wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

Get the a to e adapter, opens up a lot of lenses including Tamron and Sigma and the old Minolta AF which has a large selection. With the #4 adapter, includes the mirror so auto focus, stabilization, and metering are all there. There is also an adapter that retains the autofocus and metering with Canon lenses.

lwerthe1mer Loc: Birmingham, Alabama

Good idea. Under consideration.

DAMcCoy

You need to figure out what makes you enjoy photography and take it from there .

lmTrying Loc: WV Northern Panhandle

Hi:

You didn't say how old you are, I'm 66, and I have suffered a few set backs in the last six or so years, but nothing major that I haven't recovered from. I get the feeling something has happened that you're not telling us, but that's alright.

Everyone talks about shutter speed, aperture, and ISO sensitivity. What most people forget is white balance/color temperature. These are the technical aspects of photography. All the rest is artistic. Framing the scene, composing the shot, visualizing the photos, the style or flair of what is going on all comes from the photographer and his vision. With practice, most of us can master the technical aspects. The artistic stuff, hummmm.....

I have seen some amazing photos. Can I set them up and even re-create them? No. Would I like to? Yes. Oh well. I have looked at photo books of cars that show close ups of the artistic curve of the fender. Did I buy it? No! Not what interests me. Stand back and take a picture of the whole car. Maybe put it in an open field or parking lot. That I like.

So first, ask yourself what do you like. What do you what to see and/look at. Maybe it's time for a change of scenery, a road trip. An afternoon trip to a park, shore, construction site, the mall, a car show, a tractor show, a food festival, a fair may be what you need. Take your camera, or not. Don't want to lug it around? Ok. You said you liked Canon. So do I. Three years ago I bought a Canon XS710HS. I really like it. Works well at places like Disney where you don't want to lug the Dslr around. If it's within your budget, you might consider one. But, just enjoy the day, take the time to look at, pick out, and visualize some scenes to photograph, wether you shoot them or not.

If you find a spot, shoot it. Walk forward and shoot it again. Walk backward and shoot it again. Move sideways. Come back later in the day. If you have a zoom, shoot from the same spot at different settings. From the same spot, open the aperture, and close the aperture. Play with white balance and ISO. Not just one or two stops, go crazy! You might catch something totally unexpected,,,, that you might actually like.

Sounds crazy? Absolutely! Maybe it's what you need. What are you out? A few hours time? Better than settin' in a chair brooding. Brought home a bunch of junk photos? Save a couple of real bad ones and learn how to use the delete button.

There's been some other good suggestions of things to try. Try them. Take some pictures. Post a few. And let know how things are going. Don't want to expose things publicly? Most of us can be contacted on a Private Message.

And if you decide on that 80? Let me know. I'm thinking about one, too.

carl hervol Loc: jacksonville florida

Keep what you have and use it and the money for a rainy day .

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

I looked at Sony lenses, and the selection is more limited than Nikon and Canon. Since you have bought into the Sony system, you may have to reconsider what lenses you should own. Do you know what focal lengths you use the most? Use those to guide you.

A lens such as you describe [18-200mm] is not on Sony's list of FF lenses on the B&H website. Sounds like you want an all-purpose lens. Have you considered having two lenses that will cover the focal lengths you use the most? You want a "fairly fast" lens, which does not mean the same for everyone. I like my Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 - it is fairly fast and the range of focal lengths makes it my "workhorse" lens. I also have a 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6mm lens which pretty much covers the rest of the most useful focal lengths. This one is slower, but it works well in good light. And adjusting the ISO on my camera can help get a faster shutter speed. I would love to have a faster long focal length lens, on my wish list, but I probably won't get one for a while yet because of the expense.

The weight of a lens tends to go up with an increase in focal length, so dividing up the focal length range between two lenses will not only decrease the camera/lens weight, it will also increase the sharpness of each lens over its focal length range.

Read the manual with camera in hand and work to understand as many of its features as you can. You won't do it all right away, but once you decide which features are most important to you, it will make it easier to concentrate on those. The manual ought to have a section dedicated to how to set up your camera which can be quite helpful. For instance, I decided to find out how to set my camera for "back button focus", which is not listed that way in the manual's index. When searching through all entries that might relate, I finally figured it out. Now that is what I use all the time!

If you play with the camera's features, and practice using different ones, it will help you learn how to use them effectively. Reading is good, but applying what you have studied is necessary!

Tom G Loc: Atlanta, GA

No, No, and No! You are not crazy. It is always the "End Result" that counts most. It is the shot, the
photograph, the picture, which is what is important, judged, appreciated, or... maybe nothing.

It is not the equipment, although good equipment can be a factor.

My suggestion is to keep your present equipment (for reconsideration at a later date), and buy a high quality point & shoot camera that has an electronic view finder and is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket. There are many available for less than $200.
( search this site for advice).

Then, buy it, and never Leave Home Without It.

Tom G

Digital1022 Loc: Holland, PA

It is not my intent to sound flip or mean spirited, but why don't you learn what you don't know and become a photographer rather than simply looking for a point a shoot option. If you are really interested in becoming a photographer, then it would seem that you would want to invest the time and effort in acquiring the skill. A good photographer can take a quality image with any camera high-end or low-end. It seems you are just chasing your tail.

10MPlayer Loc: California

I have to agree. If you can't find satisfaction with the fine equipment you have maybe you never will. It's obviously not the equipment but your own execution y ou're unhappy with. I occasionally get the bug to play my musical instruments. I have a pro model clarinet and sax. Trouble is, I never practice enough to get as good as I'd like to be. It's not the horns I'm playing, it's me. If I sold my pro horns and bought student models I wouldn't be a better musician. Think it over.

tjjm Loc: Saint Louis, Mo.

I believe you are the one to best answer your question. If you are not enjoying shooting, or finding it a burden instead of fun then why do it? Whatever gets you out shooting and feeling good about yourself is what you should be doing. Enjoy what you do!

bigguytf

I think as you go through your time as a photographer your type of photography changes and subsequently your equipment changes. I just got back from Hawaii, took my 7D and a couple of lenses and had a good time. But I also realize as I grow older I will be taking more trips and going away from some of the sports photography that I used to do a lot of. Maybe I do not need my Canon Mark 3 as much as I used to and could sell it and get a smaller point and shoot for traveling.
To a certain extent I am downgrading but still having the equipment to be capable of having good glass when i need it.

lwerthe1mer Loc: Birmingham, Alabama

I am enjoying all of the dialogue in response to my post -- some interesting points being made.

After motivating you to make all these wonderful comments, I look back on my initial comment and realize that it was far too melodramatic. I definitely enjoy photography and spend several hours each week reading and working on a variety of concepts. Whenever I shoot, I am very excited to get into Lightroom and begin the post-processing process. I love it.

I take many photos of scenery when I travel. I take many photos of my grandchildren and love making photo books to preserve memories. I do not walk around my city enough, taking photos of interesting sites and scenes. I need to do more of that.

Tonight I was the official photographer at my wife's 70th birthday party -- 60 or 70 women at a friend's house. As the photographer I was the only male at the party. I shot a lot of head shots with my 35 mm f 2.8 lens and a cranked up ISO. What a great time, and now I have the pleasure of editing all of the photos. How many wrinkles should I remove?

So I'm doing a lot better than my initial post indicated. I feel a little foolish for being so melodramatic, but I'm glad my post generated so many great comments.

I'm here for the long haul, at age 69 with no terrible illnesses and being in reasonable shape. I may buy an adapter and a Tamron 18-200 lens, just to pice things up a bit.

Jacksonville Loc: Australia

I am going to France in a few weeks and am taking my Leica DLux 5 instead of my fuji cameras.Yes, I know it's limitations however I took it two years ago on a similar trip. I'm not pretending that the smaller sensor in the Leica is as good as the larger Fuji sensor but the shots are "good enough" for my purposes. Like others, I am getting older. The little Leica is inconspicuous as well (pickpockets!). I I have a 27 inch desktop picture from it which looks quite sharp.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

You should never feel foolish. One should only laugh at some of the silly things we do to ourselves, pick ourselves, and keep on trucking. Nearly everyone makes it to the spot you are or were in at some point in their lives.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I am 69 myself. In the few years since I joined UHH, discussions {particularly in this section and in FYC} have caused me to examine my own photography in ways I never had before, and occasionally posting in FYC instead of the gallery has been an inducement to improve my execution and my scripting (*). The biggest issue I have with being a regular here is that GAS is contagious.


(*) My wife can tell you that on our recent vacation to WV, I muttered several times about needing a certain scene to "complete a series".