Taken with a Zeiss 100mm macro. I love primes.

Chris

Thanks. I'm always mesmerized by dragonflies. So many different kinds.

Chris

Buy nice or buy twice.

Chris

Thanks Joe, That one has won a few awards.

Chris

The sky could be blue or red or grey... Whatever.
The last two pictures were taken with a Nikon D700, the other ones were a D810 and a D850. All awesome
camera bodies. I still use all of them. I couldn't come to the realization that I paid over $3000.00 for the D700 when new and now it's only worth a few hundred dollars. For that price I'll keep it. Only has about 9000 shutter clicks.

Camera bodies seem to devalue quite quickly. A good lens however seems to keep it's value much better. Like Leica or Zeiss lenses. Some of the much older ones seem to have astronomical prices.

A high quality lens is needed to take advantage of the high pixel count sensors in some of the camera bodies. What's the point of buying the greatest new camera when you put on a cheap lens and end up with poor image quality. You put a great lens on an older DSLR and come up with fantastic image quality.

If you look at the DXO Mark ratings of the D850 against the Z9 or Z8, The D850 scores higher. The only thing going for the mirrorless cameras is better or faster focusing. Oh, I almost forgot, no mirror slap or shutter slap. Since I shoot mostly landscape and use Zeiss lenses, among others, auto focus is not important to me. Image quality is.

I did buy a Lumix mirrorless micro 4/3 camera. Used it a few times and it's been sitting unused for the last couple of years. Can't seem to get used to the EVF and don't care for the noise levels it provides in the images.

So I prefer my DSLR's that I have, including a D200. I have a library of lenses and that's what I always look at to add to my stable. One great advantage of mirrorless cameras is that the price dropped on F mount lenses. More for me.

As far as mirrorless cameras goes. I don't see myself buying that shiny new camera. I prefer the shiny new lens.

Chris

I was always under the impression that there are different types of photography, like birding, street photography, action photography, astrophotography and so on.

The birders I know usually have a high megapixel camera and long lenses. Something like the Canon R5 or Nikon Z8 or 9, that have very fast focusing and eye detection. Landscape photography, also high megapixels with a large variety of lenses and a tripod is important. Street photography, a good Leica camera with something like a 28mm lens or a little longer.

Here are some examples where I had to choose the proper gear for a specific planned photo shoot. Sometimes you just get lucky.

And I wouldn't show up to a car race in a stock Yugo.

Camera gear makes a difference.

It's like, how can you win the race if you don't have the best car?

Thank you topcat.

Thank you Joe. You have a poetic way with words.

Chris

Hey Denny, Congratulations on getting some nice recognition and getting a couple of great prints displayed for others to view. I think I've seen them displayed at that Home Depot, but it was a few months ago. May be wrong.

Sorry about posting my picks on your thread. It was probably out of line. Just that you live in an interesting area of the country and it's something close to your home.

Chris

I wonder myself. I drive about a thousand miles to do a job the locals weren't able to do. The most interesting thing is hearing the stories of Bigfoot appearances and the damage he's done there. Some of the stories, true or not, are very interesting. Seems I've been learning the habits of Bigfoot and what a picture that would be if I was to capture an image like that.

In the meantime I've made friends seemingly with the little bugger here and a few other animals in the area. They seem to love the apples. From what I understand, so does Bigfoot.

Oh that's great. I'll see them when I return to work the end of April in Honesdale. Really enjoy going to Scarfalloto’s for pizza as well. And the trains there are pretty cool too.

Thanks for the nice compliments. Planning a few trips around the country this year. Looks like my truck might be hitting a million miles one day. May as well use it before it rusts away.

How are your feelings about using a circular polarizer versus dehaze in photo shop? I tend to use a circular polarizer when it's hazy or if there's water in the frame to reduce reflection. Also leaves during autumn benefit from a CP as well.

I'll post some autumn pictures when I return home next week.

Sometimes just for fun, I'll pull out my FM3a, throw some film in it, and shoot if I see something I really like. Don't want to waste film on snapshots. I use my Nikon D850 for that.

Chris

Here's a couple of pictures after taking a trip out west. Nice drive and I always enjoy seeing trains.

Chris

Thanks everyone for the compliments. I just love driving around the country taking pictures. I do it as much as possible till I'm no longer able. Enjoy life as they say.

I've been progressing with camera equipment as time goes. I eventually purchased a Nikon D810 and a little over a year ago, purchased a Nikon D850. I was never really sold on the mirrorless cameras as it pertains to landscape photography, especially since I have so many F mount lenses. Considering buying another D850 before they go out of production just so I can keep using the great lenses that I've accumulated.

Yes, I hear the arguments about mirror slap, but I don't see it in the pictures. And I think I don't hear anything about shutter slap because mirrorless cameras are still using them. I think it's only a matter of time.

Anyhow, here are a couple of more shots. Waterfalls at Ricketts Glen State Park in Pennsylvania and I came across some wild horses in Wyoming.

Chris