A week and a half ago I jumped over the mountain and went to the Tetons hoping to see 399 & the quad cubs... of course, they went completely MIA while I was there then came back out after I left lol...
Anyways... as you can imagine there were 7.8 billion photographers there and of course you check out their junk/gear.. w/e and I really don't care but still very observant and were packed in tight at times and a few of the more "famous" ppl were there (one of the main ones was next to me one morning and I told him and I guess a client were there and before I recognized him I told them, no no... you two have to go back on the hill across the road behind us with those telescopes you got
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But as the days went along one thing was blatantly clear and that was Nikon overwhelming dominated the gear, kinda blew me away actually. Not only that but not a mirrorless in site, mostly d850's. I'd estimate (at least where I was always at) that the breakdown was 75-80% Nikons and the rest canons.. not a single Sony was seen in 5 days. I actually didn't think this was right so I really looked at ppl's gear.
The morning I shot this sow and cub black bear & all up in my junk (at the crack*ss of dawn) and probably 75 ppl who'd come hoping for moose & every real camera literally was a Nikon, the only exceptions were phones and point n shoots which I didn't pay attention too. I was starting to wonder if the hotel had a mold problem and I was delirious.
Here's mamma bear giving me the "I wonder if he's got candy in his pockets look"... It was still fairly dark with a hint of sun popping up and had to under-expose a few stops So I used my D750 which recovered nicely.
Again, not that it matters but the lack of white lenses or the distinct canon shutter clicks was messing with my mind.
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Onward. From my house to the Tetons the shortest route is thru Yellowstone since I the 2nd closest "town, being generous here unless you count Kanya's new compound a town ugggg). On the way to the Tetons I got a tip from a friend that bear 791 had just taken down an elk in the Hayden valley and to get up there but of course I was well beyond the turn but on the way home, we stopped at that circus and thank you lord someone in the front row pulled out in front of us so we didn't have to do the half-day hike from a parking spot to the Woodstock sized crowd.
Now here I couldn't see everyone's gear distinctly but assuming most canons were using 600mm canon lenses (lord only knows how much $$$$$ in gear was there) they were still in the minority but They took some amazing shots that I've seen. And maybe there were a few Sony's but I didn't see them. I have a video walking thru the crowd and you could pretty much tell what was what.
Of course, Bear 791 (who's one of the biggest in the lower 48 states) put on a spectacular show, mesmerizing the crowd at every moment with rage, anger and ok... he just snored a lot lol
So without fanboying, my takeaway was this: Nikon surely isn't dead. DSLR's surely aren't dead. And Sony... your hype is just that. There were many YouTubers and recognizable faces in the crowd who use sony's on youtube but there they had D6's, D5's, and d850's. So all you bitching about dslr's are dead and/or nikon is dead and/or that sony sells more cameras than churches buy dried breadcrumbs, I got a message for you, these pro's making actually money in this area rely on dslr's to bring home the cash. Someday that'll change but it ain't today
2 more quick things since this short observation became a novel.
1. Before ppl get all pissy, while the info I observed was true as I saw it, This was written in a jest kind of way, not quite sarcastic but in a fun spirit, I'm not knocking anyone except Sony lol but yet it's truthful from my surrounding. Who knows the next crowd through could have been all canons which I don't mind. aka, don't aholes lol.
2. an interesting thing happened to me before I left I bought a slightly used D7100 for a few hundred bucks as a backup to my D750 & D700 but I used it more by far than the others especially with the 200-500MM and religated the D750 to low light. This after I swore I'd never shoot a dx again. I'd recommend to those without tons of funds that use full frame to pick up a used D7100 or D7200 as they can be had for super cheap and you never know. But I did get tired of cameras smashing my hands while they were being carried on tripods so I finally broke down & ordered a gimble this morning. $50 says I'll split my head open with it this winter.
too tired to proofread... so sorry
Comments
That falls under my adhd on no sleep fail file lol
Agreed, that was a fun read. It's been a while since I've checked out gear that tourists use. It's usually a smattering of Sony ILC, low end Canon DSLRs and cell phones.
Up here other than a few youtubers who shoot mostly nikon and fool around with a sony now n then you just don't see many Sony's and there's a TON of photographers up here who make a living off of it and they are nikon and canon, I don't know a single sony only or mostly shooter here.
Personally, when out hiking around grizzlies and the rougher terrain for example or here as winter sets in and I'm out at night shooting owls when it's -20 to over -30 below ) out there's no way on God's green earth that I'd trust a Sony to soldier on like I can with Nikon's. Actually, I worry more about the tripod or the gloves I forgot. Sonys are just to cheaply made and when you're pee'n popsicles out there... it matters. That's not fanboyism, it doesn't get more real than that.
Watching gear in yellowstone is hilarious! all day you'll see guys with top canon gear.. 600mm's and everything, they'll set up to shoot a bear 500 yards away and then.... popup their flash and if the animal isn't close enough you'll see the pro's sneak out of there.
Then again you can pull up to a bear jam and 1/4 to 1/2 of the ppl are just kicked back in a lawn chair watching thru a spotting scope and socializing.
I started with canon myself and almost gave up because my shiny new 30D wasn't giving me images anywhere near what I was learning from back then, the scott kelby books. I got it for my friend's fashion company but did web sites for a lot of the main fly fishing companies, shops, guides, etc... and of course, they wanted pix of us out fishing but the problem was the 30D wasn't weather sealed and you had to go all the way to the 5dm1 for that. But Nikon had the D200 with the just-released 18-200mm which was weather sealed and around same price. I figured I'd use the d200 outside and the canon with the chix inside.
However, when my d200, 18-200mm and 50mm came in I went out to try them... They just felt better and then went home to look at files and boom there was the kelby look lol. Later that night I took pix of my 30D and all the lens I needed (which the d200 and 2 lenses covered everything all 7 of my canon lenses covered) and slapped it on craiglist and sold it all a few hours later and I made a lot of money to cap it off.
I didn't keep the 30d because after seeing the d200 files because they just weren't in the same league. They make great cameras but I really hated how they shift the color hues
bear 791 is a beast! Right before that he stole a dead bison from the wolves and ate it all lol
Personally, I might go for a lightly used d7200 and say a d700 or d6*0 which wouldn't be much more really. I hate the noise from dx though.
When I got my d7100 it would backfocus and so I took it outside to tune it with foCal and then sat on the deck fine tuning it on hummingbirds and I'll say this... There is nothing wrong with the pix the d7100 spits out! And a near mint, low shutter one will set you back $250-$350, just an absolute steal.
Here's a hummer from that day in miday sun and only was trying fine tune focus.
For under $400 and without trying, you can't beat that deal imo.
I suppose that makes sense though seeing as there are so many more Canon and Nikon SLR's out there.
Why don't people go to a site like 500px and check out the camera usage of the pictures, or some real market data instead of this type of hear what you want to hear message?
If Pentax had a better af system, I'd buy one without question if nothing more than to use it for astro stuff.
"there are so many more Canon and Nikon SLR's out there." not according to sony fanboys s they say sony's sold more cameras than jesus has followers lol
on 2: Yes there is temptation! but I actually meant the opposite. A lot of these pro's won't even take a shot unless the subject takes up like 1/2 their viewfinder. So what I meant was that they enjoy it for a minute then they take off to find the next thing.
"I guess people who don't buy Nikon/Canon put their cameras as show pieces at home then.
Why don't people go to a site like 500px and check out the camera usage of the pictures, or some real market data instead of this type of hear what you want to hear message?"
They do have their uses I guess, the right tool for the right job... I'll give them a lil leeway today lol
In time and with the experience they'll learn... maybe... It's just like my bandwagon hoppers back in florida see me go for my D700 instead of something newer they just don't get that either. The act of learning the skills needed is now a lost art. Most of these newer ppl probably couldn't work an old school camera that didn't do everything for you.
absolutely! but they don't understand that yet, let's see in 2 years what jobs sony will be good for at all if that main investor pulls the plug on the camera division... now that's grab some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the panic and chaos that will surely follow.
I used to see mostly canons too, but it's changed so fast and during a time when ppl don't think nikon is doing any business, Between our comments on that subject alone basically was the whole point of me doing this post. I have a video from the circus watching bear 791 and his elk kill in yellowstone where I'm walking back from the car, past most of the ppl and there are some white lenses but not many. But they are getting good shots too but you can tell they notice as well by the way they keep looking around trying to find another canon dude to hang with.
I will say I've noticed that Nikon and Canon shooters are becoming "friendlier" to each other and actually talking and hanging out in good spirits more... To which I'd like to give a big thank you to sony for bringing the rest of us together... I smell a noble peace prize in there lol.
You not seeing d850's blows my mind as I'm usually the lone guy without one.
Unfortunately, everything from the literature to the rangers and "tourist experts" constantly spit that out over and over but you'll never hear them talk about what that 100 yards is for and everyone just assumes that means you're safe and they don't think about it.
Spoiler alert... it doesn't make you safe at all, what it does do besides keeping you out of it's personal space is that if it does charge at you or quickly run over for an inspection is that unless you have a very robust and safe shelter within a couple of seconds away is that it gives you an extra 2-3 seconds to prepare your defenses whether that be bear spray or a weapon and in my case that would also include getting ready to knock it out cold with a swift, direct blow to the head from my swinging d700 .
See close in it takes about 2-3 seconds (average) until contact and you'd think 100 yards is far but have no doubt whatsoever that bear will cover that 100 yards in probably 4-5 seconds at up to 45 mph. So if it's just to keep you safe... just no, don't even kid yourself. That's the bad news, the good news is that usually they aren't trying to kill you just take out what they think is your main weapon and that's your mouth (watch 2 bears fight, what do they go for?) and as soon as they feel they've done that or that you're playing dead and not a threat they'll leave and that's why when you see grizzly attack victims their faces have been partially peeled off. It seems that they don't attack kids much either.
Not trying to preach just give the reasons for the reasons so those that read this will know and if it saves 1 life... you know the rest. and just for the record, there is nothing cuter than a bear cub lol