p.2 #2 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
That I don't particularly care about post processing, and that I certainly don't enjoy it; that I really only ever want a 35mm lens; that I really wish the X100 had the focus capabilities of the Z8/A1/R5/etc.
p.2 #3 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
Zf with grip and 40/2 or 35 1.4 and some of Scott’s jpeg recipes ?
nightnight wrote:
That I don't particularly care about post processing, and that I certainly don't enjoy it; that I really only ever want a 35mm lens; that I really wish the X100 had the focus capabilities of the Z8/A1/R5/etc.
p.2 #4 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
Last one ? Eh, the usual. If you cant use flash and have to push the camera to ISO 12K, all your fancy lenses no longer produce the great results you are used to.
Though technically I again thought today I really want a ring flash for photographing old people.
p.2 #5 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
newyork wrote:
Zf with grip and 40/2 or 35 1.4 and some of Scott’s jpeg recipes ?
I care a lot about the look of the retro-aesthetic digital cameras, so I have a hard time with the gripped Zf's. Pains me in some way to admit it, but I am very much not a "it's just a tool!" guy. I am becoming more covetous of the silver Zf by the day, though, so who knows. I wish Nikon had a small, weather sealed 35, even if it were a 2.0 or 2.8. The 1.4 is too bulky for what I'd want it for.
p.2 #6 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
If it’s just a tool then the grip is a good thing. But I hear you. It does look better without.
I too wish there was a small 35.
The 40/2 is pretty small and cool.
nightnight wrote:
I care a lot about the look of the retro-aesthetic digital cameras, so I have a hard time with the gripped Zf's. Pains me in some way to admit it, but I am very much not a "it's just a tool!" guy. I am becoming more covetous of the silver Zf by the day, though, so who knows. I wish Nikon had a small, weather sealed 35, even if it were a 2.0 or 2.8. The 1.4 is too bulky for what I'd want it for.
p.2 #8 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
More about gear than photography, but I feel like I’ve been using GFX cameras forever. In reality, the really good experience only started with the GFX100S and S2, and I’ve had them for about two years out of my 40-something years of doing photography.
I had the GFX50SII before that. Still I got it less than five years ago. It was great except when photographing people. And I photograph people.
I spent more money on models than on equipment over the last couple of years, and it improved my photography in a way no gear ever could.
p.2 #9 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
When I discovered for myself that I was living in the age of sufficiency regarding cameras. I discovered this when I pulled my Fuji X-H1 out of storage and started using it again.
p.2 #12 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
I discovered that I'm probably the last photographer alive that shoots to print, that the Canon ImageProGraf Pro-1100 (it's so pro it has to be mentioned twice) is only a marginal improvement over the Epson 3800 I had previously and which suffered a massive unfixable head blockage (not just the usual inkjet sniffles); that Ilford Galerie paper is absolutely awesome for printing B&W on the Pro Pro-1100, and that the Z9 with picture mode set to B&W is the most fun I can possibly have.
p.2 #13 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
Probably the best images on this forum are posted in the "Film is not dead / Post your recent film shots!" thread by people using janky toy cameras and crap film.
p.2 #14 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
The one I think about most often is that so much of lighting is about mid tone contrast, and that contrast is set in large part by distance. IOW... if you have a typically high contrast light source, and you want to lower its contrast, you increase distance from it to the subject. And, naturally... if you want to increase contrast, you reduce distance.
In this way you can separate softness from contrast and adjust the two independently. Quite often we see soft sources that are high contrast, or hard sources that are low contrast when we're looking at popular work.
Jan 28, 2026 at 09:12 AM
AmbientMike Offline • • • • • • [X]
p.2 #15 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
Outstanding wrote:
For me, it was the weight balance of the Z 70–200 S lens. On paper, it’s much heavier than the Sony GM II, but in hand it felt almost the same. I passed on some great second-hand deals and now I’m kicking myself.
One big one: realizing DPP 3 (Canon raw processor) default is Sharpening, not USM. Once you do that lower mp might not be so bad, after all. More recently realized older 18-55 IS may be better than newer STM for macro at wider apertures and it's really not looking like a bad macro if you don't need 1:1 or tele.
p.2 #16 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
That I live in the birdiest county in the United States and for the past 13 years have been ignoring that fact. Picked up bird photography a few months ago and may have racked up more frames in that time than the past 20 years of landscape photography combined. That 20fps thing is deadly
p.2 #17 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
GroovyGeek wrote:
That I live in the birdiest county in the United States and for the past 13 years have been ignoring that fact. Picked up bird photography a few months ago and may have racked up more frames in that time than the past 20 years of landscape photography combined. That 20fps thing is deadly
That's fantastic! One bit of advice I've picked up is to stay on top of culling images. As you're aware 20fps with a healthy buffer can add up to increased storage needs. The pre-2026 saying used to be "storage is cheap" but right now that's not the case.
Here's a link to a video by Steve Perry on his method to cull large volumes of images in Lightroom that may be helpful in some way. If you don't use Lightroom there's still lots of valuable camera/birding/wildlife tips there, if this interests you. Happy shooting!
p.2 #18 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
I think there are quite a few little things like epiphanies that I've realized over the years. But the biggest one by far is that quick realizations are 10% of getting better; 90% is hard work....
p.2 #19 · What was the last photography revelation or discovery you had?
Realizing that at this point in my photo life, acquiring more gear with the limited revenue I now make from photography is no longer the best choice.
Those economies of scale hit zero a while back.
I have way more than I need.
It was a hard conversation to have with myself while hovering over the “buy” button.
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