... and that is why if you buy used or refurb, you need to use the heck out of it during the return/warranty period and not set it aside for later. Over a long period of time I've purchased many thousands of dollars worth of electronics either used or refurb with one failure... a Nikon D80 that was about to be replaced anyway. (Oh, and I had to replace a power supply in a Dell desktop.) Different strokes for different folks. As highlighted by a previous poster, my intent was to lend a little humor to a rather dry post pointing out for those who might want to avail themselves of the opportunity, Nikon is having a refurb sale and it ends Monday. If you don't do Nikon or refurb, this is probably not the topic for you, unless of course, you enjoy the humor. As Paul says, a photographer and their money are soon parted.

Anything that gets us out taking pictures, is probably good for us.
If you need a 'challenge' to do that fine.
Re limitations: The reason we hear about this so much as an 'exercise' or challenge, is that working within limitations pushes creative thinking. The famous OCOLOY exercise (One camera, one lens , one year) is perhaps the most famous of them, and anyone who has done it will tell you it was a good thing to refine their photographic vision.
It is the limitations that cause us to learn, and become more deeply engaged.
There are many examples of great photographers who did essentially that for their whole lives.

But the point of these exercises is not that it is the "Right Way" to practice Photography , but that doing it makes you better able to make good pictures with whatever lenses and cameras you choose.
It is a completely voluntary thing that no one should do unless they want to.

I did it a Long time ago, I bought a Leica M3 / 50mm Sumicron and went at it, (Why that combo? it was what HCB used .....I was young, and no HCB) and in retrospect I am happy I did so. I absolutely did get better and faster. I also learned that Rangefinder cameras were not for me, and I like many other lenses better than 50mm.

When I was a Professional I quickly learned that I needed lots of lenses and lots of cameras if I wanted to bee able to get hired to do different kinds of jobs.
Going back to being an AMATEUR (someone who does it for the love of it) I have lots of stuff gathering dust and use mostly a couple of really good zooms, but interestingly I tend to use them most like dual focal length lenses.... so 80% of pictures taken with my 24-70 are taken at 24 OR 70..... like 2 primes, I know what 24mm looks like and what 70 looks like. I really compose the picture without looking through the camera and while I bring the camera to my eye a quick flick of the finger pushes the zoom ring to one extreme or the other.
I still like visualizing the frame without the camera, and I like the discipline of having either 'wide' or 'tight' frames.
Clearly I do not do that ALL the time, just most of the time. The frames have a distinct look that I like.

I am NOT suggesting that this is somehow better than what other people do , it is just what I do and it comes from that exercise I did so many years ago "in an effort to get better"

That exercise had value for me, I learned from it, it got me work from big name clients, it helped me develop a style that I am comfortable with.
I no longer do "Exercises" , I just shoot, because for better or worse, I have a style and outlook that I am comfortable with, and my main challenge is overcoming the creaky knees and getting out there.

burkphoto posted a link where a professional photographer talked about using a point-and-shoot camera vs. a more expensive system camera. She said the most important aspect of good photography was what came from a photographer's head, not from their gear.

Here is a challenge for you: This does not require an experiment of using high-end equipment vs. basic entry-level equipment. Either will do fine for this challenge but will exercise the gray matter between the ears. This is not something I came up with, but am passing it on from a professional photographer who gave a talk to a camera club I once attended.

Here is the challenge: Take your camera and go for an all-day shoot using only a single prime lens. This photographer would a couple of times a year go into NYC (where we live in the Lehigh Valley is less than two hours from the city), and take only a single lens with him. Sometimes he chose a wide angle like a 24 or 35mm, and other times take a 50 or 75mm lens. He would challenge himself to take the best shots he could using only that lens. If you don't have a prime lens, use a zoom, but only at one focal length setting.

I think too often we get comfortable with our ability to zoom in and create using the equipment rather than using our minds. I plan to do this exercise at least twice this year, once using a 24 or 35mm prime and then using an 85 or 105mm.

I don't own one but my these are what I think. Take it with a grain of salt as I don't own one.
1. I have the Df and I found it's much too big compared to a film camera like the FE or FM even the Nikkormat. The Zf is smaller but is still larger than those film cameras.
2. The Zf is a mirrorless and thus it has EVF. You may like it but it's sure what you see in the viewfinder isn't anywhere near what you would see thru the old SLR's of yours. For better or worse up to you.
3. The controls are there at the same old places except the aperture settings. Even the retro lookin 40mm lens doesn't have the aperture ring either.
4. It has a prominent exposure compensation dial while only the FE has the EC but in a place not meant to be used often. On the Zf it means to be used often as it's located conveniently at the right thumb.
5. It has the MASP-Auto setting which the film SLR's you mentioned didn't have.
6. This I guess nobody cares but as Ken Rockwell also said it's made in Thailand instead of Japan like the FE, FM or even the lowly Nikkormat.

We usually take photos to grab the moment.
A few plan ahead, and wait for the moment to happen.
Fewer still are those who create the moments themselves.

Often these photos are post processed to make it look better.
Some will go further of removing some elements to get the desired look.
Then there are those who would combine several images to create a totally new graphic.

In all these scenes, we consciously look for the right composition, before we press the button.
Instantaneously in snapshots, and more planned and specific as we delved deeper into post processing.

But when one reaches for the final frontier, when one strives to fully edit an image, then one needs to look beyond the good composition.

One would need to Imagine the Photograph.

Imagining the Photo is looking at it from the perspective of the finished image. Instead of consciously looking for the best composition of the present scene, we treat them as a separate element that will fit into the different final photo.

Hence, depending on the target outcome, we may opt to adjust the perspective, lighting, view angle etc. of scene being photographed.

This technique can used to composite individuals into a group photo.


In the sample below, a single box is made into a group with a breakdown of how the shoot was planned.

Although this technique cater specifically to editing, being able to Imagine the photograph is like an open gate to fully understanding and planning a composition, and IMHO, something worthwhile to practice and keep in ones bag of techniques.

I use 2 methods to store files when I travel. The first is a Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro. when I get back to our room I start the copy of my card to the drive. If I have more than one card I repeat the operation. I have a large number of cd cards that I number starting at one. I replace the card in the camera with the next number at least once a day and put the used card back in the slot in my case where it came from, face up. If I get back to the first card I put the card back in the slot upside down. That shows me I used the card twice. These are all raw files.

the XQD slot I set to jpg and use this slot for backup. It is a 512 and I have never filled it up. I format the card before starting a trip.

When I get home I download the raw files to a folder for the trip or whatever. I also download the jpegs from the XQD card if there are any I want to share before I edit. (I hate editing for the most part).

I have an external gps for each of my Nikon cameras. Once I get all the pictures downloaded I sort them by date and time. I then rename the files usually by location. Usually make a sub directory for the location.

By the way. Be sure to test new cards they work in your camera. I bought a ten pack of cards that did not work in my d500 but did work in my d7200 just fine

Have a great trip

Chuck

I use smaller fast memory cards. I never go larger than 128gb 1700mps for several reasons.
1. I shoot (RAW only) a lot and have never filled up a card
2. Smaller cards are much cheaper and go on sale frequently. I buy them strategically when they go on sale.
3. Cards do go bad. I would not want to risk having all my images on a single card.
I am on an 8 week international trip now. I took 10 128gm 1700mps cards with me. I did take my computer however. I also have several SanDisk Extreme 4tb usb drives that I transfer my photos to daily as backups. That way I do have redundancy, just in case.
Hope you find this helpful.

These are the cards I use.
https://progradedigital.com/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=email&_kx=NdPbBOCYrSQipKdMfKNljpxwlsaX2TjjPPsbBcqwff0.M4gRwE