Do you use a second camera system?

[Activert]

I use the Mamiya DM33 ( and 5 lenses ) which is a medium format camera. I bought it in 2011 and it is still my first choice when I am photographing landscape, macro and wildlife portrait. In addition to my Nikon gear, I took it with me to Galapagos, South Africa, US National Parks and many times to HawaiI and I shot with it amazing photos. The Dynamic Range of this camera is amazing and the detail in the photoI could not see it with my Nikon. The Down side of it, it is heavy camera and shows difficulties working in bad condition, like in Dead Valley at 52 degree Celsius unlike the Nikon D 850 and the D3S which they did not have any problem to shoot.
For now, I still love it and I am going to keep both system, Nikon and Mamiya. Maybe one day I will change my mind and only keep my Nikon gear

 

[Chris K]

I bought the 50/1 on a whim, and once I used it, I convinced myself that I like the images better. I never really put the 56 back on to compare. Irrational.

That's funny, because I bought the 56 on a whim, and I'm trying to convince myself that there's no reason to switch to the 50. Also irrational. But cheaper.

 

[Nimi]

That's funny, because I bought the 56 on a whim, and I'm trying to convince myself that there's no reason to switch to the 50. Also irrational. But cheaper.

If the new Z85/1.2 lives up to the hype, I'll list the 50 here... It's pretty much the reason I keep the XT4.

 

[abc123brian]

I use the Mamiya DM33 ( and 5 lenses ) which is a medium format camera. I bought it in 2011 and it is still my first choice when I am photographing landscape, macro and wildlife portrait. In addition to my Nikon gear, I took it with me to Galapagos, South Africa, US National Parks and many times to HawaiI and I shot with it amazing photos. The Dynamic Range of this camera is amazing and the detail in the photoI could not see it with my Nikon. The Down side of it, it is heavy camera and shows difficulties working in bad condition, like in Dead Valley at 52 degree Celsius unlike the Nikon D 850 and the D3S which they did not have any problem to shoot.
For now, I still love it and I am going to keep both system, Nikon and Mamiya. Maybe one day I will change my mind and only keep my Nikon gear

You must have a digital back on it. I know I will eventually order a medium format fuji, just hoping for a new sensor with phase detect AF at a lower price than the GFX100.

 

[Activert]

You must have a digital back on it. I know I will eventually order a medium format fuji, just hoping for a new sensor with phase detect AF at a lower price than the GFX100.

Yes, it is two parts, the camera body and the digital back. Medium format are really great and you won’t regret that. I am also thinking if one day I have problem with the Mamiya, I can switch to the Fuji GFX 100 S, and I can still use Mamiya lenses, they works great on the Fuji. I have one wide angle, one 80 mm (normal) Leaf Shutter, one 210 mm, a 300 mm and a macro 120 mm. All of them can be used on the Fuji

 

[abc123brian]

Yes, it is two parts, the camera body and the digital back. Medium format are really great and you won’t regret that. I am also thinking if one day I have problem with the Mamiya, I can switch to the Fuji GFX 100 S, and I can still use Mamiya lenses, they works great on the Fuji. I have one wide angle, one 80 mm (normal) Leaf Shutter, one 210 mm, a 300 mm and a macro 120 mm. All of them can be used on the Fuji

For me it would be buying new additional lenses and I wouldn't want to buy a complete additional system so it is difficult to justify. I would probably look at some vintage lens options too. If my Nikon system was complete, I'd probably have ordered one by now.

 

[Chris K]

If the new Z85/1.2 lives up to the hype, I'll list the 50 here... It's pretty much the reason I keep the XT4.

I'm using the F 105/1.4 and 58/1.4, partially because I can also use them on GFX. If Z were my primary portrait system I'd probably sell half my primes for the 85/1.2!

 

[Nimi]

I'm using the F 105/1.4 and 58/1.4, partially because I can also use them on GFX. If Z were my primary portrait system I'd probably sell half my primes for the 85/1.2!

I didn't know you can do that. How much of the sensor do you lose and how are the edges? I rent the GFX100 for a client occasionally and it's just a question of time before I pick one up. The 100 has a pixel pitch of 3.7 or so, smaller than the Z9, and I'm curious how the crop would look.

 

[Chris K]

I didn't know you can do that. How much of the sensor do you lose and how are the edges? I rent the GFX100 for a client occasionally and it's just a question of time before I pick one up. The 100 has a pixel pitch of 3.7 or so, smaller than the Z9, and I'm curious how the crop would look.

It depends on the lens.

You can shoot adapted lenses on the GFX100S without any crop... you'll use the whole sensor. With many lenses you'll get hard vignetting in the corners, but some lenses have a large enough image circle to cover the entire GFX100S sensor.

You can also use "35mm mode" on the GFX100S, which will crop the sensor down to 36x24, effectively making the camera act like a "Z7". But I always shoot the full sensor, because most lenses cover (considerably) more than 36x24, and oftentimes I'm shooting at XPan or 1:1 ratio anyway, which pretty much any lens can cover fully. "Capture it all and crop it later" is my method.

In any case, there are autofocus-capable adapters available for both F and EF mount. The "Fringer" brand is probably the best for both right now. They even support lens correction profiles and insert proper EXIF into the photos on your GFX100S, and the EF version has a nice aperture ring.

This is a huuuuge rabbit hole to go down if you want to research more. There's a bunch of people at the Fred Miranda forum shooting adapted lenses on GFX that you can chat with. For my part, I use:

Nikon F:

• Nikon 58/1.4 - Full coverage, corners are a bit mushier than on FF until you stop down to f/2.8
• Nikon 105/1.4 - Full coverage, no issues at any aperture

Canon EF:

• Tamron 45/1.8 - Full coverage, corners somewhat soft wide open but good by f/2.8
• Canon 70-200/4 (non IS) - MOSTLY full coverage, but the closer you get to your subject and the closer you get to 135mm, the more the vignette creeps in. Worst case I've gotten 90 mpixel on a 3:2 crop. Sharpness is best at f/8, but usable wide-open
• Sigma 105/2.8 OS Macro - Full coverage, but a bit soft at infinity... especially wide open. Get closer or stop down.

Minolta Rokkor 58/1.4 - Good luck focusing accurately! Looks great if you can nail it at f/2.8 and smaller, or like a 70's portrait effect wider than f/2.8.

If you want a good wide-open performer, you'll have to do your research and take what you can get as far as adapted lenses go. There's definitely some diamonds in the rough. I got three outstanding AF primes for the cost of a 110/2, but it's certainly easier to hand B&H your credit card and have them just figure it out.

 

[ronpier]

My system is compromised of six aps c dslrs used strictly for fun. The lenses all interchange with each other and provide unique shooting experiences with older and newer Nikon cameras. Even the batteries are the same for five of them.

 

[calcal]

I use my D850 for shooting my daughter's horseback riding and other occasional kids sports. Shot my nephews basketball game a few days ago with the D850 days ago, a first attempt at basketball and that was fun. For portraits, macro and events I use my Z7II.
When I need lightweight pocket camera I have a Sony RX100VI. Sadly it broke while I was using it at a concert. The lens needed to be replaced. It cost me about $350. and Sony covered the rest out of warranty. I pick it next week and it comes skiing, hopefully in good working order.n It's a great little camera.
I am a future wildlife photographer, the closest I get to wildlife is my German Shephard and the occasional bear that comes through the neighborhood.

 

[abc123brian]

I use my D850 for shooting my daughter's horseback riding and other occasional kids sports. Shot my nephews basketball game a few days ago with the D850 days ago, a first attempt at basketball and that was fun. For portraits, macro and events I use my Z7II.
When I need lightweight pocket camera I have a Sony RX100VI. Sadly it broke while I was using it at a concert. The lens needed to be replaced. It cost me about $350. and Sony covered the rest out of warranty. I pick it next week and it comes skiing, hopefully in good working order.n It's a great little camera.
I am a future wildlife photographer, the closest I get to wildlife is my German Shephard and the occasional bear that comes through the neighborhood.

The RX100 looks like a great compact option. I have a Panasonic LUMIX LX100 that I like but the limited zoom range has always been a limiting factor. How do you find the overall image quality?

 

[calcal]

The RX100 looks like a great compact option. I have a Panasonic LUMIX LX100 that I like but the limited zoom range has always been a limiting factor. How do you find the overall image quality?

The overall image quality is quite good, especially for something so small with a 1 inch sensor. Here are a few samples, they don't have much in the way of artful post processing so I"m sure they could be made even better. I never would have been able to get a DSLR or Z type camera into a Rolling Stones Concert. The RX100VI was in my pocket and not a problem going through security. The tough question is, is it worth it as cell phones evolve to have very good capability. I was torn about whether or not to have mine repaired, especially since I still have the 2nd and 4th iterations of the camera (which should have been sold). I like having all the controls and raw capability so next week I should have it back with a brand new lens. If you shoot video I believe what differentiates the VI from the VII is more enhanced video capability. Sony was frequently updating this line - usually right after I purchased my updated versions - but hasn't done a new one in a few years.

RX100VI

3 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[abc123brian]

The overall image quality is quite good, especially for something so small with a 1 inch sensor. Here are a few samples, they don't have much in the way of artful post processing so I"m sure they could be made even better. I never would have been able to get a DSLR or Z type camera into a Rolling Stones Concert. The RX100VI was in my pocket and not a problem going through security. The tough question is, is it worth it as cell phones evolve to have very good capability. I was torn about whether or not to have mine repaired, especially since I still have the 2nd and 4th iterations of the camera (which should have been sold). I like having all the controls and raw capability so next week I should have it back with a brand new lens. If you shoot video I believe what differentiates the VI from the VII is more enhanced video capability. Sony was frequently updating this line - usually right after I purchased my updated versions - but hasn't done a new one in a few years.

RX100VI

3 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

Those looks pretty good. Thanks for sharing. Thats a good point about cell phones. I think it would be difficult to not want to bring the best camera I could if I wanted to ensure the best images and if not the phone camera may be good enough. It is quite expensive for something that i wouldn’t use often.