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Archive 2013 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

D. Diggler
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

Was looking at a debate in another forum regarding the financial expense involved with digital photography.

One guy stated:

"I can use any old digital camera I please and still get great results. The decision to upgrade is an option, not a requirement. Digital is only as expensive as we make it."

The other guy replied:

"in digital era, the fast advancing technology is actually "forcing" us [to] upgrade if we want to stay competitive, more so for working pros while in the old film days there was a lot less demanding in gears. imagine two wedding working pro shooting in the same dark church one with [year 2001] D1X and one with [year 2012] D4, both is claimed to be the best for its time, even with the same skill set, which one would likely to pull off a better image to make his/her customer happier, and that is our driving force for upgrade."

I'm wondering if you feel that way, too, that you are being forced to upgrade gear in order to stay competitive in the marketplace?

Mar 28, 2013 at 09:47 PM

tobicus
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

Nah. Once it does what I need it to do, it stays until it doesn't. I'll likely hang on to my D700 until I'm out of wedding photography. Ditto with my car, which will be 19 years old this year. The temptation to upgrade is there, certainly, but it's better for the earth, my wallet, and peace of mind to stay put.

Mar 28, 2013 at 10:03 PM

Scott Mosher
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

I've been thinking the same thing. I'm looking at getting another body, and I'm debating whether to pick up another D700 so I'll have 2, or spend a little bit more and pick up a D600 to use as a backup + a personal use camera/video camera.

Mar 28, 2013 at 10:34 PM

swoop
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

I think the D700 and 5D mk2 have set the standard. They're basically the digital equivalent of a film camera. The quality of which should last you for years. Anyone upgrading is likely doing it in search of features like autofocus or frames per second.

No one needs ISO 25,000. Call me old school but if you can't get a shot at ISO 3200 with an f1.4 lens you either turn on the flash or it just wasn't meant to be.

Mar 28, 2013 at 10:43 PM

NYstyles
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

Nope. I'll use my D700 till its dies! The main reason I got was its low light capabilities. Everything else is "stuff" to me. Sure some may be "better" now but not enough for an upgrade.

Upgrades past the D700 will be hogs, my D700 hogs enough. lol

Mar 28, 2013 at 11:23 PM

sivrajbm
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

swoop wrote:
I think the D700 and 5D mk2 have set the standard. They're basically the digital equivalent of a film camera. The quality of which should last you for years. Anyone upgrading is likely doing it in search of features like autofocus or frames per second.

No one needs ISO 25,000. Call me old school but if you can't get a shot at ISO 3200 with an f1.4 lens you either turn on the flash or it just wasn't meant to be.

+1, my 1d3's & 1ds3's seem to work well.

Mar 28, 2013 at 11:31 PM

Ziffl3
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

I would like to get a 5Dmk3.... otherwise the 1DsII is hanging. The 7D too.

I think the question also has to account where each of us feel about our 'tool box' of skills.
I still have OCF/posing/composition of shots i am working on.
This really does not have anything to do with technology.

Mar 28, 2013 at 11:49 PM

TTLKurtis
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

I'm pretty dang happy with the quality I get out of my D3S bodies. The D4 isn't the least bit tempting to me and I suspect I will not upgrade bodies anytime soon. Maybe the D5/D6 but it has to really offer me something tangible that leads to better results for my clients.

Mar 28, 2013 at 11:52 PM

paparazzinick
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

I dont feel forced to upgrade. I feel I need to. I put my gear through so much stuff that I need to upgrade it before it looses its value and/or it dies. I used to buy 3 of every camera I wanted/needed. That way I had a working camera, a camera for my assistant and then a backup. WIth budgets cutting with brides and my own budget getting tighter, I decided that unless it is my wife shooting with me, then I am not providing my assistants cameras anymore. So now we just buy 1 and our old workhorse becomes a backup and our backup becomes a backup to the backup.

With that said, this year we are rocking weddings with a d700, d600, d7000 and my wife really wants a d7100 but to use as our personal cam. Then we probably wont upgrade until something dies.

Mar 29, 2013 at 12:09 AM

SloPhoto
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

I think there was a need in the past to do incremental upgrades. With the latest cameras the improvements are more for ease of the photographer and less improvement of the end result.

I am not sure why someone would feel the NEED to have better than a d700, but I can see many reasons why it would make a photographers life easier.

Mar 29, 2013 at 12:30 AM

WNStudio
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

After reaching a 5dmkII level, I don't really see what to upgrade in that camera (apart from focusing but I can live with that). Now I rather think of buying a personal use/backup body and this new tiny Canon sl1 looks just right.

Mar 29, 2013 at 03:25 AM

jah2266
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

I felt that way when I was still using my 5Dc's even though I had a MK II in my bag for low light just because I prefer the color and files in daylight. Shot one wedding where five guests had 5D MK II's. One guest (a photographer himself who shot in NYC with a 1D IV and 1DS III) asked me about my camera and I actually had to defend why I still used the classic for my main work. I agree with what has been said about reaching a standard with the MK II and D700.

Mar 29, 2013 at 05:52 AM

ricardovaste
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

tobicus wrote:
Nah. Once it does what I need it to do, it stays until it doesn't. I'll likely hang on to my D700 until I'm out of wedding photography. Ditto with my car, which will be 19 years old this year. The temptation to upgrade is there, certainly, but it's better for the earth, my wallet, and peace of mind to stay put.

+1

If someone feels they need to chase the latest stuff, and that it'll make a difference for them, then they should go with that. It'll be good for them. If you want to compare yourself to others, then that is the path you'll follow. For me, I could buy something new, technically better in many areas, but I don't feel forced to or that I need to.

Less time looking over your shoulders is a good thing in my book.

Mar 29, 2013 at 06:51 AM

MalachiConstant
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

When I had my first rebel xt I remember the laundry list of complaints. Too small, too slow, difficult menus, crop sensor, low MP, horrible AF, etc.

Then I got a 50d a few years later. Many complaints, buts less.

Then a 5dII. The only thing that could reallllly use upgrading was the AF.

Bam 5diii. I really don't know where they would go from here, but they will have a tough time getting me to upgrade. I'm actually thinking of getting an additional mark II, it was still that good.

Mar 29, 2013 at 06:59 AM

joelconner
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

Once you have a system that does what you need it to do and you know how to work in the confines of the system, then every upgrade past that point is for 1) convenience, 2) cool factor, or 3) additional or better tools to enable the easier accomplishment of new/current ideas

Mar 29, 2013 at 07:32 AM

CMB Photo
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

yeah, after 5dii (7d back up) all major L glass, I feel that "upgrade idea" is more a mental deal for me. Another story is PS, LR, plugins, album soft, Comp power, scanner, printer, etc.. all this has somewhat short life spam. Hope this helps.

Maks

Mar 29, 2013 at 07:47 AM

Mark_L
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

On the Nikon side I think there are a lot of people that haven’t upgraded this time around and there will be even more next time (D800 with a 60MP sensor?) Dslrs have matured, the gear from 4 years ago is still good enough for the requirements of most wedding clients and for us to get the shot. The level of innovation from canon and nikon is quite poor, each camera now is very similar but with a bit more of everything on the spec sheet so there is little compulsion to upgrade. If you look at other players in the industry like fuji and sigma they are doing some pretty interesting things.

That said for my personal work I jumped on the D800E immediately, I put a lot of effort into it and want the best possible results.

Mar 29, 2013 at 09:11 AM

friscoron
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

When I decided to start shooting weddings professionally last year, I needed a camera to go with my workhorse D700. I decided, rather than get a second D700, to get a D4 as I'm constantly shooting in low light conditions with my dance work, and I wanted the opportunity to shoot video. I didn't feel forced to do it, but it seemed the right decision for what I was doing. A year later, I can say it was definitely the right decision for me.

Mar 29, 2013 at 09:51 AM

Mr645
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

Very early on there were limitations, I mean with my Kodak DCS-560, limited to 200 ISO, but otherwise 1fps, 3 frame buffer, 250-300 shots per battery were all workable, not a big deal that prevented me from delivering the goods. But even at the time ISO 200 was not that big of a problem since most of us were shooting Kodak PMC 400 anyway. I also had a DCS-520, which let me go to ISO 500 or 800 perhaps and get good files and the two cameras made a great wedding kit.

The Canon D60 was a nice step up. The speed and ISO range of the 520 with the 6MP file size of the 560, and dirt cheap at $2500.

After that it's been small changes, the 10D was no big deal, mainly got even cheaper and slower, then the 20D was nice, had those for years and made a tone of money with them. After that I bought a 1DsII in 2007 I think. And guess what? Still using it as my main camera. I bought a 5D II and sold it after 2 months, looked at the 1DsIII and even the 1Dmk IV, which is a really nice camera, but for me did not offer enough new features to justify the investment. Now the 1DX is in my sights since me 1DsII is nearing 300k exposures.

Do I need it? no, but the higher ISO capability will be useful for me with todays reception room designs, and being able to shoot small RAW files will be nice, but I have no reason to think that I won;t be able to still deliver top quality work with 1 pair of 1DsII and a 1DII camera. They work great

Mar 29, 2013 at 10:05 AM

morby
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Do you feel "forced" to upgrade gear?

For me the 5D Mark III is light years better than the 5D Mark II. I think if someone has the money an upgrade is a no brainer. 64pt autofocus compared to 9pt., ISO 25600 compared to ISO 6400, faster and more accurate focusing, dual card slot, better dynamic range, its more comfortable in my hands, it had a silent shutter and on and on. It's a way better camera and it makes my job a heck of a lot easier.

Mar 29, 2013 at 10:43 AM

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