Please spend my money (Gear suggestions)

Hallvardk

I've come to learn that one of the best known "secrets" of the NR forum is the joy people get by "spending other's money". I am currently on the verge of doing a complete makeover of my gear, and am in need of some heavy assistance. Here we go:

I love doing Chris Burkard type of shooting (http://www.burkardphoto.com); that being landscape, surfing, skiing, and lifestyle-ish. I see myself shooting everything from 14-400mm (with a main focus on 14/17-150), and also doing plenty with video. Today I'm carrying a D600, D3, 17-35 2.8, 50 1.8, 70-200 2.8 VR1, 300 2.8, 2X teleconverter, and an Outex underwater housing for the D3. This makes up for aprox $8000.

Now, I would love to have one main camera, and a type of point and shoot (x100s) on the side, but overall, the smaller the kit the better. I have an idea of what I'm leaning towards, but I would like to hear with you guys, if you had any creative or unthought of suggestions.

Thank you!

adamz

sony a7r + set of zeiss lenses, you can't go more compact with FX

henrik1963

Depends on how small you want to go. A D800 is smaller than a D3. Is that small enough? If not I don't see a huge advantage in a Sony A7 as the lenses will be just as big and heavy as your nikon lenses.

If small is important M43 is the way to go. Much smaller lenses. If you want to go even smaller then a Nikon 1 v2.

But with the lenses you have I would go D800. Damn that is only $3000 :-)

KnockKnock

Looking at the Chris Burkard site, I don't see a lot of portrait or product photography which demands shallow depth of field. So I'd keep one of your big bodies and lean to the Nikon 1 series, shoot raw and go crazy in post. The AW1 if you want to do those waves and water. You have a lot of Nikon glass, so the converter would leverage it pretty nicely for killer reach. Maybe the budget choice, but do you really want to surf with the D3 and housing?

Photobug

Sell the D600 and buy the D800 and the 24-120 F4 or 24-70mm F2.8.

Assume the size of the D3 and D800 are okay. If not let us know.

Golf007sd

@Hallvardk: I agree with what KnockKnock has stated.

With that out of way, lets consider some gear. Given that you have the Outex for your D3, I would think if you want to continue to use it; thus, the D4 or upcoming D4s would be my recombination for your "one main camera." With respect to the P&S, I too would recommend considering the Nikon 1 v2. In addition, I would add the Nikon FT-1 F-Mount Adapter which will allow you to use all you lenses on it. I find that a nice a bonus.

TaoTeJared

Over the holidays I traveled to the British Virgin Islands and with way too much gear or better stated, the gear got in the way or was too difficult to wield many times. I'm working on reflecting about the gear I took, what I wish I had, wish I left, and how that environment compares to what I use at home. To be honest it is difficult. Mostly that was just the environment of where I was at. Note: I do not live near water so I passed on spending money on a system.
Took: D800, 16-28 Tokina, 17mm Tokina, 50mm 1.4, 24-120vrf4, 70-200VR I, Fuji X100, D300 w/ 35mm 1.8, & Olympus TG-2.

•X100 - Really glad I took it and it was great walking around with a smaller unit. I still hate the auto focus of it - auto-focus to me is a big deal. So was the ability to have manual controls that are easy to read and change. I really want a X100s.
•D800 - I had many shots that had probably 16-20 stops of dynamic range from sky to water and I have been able to recover 2 stops in either direction in post (RAW). For that reason I loved having it. The IQ is just superior and no smaller mirrorless system can do that. (Sony A7r?.)
•D300 - used it one day in town. Too big and caused people to be uncomfortable when they saw it. 12mp was good enough.
•Lenses: 70-200, 24-120, 16-28 captured my best shots. I had the 24-120 on most of the time, shot more shots with a 70-200 (all in one day from the deck of a boat and can not imagine not having it) and the 16-28 captured the best landscape shots. Really hard to imagine not having any of those.

•At times I wished I had got the Nikon AW1
••Reasons: Size, Auto Focus, choice of lenses, and better Underwater.
It would have been a good size to walk around with and is fast enough focusing. I found I would have really liked a 85mm length prime on a really small body. The 32mm f1.2 would have been a joy to have. I'm betting the underwater photos would have been much better as well.
••Concerns/Issues: I found that I really wanted quick manual control changes. Menu hunting was painful. IQ: 12-16mp would work for people, "tourist" type shots, but the 36mp D800 for landscapes was what reproduced the image that I saw.
••Size: The X100 was the right size-ish. D800/D300 was way too big for city sight seeing. I was surprised how many times I was shooting at iso 1600-3200 and IQ suffered more than I desired.

Olympus TG-2 took a hell of a beating hiking though caves and some more exotic sites. It really took some bad bangs on rocks but soldiered on through. I haven't owned a compact for years and the lack of IQ (compared to a D800) left me wanting, but it did capture some great snapshots. Actually a well made camera that I din't fear taking into spots where I wouldn't dare taking a DSLR in fear of killing it. Underwater was lack luster but good enough for family memories, but not much else. I really wanted a larger sensor and AW1 would have fit that.
------------------------
Other options?
•A Nikon DF would have been a great compromise but I'm not sure if it is still too big &/or not big enough. Would have been nice walking around town but shooting 1600 shots from a catamaran sail boat with a 70-200vr, the ergonomics of the D800 get's my nod. (If I think about it, I still have "phantom" pains in my wrist.)
•Sony's A7/r could be an option but the lens line up falls short. In town I would have been good.
•AW1 would have been really nice for dangerous (to electronics) situations but the lack of resolution IQ and manual controls may be an issue. (I haven't played with one to know the answer on manual controls, but I do think a V2 would fit that bill.)
•The lenses I took are big and heavy, but performed/produced in situations where others would not.
•Size matters Large sensor, physical size, lens size. There are + and - of each, and sway in every direction.

So where does that leave me? I really don't know. What I do know is I would have been really frustrated if I didn't have my D800 with the three main lenses. I think I could have gotten away with just a 28-300vr and the 17mm. Not having a much smaller walk around camera with great AF frustrated me. Having a camera that could bang the hell out of and not worry about it was great to have but the lack of IQ lost many shots.

Sorry for rambling but I had 22 hours on flights and airports to begin thinking about this. I am starting to really re-think my camera bag quite a bit. One thing is for sure, I haven't found (nor do I think I will) a "solve all" solution. The question I am pondering is; One brand - one kit, Multiple brands - multiple kits, three kits?

Nik0n2011

the main beast : D4 / D4s
portable : X-e2 + 1/2 lenses of your choice
video while rolling in the waves : GoPro 3+ BlackEd.

you choose the shop, i'll be there in time
ok we are done with my wish list
:-x

Ade

You know, Chris Burkard did a nice guest post on the main blog a few months ago:

http://nikonrumors.com/2013/09/06/guest-post-water-photography-by-chris-burkard.aspx/

His cameras:
D300s & D7100. Aquatech housing. Plus NEX-6 & 7 (not mentioned in blog).

Lenses (not mentioned in the blog):
16-35/4, 24mm, 50mm, 70-200/2.8, 80-400, 10.5mm DX fisheye.

Hallvardk

Thanks for all the responses.

Golf007sd: You are right about the Outext. I've found it to be the best quality option for some good quality IQ under water. I have a GoPro HD3, but I don't find the IQ to be sufficient enough.

I'm ok with carrying one big camera, and I really like the feel of a D3/D3s/D4 body. I also don't mind selling all of my lenses, and going with just one or two Nikkors. The + with a X100s is that you don't have to carry more than the camera - there's no chance of gettin GAS and buying more lenses for it.

spraynpray

Then Flog your current gear, buy a D4s, 14-24 & 24-70, X100s and a stack of plane tickets with the change.

Don't forget to post on PAD!

sevencrossing

but overall, the smaller the kit the better. !

Most of us who have a D800, would love something a bit smaller lighter
but if you go smaller , do something will be compromised; so I would get a D800, apart from price and size, it is difficult to fault (although S&P will tell you it has too many Mp

If you want to go up to 400mm, the new 80 -400 is no heavier or bigger than your 70 -200

I would keep the 17-35 2.8 and add, ether the 24 -70 or the 24 -120 f 4 vr
money left over ? add the 105 f 2.8 macro

P&S? how about a D3300

heartyfisher

I have been very impressed with the Nikon1 system.. I have the V1 just to test the system out .. and I like it.. and now I am waiting patiently for the V3.. expected early this year. I may just get the AW1 instead as i am starting to want to get back into the outdoors and water. .. You gain reach and underwater capability, Macro and deep DOF. The weakness is with High ISO and lack of Low DOF.. so any FX camera would solve that weakness.