyang 14mm 2.8. It was an excellent set up, the 17-40 is a lot of 'bang for your buck' and is also very light for climbing / long walk ins. It takes filters and was my general purpose lens for most circumstances. The 6D is also excellent with really good low light performance. The 'gimmicks' such as wifi and gps were really useful from a guidebook writing perspective as it allowed me to remotely take shots of people climbing whilst belaying them (in conjunction with a smart phone and tripod) and to mark crags accurately on a map.

The Samyang is one of the best night photography lenses for capturing star fields due to it been 14mm and also 2.8 - see article at: http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6741 . Factor in the low cost and the value for money really is amazing.

I switched to Nikon purely on the back of their wide angle lenses (not the body). The Nikon 14-24mm 2.8 is a slight improvement over the Samyang for night shots (a bit sharper and less distortion) and it's also great for climbing photography with it been so wide (the Samyang lacks an auto focus and obviously doesn't zoom). Canon at the time didn't have a wide angle equivalent (the Canon 14mm prime was half again as expensive, provided the same image quality and didn't zoom). Canon have now come out with the 11-24 F4 lens, but it's hellish expensive and like the Nikon 14-24 doesn't take filters.

My current set-up is Nikon D610, Nikon 14-24mm, Nikon 28-300, Nikon 80-400 and a 1.4x teleconverter. I'm looking to upgrade the D610 to a Nikon D810 in the near future, the lens set up is great and covers my personal needs perfectly.

Personally I think there is little difference between Canon and Nikon and I'm not in one camp or the other. Canon build quality seems a tad better, but you seem to get a bit more value for money with Nikon. Swings and roundabouts...

I guess the most important thing is choosing a set up you will actually take photos with. There's no point in having potentially great image quality if you don't take your camera out much as it's a logistical faff. I take my camera everywhere - walking, ski touring, climbing, mountaineering etc - but it's a faff and a lot of additional weight on harder routes. That's why I own the Nikon 28-300 despite having the 80-400 (which is way superior optically), as it's half the size and weight making it a good 'do it all' lens when you don't have a particular shot in mind.

I hope that helps a bit

James

In reply to James Rushforth:


Ha, yes! I can imagine.....always the lingering fear that it might be: "James Rushforth photography"




....is rubbish.

Ha, well, not this time

Thanks for taking the time to respond at length. That's exactly what I was after and I'm sure others will find it useful too. It seems like (well, I suppose it's obvious really as most of life works like this) unless you have piles of money you always have to compromise on things. i.e. Want quality glass, light weight, zoom, filters, affordability? Sorry, can't have all of those! Anyway, I agree that the best camera is the one you can be bothered to take with you, which for me is my NEX-6, but I'd love something a little better. Don't know if I'd ever drag a DSLR up a route, but would certainly take one walking.

Happy snapping!

Cheers.

In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Chris there was a good article by Ben Tibbets on here recently, talking about his photography. He said he drags a D800 up most alpine routes if he's after good photos. Even with a small lens, a D800 isn't the lightest.

In reply to Removed User:

Yeah, I don't know how they do it! I climbed the south ridge of the Salbitschijen with my mate Nadir Khan a couple of years back. While I would occasionally whip put my nex-6 for some snaps he climbed with his 5D on his hip! Impressive stuff

In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Exactly that, always got to compromise on something alas! One day they'll be a good body with a built in 8-500mm 2.8 with no distortion - and it will be a boring

Big fan of Nadir and Ben's stuff. Just think of it as weight training...

In reply to ChrisBrooke:

http://petapixel.com/2015/03/01/did-you-know-about-the-rear-gelatin-filter-...

I bought James' Samyang 14mm from him after he made the switch over to Nikon and every now and again I toy with the idea of switching to a mirrorless. One thing I notice with that lens is really severe distortion and being manual focus it's very faffy. I think the best wide angle F/2.8 lens out there at the minute is the Tamron 15-30. It rivals the Nikon 14-26 in image quality in most tests, has in built image stabilisation and costs less than £1K (which I accept is a massive amount of money don't get me wrong) but the Canon 11-24mm James mentioned is £2649! Yes, for a lens. Yes, you could buy a half decent car for that. Yes it is really heavy and massive...and no, it's not the fastest aperture and doesn't have image stabilisation - often saving the need for a tripod.

If you want a full frame sensor in a great package that's small and light, buy a Sony A7, they have different versions A7II/A7S for low light/high ISO performance and image quality that rivals any modern DSLR. With sony the downside is a lack of variety of lenses. But they're making more and you can get a metabones adapter to use canon/nikon lenses on it.

I use a Canon 6D and the so-called gimmicks of Wi-fi and GPS are great. I like the relative light weight of it for a full frame camera and paired with a EF16-35 f/2.8 II lens (the same lens John Griffiths uses) which has now dropped in price to around £750 second hand it can be used for everything from night shots to alpine sunrise. It's weather sealed and take filters too. It's not as sharp as the Nikon or the Tamron lenses mentioned above but it's a reasonable compromise of price/weight/useability in the mountains.

Just my thoughts...