Pro Camera for hobbyist?

Beso

Hi all,

To some extent, I use to sweat about how I spent my money.

Now I sweat about how I spend my beneficiary's money. ;-)

My best,

Mike

Well said!

warprints

I don't have the expensive body, but have somewhat expensive glass. I make no money and sometimes think the funds might have been better invested, but I enjoy taking pictures. I like having something to show off and just like any other hobby they usually require money. I tend to buy my expensive stuff when I come across the funds and it is "extra" money.

I really think it is fun to have good equipment though. I like being able to do what I want with my lenses instead of being frustrated with the limitations of less expensive stuff. I think it has all come along as I progressed in photography too.

Ditto - no D4, but I do buy the pro glass. Right now, the D300 does what I want it to, but sub-par glass disappoints me with my results. Other than that, along the lines of what Mike Gunter says -- at this stage in life, I'm only spending my kids' inheritance ... and enjoying it !!

donaldejose

I would love a D4 but won't buy one because it is just too expensive. I look at D3 and D3x and D3s bodies on ebay and consider them when they sell for less than half the original price. Yet, I always come back to finding the best value in the two top DX bodies (D7100 and D400) and in the two bottom FX bodies (D600 and D800) because they give you the latest technology which trumps higher fps or ISO. I just don't really need the extra speed (in fps and high ISO) which the pro body offers and I will never shoot 200,000 exposures before the next generation of DX and FX bodies are here. The combo of DX D7100 and FX D600 body or the combo of a D400 and D800 body should fill all the needs of more than 90% of advanced amature photographers and you will still have about $2,000 left for lenses as compared to the cost of a D4 body.

Everyone should make their own value judgments and purchase decisions. I would like to see everyone get what they want as opposed to what they need. But some sanity is needed unless you have an endless supply of money.

SquamishPhoto

The banal minutia of why most people won't buy a D4 is hardly of any use to any prospective buyers. Its a camera designed specifically for working professionals, so it should hardly shock anyone that its hard to justify unless you have cash to burn or cash to earn.

donaldejose

I think SquamishPhoto is right. The D4 has certain attributes only a small group of people need. Others who have it don't need it and cannot justify it; they just want it for one reason or another.

spraynpray

@seven: "Photography is not a cheap hobby but compared to sailing, flying or Motor Sports it is not too expensive"

Yup. My boat did 1.1 mpg so a european cruise fortnight used quite a bit of money. I must have put a few D4's in the tanks over the years . :-?

obajoba

I think SquamishPhoto is right. The D4 has certain attributes only a small group of people need. Others who have it don't need it and cannot justify it; they just want it for one reason or another.

Saying whether someone else can justify their purchase is like saying you know why they want to wake up every day. You can't. How many people 'need' a boat? Not many. How many have them? A lot. It is all opinion and highly subjective.

My choice boiled down to a wakesurf boat or D4. D4 will cost me less this year than owning and operating a boat in Colorado for 4 months. Both are my passions but I know many others with boats so I will happily shoot wakesurfing and wakeboarding shots this summer, I'll stress a lot less about camera damage, and I know I will enjoy the heck out of it. I will also feel a ton more confident while shooting for 29 days in South Africa next month (albeit scared to get robbed)

donaldejose

obajoba: Sure. The OP was asking why you need a D4 or why you would spend such money on a camera. I am suggesting a very small number of people actually need a D4; the others just want one. No value judgment on someone who buys what they want rather than what they need. Your post indicated you wanted a boat and you wanted a D4 but doesn't address why you wanted a D4 rather than a D600 or D800 for less than half the price. Would you say you need a D4? If not, why do you want one?

It should be a great camera for 29 days in South Africa and crime is a serious problem there. Please be careful. Hopefully, you won't have any stores to add to the thread titled Dangers from being a Photog.

One quick story from some people I know who live in South Africa. They were driving through a high grass area of Kruger National Park, saw some animals, got out of their car so they could stand up and better see the animals. Suddenly, two lions rose out of the grass behind their car and were looking intently at them! Both mammals were observing "game." Had they not been alert to what was happening around and behind them they could have been injured. They knew enough to be alert to what was happening behind them and quickly got back into the car. Now what if a person who has paid a lot of money and traveled a great distance sees an animal, gets out of the car, sets up a tripod, mounts a telephoto lens and is peering through the camera to catch just the right image of the game they are observing . . . . . . . . . ?

obajoba

obajoba: Would you say you need a D4? If not, why do you want one?

I wanted fast AF, >5fps and a large buffer (dead horse officially beaten in multiple past threads), and I needed the durability of pro gear for shooting on the lake, on the mountain, etc. If the "D400" were more than a pipe dream then it likely would have won out. In the end, the D600 and D800 didn't suit my "requirements" and the D3s seems likely on the cusp of dropping dramatically in price; I found a very lightly used D4 at a "steal" of a price that I couldn't pass up. It has, however, cramped the budget on accessories but I knew that going into the purchase.

It should be a great camera for 29 days in South Africa and crime is a serious problem there. Please be careful. Hopefully, you won't have any stores to add to the thread titled Dangers from being a Photog.

I can't think of a better camera to take the abuse of a safari and all of the lugging around the country. My wife is from Johannesburg and this will be our second trip, last time I only took a cheap Panny PAS (still got fantastic shots) but it was much more concealable and created a lot less worry. If the gear gets stolen that's what insurance is for, but I do worry about the all-too-common violence that is associated with the mugging/burglary/carjacking.