Lease vs. Buy
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As I have learned over the years, photography is an expensive hobby. The fancier your camera, the more additional expense you are likely to incur. You need lenses for all occasions (the Safari zoom shot, the flower bloom shot in Death Valley, the wide angle skyscraper shot, the magical portrait shot of your friend’s child, etc.). You will need to invest in a decent tripod and ball head and get rid of your Ritz camera cheap crap. You’ll need UV and Polarizer filters for the various lenses you own (most of them of different diameters). And just when you have amassed all this, it’ll be time to upgrade the body to the latest and greatest.
As one of those people belonging to the tribe of married people, it’s not easy to justify all of the above with the powers that be. So, one has to make compromises. My recent find to avoid unpleasant discussions at home of the financial kind, is a tiny company called Borrowlenses.com. Based in the Bay Area, they specialize in renting lenses, tripods, and even camera bodies to those of us who have to make do with limited photography budgets. I recently rented a super wide angle lens (12-24mm) for a two week holiday and the experience was so smooth and the results (from the lens) were so extraordinary that I thought it’ll do good to give them a plug here. You don’t have to live in the Bay Area to rent from them. They’ll ship the items to you wherever you are based in the US but of course if you live here, you have the option to go pick up the lens in person from a camera store in San Mateo and thus save on shipping costs. Check them out before you decide to go splurge on a fancy new lens (or even a new SLR).
Hey Anup, thx for sharing that link. I completely agree that getting into photography can be quite an investment (as I’m starting to find myself). Another idea you might try is to join up with a local photography group - there’s a group here in AZ and most of the members are completely cool with letting a n00b try out their lenses (I’m not sure about borrowing), that way you could see if the lens is worth the investment. Also, there’s a chance that you’ll get first dibs on their used equipment when the time comes for them to sell. Of course, there is also eBay and Bizrate for bargain hunting and check out Amvona.com for some good deals on decent tripods.
BTW, I can’t remember but are you (or anyone else here) on Flickr? If so, let me know what your user name is and I’ll add you to my contacts - mine is Since76.
Tomas, thanks for the link to Amvona. Seems interesting and I’ll check it out later. You are right, I should probably join some local interest groups. I am planning to take some serious photography courses taught by professionals this year. After playing with my D200 for all of last year, I feel like I am ready to take it up a notch or two this year. I just added you as my contact on flickr.
About people willing to share their lenses with you, I have noticed that this is true even when traveling to places far and wide. During a recent trip to Turkey, I was at the top of the ruins of an ancient Roman stadium (in Ephesus) and taking lots of photographs with a 12-24mm lens when a much older gentleman came by and asked me to put on the tiny lens he had in his hand. He had the same camera and the lens he gave me to try on was a Nikon 10.5mm fisheye. I was genuinely pleased by this gesture and the results were spectacular, to say the least. We ended up chatting a lot about photography (he was a pro from NYC and specializes in concert photography) and he shared a lot of tips with me. I was grateful for that experience.
Anup, that’s a cool story. I have a buddy at work who started going to the ASU football and basketball games and was even able to obtain a media pass even though he had just started taking pictures. On one occasion, one of the veteran photographers saw that he was struggling to get off good shots and was cool enough to setup his camera for indoor sports - I think most photographers are more than willing to help a fellow photographer out.
BTW, check out Ken Rockwell’s website if you haven’t done so already - he offers some really interesting articles about photography and equipment. Also, check out Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson if you get a chance - the local library or bookstore should have a copy - it’s a great read.
Another thing that I did to save some cash was to buy a set of large filters for my lenses (77mm) and then I grabbed some cheap step up rings from Adorama (Brand:Adorama, Type:Step-Up Rings) so I could use them on all my smaller lenses.
Thanks for the Flickr ad!