Yup. Mikey's The Man when it comes to frugality. A lot of the newer bells and whistles may add to convenience, but really the only times I wish I had more money to afford full frame gear and faster lenses is when shooting in low light. Fortunately, that's something I rarely do, and decent quality DX Nikon gear meets my needs best. If it's a really important image to me, I can spend time in post processing making the best of the image I have.

Unless you are on an unlimited budget, every dollar you spend on GAS is a dollar that you might spend on a trip to Paris, on making a 16x20 print for a friend's wall, or on some non-photographic but worthwhile venture.

Setting a budget and trying to stick to it is one of the dirty little secrets that those ubiquitous UHH ads seem to reference. Photographers like Mikey and kuzano provide great examples to the rest of us who live on a real budget.

Andy

Heart event took my medical certificate, but the relatively new "Sport Aviation license" (ultralights and such) did not require a medical certificate and has a 1400 pound limit on weight in flight. Requires essentially a state drivers license and training (no more stringent than GA)
Incidentally General Aviation requires a medical certificate BUT NOT any state driving license. So most people flying over you on the highway do not need a drivers license unless they are flying under the "Sport Category"

I have been shooting photography for 60 years. It was very important to me at one time. Now I have two other more costly hobbies. It is imperative that Photography falls to the bottom of the purse string list, and also generates gear sales income.

So, I am prone to buy and sell gear, and I am prone to use my own gear at budget prices, but still drag as much image quality without massive expenditures on gear. And I dislike Post Processing, so minimal effort there because I enjoy my other hobbies so much more. Sending more than a nominal amount for photo equipment and post processing would seriously diminish my enjoyment. I should also mention that using film also adds to my enjoyment. I will admit that trying to talk digihead back into film is a losing battle in spite of cost considerations.

So for those conscious of budget. here is a recent mirrorless digital setup with budget in mind. Criteria are"

small late mirrorless From Fujifilm....Either X trans or Bayer sensor. Little noticeable difference no matter who you talk to.
25 Mp image. I was shooting Olympus 4:3 until Fuji broke through to 24MP.
Good glass in AF or MF (as in Zeiss or similar)
Focus Peaking
Top out at $500.

Alternative a system with good proprietary AF quality glass, ie. a good name.

Basic system comes in at

Fairly new Fujifilm X-A3 bayer sensor (recent upgrade by Fuji mirrorless to 24MP) This one $185 faux rangefinder w/ focus peaking and 100 shutter count-Nearly new.
Adapter M42 thread to Fuji X $8.00
Aus Jena (ziess) Panacolor 50mm F1.8 Thread Mount $95 manual focus

64 GB SD card $30.

Total $318.00 A good price for a 24Mp high quality smallmirrorless outfit.

My two favorite Zooms If I were to break budget barriers.

Fuji 18-55 f2.8 kit (can be found for $250 often on eBay sometimes less
Fuji XC 50-230mm Can be found $200 and up... good lens for all around long zoom

Now here is a pic of Santa at lunch today. Used the kit outlined and focus peeking ISO 1200.

Click Download.... then click on the download image.

I have been shooting photography for 60 years. It was very important to me at one time. Now I have two other more costly hobbies. It is imperative that Photography falls to the bottom of the purse string list, and also generates gear sales income.

So, I am prone to buy and sell gear, and I am prone to use my own gear at budget prices, but still drag as much image quality without massive expenditures on gear. And I dislike Post Processing, so minimal effort there because I enjoy my other hobbies so much more. Sending more than a nominal amount for photo equipment and post processing would seriously diminish my enjoyment. I should also mention that using film also adds to my enjoyment. I will admit that trying to talk digihead back into film is a losing battle in spite of cost considerations.

So for those conscious of budget. here is a recent mirrorless digital setup with budget in mind. Criteria are"

small late mirrorless From Fujifilm....Either X trans or Bayer sensor. Little noticeable difference no matter who you talk to.
25 Mp image. I was shooting Olympus 4:3 until Fuji broke through to 24MP.
Good glass in AF or MF (as in Zeiss or similar)
Focus Peaking
Top out at $500.

Alternative a system with good proprietary AF quality glass, ie. a good name.

Basic system comes in at

Fairly new Fujifilm X-A3 bayer sensor (recent upgrade by Fuji mirrorless to 24MP) This one $185 faux rangefinder w/ focus peaking and 100 shutter count-Nearly new.
Adapter M42 thread to Fuji X $8.00
Aus Jena (ziess) Panacolor 50mm F1.8 Thread Mount $95 manual focus

64 GB SD card $30.

Total $318.00 A good price for a 24Mp high quality smallmirrorless outfit.

My two favorite Zooms If I were to break budget barriers.

Fuji 18-55 f2.8 kit (can be found for $250 often on eBay sometimes less
Fuji XC 50-230mm Can be found $200 and up... good lens for all around long zoom

Now here is a pic of Santa at lunch today. Used the kit outlined and focus peeking ISO 1200.

Click Download.... then click on the download image.

Andy, Enjoy the moments together, feast upon the togetherness, be at peace with your world...….. Good man.. hey... . I'm pretty good, but full of faults, do enjoy a good laugh, even at my own expense !!! Nice to be considered in good company. Did enjoy a wonderful pit fire tonight, and it is cold by my standards. When I'm uncomfortable in shorts and a sweatshirt in front of a fire, I make the fire bigger....it was good, peaceful, beautiful moon (man, did you see that moon, nice), and when the fire dropped off I came back!! Take care and enjoy the holidays!! I'll be floating around as usual, so you never know when I'll pop in!! That is one of my traits.

Ha, (quick story) I sold a couple pieces to Usedphotopro (Roberts) the other day and they paid me twice. Payed my Paypal and then sent me a paper check. Being an honest business man, I sent the Buyer a notification about the RFQ and the double payment. I could tell by his "Knowing" response that he was completely unaware (been there) and they seemed clueless.... told em to look over their process, may have a really big hole in the process. Anyway, I'm not an accountant, but I've worked with many!!!!!! Have a great evening....
ole mikey

I realize this was not direct message, so if anyone else has a problem with it, - imagine the "road runner" looking at you right before he says - beep beep!

Actually, technically correct or not, the version he used is heard commonly in many parts of the
country. Terms, expressions and pronunciations that are technically "wrong" become "correct" over time if
they are in frequent common use. For example: Feb-u-ary, Ath-a-lete, Nu-cu-lar (now listed in
dictionaries as a correct secondary pronunciation), ek-cetera, "Hone in on..." (should be "Home in on.").
The list is long. I'm not fond of these bogus common uses, but one has to face facts. >Alan

I have been shooting photography for 60 years. It was very important to me at one time. Now I have two other more costly hobbies. It is imperative that Photography falls to the bottom of the purse string list, and also generates gear sales income.

So, I am prone to buy and sell gear, and I am prone to use my own gear at budget prices, but still drag as much image quality without massive expenditures on gear. And I dislike Post Processing, so minimal effort there because I enjoy my other hobbies so much more. Sending more than a nominal amount for photo equipment and post processing would seriously diminish my enjoyment. I should also mention that using film also adds to my enjoyment. I will admit that trying to talk digihead back into film is a losing battle in spite of cost considerations.

So for those conscious of budget. here is a recent mirrorless digital setup with budget in mind. Criteria are"

small late mirrorless From Fujifilm....Either X trans or Bayer sensor. Little noticeable difference no matter who you talk to.
25 Mp image. I was shooting Olympus 4:3 until Fuji broke through to 24MP.
Good glass in AF or MF (as in Zeiss or similar)
Focus Peaking
Top out at $500.

Alternative a system with good proprietary AF quality glass, ie. a good name.

Basic system comes in at

Fairly new Fujifilm X-A3 bayer sensor (recent upgrade by Fuji mirrorless to 24MP) This one $185 faux rangefinder w/ focus peaking and 100 shutter count-Nearly new.
Adapter M42 thread to Fuji X $8.00
Aus Jena (ziess) Panacolor 50mm F1.8 Thread Mount $95 manual focus

64 GB SD card $30.

Total $318.00 A good price for a 24Mp high quality smallmirrorless outfit.

My two favorite Zooms If I were to break budget barriers.

Fuji 18-55 f2.8 kit (can be found for $250 often on eBay sometimes less
Fuji XC 50-230mm Can be found $200 and up... good lens for all around long zoom

Now here is a pic of Santa at lunch today. Used the kit outlined and focus peeking ISO 1200.

Click Download.... then click on the download image.

Very observant. My "must have" is the EVF
and I have recently acquired two different
16MP bodies with EVF.

OTOH, I don't feel like it's a trade-off or a
choice between two sacrifices. 16MP is my
other "must have". To me, 24MP is really a
"mainstream" level ... but the difference in
results between 16 and 24MP is so minor
that 16 is "7/8 of mainstream".

7/8 is an accurate amount. 16 is only 3/4
of 24, but that is AREA. Magnification is a
LINEAR parameter, and magnification is
what controls the appearance of aliasing
and pixelation.

IOW for any given level of visual pixelation
the 16MP camera will make a print 7/8 the
size of a print from the 24MP camera. So if
a 24MP print is 35 inch wide, a 16MP print
will be "only" 31 inch wide ... no big deal !

That is NOT to say a 16MP user will always
make smaller prints. I'm only trying to put
the pixelation level into useful perspective.
IOW the 24MP user has a 14% advantage.

.