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The Beginning

The Beginning

It feels wrong to say this is the "beginning" as I feel that I have been building to this point for a long time. My interest in photography, consumer technology, and wildlife have long been threads in the tapestry of my life, it's only now though that they intersect so violently. But regardless: here we are. With an interest intensifying and a desire to talk about everything I have learned so far. "My" "First" Camera and Lenses I was very fortunate to have a coworker who has already been hit with the bug of photography. We had some discussions on his work and he, very graciously, lent me his old Nikon for me to play around with, along with a set of lenses. While I was, and am, appreciative for this gear, I couldn't help but think that there wasn't much to do with this old ~17-year-old camera. But boy, was I wrong. The gear:Nikon D5000 Nikon DX 18mm-55mm Rokinon AF 85mm 1.4F Nikon Nikkor 70mm-300mmThe Nikon D5000 still has quite a bit of life in it. The MP count of 12.3 would lead you to believe its photos will not be sharp, but they certainly can be if the lens is solid. And to my unprofessional eye, the Nikkor lens is quite solid, even when zoomed in to 300mm. Truthfully, I did not experience much with the other lenses because I was so fixated on birds, but I had enough to know this was only the beginning. My First Shots The funny thing is, looking back on these photos, they aren't especially good. The issue with an older DSLR is that its autofocus is not great. That can be a good thing, since beginners would be forced to learn manual focus better instead of learning with a crutch, but still. Good or not, they are part of the beginning. My beginning. And they are worthy of preservation.My First Revelations A local park was the first obvious destination to mess around with the camera. On this peaceful spring afternoon, I surveyed the waterfront, in search of some waterfowl. But something unexpected struck me as I was searching for a worthy subject: everything was a worthy subject. The most inconsequential object can be a key fixture of the art you create. No object is inherently unworthy. It's up to you to showcase it in a worthy way. I was also struck by the peace. It feels like my mind is constantly on the move: thoughts, memories, concerns, anything and everything is flowing back and forth. But as I am standing in this forest, observing the birds sing their mating songs, or watching the squirrels zigzag through the grass in search for a nut: my mind is empty. I am at peace in a way that I have seldom felt. And finally: the heron. This shot came from a boat while with my parents, it was the shot that made me realize I want to photograph birds. The ubiquitous creatures that surround us on a daily basis, yet we refuse to observe them. The vast variety of these creatures is a mystery to most, myself included. Yet once you observe them, you see how beautiful, colorful, and unique they are. They deserve to be studied. With this experience under my belt and fire growing in my belly, I know it's time to accept the next step: figuring out what in the world I have to buy.

My First Camera and Lenses

My First Camera and Lenses

After my time with the borrowed 16-year-old Nikon, I realized that I did not need to spend an arm and a leg on the camera. And with some more time spent on YouTube, I learned that the lens was much more important than the camera. But that still lead to my initial dilemma before I got into the details: what camera brand do I go with? I spent a lot of time thinking on this and I ended up starting by coming up with specific goals:I want to stay under $300 for the camera I want plenty of lens options I want a clear upgrade path I want something considered easy to useThis immediately led me down the path of old DSLRs, which seemed to limit my options to Canon and Nikon. In the end, I went with Canon. Why? Because my mom has a Canon as well and I figured my learnings would help her out as she was learning bird photography as well. But with this, seemingly arbitrary, decision made, I went down the rabbit hole of what specific camera and lenses I would get. I ended up with the following:Canon 70D Tamron 150-600mm F/5-6.3 (generation I) Canon EF 75-300mm F/4-5.6 II Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 Canon EF-S 10-18mm F/4.5-5.6 (not yet in hand)I have many thoughts on this setup, after having played with them for a few weeks. Canon 70D The camera itself: I am very happy with it. It had less than 10K shutters at the time of purchase and was in excellent condition. I found the menus easy to use and the controls intuitive. Besides the fact that I am not able to get the camera to update its firmware from 1.1.1 (and the fact that it's a bit heavy, though I don't find this mattering when it comes to birding), I am very happy with the camera itself. Canon EF 75-300mm F/4-5.6 II This was originally the first lens I bought. I knew it was a kit lens, but I had decent hopes for it after the Nikkor one performed very well. I was mistaken. Now, it's not "bad", but I am not happy with the chromatic aberration coming from it and the softness of the images it produces after 200mm. Now, I do recognise that there is some skill that can be put in here to get better images. I can make them better. But, I just find myself much more underwhelmed given how effortlessly the Nikkor performed. So far, it is the only true disappointment I have at the moment. Tamron 150-600mm F/5-6.3 After I was disappointed by the first Canon lens, I considered if I wanted to drop a few hundred dollars on a "proper" lens. The issue was, based on the research I did, a very solid telephoto lens that went into the 400-600mm territory was going to run me $2000. I absolutely did not want to do that yet. I saw some reviews on this first-gen Tamron, and the consensus I saw was that it's solid for the price, but it requires a bit of work to get really good shots out of it (like a monopod and tripod). I ended up taking a gamble on a basically new one for $700. Having used it for a few weeks, I will say: I'm not disappointed. The consensus was pretty accurate, but I am finding that you can get some fantastic images from it with a little work.Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 I decided to pick up a "nifty fifty" after I saw all of the YouTube videos praising it. I will say that I have not gotten full use out of it yet, but. I am very intrigued to say the least. I am getting very sharp photos out of it with a nice portrait effect. I am very excited to experiment with it in a non-birding context. Conclusion All in all, I'm pretty happy with where I'm at. There is a lot more potential to still extract from this setup and much more room for me to grow. I also think that this Canon 70D has plenty of life left in it. I'm ready to put it to the test.