Backdoor Arts
Well-known member
I don't know if I've told this story, so here goes. It's Christmas 2015 and my brother has just transitioned from 20 years as a newspaper photographer to Canon Pro Rep for the northeast. When I bought my first DSLR in 2011 I knew I could go with Canon (which he shot) and have all his stuff at my disposal when we shot together, but I found the D7000 to be a better fit for me than what Canon had at the time so I went with that. Flash forward to XMAS and I'm shooting with a D750, D610, and D7100, and I've really settled in with my kit. My brother tells me to come out to the car with him, he opens the trunk and there's all his gear. He tells me, "Take it and use it for as long as you want. Canon wants me to shoot just their latest and greatest and have given me one of everything. Transition over time and give back what you replace or don't need whenever." It was an incredibly generous offer and I didn't know what to say, so I brought it all inside and he showed me around.
Over the course of the holiday break I start poking around with his stuff and start to wonder, "Do I want to learn a new menu system? Do I really want to sell my stuff at a loss just because I have access to his gear? It's not like I can get a break buying Canon gear because of him." So instead of playing with the Canon stuff I start making a list of what I'm not getting out of my Nikon gear to see if that justifies a switch. The only thing missing was a high frame rate, big buffer DX camera for wildlife, which was 80% of what I shot. One week later Nikon announced the D500 and I invited my brother to lunch, packed his stuff into my trunk, and told him for as much as I valued and appreciated his offer, the D500 announcement put the icing on the cake. He understood completely, but lamented having to tell his boss that he couldn't manage to convert his own brother. LOL
Since then I've been privy to play with a lot of pre-release Canon gear and have been utterly blown away by a lot of it, particularly their mirrorless stuff. I suspect had I been anything other than a wildlife shooter I'd have defected in 2016. When I texted my brother a pic of my just out of the box Z6ii he grumbled knowing the hook was firmly implanted. I cannot say I'll never switch. I did shoot with a Sony a6000 for a while when I wanted a small travel camera, but that was sold when I got the Z6ii. When my D500's wear out we'll see where we are. But given that I'm looking to transfer to "retiree" sooner than anything else I'm likely going to have to hit the lottery first if I can ever justify switching brands again.
Over the course of the holiday break I start poking around with his stuff and start to wonder, "Do I want to learn a new menu system? Do I really want to sell my stuff at a loss just because I have access to his gear? It's not like I can get a break buying Canon gear because of him." So instead of playing with the Canon stuff I start making a list of what I'm not getting out of my Nikon gear to see if that justifies a switch. The only thing missing was a high frame rate, big buffer DX camera for wildlife, which was 80% of what I shot. One week later Nikon announced the D500 and I invited my brother to lunch, packed his stuff into my trunk, and told him for as much as I valued and appreciated his offer, the D500 announcement put the icing on the cake. He understood completely, but lamented having to tell his boss that he couldn't manage to convert his own brother. LOL
Since then I've been privy to play with a lot of pre-release Canon gear and have been utterly blown away by a lot of it, particularly their mirrorless stuff. I suspect had I been anything other than a wildlife shooter I'd have defected in 2016. When I texted my brother a pic of my just out of the box Z6ii he grumbled knowing the hook was firmly implanted. I cannot say I'll never switch. I did shoot with a Sony a6000 for a while when I wanted a small travel camera, but that was sold when I got the Z6ii. When my D500's wear out we'll see where we are. But given that I'm looking to transfer to "retiree" sooner than anything else I'm likely going to have to hit the lottery first if I can ever justify switching brands again.