Equipment Dilemma : night work, Canon and Nikon

[DanK]

Manfred,

Thanks

Dan

[Dave Humphries]

who wants to do that degree of intensive PP NR on every image?

Hi Scott,

With Neat Image, it really need not be a chore - just 5 clicks.

Glad you like the new camera
You seem to have 'got' all the important things it brings you.

Cheers,

[Adrian]

To complete the circle. I went with Canon 5DIII and 24-15L lens as a kit. RC-06 remote release. 3-legged-thing "Eddie" tripod with 3LT Airhead02 blue Ball head. Two 16Gb Sandisk fast CF cards. Spare battery.

I tried the Nikon quite extensively (and worked through on-line reviews). The two cameras are both excellent I think. However, the low light live view of the Nikon was tricky for me, and the absence of readily available custom functions on a dial (the camera shop could not show me how I could replicate that on the Nikon and the menus did not make it at all obvious) was important. I was also worried that 36Mp file sizes consume a shed load of memory and slow everything down.

The 6D was ruled out despite the fact that I think the wireless transfer and ability to use a smartphone as remote screen / controller are both very useful. I preferred the robustness of the 5DIII plus the fact that it is more substantial in the hand. I also think the 6D focussing loses out substantially to its 5DIII relative and the price gap is not enough to make the 6D a compelling buy.

We will keep our 40D body as it doesn't sell for much and is a practical spare. And as my teenage son is 7D equipped we can share lenses, speedlights, etc as appropriate on holiday trips.

I expect I will report back on how we get on with night photography practice over the next couple of months. Comparing 40D, 7D, 5DIII IQ will also be interesting.

Adrian

[rawill]

All I can say is amazing.

For not wanting to carry too much gear, you guys haul an amazing amount of stuff.
I will never get good photos on my travels, I want my camera to fit in my pocket!

Rbn

[Adrian]

Ha! Teenage son is happy to lug half the stuff around! Mostly the camera gear is either in a car or on a boat anyway. We have tried every variation of pocketable (or belt case) gear, including Leica. An M9 would do the job if I was skilled enough. Sadly I need the aids that modern SLRs have! And it is very hard to get night shots, sunsets, wildlife etc without good glass, and that tends to be heavy.

[Manfred M]

Ha! Teenage son is happy to lug half the stuff around! Mostly the camera gear is either in a car or on a boat anyway. We have tried every variation of pocketable (or belt case) gear, including Leica. An M9 would do the job if I was skilled enough. Sadly I need the aids that modern SLRs have! And it is very hard to get night shots, sunsets, wildlife etc without good glass, and that tends to be heavy.

Cars and boats I can live with. It's lugging the stuff through airports and on and off of planes that I really don't like. I look like a pack horse when I travel as my wife usually gets me to haul her gear along with mine....