I get asked all the time "What is the best camera?". There are two ways to answer this. One way to answer this question, is actually impossible (I hope that makes sense to everyone). First of all I am no expert on all the cameras that are available. There are many great brands which you will hear good things about from their loyal customers. And of course the answer is always "depends". Depends on what you are going to shoot. Whether it be wildlife, sports, portraits, fine art etc. Different cameras are better in different situations. It's best to do lots of research and ask other photographers to see what they are using in certain situations.
Sandhill Cranes passing over the Long Point area.
The proper answer to this question is "the camera that you have". The camera that you have with you is always the best camera. Always use your camera to its full potential. You will learn that situations are not always perfect and there isn't anything you can do about it. So you take the conditions you have and the camera that you have and do your best. I once read that someone didn't take pictures of large birds if there was a clear sky. This doesn't make any sense to me. If I have a chance to get a picture of a Bald Eagle, or Osprey, I will do my best to take that picture no matter what the conditions are. Of course I will always want to have the conditions better, that's just natural for a photographer, but to not even try because something isn't quite right, is just a waste of an opportunity.
Sandhill Crane fly over.
Of course you want to keep in mind where the sun is, what time of day it is etc. But preplanning isn't always possible, especially if you are shooting wildlife, they don't like to cooperate. You accept the conditions you have and the camera you have, and use what you have learned and apply it to your photograph. You will surprise yourself what is possible.
A few months ago I had to send my everyday shooter in for a check up and cleaning. They told me it was going to be about 6 weeks. I put it off because I certainly didn't want to be without if for 6 weeks. What was I going to do without it? But finally I had to do it, as the issues it was having was driving me crazy. So in it went. At first I thought about just taking a break from photography while I waited for my camera, but this didn't last long.
A pair of Red-tailed Hawks.
After a couple weeks I pulled out my trusty backup. It's a fairly old camera, and I didn't expect much in performance. But it was all I had and I would make the best of it. One thing I like to do drive along the lake and see what kind of critters (mostly birds) I can find and photograph. Not only is the photography therapeutic, so is the drive itself.
The adventure started off with a bang. As soon as I walked out of my house, I saw a large bird of prey in the field across the road flying right at me. I'm not sure what it was, but it looked like a Harrier from first glance. Problem was, I didn't even have a memory card in my camera yet. So I quickly put one in, and got an error message in my camera right away. First I thought maybe the lens wasn't connected properly, but after checking it, it was fine. After a minute or so with the bird circling about head height or less, I thought maybe it was a memory card issue. And it was. The capacity was too large for the older camera. I then put in a smaller capacity memory card and attempted a photo. Well the next issue was that all the buttons are in a different location from my everyday shooter, so it took me a minute to remember where they were. After all of this I missed my first opportunity with old faithful. It was a valuable lesson for myself and everyone else, to give yourself a refresher on your camera before you head out the door.
Lunar eclipse.
Once I remembered where everything was, and got the proper memory card in the camera, I was quite pleased how my pictures were turning out. It was actually a fun experience because it was so different from what I had gotten used to. The everyday shooter is a full frame camera and old faithful is a crop sensor so there are quite a few differences in the two to make things very interesting.
Don't get me wrong, I was extremely happy to get my everyday shooter back, but I took what I had and made the best of it. That's all you can ask of yourself and your equipment.
Till next time,