The Photography Thread 2

[Anpanman]

DPR used to be very good, not been on for a while though since I know what I want and I know how to get it....

[briareos_kerensky]

Some thoughts after sepnding two weeks taking photos and videos in Japan about the Canon EOS R5...I'm coming from a 5DmkIII, so there are plenty of differencies.

* mirrorless cameras eat through batteries, especially if you use the rear LCD screen and video capabilities. I use a vertical grip with space for two batteries, and was quite surprised to see the battery counter down to a one fourth at the end of a busy day shooting day, with power-off for everything set to 1minute and using the LCD only for videos.
* charging through USB-C is useful but it can take quite some time. I bought the AC adapter for video work at home, and brought just that for charging during my trip. Charging two batteries back to full can take several hours, and because the R5 is a Canon camera, batteries won't charge if you leave the card door open.
* those 40MP images are large, so are 4Kp25 videos. Had to delete all games and some music from my laptop's 1TB hard drive to make space for everything. I have a portable SSD for backup, maybe I should invest in a new laptop with larger drive or a second portable SSD.
* still have to get used to the electronic viewfinder. At times it overblows bright spots, at times the contrast is much more pronounced that it should be. It's a good representation of what you get, but I found myself trusting the exposure compensation meter more than anything.
* articulate LCD screen, how much I love you. If anything I'd like being able to tilt the screen upward or backward without extending it on the side.
* the three dial setup (timing, aperture, ISO) is wonderful, although I'd wish for the third/ISO dial to be a bit more pronounced, like it is on the vertical grip.
* about the vertical grip, I'd wish there was a way to turn off some of its buttons (exposure lock, autofocus mode) while keeping others active, many many times I had the exposure lock engaged because the vertical grip hit my bag while walking around with the camera hanging down my neck.
* the camera doesn't have a GPS receiver, you have to pair it with your phone to get GPS metadata. I did it for a couple of days, but this eats through your phone's and camera's battery. You could carry a power bank around, but with me I had camera, phone, wi-fi receiver, 70-300mm lens (with EF to RF adapter), documents, and at least one water bottle. Didn't really want to carry an extra cable and the power bank itself.
* silent shooting mode is very useful if you're wandering around museums and don't want to annoy other visitors.
* camera's not much lighter than the 5DmkIII, but the RF 24-105mm les is lighter and more compact than the EF 24-105mm. It's also a tad easier to attach/detach the hood.
* travel lock on the lens is fine, but I really wish for it to lock the lens at any extension, not just at 24mm for compactness.
* still not entirely sold on CFexpress as a format.
* overheating! It happened only once while at Gundam Factory Yokohama, but oversampled 4K does put a strain on the camera and you can feel the camera is getting warm after around 15-20min of video recording. The fastest way to cool down the camera is to remove the batteries, and the vertical grip has this nice feature that power is applied only when the side safety is engaged; you can keep the batteries in the camera, with the vertical grip's battery slide fully inserted, and still having the camera cooling down.

[wakka]

Let's see some of your photos!

[Anpanman]

Some thoughts after sepnding two weeks taking photos and videos in Japan about the Canon EOS R5...I'm coming from a 5DmkIII

Thanks for the field update, you really only get to know the camera once you are out using it in anger.

The battery issue is a very valid point, my D4 would give over 4k pictures per battery, the Z 9 is about 1200 but I've been leaving it turned on (just like I did with the D4) so I'm having to change my approach and I'll try turning off between pictures next time I'm out which should actually be in Japan.

One good feature with the Z 9 is it accepts a PD charger plus batteries can be charged outside the camera with same, I'm getting over 30w internal/external which isn't the best but it's much better than the standard 5w or so.

[MartyG]

If you think the Canon R5 has poor batteries, try a Sony A7Rii

I did a Windows XP

[Anpanman]

Windows XP is great!

[Anpanman]

Z 8 has arrived;

https://www.nikon.co.uk/en_GB/product/cameras/z-8

[Colin]

Wondering if you guys can help me valuing a camera? I suspect it’s worth nothing now, but we got a Nikon D7200 as a wedding present that we’ve pretty much never used, but eBay completed listings seem to be absolutely all over the place. It also comes with a Sigma DC 18-250mm macro sm lens. Any ideas?

EDIT TO ADD: That may not be what the lense is actually called, and the camera will be just over six years old, we just don’t want it as it’s never been used!

[Anpanman]

MPB is a good place to gauge second hand prices, it's a shop of course but you see honest descriptions of kit. I've bought from there a few times when items are more expensive on ebay and you can't be certain of a description.
I also use it as a guide on where to set my prices at.

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/product/nikon-d7200

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/search?q=Sigma%2018-250mm%20f%2F3.5-6.3%20DC%20OS%20HSM%20-%20Nikon%20Fit

[Colin]

Thanks for that. I did the shutter count thing and it's 3304, which I'm actually shocked it's taken that many, but it seems to be hugely below what's on the site you linked to for the highest value cameras the same model, which presumably is a good thing.

[Anpanman]

Yes it is a good thing, I've quoted 'current MPB' prices once or twice when selling my kit to point out I'm coming in under their price and my kit is in better nick than they quote etc.

[Colin]

Had to ask my wife why the count was so high, I'd forgotten we'd loaned it to her sister for a little while. I think my wife and I have probably taken 200 photos max with it.

[briareos_kerensky]

3k shutter releases is basically nothing, you can almost sell it as brand new.

[Anpanman]

Good point BK, shutter life is around 150k so it's basically a newborn.

[Colin]

So do you think sticking the camera and lens on eBay for maybe £500 or best offer is around the right point? We no longer have the boxes but have the Nikon charger and a case etc, or is that shooting too high?