Mirrorless.. evolution not revolution…
Before I get onto my thoughts on this I want to run you through a quick list of my own camera & photographic history?!
1st ever camera - Pentax P30 ( film )
2nd camera - Cano EOS 1000f ( film )
3rd camera - Canon EOS 1v ( film )
4th camera - Nikon FM2 ( film )
5th Camera - Leica R8 ( film )
6th camera - Canon EOS 1ds ( digital )
7th Camera - Canon EOS 1ds Mark II
8th camera - Canon EOS 5D & 6D
9th Camera - Canon EOS 1dx ( using )
10th Camera - Ricoh Pentax 645Z ( using)
So as you can see my own camera history isn’t that plentiful to be honest. Above all I think it proves one thing, that I don’t change cameras too often! The 10 cameras above are spread over 34 years! Amazing really when you consider a lot of photographers are switching gear every year or so but the big difference is that technology is moving so fast these days, different to when film was the only option so options are there and they are there every year, changing, evolving all the time.
FILM…. REMEMBER THAT ? ( IF YOU’RE UNDER 30 YOU PROBABLY WONT! )
My first film camera was bought as a gift on my 15 birthday by my mother, a film SLR Pentax. I am embarrassed to say and much to my mothers distain I left it on the bus 2 weeks after receiving it! Complete with a roll of t-max 100 inside from a shoot at the barbers shop! ( I wonder where that is now! ) Anyway after suffering 3 weeks of being grounded for the privilege I saved up and bought another Pentax to replace it. This camera took me through my teen years and to university where I bought my first Canon camera, a Canon EOS 1000f. This Canon offering took me through 3 years at Uni and to India twice amongst many other shoots ( including the infamous Anti Natzi Riot in London in 1993 - the first time I bumped into my then hero Don McCullin - another time for that story! )
Changing and developing film was all a huge part of what we did back then. I couldn’t wait to get back home to my darkroom and develop the negs - always in awe when viewing the contact sheets afterwards - watching the imagery magically appear in the developer before me in the red light of the darkroom.
After leaving uni in 1995 I found myself sitting in a coffee shop with a fellow photographer chatting about our next move. After picking up a copy of a newspaper - there was an advert in the back for Cruise Ship photographers wanted in the Caribbean! Over £10k in debt I was drawn in. A week later I had an interview in London and 2 weeks after that I was on a plane to Miami! Joining the ship we had to buy 2 Nikon FM2 camera bodies and these would see us through our time onboard. Together with Sunpack flashes ( never worked) this would be our weapon for work for the next 6 years. I remember the only question usually asked by other photographers was - “ what film do you use?” hardly ever, “ what camera have you got?” Things have changed.
LEICA
It had always been a dream of mine to own a Leica camera and in the summer of 1998 I had saved up enough money whilst in Miami to buy one with a 24-80mm & 24mm lenses ( which I still have to this day!) Using the Nikon for work and the Leica for play! I then not forgetting about my Canon days also bought a super fast Canon EOS 1V ( which I still have also) . Many many rolls of film passed through both of my film cameras either developing them onboard or shoreside. After 6 1/2 years in Miami I ventured back to the UK to set up my own business shooting weddings & portraits - I continued to shoot with my Canon & Leica cameras for over 3 years until the Canon EOS 1ds came along in 2002 ( purchased in 2003 ) my first digital camera!
FIRST DIGITAL BODY..
I waited for this camera to come out as it was one of the first full frame bodies to be released at a fabulous 11 MP!! Being used to shooting with a large viewfinder camera ( Leica R8 ) this was the camera for me. Using the 1ds until I then changed to the Canon EOS 1ds Mark II in Feb 2007. Upgrading in pixels, speed & focussing. Using this camera until again upgrading in July 2009 to the Mark III version. This was to remain my camera until June 2016! It was stolen from me after a shoot in London, to say I was heart broken is an understatement! I had been through a lot with that camera including 4 shutters, a few million clicks , around the world a couple of times to countries including - India, Canada, USA , China & Europe. I then bought a Canon EOS 1dx camera which I use to this day. At some point in those years I also owned a Canon 5D which I won in a competition and a Canon 6D ( both being used as back up bodies ) .
MEDIUM FORMAT
In 2015 I asked to borrow a medium format camera for a shoot I was having with a circus. From that shoot Ricoh Pentax approached me and asked if I would like to be their European Ambassador for the medium format Pentax 645z - I jumped at the chance! No other camera and I am being honest here has made me shoot in a different way other than this camera - to see what I think about the Z CLICK HERE.
TODAY..
So onto Mirrorless cameras. As a friend recently said to me - “ it’s evolution not revolution!” which I have to say I agree with. Yes there will be teething problems - maybe the reason why Nikon & Canon are holding fire! Watching the others and taking note of the good & bad things going on. No doubt they have the technology but drip feeding the market is the way to go. I always say if a camera feels right then use it. The ability to follow face focus, to be completely silent, to have a camera that can perform but won’t break your arms( weight wise!), to get images in focus in the darkest of conditions- the list is probably endless.
It’s exciting times for sure but don’t just change because that’s what everyone else is doing. All Photographers will work at a different pace and the time for change will come to some and not to others. Many photographers jumped ship and have after a few months returned to their original choices sighting differences with the technology they moved too. Love it or hate it ,it is a different way of shooting, of thinking for sure. It can become too easy , allowing the camera to decide on too many things when the photographer should always be in charge. Look at our phones today, what an amazing thing that is ( & potentially destructive! - a discussion for another day). But the technology is with us all the time. Who used to take pictures every day 20 years ago? Not too many people every second of every day! Now everyone has the power to take a photograph, be it good or not is irrelevant because it will be appreciated by someone and therefore it has a place ( again another day on this one! )
Camerawise mirrorless technology is here and it is here to stay. Embrace it yes but do it when the time is right for you, not just to follow. Use the technology on offer but don’t let it command you.
I may be old fashioned on some things but my work isn’t & the images do the talking & technology is here to stay whether we like it or not!
QUICKFIRE Q&A.
Are you still achieving imagery that you dreamt of taking? Yes is the answer, using 6 or 7 yr old technology.
Can you get better at this time in your life? Probably but kit isn’t the answer for me at this time! Inspiration & time are key for me to allow myself to see better and refine my process.
Will you ever switch to mirrorless? Yes for sure, it’s a natural thing to move on but for me only when I am limited by my equipment & right now I am not.
Be the best you can be with what you have. Practice, practice again and then some more. This is what will make you better, not a new camera. No matter how good it feels! There is no fast track to success, it takes a lot of hard work and when you think you’re there you’ve got to keep going to the next step and chapter of your photography life. Embrace technology yes but don’t let it take over…
