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Building the
Perfect System
Many of
the e-mails I receive from my visitors, ask about the right camera and lenses. There is no
simple answer. I realize the question is simple, but believe me, the answer is not. If
anybody ever gives you a straight answer to this question, my advice is to ignore that
individual. I can't tell you to purchase certain brand of cameras or lenses just because
I'm happy with them. As I have mentioned before, what works for me, may not work for you.
I have several articles under Tips
and News & Reviews in which I explain in detail on how to go
about purchasing photo equipment. On this page, I'm going to tell you how I build my
perfect system and hope you can learn from my mistakes to build a perfect system that
works for you. It will take time and money to come up with a good working system, and you
will definitely upgrade in the future as newer cameras and lenses as well as other
accessories become available. This page is mostly aimed at beginners who are just starting
to build their system, but more advanced photographers are welcome to read it.
I currently use Minolta Maxxum
35mm and Canon EOS digital systems as well as Pentax medium format cameras
and lenses, but my equipment could have easily been any other brand.
All systems are equally good. I started photography with a
Minolta
Minolta X-700 manual focus
camera, a 28-85mm zoom, and a flash. I picked the
Minolta X-700 simply because of its price at the
time. I had no clue whatsoever about photography and did not know anybody who knew
anything about photography. I just wanted a camera, because I didn't have one! I bought
the camera and shot a roll of film, then put the camera in the closet. It was few months
later that I actually read the manual which got me interested in photography.
As I learned more about photography, I needed or I should say
wanted more lenses and
accessories. I purchased a 70-210mm
zoom and quickly replaced it with a 75-300mm just
because It
had an extra 90mm reach. Frankly, I didn't even use the 210mm
my 70-210mm zoom
offered. Later, I added a Tamron 500mm mirror
lens pictured here. I thought it was the coolest lens around. I wasn't done
yet. A motor drive would make my
Minolta X-700 look
"Professional", so I bought one! I didn't need the 3 frames per second film
advance, for the same reason I didn't need all the special effect filters I
had bought. I was just playing
and these were the toys. I took some good pictures, but the majority of my photos were
terrible. I still have some of them, and when I want to have a good laugh, I bring out the
albums and share them with friends.
My second camera was the Minolta Maxxum 7000. This was the first autofocus camera, so I
bought one. This is why I still own Maxxum cameras. If Canon or Nikon were the
first to come out with an autofocus SLR, I would own EOS or Nikon AF system today. I
traded my
Minolta X-700 system for this new high tech camera. I lost a lot of money doing this,
but my new autofocus camera was more exciting. A new 28-85mm and 75-300mm zooms plus a
2800AF flash were quickly added to my system, all in one week I might add.
What's next? Do I go out and learn to take better pictures? Sure, but first I needed a
400mm lens because most professional photographers had one. Pros also had 600mm
lenses. Since I could not afford pro 400mm and 600mm lenses, I purchased the Sigma 400mm
f-5.6 and 600mm f-8 mirror lenses. Did all of these new equipment improve my photography?
Absolutely not. I got even worse and have the pictures to prove it. So I bought the new
Minolta Maxxum 9000 with the motor drive. Another 800 dollars plus 200 dollars for the new
4000AF flash, but no improvements in my photography.
Left image: Minolta Maxxum 7, 300mm f-2.8 APO lens, Fujichrome
Provia, Bogen Tripod and ball head.
You see, up to this point, I was just playing a costly game. This reminds me of a program
I saw on TV. It was about this young leopard who had just been separated from his mother
and was exploring the world on his own. At first, everything was just a game to him. It
wasn't until he got very hungry that made him realize the birds and the antelopes he saw
as toys were there for him to hunt, not to play with. When he made his first successful
kill, he turned into a mature leopard. Gone were the childish games and he was now a
serious predator.
My moment of maturity as a photographer came when I took my first great
shot of a sunset that made me think more about photography rather than photography
equipment. I must admit, It was a lucky shot. Camera was on Program mode and zoomed to
300mm setting. I used print film and the lab did a good job. What this lucky shot did for
me, was to make me try to take better pictures and learn what equipment I really needed
rather than what I wanted.
I purchased a solid tripod for the first time and switched to slide film. Got rid of my 28-85mm,
400mm, and 600mm mirror lens and purchased a 24mm f-2.8 and 35mm f-2 wide-angle lenses.
Zooms at the time did not match the quality of fixed focal lenses. A cable release and a
better tripod head improved the sharpness of my pictures. I traded my Maxxum 7000 for a
second Maxxum 9000 because I needed a back up camera, but the 7000 did not have
depth-of-field preview and spot metering. As you can see, by this time I replaced
equipment because of my needs. A 50mm macro lens was added to my system to close the gap
between my 35mm and 70-300mm zoom and also to provided me with some close-up
photography. By now, I was learning more and more about photography. I understood exposure,
composition, light, plus how to find good subjects.
Canon EOS D30, Tokina 300mm f-4 ATX PRO (equivalent to about 480mm in 35mm
format), 1/180 sec at f-4, Bogen Tripod and ball head
Minolta produced better cameras than my Maxxum 9000, and so did other manufactures. I
didn't purchase a new camera until mid 1992. Minolta introduced the Maxxum 9xi with faster
autofocus and tracking plus more features than my 9000. I purchased the 9xi for wildlife
photography because of its faster autofocus. My 9000 remained my work horse. By that time,
improvements were made to zoom lenses. I purchased a 24-50mm f-4 zoom. It
was a sharp zoom
especially when closed down a couple of stops as all lenses are. I rarely used my 24mm and
35mm at their f-2.8 or f-2 open apertures. Most of the time these lenses were closed down
to f-8 or smaller. The new 24-50mm produced results close to those made by the two fixed
wide-angles, so the 24-50mm f-4 became my wide to standard lens. As my interest grew in
macro photography, I traded my 50mm macro lens for a 100mm macro to gain more working
distance. A
300mm f/2.8 APO lens was my biggest purchase. I had outgrown my 75-300mm f-5.6
zoom and needed a fast telephoto to use with slower finer grain Fuji Velvia. A pair of
1.4X and 2X teleconverters gave me all the focal lengths I needed for wildlife. Later I
purchased the
200mm f/2.8 APO lens. This lens is unbelievably sharp and very light weight.
It gave me three focal lengths when combined with 1.4X and 2X teleconverters for times
when my
300mm f/2.8 APO was too heavy to carry around such as times when I had to hike all
day. The
200mm f/2.8 APO also works perfect with extension tubes for close-ups of flowers and
some wildlife.
Tokina 80-200mm f-2.8 ATX PRO
When 80-200mm f-2.8 lenses were becoming popular, I considered the Maxxum version but
decided to go with Tokina. I could cover the 80-200mm range and pair it with my 24-50mm
f-4 lens. This pair of zooms covers 70 percent of my photography. A fast and very sharp
zoom solved many of my problems. I purchased the Tokina (pictured here) because of its lower price than
Minolta, but did not sacrifice quality. I no longer cared about the name of the
manufacturer and was willing to buy any brand that gave me high quality results at a
better price. Canon, Nikon, or Minolta 80-200mm f-2.8 zooms may be a bit sharper than my
Tokina, but I still got all the sharpness I need at almost half the price.
I added two more lenses to my system, a
Tokina 400mm f-5.6 and a Maxxum 500mm f-8 autofocus mirror lens. See image
on right.
I purchased the Tokina
400mm f-5.6 because of its focal length
and size. It also makes a good back up to my
300mm f/2.8 APO for
wildlife photography. I can also use it along with my 200mm f-2.8
and 1.4X
teleconverter for times that I need to travel light. I rarely use my 500mm f-8 mirror
lens. I purchased it brand new several years ago at a local camera store that was going
out of business at 50% off. I'm not a great fan of mirror lenses, but have to admit
Minolta's 500mm f-8 is very sharp and useful with ISO 100 or faster films for some
wildlife. I carry it sometimes for taking sunset shots to make a very big ball of sun or
for casual shooting of birds.
Discontinued Tokina 400mm f-5.6 ATX, a very light telephoto lens with
very good overall sharpness.
I purchased a
Minolta Maxxum 9
camera in 1999 for two reasons: It is simple to use like my Maxxum
9000 and fast like my Maxxum 9xi. If I had owned Nikon or Canon 35mm system, I'd still have the
same type of lenses, except my cameras would be different. EOS-1V would be my number one
choice with Canon because of its ruggedness and speed not to mention all the features it
offers.
NIKON
F100 is my favorite Nikon camera. I prefer the
F100 over the heavier
Nikon F5.
I think the
F100 is a superb camera and I would not hesitate to purchase one or perhaps
two if I owned Nikon lenses. You might wonder why I would purchase two
NIKON
F100s . For
the same reason I have several cameras now. I normally carry two bodies and if I'm
traveling, a third body as a back up. You'll never know when your camera or lens may
malfunction. If you look at my lenses closely, you'll notice that my lenses have a back
up. My
200mm f/2.8 APO plus 1.4X teleconverter is a back up to my
300mm f/2.8 APO. My Tokina 400mm
f-5.6 is a back up to my
300mm f/2.8 APO and its matched 1.4X teleconverter. My 100mm and
200mm are back up to my 80-200mm and vice versa. The only lens I own which is left on its
own is my 24-50mm f-4. That is why I am more careful with this lens than any other lenses
I own.
When digital photography became very popular, I purchased a Canon
EOS D30 along with four lenses: A Tokina 20-35mm f-2.8,
Tamron 70-210mm f-2.8 (now discontinued but was possibly the sharpest in its
class), Tamron 200-400mm f-5.6 I had tested for this web site, and a 300mm
f-4 Tokina ATX Pro. Since then I switched to Canon
EOS-D60 and
Canon EOS-20D,
but my lenses remain the same.
Tamron SP 70-210mm f-2.8
Is there anything I wish I had? I have
thought about a 20-35mm f-2.8 zoom for my 35mm system. Not because of its speed, but its 20mm setting. 24mm
is all I really need, but there have been times that I wished I had a 20mm lens. I have
also played with the idea of purchasing a
Minolta Maxxum 7. I like its autofocus selector
which is far easier and faster to operate than my Maxxum 9's. Maxxum 7's autofocus/manual
focus button that lets the user fine tune focus while still in autofocus mode, is also a
great addition, not to mention its fantastic LCD back. I finally purchased a
Minolta Maxxum 7, and
must admit, it is a fantastic camera. Much better than anything I ever
owned.
As of this writing, I am very happy
with my system and know I can meet most challenges. I still own my good old tripod that
holds my heaviest equipment. If I ever purchase a 600mm f-4 lens, I will trade my tripod
for a heavier one. My flash is still the discontinued Maxxum 4000AF I use
with my 35mm system and EOS 420EX Speedlite for my digital. I know there are more
powerful units with more features including wireless flash. I'm not a great fan of flash
photography and try to avoid flash if possible. I don't like the unnatural look of flash
light. I use flash mostly for close-ups and some fill-in when shadows are a problem. My
old 4000AF is more than enough for what I do.
Other important accessories I own are: set
of extension tubes (could not live without them), polarizing, ND graduated, 81B, and +3
close-up filters, flash bracket, L-brackets also called Elbow brackets (See tripod
accessories under News & Reviews), incident light meter, quick
release plates, Swiss Army Knife for minor repairs, and the most overlooked accessory,
lens hoods. I also own medium and large format system. I won't go over these systems here,
but will talk about it in some future articles.
In time, you will build your own perfect
system. I hope you start building your system more wisely than I did. I'm sure you will
also make some mistakes and outgrow your equipment. One thing I can tell you is that
someday soon, you won't need to ask anybody about which camera or lens you should
purchase. That is, if you are serious about photography.
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