#they can borrow f2 cars for a few days
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You know how some sports leagues have all star weekends that don’t count towards anything? Formula 1 needs something like that where everyone races in the same exact car
#imagine max and charles and lewis and lando and fernando and alex straight up competing for real#a girl can dream#they can borrow f2 cars for a few days#f1#formula1#formulaone#formula 1#formula one
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7. Maybe together we can get somewhere
Masterlist - Previously - Next
Chapter soundtrack: Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
The sun was piercing through the curtains, waking up Julia. She took her time getting out of bed, letting the memories over the previous night rush over her. She took a quick shower before putting on an old Ferrari tee-shirt that she once borrowed from her dad (and never gave back) and some sweatpants. She was going to work a little bit on the data that some engineer from Warsaw had sent yesterday. She needed to be comfortable. A quick detour to the kitchen to make herself some toast and a cappuccino and she was ready to face her day. She came back to her room and sat at her desk. Before logging in, she unplugged her phone and quickly wen through the few texts messages and social media notifications. Her gaze was attracted by a name trending on Twitter and soon a text message from the same person that was under the spotlight on the app.
It worked.
She knew that she should stay away from the posts on social media, but curiosity got the better of her. She clicked on Ethan’s name and soon she was overwhelmed with pictures of them in the restaurant and hundreds of comments of people trying to guess who the girl in the pictures was. Investigations had begun and Julia knew it was only a matter of time before they get to her. A part of her knew that nothing would give away that it was her. The picture was blurry, the only thing you could see was her back and a brunette wearing a black dress was something pretty common. That was the rational part of her brain that was talking. But the tiny insecure one couldn’t help but play the devil’s advocate. What if someone had seen her and decided to speak? What if there were other pictures that were not online yet and someone decided to release them? Monaco was after all a small city, almost a village where everyone knew everyone. She could feel herself spiralling and nausea coming over her. She only had time to go to the toilet before emptying her stomach.
“Julia? Are you okay,” asked her mom that was passing by.
She knelled beside her daughter and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“I’m fine, I must have eaten something that my stomach didn’t like yesterday, that’s it.”
“You sure? Did everything go well yesterday? I didn’t hear you coming back.”
Julia’s only answer was to throw up again. It was as if her body was trying to tell her that the whole thing was a bad idea. She felt her mom’s cold hand on her neck and then moving up to her forehead.
“I’m not sick, mom.”
“You are throwing up and you are shivering, excuse me to feel a little worried.”
“It’s just the stress. That’s it. We have a lot of work to do…”
It was not a lie. It was just not the reason why Julia felt so sick.
“I knew it might not be a good idea to let you work in F1 right after graduating…” she heard her mom sigh.
“That’s my dream. I don’t want to work anywhere else.”
“I know, but sometimes you have to delay your dreams in order to feel ready. Maybe you could have started in F2, I know Fred still have some ties with Art Grand Prix…”
“No! I’m okay. I just need to get used to the pressure and I’ll be fine.” explained Julia, getting up.
“Come with me, I was about to make myself some tea. I’ll make you one. You need to drink.
Julia followed her mom as they make their way to the kitchen. Julia sat on a bar stool and watched silently her making the water boil in the kettle. The comfort silence was suddenly interrupted by angry footsteps coming from her father’s office. She heard him hanging up his phone call with rage and barging through the kitchen’s doors before sitting on the stool next to her. From the corner of her eyes she saw her mom taking another mug from the cabinet and pour a third cup of tea for her dad.
“What is happening?” asked Charles’ wife.
“We are screwed. We are not going to win a championship this year. It’s over. Lamborghini won.” he explained.
“Didn’t take you for a quitter, honey. That’s not the man I married.”
“It’s just… the data between the simulation and the actual data we collect during the race are strictly different. We are losing speed during straight lines, with or without DRS. We don’t know where the problem comes from yet, but I just had a call with our technical director isn’t optimistic about the upgrades we are working on for the Casa Grand Prix. I know I shouldn’t tell you that Julia, but I needed to let this out.”
Julia had rarely seen her dad so defeated and frustrated. Sure it happened before, when he was still driving, but he never was under the amount of pressure a Team Principal could receive and Julia could see the toll it was taking in him. She drank the rest of her tea in one gulp and went back to her room. Rummaging through her suitcase, she finally found the envelope she was searching for. She took out the USB drive and plugged it in her computer. In front of her eyes, dozen of documents could be seen. Pictures of the car, of notes taken by engineers, of date displaying on screens even blueprints of the car that Ethan might have copied from someone else’s computer. She was impressed by the dedication of her fake boyfriend to get her onboard. He really was not joking when he told her that he had important pieces of information. Of course, some things were lacking but Julia knew that if she studied them really hard, she could fill the blanks. A least she hoped so.
Downtown Monte-Carlo, in his flat Ethan was expecting Maserati’s PR manager phone call and was not surprises when he received it, right after his morning run.
“What were you thinking? We asked you to fake settling down not keep acting like a dick!”
Ethan sighed before drinking a huge glass of water in one gulp.
“And I’m working on it, but I can’t appear at the next GP with a girl out of nowhere. We have to make it believable. That’s what I’m doing. I called the paps yesterday. It’s under control, relax.”
“Who is the girl?” she asked.
“Not going to say. You will corner her and make her sign stuff, I know you. I don’t want you to make her run away, it was hard enough to get her onboard.”
“Ethan…”
“No. You will know when I’ll deem it useful for you to know. For now it’s not the case, but don’t worry, she is perfect. You have to trust me.”
He couldn’t help but smile, imaging the PR officer probably rolling her eyes at the idea of having to trust him. She was pissed of, he could hear it. But he didn’t care. For once, he had control on his life. Ever since he started to get big and under the spotlight, people tried to get advantage of his image. He stopped counting the number of brands that contacted him and the photoshoots he had done in the past. And of course people that tried to use him because of his father. He was not stupid, contrary to what other people might think and what it seemed. He knew who he could trust and who he couldn’t. But as his dad once said to him, really early in his career: “ You will attract dishonest people like corpses attract vultures, don’t hesitate to use them the way they will use you.”
“You’ve never made it easy for us to trust you.”
“See that as a new start.” he replied.
Ashley ended the call, not without making him promise to not do anything stupid. They didn’t need another scandal. Right after hanging up, his phone rang again and the name of his mother appeared on the screen. Ethan wondered if he should ignore it. He knew why his mother was calling, she must had seen the pictures and she wanted to know everything. But Ethan knew better, if he was not answering she was perfectly capable to come to his place and that was the last thing he wanted.
“Mom…”
“Were you on a date yesterday?” was the first thing she asked.
“Oh I’m fine mom. My flight was amazing and I made it home safely. The beginning of the season is not so great but I hope it will get better. I’m so happy you asked.”
“Smartass. So, do I know her? Is she from Monaco? How long have you seen each other? Why am I not aware of anything? You don’t tell me anything about your life lately…” she complained.
“Maybe I’m not telling you anything because it’s always like this! You are intrusive. It doesn’t matter what i do or it’s not good enough or it’s too risky or it’s too stupid. But it’s my life. I’m not fifteen anymore, I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”
He didn’t know where this was coming from. Probably a mix of everything that had happened the last few days. He was tired, under pressure and a part of him was scared the whole fake-dating would turn sour really quickly. He din’t entirely trust Julia. After all, he was giving the responsibility to save his career to a girl that hated his guts.
“I’m worried about you. And I wouldn’t need to if you had given me reasons to trust you in the past.”
He knew this conversation was not going anywhere. They both were too stubborn to admit their wrongdoings.
“How is dad?” he asked.
“Don’t try to change the subject, I still want to know who that girl is.”
“And I won’t tell you.”
“Is she from Monaco? Or Italian maybe? Or French?”
“She is Monegasque, born and raised here. See, happy?” he ended up saying, fed up by her questions.
“Oh so I might know her, then. Monaco is not that big.”
Ethan knew his mom. She was going to dig he was sure of it and that was the last thing he wanted. Because she knew that she was going to talk to other people and soon everyone will know that Ethan was dating someone. And that would mess with the whole plan him and Julia had come up with.
“Mom, it’s still early and I’m not even sure it will lead anywhere. Please, I’m not asking for much just let me go at my own pace and if it becomes serious I’ll let you know. I promise. But for now it’s too soon.”
He heard her sigh.
“Fine. Just one more question. How long has it been going on? Because with the scandal…”
“It’s been a few weeks.”
And that was another lie he could add on the pile that was starting to get big. He had to explain it to Julia so they wouldn’t mess with their relationship timeline in case questions were raised.
“Okay. Well, I’m happy for you Ethan, really. And I will be waiting for the day I’ll get to meet her. I won’t force you to talk about her if you don’t feel ready but you must care a lot about her if you are asking me to not mingle in your life. I’m glad you are happy and you finally found someone you want to spend time with.”
Ethan couldn’t help but feel a pinch of regret in his heart. He could hear his mom being genuinely happy for him and he knew that if she happened to know about the lie, it would crush her. He said his goodbye to her, promising to visit her soon and decided to go out. He needed to clear his mind after this conversation and to forget how of a liar he had become in the span of a few days. He was not proud of it. He felt bad, but Ethan was ready to do anything to keep his seat, even if he had to go as far as lying and potentially hurting his loved ones. He just hoped that the truth would never see the light of the day.He put on a jacket that was lying on his couch and left his flat. It was windy in Monaco, even a bit chilly, he could feel the salty air coming from the sea on his face. He took a deep breath before turning his dead to the left to see if a car was passing by before crossing the road and was surprised to notice a silhouette that he was becoming familiar with running in his direction.
Her brown hair pulled in a ponytail was bouncing from left to right, rhythmically with her footsteps. When she finally arrived near him, she was breathless and bright red from her run. He was about to say something when she interrupted him, pointing her finger in front of his face, silently shutting him up.
“Louis knows.” she said.
Ethan took a minute to understand what she meant.
“He knows? About us? What did you tell him?”
“Nothing, I swear. My brother is a genius and knows me better than anyone. I didn’t say anything, he put 2 and 2 together. He thinks we are dating. ”
“But you didn’t deny it.”
“I don’t want to lie to him.”
“Well you did lie, because technically we are not dating for real.”
“I don’t want to lie to him more than necessary.” she added.
“My mom is suspicious. I mean, you know her, you know how much she likes gossips so it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that she knows about the rumours and she saw the pictures. It will probably only be a matter of time before she finds out about you and I.”
Julia leaned over the wall and let herself gliding to the floor. She didn’t think about that. She didn’t think about how great friends her mom and Ethan’s were. If Kat met up with Lyanna, chances were high that they would talk about their kids. And Ethan’s dating life would be mentioned and then Lyanna would probably tell Kat that Julia had been on a date, because Julia knew for sure that her mom didn’t believe her when she said she was going to meet some friends. And then, their cover would blow up. Their moms would questioned them. Julia closed her eyes and try to take a deep breath that was soon caught up in her throat preventing her from exhaling normally. She tried to stand and started to pace back in forth, her breathing shallow, to organised her thoughts. But no matter how hard she tried to compartment her thoughts, new ones were adding up to the pile and she soon felt like the whole world was crushing down on her shoulders. She tried to keep the tears from falling by shaking her head but it was no use.
Ethan didn’t know what to do and he ended up doing the one thing he thought about. He put his body in front of her and his two hands on her shoulders firmly, forcing her to stop. She looked at him, anchoring herself in his blue eyes that was staring at her with a harden look.
“Julia… hey, Joolsie. Stop and listen to me. We are in this shit together, I dragged you into it. I may be an ass but i’m not ungrateful. You were kind enough to help me and you will go through enough of shit because of me. I promise you, I will try to make this whole dating thing the less painful possible. I owe you a big one, I’m not going to let you down. And you know me, you know that when I promise something, I don’t back down on it.”
It calmed her down a little bit. They tacitly decided to walk along the harbour, as Ethan lived nearby and they knew that there wouldn’t be a lot of people. The walk was silent as they didn’t know what to say. Julia was still deep in her thoughts and Ethan was eyeing her from the side. She really looked like Charles, he thought. The same way to carry themselves, the same hazel eyes, the same driven attitude and fiery look when they set their eyes on something. He never really paid attention before. He would even go as far as to say that she was pretty and in another life, she would have been his type. But she was Julia and he was Ethan and so, he put this thought in a box and far away in his mind.
They found a quiet spot away from the main road and near the sea. They sat on the only bench and looked at the coastline.
“This is my favourite place when I need somewhere to cool off.” Ethan told her, breaking the silence.
“Mine is the big cabin in our garden, at home. It’s used as a screaming room when someone needs to let go of some stress or anger. It was my mom’s idea, so no one would shout again one another and Louis had somewhere to go if he felt the need to be on his own, in a safe environment.” she explained with a bittersweet smile when she mentioned her brother.
“How is he? Is he still home schooled?”
“Yeah. It’s still hard for him to be around a lot of people for more than an hour…”
“But, how can he get used to it if your parents keep him sheltered?”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell them but… they are scared I guess.”
‘It must be hard, no? To have a brother like him.’
He saw her glared at him and added quickly that in no mean did he think that Louis wasn’t normal.
“He has ups and down. Like everyone, I guess. But his are always very high or very low. He doesn’t know how to recognise what he feels. It can take him days to put a word on a feeling. So, yeah… it’s hard. Sometimes it feels like no matter what we all do to help him, it’s not enough.”
“Does he have friends or is he really lonely?”
“He has Percy, Lando’s son. I don’t know if Louis considers him as friend, but I know that they chat online from time to time. That’s the closest thing he has of a friend and contact with the outside world.” she fidgeted with her red bracelet, her gaze set on it.
“And you, do you have friends, Joolsie?”
She was about to answer when a girl interrupted them. She was young, probably around fourteen years old with blond curls falling down on her shoulders.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt but, are you Ethan Verstappen?”
Julia looked away and put distance between them as Ethan replied with a smiled and posed with the girl for a selfie. As she left, not without thanking Ethan one last time and wishing him the best of luck for the season, they left their spot and wandered off the street. As they were planning their next move, Julia’s phones buzz and a text from her mom appeared on the screen.
It’s getting late, Ju’. Are you far from home?
She looked at the time and realised that she was almost late for dinner and the sun was about to set.
“I have to go. I don’t want to upset my mom more than she probably already is, I didn’t realise that it was late. We’ve been out for hours, I didn’t notice.” she told Ethan.
“Who would have thought that we could manage to stay out together for hours and not rip each other’s heads off? Look, we made it out alive. Maybe, this whole fake dating thing might work.” Ethan teased her.
She laughed slightly before waving him goodbye.
When she finally got back home and was surprised to see her dad playing with Bailey and her ball. He was sitting down on the stairs of the porch and seemed down which alarmed Julia. She didn’t like seeing him like this because it meant that something happened with Louis.
“Dad? Is everything okay?”
He looked up to her and sighed, before scooting over to give her some space to sit down.
“I messed up with your brother. Again.” he confessed with a low voice.
“What happened?” she asked gently putting her head on his shoulder as she felt her dad’s cheek resting on the top of her head.
“I involuntarily triggered him and now he locked himself in his room and doesn’t want to see anyone. He… he was playing piano and I… I’m stupid. I just thought that maybe I could play with him, that it could be a nice bonding moment. That if I can’t get through him with words maybe I can let music do the talking, you know? I startled him. I know that I should have made myself seen. Instead I just went and scared him. He started to panic because he didn’t feel that I was around and I tried to reassure him. I naturally put a hand on his shoulder and I shouldn’t have. I know that he doesn’t like when someone touch him without his permission. And he started to scream. The more I was trying to calm him down, the worst I made everything.”
“It’s not your fault, dad…” Julia tried to comfort him.
“I fail him, Ju’. Times and times again. I’ve always failed him and I keep on doing so. Why am I such a bad dad to him?”
“You’re not a bad dad. You try your best, like you always do. And maybe it won’t be today or tomorrow, but I know that it will get better. Because when you want something, you do everything you can to achieve it.”
She felt her dad’s head nuzzling against hers and his embrace being stronger.
“I love you, princess. I feel like I don’t tell you that enough.”
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it before standing up. The house was quiet. Her feet dragged her to her brother’s bedroom where her mother was talking to a closed door.
“Louis, baby, please open the door. Talk to me, please. Daddy is so sorry he didn’t want any of that to happen.”
She seemed tired and Julia regretted to have not come back earlier. Maybe if she had been there, the incident wouldn’t have happened.
“Mom? I’m taking it from here. Go see dad, I think he needs you.”
“You sure?”
Julia nodded and when her mom was out of sight she stuck her ear against the door, trying to hear something from the inside.
“Hey munchkin. Can I come in? I promise you, it’s only me.”
She waited for what felt like minutes before the door opened slightly. It was just a crack but it was big enough to allow Julia to slip through it. Louis was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall near the door. Getting closer to him, Julia noticed he was shaking slightly. She sat beside him, careful to not go to close in case it would trigger another crisis.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked softly, her voice barely a whisper.
“Dad hates me.” he ended up saying, is voice hoarse from the screaming and the crying.
“Why would you think that?”
“I just know it. He is ashamed of me.”
“Louis… it’s not true. You know that.”
“Yes it is. I surprised a conversation between him and mom once. I know it’s bad to eavesdrop and I didn’t want to but then I heard my name…”
“What did you hear?”
“Dad saying that he would have loved to have a son that was into racing and who would have been like him. That he would have loved to know how grandpa was feeling when dad was competing in karting. Because it would have brought him closer to his dad. He would have preferred to have a normal son and not a weirdo like me. He didn’t say that but it felt like it.”
Julia didn’t really know what to say but one thing was for sure, she knew that Louis had misinterpreted whatever he had heard and was not meant to. She would talk to her mom about it later.
“Normality is overrated Louis. And I wouldn’t want another brother. You are perfect just the way you are.”
It made him feel a little bit better. At least he wasn’t shaking anymore. She pulled out of her pockets his favourite sweets that she always kept on her in case of emergency occurring with him. The smile that she managed to get it from him, made her happy and it’s with a lighter heart that she went back to her room. As she was about to plugged her phone, she saw he text from Ethan, appearing at the top of her notifications.
Hey, I hope you made it home safe and sound. The fan that asked for a picture earlier posted it online and she said that I was with who she thought was my girlfriend. It’s on a lot of gossip accounts. Just thought that I should let you know. Take care.
Julia gulped. Of course it was something that she imagined could have happened but she was so used to control everything that this slight inconvenience in their plan well thought was enough to make her anxious. It was real now, they could not back down. She couldn’t, not anymore. She opened Instagram and went to her profile. Maybe it was time for her to make it public. It would give her a sense of control over what was posting about her. She went in the app setting and opened the access to her profile.
author's note: This chapter was a pain in the ass to write so I'm very curious to have your thoughts about this one.
Don't hesitate to leave a comment or an ask, as well as reblogging and leaving a like. It helps a lot for the story to find its audience. I also have a taglist for this story, so if you want to be added so you never miss a chapter, let me know.
Taglist:
@herondalism @aundercover @musingsbyshreya @karmabyfernando @reengard @mycenterfold @smoooothoperator
#writing#fiction#charles leclerc#max verstappen#charles leclerc fanfic#max verstappen fanfic#f1 story#f1 fic#f1 x reader#f1 imagine#f1 fanfic#f1 x oc
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A Double Life
A self-indulgent Daniel Ricciardo fic.
Summary: Returning to old passions results in the start of chaos and living a double life. We say we hate chaos, but the thrill is unlike anything else.
Word count: 2698
Masterlist
It was supposed to be a simple celebration, a week's retreat for all of you who were starting your four-year journey in the centre for doctoral training programme. It was merely a chance to get to know one another, have some fun, go hiking, go-karting, discuss your PhD projects and talk about the conferences you dreamed of attending.
It was all that and more, you made a lot of friends, ate a lot of food and had many an intriguing discussion regarding projects. It was fun, it was a celebration. However, it also turned into the start of the strangest season of your life.
Obviously, with there being a large group of 20-somethings, a majority of the week was spent on the karting track. With the number of people in your cohort, you could only go onto the racing track a group at a time, meaning there was a healthy amount of watching and betting who would be fastest around the track. Now you had always loved go-karting; you’d raced pretty seriously until you were around ten years old but having to move for your dad’s job meant stopping. After a few years, all you could manage was going with your friends and family on the odd occasion. However, after that move, your parents had always pushed you into other sports like martial arts and swimming.
Being back on the track for the week was invigorating and you were loving every second of it. It was like muscle memory to you, you could feel the addictive feeling of speeding round the track trying to beat your previous times rushing back. That, and you were consistently seconds, tens of seconds, faster than everyone else. An ego boost was always welcome, you hadn’t lost the knack for driving then.
It didn’t take long for the track staff to take notice of this high-speed consistency you had been producing. As was customary in such an occasion, the ‘emergency scout signal’ was sent out to racing team. Any time new talent arrived, the so-called bat signal went up for the scouts to come and investigate.
Scout they did. They came to lurk around the track and see if there was a fuss to be made. Day after day, a larger crowd of people in suits and various uniforms, carrying clipboards, huddled at key corners of the track and by what you could call the ‘stadium section’. Every time you were stood trackside you had a clear view of their furious note taking, a curious sight you thought.
Apparently, they were impressed enough by what you could do in a standard hire go-kart that you were approached for a drive assessment. At least that was what they said. You, being naïve, gave them your number anyway – reasoning the worst thing to come of it is some dodgy cold calls.
At the end of the week you went back to university. You went to classes, you started reading up on your project, you did your lab training. Life, initially, carried on as normal.
Until it didn’t.
They did phone you, and they were really looking for you to do a driver’s assessment. They booked a time for you to come down to Silverstone, organising for a range of cars being brought down for you to test on the track of your home grand prix. They sent you a pack of documents to read, health forms and things of the like. You had six weeks to prepare.
In those six weeks you also had four assessed presentations and a draft project introduction to write for your confirmation paper. By the time your trip to Silverstone was near, you had been in overdrive trying to cram the information packs they’d sent, hoping and praying you’d remember enough.
You couldn’t believe the number of people who had come to watch you drive in circles in a simulator and then on a track. Apparently ‘a scout’ meant all the teams that wanted to watch, and if they liked you, try to out-bid the other teams. You thought all this for one person seemed excessive. You met so many people, you couldn’t possible keep track of names and who was who. There were actual talent scouts, team principals, radio engineers, mechanics and random people whose job was a mystery. Everyone who was anyone seemed to be there. Was this normal?
Once you got the hang of the simulator and remembered which button did what, you grew to really enjoy the race simulator. Getting to wear all the kit was extremely exciting, as it had been so long for you and after an hour or so on that, you were grinning from ear to ear. You couldn’t help but think that no matter what happened at the end of the day, you were having the time or your life right now. You felt like that ten-year-old winning her karting league, all over again.
You were experiencing a sort of déjà vu as turned to look at those sat around you. Just like at the karting track, people were furiously scribbling notes onto clipboards, motioning to team members and communicating in hushed voices. You sat patiently waiting for your next instructions. Finally, someone had a new task.
“Get her in a Formula 3 car. Let’s see her on the track.” You recognised this man from the track but you were still somewhat confused as to who he worked for.
Still in your borrowed gear, they helped you into the car, double and triple checking you knew what was where, even though you had been cramming this information for weeks. With a final nod they wheeled you out the garage and onto the track. The lights went out and you were off.
"Incredible.” The most common comment uttered, repeated over and over again. You had collected several impressive lap times.
“Get a few drivers out there, see how she copes.”
With his command, three test drivers that were here for a nosey suited up as quickly as possible, getting out on the track to provide a comparison to your driving and see how you reacted to sharing the track. It’s all well and good being a good driver but if you can’t compete, you won’t get a seat.
“I was not expecting this.”
You obviously weren’t leading the pack, no one expected you to given your experience. However, you were holding your own in the group, something that wasn’t a guarantee.
“Do we have an F1 test car?”
“You’re kidding.”
“No, do we have a car?”
“She’s not even got a super licence!”
“Look at those corners – she’s not driven competitively in a decade and she’s making those, imagine what she could do with coaching.”
A voice was raised from the back of the crowd.
“Why bother, there’s not been a female driver at that level for 40 years, there won’t be one now. She might make F2 with a lot of help, but she’ll go no further.”
“Talent has no gender. If she can drive, and there’s a seat, she will.”
You were no less shocked than the others at being given a shot in an F1 test car, and knew this was going to be a once in a lifetime drive. You knew you had to pull out a good few laps, take some risks, and that you did.
After that drive, many teams were interested in you, unfortunately not many had seats for the next Formula 3 season. With a seat becoming available unexpectedly, you began discussions with Prema racing, as well as being welcomed onto the Mercedes development drivers’ squad. There had been the need initially to have a conversation with both the team and your university speaking about the commitments each required and seeing very few instances for overlaps, agreed to support you.
That was the start of the chaos.
What you soon discovered was that doing a PhD and training to become a Formula 3 driver at the same time was no joke. And by no joke you meant two more-than-full-time jobs at the same time was exhausting. You joked that you barely had time to sleep but that wasn’t too far from the truth. Routine was your new best friend. Every minute of every hour of every day was planned and had to be kept to as much as possible. If you didn’t stick to your routine at all, you genuinely didn’t feel like you had time to sleep.
With the size of cars used in track racing, a normal driver’s licence wasn’t going to cut it, as you discovered during one of the initial meetings with your new team.
“You need a super licence before we can get you legally on the track to race.”
“Do I need to parallel park?” Was your immediate response.
“No?” Several of the team management seemed confused.
“Awesome when can I do it then?”
You’d proved you could drive the cars, you just needed to do it with the right person watching now.
---
With your contracts signed rumours began to circle. With your new-found team being one of the best, regularly the best, in formula 3, there was a large interest in how you would fair. Would you crash and burn under the pressure? How could you just jump back into racing? It was uncommon, if not unheard of, to have a racer re-join after a decade of being uncompetitive, let alone a racer who had a second job. Your own team wondered if would you be able to balance the two lives?
In an attempt to raise more publicity for the formula 3, potentially the formula 2 circuits, as well as capitalise on the interest shown in your career as a driver, a show was going to be produced. You had always hated reality TV shows, and yet you were now set to be the star of one. Oh, the irony.
Formula three has eight rounds between May and September, so the first, and potentially only depending on how this year goes, season of ‘your’ show, would focus on the changes needed to turn you from PhD student to racing driver. It would join you at the start of your training, finding a performance coach come personal trainer, finding your feet in racing politics, learning the ins and outs of your car better than you knew yourself, and then when May came around, follow you through your races.
With the amount of time you were due to spend being filmed, which was effectively your entire life, it was impossible to not become close friends with the crew. At times you weren’t sure what you would’ve done without them. You would occasionally have moments of feeling swamped and overwhelmed. With the amount of lab work you had on, as well as physical training and everything else that came with preparing for the upcoming season, you were constantly running from city to city and track to track for testing.
You’d always been a big believer that friendships that didn’t need constant contact were the true lifelong ones, but it became your reality. You simply couldn’t text people at all hours of the day and you could feel a few people dropping out of your circle of friends and there was little you could do about it. Your crew was like a little family and they were your constants, your rock.
One of the weirdest things for you was having no one at the university, with the exception of your supervisors, have any clue what your other job was, and no one in F3 outside of your team knew that you had a second job. Both knew you were being filmed for a show but neither fully understood the extent or reason why. With that meant that both were complaining about you ‘not taking things seriously enough’. If only they could see your schedule you thought every time you overheard one of those comments. You had originally thought it easier to keep things separate, wanting to succeed on merit over anything else.
Whilst you were so very close to your crew, there were times you needed a different perspective on things, especially with how people were talking. Frequently you would complain about those comments to your mentor, a luxury you had as a result of being a part of the Mercedes development drivers’ squad. It was one of the less well-known perks, with the aims to support drivers in all areas of the racing world with someone who’s been through it all. That was yet another whirlwind for you. Your mentor, one who’s definitely been round the ringer, was THE Lewis Hamilton. Like world champion Lewis Hamilton. Lewis Hamilton had the time of day (or night as it often was) to let you complain to him about people being bitchy. Initially, you were terrified; who were you to bother him and ask silly questions? Lewis seemingly knew this and kept organising times to meet with you on your off weekends.
Some weeks he would just have you over to his place in London for dinner, others it would be karting trips or fashion shows. All sorts of activities to connect with you. Lewis made it clear that he wasn’t here to be a middle man for management, keeping an eye on you, he was here to be a friend and to help you to be the best person you could be. Honestly, he had a lot of older brother vibes and you were very on board with it. You could ring him late at night, stressed about lab work and he would sit and listen to you – nothing to do with racing, but it was a part of your life and he was there to support you. Your friendship with Lewis was natural, almost like kindred spirits. The two of you were very in tune with each other and it wasn’t long until you were welcomed in as a part of the family.
After eight months of intense studying, training and testing, you boarded a flight to Spain, ready to take your maiden drive in a supercar. As fate would have it, being scouted in September just prior to the end of the last season, seemed to provide you a good, if slightly tight, amount of time to prepare and allow them to get you into the car for the next season. You were obviously nervous but feeling ready to get out there and prove that you deserved that seat, deserved to be driving for Prema. You’d been spending a lot of evenings in the simulator so you were feeling okay with knowing your racing lines so the main source of your nerves now was what the other drivers were like. You were happy with your teammates having met them at testing over the summer, you knew the three of you would have fun throughout the season. Lewis was there to remind you that friends were a by-product of racing and bonus, you just had to do your job first.
Lewis’ impact on your racing experience was invaluable. He was so supportive of you throughout those last few months of pre-season training and really helped to give you the best start to your season. Lewis was also sweet enough to come and see how you were getting on throughout the weekend, with the F1 Spanish Grand-Prix being the same weekend, although it was well into his season. You really appreciated his support, especially with all the extra pep talks he was giving you.
What a start to the season it was as well, race 1 saw you enter the points and race 2 had even larger improvements with a top-five finish. You were thrilled, Lewis was chuffed for you and your bosses were certainly happy with the start of your season.
Things looked good. Your season was off to a great start and thankfully it didn’t overlap with any studies; plenty of time to memorise data and racing lines and plenty of times to prepare for your confirmation paper. Your double life was finely balanced but you seemed to have the will to keep things in check.
Part 2
#studentville-struggles#daniel ricciardo#f1#f1 fic#f1 imagines#daniel ricciardo fic#daniel ricciardo imagine#lewis hamilton#lewis hamilton fic#lewis hamilton imagine#motorsport#motorsport imagines#rachel tries to write
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On Safari with Fujinon XF200 F2
On Safari with Fujinon XF200 F2
One Camera One Lens
When one of the world's best photographers emails, and asks if you would co-host exclusive photographic safari with three of the world's top wildlife photographers. I didn't have to think about it too long; I waited for the obligatorily 5 seconds before accepting, after all, I didn't want to seem to keen.
On arrival, at the safari lodge, I have to admit I was somewhat overawed, it's not every day you get to meet your photography heroes. I did my best to remain calm. Then my fellow co-hosts unloaded their camera gear. I lost count of the long lenses, 800mm, 600mm, 500mm, 80-400mms, various pro DSLR bodies plus smaller focal length lenses...
I was the only FujiFilm and mirrorless wildlife photographer.
I couldn't help but enquire from my fellow wildlife photographers about their gear. They told me that they were sponsored by Nikon, Canon, Leica respectively As brand ambassadors, they didn't purchase their camera gear. I have to admit I was somewhat envious of them.
FujiFilm South Africa had received the new Fujinon XF 200 F2 lens. I rang and asked if I could borrow the new Fujinon XF 200. A few days later they agreed. They sent a FujiFilm XT-3 , That was music to my ears. I was excited to test the new flagship camera. I left behind my Fujifilm XT-2 as I deemed it surplus to my requirements. A costly mistake or serendipitous?
The photography workshop clients would arrive in two days. We photographers used that time to familiarise ourselves with the game reserve, our rangers and of course each other. A more friendly an inspiring group of wildlife photographers I could not have asked for, there was the usual banter about camera gear, and my FujiFilm XH-1 was given the nickname “the sewing machine” due to its quiet shutter.
To be honest I think my photography peers might have been slightly envious, as time and time again when out on safari, the DSLR cameras sounded like "machine gun fire " in burst mode, it was so loud that on more than one occasion it caused our wildlife subjects to scamper away, resulting in what I call " Butt Pics".
With the quiet shutter speed of my Fujifilm XH-1, I had the opposite results and was able to photograph the natural behaviour of my subjects.
There is nothing more rewarding to a wildlife photographer than to be accepted by your subject, allowing you to concentrate on capturing beautiful behaviour photographs.
I was excited to test out the Fujifilm XT-3. On my first day of photography, I realised that I had given me a beta test prototype camera. The camera behaved erratically with the screen greying out or freezing. I tried removing batteries, but, eventually, I had to admit to defeat and retire the XT-3.
I was disappointed, as I wanted to test the new autofocus system. Instead of being upset I looked at the camera failure as a challenge, with the right mindset you can turn a negative situation into a positive one.
Now I had the dilemma of having only one camera body. I wanted to save face with my fellow photographers and clients. I told them that I was challenging myself on this safari. Keeping my photography simple by using "One Camera One Lens" This decision of using one camera and one lens turned out to be fortuitous.
The Fujinon XF 200 is a beast but in the best possible way. Yes, it is big and heavy in comparison to Fujifilm's other lenses. Compared to equivalent DSLR lenses it is lighter and shorter. Once I attached my FujiFilm XH-1 to this lens, it all made sense... this was why Fujifilm had made the XH-1, it was a perfect fit, the balance in hand was terrific. It was love at first sight, and I hadn't even taken a photograph.
I marvelled at the design, the build quality, the placement of buttons, aperture dial and the manual focus ring. I loved the off-white colour of the lens. Take a bow, engineers and designers at Fujifilm.
This lens will become the go-to lens for wildlife and action photographers. It will become a classic. It will send a message to all camera companies, Fujifilm is here to stay and are setting the standard bar high, very high.
Our photography clients arrived, and after introductions and briefing, we were assigned clients for the day. My role was to explain not just the technical side of photography, but my style of photography, how and why I would choose a particular subject to photograph.
Our first encounter was a herd of elephants. Typically I would be reaching for my XF 50-140mm as the Elephants were close. Photographing with the XF 200, I challenged myself to find interesting compositions with this focal length. At first, I found it daunting and began to doubt myself.
After a while, my mind's eye began to find interesting elements and compositions. I have a "Celtic Zen" way of photographing, within, my brain and heart are battling to balance creativity with the technical side, on the outside I am calm and relax, I enter almost a meditative state, and when I awake from my reverie I realise that I have witnessed and photographed something beautiful.
When I photograph with any long lens be it my 100-400mm zoom or this XF200, I will never handhold unless I have no choice. I always use some form of stabilisation. In my case a big bean bag.
No matter how good you may believe you are hand holding a big lens, why take a chance and miss the opportunity of having a sharp image. It is always better to use a stable platform, tripod or bean bag.
The only issue I had with bean bag was from time to time I would accidentally move my aperture F Stop.
I was surprised by my results of using just one camera and one lens. I believe I have captured some of my best wildlife photographs.
"Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful"
When I photograph with a telephoto lens, I will never handhold the lens unless I have no choice. Having in body stabilisation and OIS on this lens does give me confidence if these situations arise, however, I always use a tripod mounted to a car bracket or a bean bag. Why risk getting a soft image by handholding when using a stable platform almost guarantees you a sharp image. Instead, give your self the best opportunity of getting the picture. The only issue I had with using the bean bag was from time to time I would accidentally move my aperture F-Stop.
The sharpness and contrast of the XF 200 have to be seen to be believed, Every night while downloading the day's images I would stop and marvel at the crisp sharpness and the excellent contrast of my photographs... the bokeh, oh the bokeh, creaminess and the wonderful out of focus background. Once viewed, I was so smitten, that nearly all my photographs were shot wide open. This allowed me to create beautiful out of focus images which in the past I was unable to do with my XF 100-400mm lens.
I am not a teleconverter fan, and in my DSLR days, I rarely used them. Results were decidedly mixed, often more soft focus images than sharp. I was pleasantly surprised to find that FujiFilm had included a 1.4 teleconverter with the XF 200, in 35mm terms a focal increase from 305mm to 428mm. I loved the combination of the XF 200 with the 1.4 Tele Converter, which only meant losing a stop in light from F2 to F2,8.
The extra reach proved invaluable, and the results were astounding. I have no qualms about photographing with this teleconverter. Once again Fujifilm has shown that they have the technological expertise that their equipment works seamlessly.
The Fujifilm XF 200mm image quality is simply stunning from F2-F11, edge to edge sharpness, achieving some of the best bokeh I have ever witnessed. Vignetting and chromatic aberrations are non-existent from f2-F11. This lens is for professional action and wildlife photographers, it is pricey, but you get what you pay for, a premium lens that will become the daily workhorse of any professional.
What are the benefits of photographing with one lens and one camera?
I believe the more constraints we put on ourselves, the more artistic and creative we will become. Your mind's eye adapts to the constraints actually I should say freedom as it was liberating not having to worry about lens choice. I truly believe as photographers sometimes we have too much gear, too much choice.
Less gear equals less stress which in returns equals better creativity.
I was overjoyed by my results and truly believe by photographing with just "One camera and One lens" It help me improve my photography and my creativity.
I urge you, no I challenge you, whatever genre you photograph, to try using "One camera and One lens" it is liberating and you too will be equally surprised as I was by the results. I truly believe, having this photographic constraint trust upon me allowed me to create some of my best fine art prints.
The six-day photography safari workshop was an overwhelming success, clients and photographers shared their passion and love of wildlife and photography. New friendships formed, and some fantastic photographs were created. Much to the surprise, of my fellow wildlife photographers quite a few photography clients, expressed an interest in moving from DSLR to Fujifilm. I call it the "sewing machine effect"!
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How do you know you need a new camera?
Introduction
For the vast majority of shooting I do, even on weddings, I find my aging DSLR is still more than enough camera for the job. After all, it's the photographer, not the camera, right?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1000 sec | F8
'Do I need a new camera?'
Unsurprisingly, I get that question a lot. I also ask myself that question a lot, especially after working at DPReview for the last eighteen months. My answer has always been 'no.'
Until now, that is.
You see, I shoot all my personal work on a Nikon D700. Why is that, you might ask? Well, I was handed-me-down a Nikon D80 way back, built up a collection of lenses, and followed the (questionable, these days) full-frame upgrade path. And once I got there, to my used (and abused) D700, I abruptly stopped. What on earth did I need more camera for?
I don't think I'll ever get rid of this D700 because a) it's covered in tape to hold it together, so its ugly and therefore worthless to most resellers, and b) it's been around the world with me and back again, and hasn't missed a beat.
It still shoots 5fps, and that's usually enough for weddings and events. Exposed properly, ISO 6400 is perfectly usable. It's stood up to everything I've thrown at it (and accidentally thrown it at). And, most importantly, I've become familiar with all of its ins and outs, and how to work around its limitations. I am able operate it completely by muscle memory and, despite its aging tech, I've been confident that if I didn't get the shot, it wasn't the camera's fault - it was mine.
With my flash and exposure set, focusing and grabbing this image of a soloing saxophonist on the dance floor didn't pose much of a problem for the D700 and an 85mm F1.8 D lens I was using - but that wasn't always the case.
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F1.8
But as I was shooting a recent wedding, the Nikon D5 kept popping up in my mind. I was lead reviewer for that camera, and this nagging voice kept saying 'the D5 could make this so much easier.' And when a camera makes the task of capturing an image easier, my mind is that much more free to focus on composition, lighting, posing, and so on.
So am I buying a D5? Well, not without selling my motorcycle and my car, which would be a problem for getting to gigs since Nikon hasn't included teleportation into their $6500 flagship. But now I'm finally looking at something a bit newer, and not just because I think it'll make things easier for me.
Megapixels do matter
Sometimes, anyway.
For my own casual photography, for when I want to just take a camera along and document a camping trip, a friend's barbecue or snap some photos at Thanksgiving, 12 megapixels is plenty. No one's printing these photos big, and friends and family are just going to put them on Facebook or Instagram anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I might make some 4x6's.
It's for these sorts of wider group shots that I really came to lean on my second shooter's higher megapixel cameras.
Canon 35mm F2 IS
ISO 100 | 1/1000 | F3.5
Photograph by David Rzegocki
Then my second shooter and I were wandering around the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle with the bridal party, and shooting some more expansive group shots; shots that I knew that if people zoomed in to their faces on my D700 files, they could be disappointed. So I borrowed my partner's 6D (or just let him frame up the shot) to make sure that, should they want to make some prints, or just take a closer look at their dresses and suits, they had the resolution they needed.
Now, I said they could be disappointed. There's every chance that they wouldn't care. But I'm reaching the point in my freelance career that it just wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
'What? The autofocus missed?'
Now don't get me wrong - the pro-grade autofocus system in the D700, lifted directly from the D3, is still pretty fantastic. Most of the time. But I'm increasingly realizing that I want a system to be fantastic all of the time - there were a few strange autofocus mishaps I experienced that cost me a shot I was hoping to nail.
Surely it's more about the mixed, dim lighting and old screw lenses than the camera in this case, right? On the contrary, I knew from my time with the D5 that Nikon's newest autofocus system absolutely sings even with older lenses like mine, with a level of precision in marginal light that I'd expect from the D700 in bright daylight.
All I wanted a quick candid of the back of the bride's necklace. It looks okay at 590 pixels, but zoom in any further and it's soft, despite the lens being stopped down and the autofocus point having been placed over the necklace (so plenty of contrast).
Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
ISO 200 | 1/320 sec | F2.8
Lastly, as many times as I have insisted to our technical editor Rishi that 3D Tracking works 'just fine' on the D700, I shall now be unceremoniously cramming those words into my mouth. It was so unreliable compared to the newer models that I fell back on manually placing my autofocus point. I'd been doing this for years before I experimented with tracking on the D700, so my muscle memory came back pretty quickly, but I still knew I was taking a step backward and making just a little more work for myself.
Plus, that eight-way controller on the D700 is like an undercooked banana loaf; it's just a mushy mess.
So what's next?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1600 sec | F8
I have officially sold one of my two D700's (the one that's in mint condition, not the one that's dented and covered in gaff tape to keep the grip rubber on). And as for now, I'm not really sure what's next - Nikon would probably be my first choice, as I still have plenty of lenses, but I'm totally open for some camera-brand soul searching.
One thing's for certain, though. I'm going to take my time with this one. That's because I want the next 'main camera' to be one that I can keep and be as satisfied with as long as possible, just like the D700. This may sound odd coming from a camera reviewer, but I just don't want to upgrade all the time. I want to build up the same level of muscle memory I had with my old Nikon, and besides that, I have enough other interests and expenses that if a new camera won't make a really measurable difference for my style of photography, it's best to just skip it.
But then again - if I hadn't had the opportunity to experiment not just with the Nikon D5, but also cameras like the Nikon D750, Canon EOS 5D IV, Sony a7R II, the Olympus E-M1 (original and Mark II), Panasonic GH5, Fujifilm X-T2 and many, many more, I wouldn't have known what I'm missing.
Nikon 50mm F1.4D
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F2
Now, for better (for my photography) or worse (for my bank account), I do know what I've been missing. After having so many opportunities to try out all those alternatives, I unequivocally know that a newer, updated camera could really benefit me as a photographer. And that's how, finally, I know that it's a good time for a change.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2qtIcOX
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Text
How do you know you need a new camera?
Introduction
For the vast majority of shooting I do, even on weddings, I find my aging DSLR is still more than enough camera for the job. After all, it's the photographer, not the camera, right?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1000 sec | F8
'Do I need a new camera?'
Unsurprisingly, I get that question a lot. I also ask myself that question a lot, especially after working at DPReview for the last eighteen months. My answer has always been 'no.'
Until now, that is.
You see, I shoot all my personal work on a Nikon D700. Why is that, you might ask? Well, I was handed-me-down a Nikon D80 way back, built up a collection of lenses, and followed the (questionable, these days) full-frame upgrade path. And once I got there, to my used (and abused) D700, I abruptly stopped. What on earth did I need more camera for?
I don't think I'll ever get rid of this D700 because a) it's covered in tape to hold it together, so its ugly and therefore worthless to most resellers, and b) it's been around the world with me and back again, and hasn't missed a beat.
It still shoots 5fps, and that's usually enough for weddings and events. Exposed properly, ISO 6400 is perfectly usable. It's stood up to everything I've thrown at it (and accidentally thrown it at). And, most importantly, I've become familiar with all of its ins and outs, and how to work around its limitations. I am able operate it completely by muscle memory and, despite its aging tech, I've been confident that if I didn't get the shot, it wasn't the camera's fault - it was mine.
With my flash and exposure set, focusing and grabbing this image of a soloing saxophonist on the dance floor didn't pose much of a problem for the D700 and an 85mm F1.8 D lens I was using - but that wasn't always the case.
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F1.8
But as I was shooting a recent wedding, the Nikon D5 kept popping up in my mind. I was lead reviewer for that camera, and this nagging voice kept saying 'the D5 could make this so much easier.' And when a camera makes the task of capturing an image easier, my mind is that much more free to focus on composition, lighting, posing, and so on.
So am I buying a D5? Well, not without selling my motorcycle and my car, which would be a problem for getting to gigs since Nikon hasn't included teleportation into their $6500 flagship. But now I'm finally looking at something a bit newer, and not just because I think it'll make things easier for me.
Megapixels do matter
Sometimes, anyway.
For my own casual photography, for when I want to just take a camera along and document a camping trip, a friend's barbecue or snap some photos at Thanksgiving, 12 megapixels is plenty. No one's printing these photos big, and friends and family are just going to put them on Facebook or Instagram anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I might make some 4x6's.
It's for these sorts of wider group shots that I really came to lean on my second shooter's higher megapixel cameras.
Canon 35mm F2 IS
ISO 100 | 1/1000 | F3.5
Photograph by David Rzegocki
Then my second shooter and I were wandering around the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle with the bridal party, and shooting some more expansive group shots; shots that I knew that if people zoomed in to their faces on my D700 files, they could be disappointed. So I borrowed my partner's 6D (or just let him frame up the shot) to make sure that, should they want to make some prints, or just take a closer look at their dresses and suits, they had the resolution they needed.
Now, I said they could be disappointed. There's every chance that they wouldn't care. But I'm reaching the point in my freelance career that it just wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
'What? The autofocus missed?'
Now don't get me wrong - the pro-grade autofocus system in the D700, lifted directly from the D3, is still pretty fantastic. Most of the time. But I'm increasingly realizing that I want a system to be fantastic all of the time - there were a few strange autofocus mishaps I experienced that cost me a shot I was hoping to nail.
Surely it's more about the mixed, dim lighting and old screw lenses than the camera in this case, right? On the contrary, I knew from my time with the D5 that Nikon's newest autofocus system absolutely sings even with older lenses like mine, with a level of precision in marginal light that I'd expect from the D700 in bright daylight.
All I wanted a quick candid of the back of the bride's necklace. It looks okay at 590 pixels, but zoom in any further and it's soft, despite the lens being stopped down and the autofocus point having been placed over the necklace (so plenty of contrast).
Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
ISO 200 | 1/320 sec | F2.8
Lastly, as many times as I have insisted to our technical editor Rishi that 3D Tracking works 'just fine' on the D700, I shall now be unceremoniously cramming those words into my mouth. It was so unreliable compared to the newer models that I fell back on manually placing my autofocus point. I'd been doing this for years before I experimented with tracking on the D700, so my muscle memory came back pretty quickly, but I still knew I was taking a step backward and making just a little more work for myself.
Plus, that eight-way controller on the D700 is like an undercooked banana loaf; it's just a mushy mess.
So what's next?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1600 sec | F8
I have officially sold one of my two D700's (the one that's in mint condition, not the one that's dented and covered in gaff tape to keep the grip rubber on). And as for now, I'm not really sure what's next - Nikon would probably be my first choice, as I still have plenty of lenses, but I'm totally open for some camera-brand soul searching.
One thing's for certain, though. I'm going to take my time with this one. That's because I want the next 'main camera' to be one that I can keep and be as satisfied with as long as possible, just like the D700. This may sound odd coming from a camera reviewer, but I just don't want to upgrade all the time. I want to build up the same level of muscle memory I had with my old Nikon, and besides that, I have enough other interests and expenses that if a new camera won't make a really measurable difference for my style of photography, it's best to just skip it.
But then again - if I hadn't had the opportunity to experiment not just with the Nikon D5, but also cameras like the Nikon D750, Canon EOS 5D IV, Sony a7R II, the Olympus E-M1 (original and Mark II), Panasonic GH5, Fujifilm X-T2 and many, many more, I wouldn't have known what I'm missing.
Nikon 50mm F1.4D
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F2
Now, for better (for my photography) or worse (for my bank account), I do know what I've been missing. After having so many opportunities to try out all those alternatives, I unequivocally know that a newer, updated camera could really benefit me as a photographer. And that's how, finally, I know that it's a good time for a change.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2qtIcOX
0 notes
Text
How do you know you need a new camera?
Introduction
For the vast majority of shooting I do, even on weddings, I find my aging DSLR is still more than enough camera for the job. After all, it's the photographer, not the camera, right?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1000 sec | F8
'Do I need a new camera?'
Unsurprisingly, I get that question a lot. I also ask myself that question a lot, especially after working at DPReview for the last eighteen months. My answer has always been 'no.'
Until now, that is.
You see, I shoot all my personal work on a Nikon D700. Why is that, you might ask? Well, I was handed-me-down a Nikon D80 way back, built up a collection of lenses, and followed the (questionable, these days) full-frame upgrade path. And once I got there, to my used (and abused) D700, I abruptly stopped. What on earth did I need more camera for?
I don't think I'll ever get rid of this D700 because a) it's covered in tape to hold it together, so its ugly and therefore worthless to most resellers, and b) it's been around the world with me and back again, and hasn't missed a beat.
It still shoots 5fps, and that's usually enough for weddings and events. Exposed properly, ISO 6400 is perfectly usable. It's stood up to everything I've thrown at it (and accidentally thrown it at). And, most importantly, I've become familiar with all of its ins and outs, and how to work around its limitations. I am able operate it completely by muscle memory and, despite its aging tech, I've been confident that if I didn't get the shot, it wasn't the camera's fault - it was mine.
With my flash and exposure set, focusing and grabbing this image of a soloing saxophonist on the dance floor didn't pose much of a problem for the D700 and an 85mm F1.8 D lens I was using - but that wasn't always the case.
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F1.8
But as I was shooting a recent wedding, the Nikon D5 kept popping up in my mind. I was lead reviewer for that camera, and this nagging voice kept saying 'the D5 could make this so much easier.' And when a camera makes the task of capturing an image easier, my mind is that much more free to focus on composition, lighting, posing, and so on.
So am I buying a D5? Well, not without selling my motorcycle and my car, which would be a problem for getting to gigs since Nikon hasn't included teleportation into their $6500 flagship. But now I'm finally looking at something a bit newer, and not just because I think it'll make things easier for me.
Megapixels do matter
Sometimes, anyway.
For my own casual photography, for when I want to just take a camera along and document a camping trip, a friend's barbecue or snap some photos at Thanksgiving, 12 megapixels is plenty. No one's printing these photos big, and friends and family are just going to put them on Facebook or Instagram anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I might make some 4x6's.
It's for these sorts of wider group shots that I really came to lean on my second shooter's higher megapixel cameras.
Canon 35mm F2 IS
ISO 100 | 1/1000 | F3.5
Photograph by David Rzegocki
Then my second shooter and I were wandering around the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle with the bridal party, and shooting some more expansive group shots; shots that I knew that if people zoomed in to their faces on my D700 files, they could be disappointed. So I borrowed my partner's 6D (or just let him frame up the shot) to make sure that, should they want to make some prints, or just take a closer look at their dresses and suits, they had the resolution they needed.
Now, I said they could be disappointed. There's every chance that they wouldn't care. But I'm reaching the point in my freelance career that it just wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
'What? The autofocus missed?'
Now don't get me wrong - the pro-grade autofocus system in the D700, lifted directly from the D3, is still pretty fantastic. Most of the time. But I'm increasingly realizing that I want a system to be fantastic all of the time - there were a few strange autofocus mishaps I experienced that cost me a shot I was hoping to nail.
Surely it's more about the mixed, dim lighting and old screw lenses than the camera in this case, right? On the contrary, I knew from my time with the D5 that Nikon's newest autofocus system absolutely sings even with older lenses like mine, with a level of precision in marginal light that I'd expect from the D700 in bright daylight.
All I wanted a quick candid of the back of the bride's necklace. It looks okay at 590 pixels, but zoom in any further and it's soft, despite the lens being stopped down and the autofocus point having been placed over the necklace (so plenty of contrast).
Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
ISO 200 | 1/320 sec | F2.8
Lastly, as many times as I have insisted to our technical editor Rishi that 3D Tracking works 'just fine' on the D700, I shall now be unceremoniously cramming those words into my mouth. It was so unreliable compared to the newer models that I fell back on manually placing my autofocus point. I'd been doing this for years before I experimented with tracking on the D700, so my muscle memory came back pretty quickly, but I still knew I was taking a step backward and making just a little more work for myself.
Plus, that eight-way controller on the D700 is like an undercooked banana loaf; it's just a mushy mess.
So what's next?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1600 sec | F8
I have officially sold one of my two D700's (the one that's in mint condition, not the one that's dented and covered in gaff tape to keep the grip rubber on). And as for now, I'm not really sure what's next - Nikon would probably be my first choice, as I still have plenty of lenses, but I'm totally open for some camera-brand soul searching.
One thing's for certain, though. I'm going to take my time with this one. That's because I want the next 'main camera' to be one that I can keep and be as satisfied with as long as possible, just like the D700. This may sound odd coming from a camera reviewer, but I just don't want to upgrade all the time. I want to build up the same level of muscle memory I had with my old Nikon, and besides that, I have enough other interests and expenses that if a new camera won't make a really measurable difference for my style of photography, it's best to just skip it.
But then again - if I hadn't had the opportunity to experiment not just with the Nikon D5, but also cameras like the Nikon D750, Canon EOS 5D IV, Sony a7R II, the Olympus E-M1 (original and Mark II), Panasonic GH5, Fujifilm X-T2 and many, many more, I wouldn't have known what I'm missing.
Nikon 50mm F1.4D
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F2
Now, for better (for my photography) or worse (for my bank account), I do know what I've been missing. After having so many opportunities to try out all those alternatives, I unequivocally know that a newer, updated camera could really benefit me as a photographer. And that's how, finally, I know that it's a good time for a change.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2qtIcOX
0 notes
Text
How do you know you need a new camera?
Introduction
For the vast majority of shooting I do, even on weddings, I find my aging DSLR is still more than enough camera for the job. After all, it's the photographer, not the camera, right?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1000 sec | F8
'Do I need a new camera?'
Unsurprisingly, I get that question a lot. I also ask myself that question a lot, especially after working at DPReview for the last eighteen months. My answer has always been 'no.'
Until now, that is.
You see, I shoot all my personal work on a Nikon D700. Why is that, you might ask? Well, I was handed-me-down a Nikon D80 way back, built up a collection of lenses, and followed the (questionable, these days) full-frame upgrade path. And once I got there, to my used (and abused) D700, I abruptly stopped. What on earth did I need more camera for?
I don't think I'll ever get rid of this D700 because a) it's covered in tape to hold it together, so its ugly and therefore worthless to most resellers, and b) it's been around the world with me and back again, and hasn't missed a beat.
It still shoots 5fps, and that's usually enough for weddings and events. Exposed properly, ISO 6400 is perfectly usable. It's stood up to everything I've thrown at it (and accidentally thrown it at). And, most importantly, I've become familiar with all of its ins and outs, and how to work around its limitations. I am able operate it completely by muscle memory and, despite its aging tech, I've been confident that if I didn't get the shot, it wasn't the camera's fault - it was mine.
With my flash and exposure set, focusing and grabbing this image of a soloing saxophonist on the dance floor didn't pose much of a problem for the D700 and an 85mm F1.8 D lens I was using - but that wasn't always the case.
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F1.8
But as I was shooting a recent wedding, the Nikon D5 kept popping up in my mind. I was lead reviewer for that camera, and this nagging voice kept saying 'the D5 could make this so much easier.' And when a camera makes the task of capturing an image easier, my mind is that much more free to focus on composition, lighting, posing, and so on.
So am I buying a D5? Well, not without selling my motorcycle and my car, which would be a problem for getting to gigs since Nikon hasn't included teleportation into their $6500 flagship. But now I'm finally looking at something a bit newer, and not just because I think it'll make things easier for me.
Megapixels do matter
Sometimes, anyway.
For my own casual photography, for when I want to just take a camera along and document a camping trip, a friend's barbecue or snap some photos at Thanksgiving, 12 megapixels is plenty. No one's printing these photos big, and friends and family are just going to put them on Facebook or Instagram anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I might make some 4x6's.
It's for these sorts of wider group shots that I really came to lean on my second shooter's higher megapixel cameras.
Canon 35mm F2 IS
ISO 100 | 1/1000 | F3.5
Photograph by David Rzegocki
Then my second shooter and I were wandering around the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle with the bridal party, and shooting some more expansive group shots; shots that I knew that if people zoomed in to their faces on my D700 files, they could be disappointed. So I borrowed my partner's 6D (or just let him frame up the shot) to make sure that, should they want to make some prints, or just take a closer look at their dresses and suits, they had the resolution they needed.
Now, I said they could be disappointed. There's every chance that they wouldn't care. But I'm reaching the point in my freelance career that it just wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
'What? The autofocus missed?'
Now don't get me wrong - the pro-grade autofocus system in the D700, lifted directly from the D3, is still pretty fantastic. Most of the time. But I'm increasingly realizing that I want a system to be fantastic all of the time - there were a few strange autofocus mishaps I experienced that cost me a shot I was hoping to nail.
Surely it's more about the mixed, dim lighting and old screw lenses than the camera in this case, right? On the contrary, I knew from my time with the D5 that Nikon's newest autofocus system absolutely sings even with older lenses like mine, with a level of precision in marginal light that I'd expect from the D700 in bright daylight.
All I wanted a quick candid of the back of the bride's necklace. It looks okay at 590 pixels, but zoom in any further and it's soft, despite the lens being stopped down and the autofocus point having been placed over the necklace (so plenty of contrast).
Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
ISO 200 | 1/320 sec | F2.8
Lastly, as many times as I have insisted to our technical editor Rishi that 3D Tracking works 'just fine' on the D700, I shall now be unceremoniously cramming those words into my mouth. It was so unreliable compared to the newer models that I fell back on manually placing my autofocus point. I'd been doing this for years before I experimented with tracking on the D700, so my muscle memory came back pretty quickly, but I still knew I was taking a step backward and making just a little more work for myself.
Plus, that eight-way controller on the D700 is like an undercooked banana loaf; it's just a mushy mess.
So what's next?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1600 sec | F8
I have officially sold one of my two D700's (the one that's in mint condition, not the one that's dented and covered in gaff tape to keep the grip rubber on). And as for now, I'm not really sure what's next - Nikon would probably be my first choice, as I still have plenty of lenses, but I'm totally open for some camera-brand soul searching.
One thing's for certain, though. I'm going to take my time with this one. That's because I want the next 'main camera' to be one that I can keep and be as satisfied with as long as possible, just like the D700. This may sound odd coming from a camera reviewer, but I just don't want to upgrade all the time. I want to build up the same level of muscle memory I had with my old Nikon, and besides that, I have enough other interests and expenses that if a new camera won't make a really measurable difference for my style of photography, it's best to just skip it.
But then again - if I hadn't had the opportunity to experiment not just with the Nikon D5, but also cameras like the Nikon D750, Canon EOS 5D IV, Sony a7R II, the Olympus E-M1 (original and Mark II), Panasonic GH5, Fujifilm X-T2 and many, many more, I wouldn't have known what I'm missing.
Nikon 50mm F1.4D
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F2
Now, for better (for my photography) or worse (for my bank account), I do know what I've been missing. After having so many opportunities to try out all those alternatives, I unequivocally know that a newer, updated camera could really benefit me as a photographer. And that's how, finally, I know that it's a good time for a change.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2qtIcOX
0 notes
Text
How do you know you need a new camera?
Introduction
For the vast majority of shooting I do, even on weddings, I find my aging DSLR is still more than enough camera for the job. After all, it's the photographer, not the camera, right?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1000 sec | F8
'Do I need a new camera?'
Unsurprisingly, I get that question a lot. I also ask myself that question a lot, especially after working at DPReview for the last eighteen months. My answer has always been 'no.'
Until now, that is.
You see, I shoot all my personal work on a Nikon D700. Why is that, you might ask? Well, I was handed-me-down a Nikon D80 way back, built up a collection of lenses, and followed the (questionable, these days) full-frame upgrade path. And once I got there, to my used (and abused) D700, I abruptly stopped. What on earth did I need more camera for?
I don't think I'll ever get rid of this D700 because a) it's covered in tape to hold it together, so its ugly and therefore worthless to most resellers, and b) it's been around the world with me and back again, and hasn't missed a beat.
It still shoots 5fps, and that's usually enough for weddings and events. Exposed properly, ISO 6400 is perfectly usable. It's stood up to everything I've thrown at it (and accidentally thrown it at). And, most importantly, I've become familiar with all of its ins and outs, and how to work around its limitations. I am able operate it completely by muscle memory and, despite its aging tech, I've been confident that if I didn't get the shot, it wasn't the camera's fault - it was mine.
With my flash and exposure set, focusing and grabbing this image of a soloing saxophonist on the dance floor didn't pose much of a problem for the D700 and an 85mm F1.8 D lens I was using - but that wasn't always the case.
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F1.8
But as I was shooting a recent wedding, the Nikon D5 kept popping up in my mind. I was lead reviewer for that camera, and this nagging voice kept saying 'the D5 could make this so much easier.' And when a camera makes the task of capturing an image easier, my mind is that much more free to focus on composition, lighting, posing, and so on.
So am I buying a D5? Well, not without selling my motorcycle and my car, which would be a problem for getting to gigs since Nikon hasn't included teleportation into their $6500 flagship. But now I'm finally looking at something a bit newer, and not just because I think it'll make things easier for me.
Megapixels do matter
Sometimes, anyway.
For my own casual photography, for when I want to just take a camera along and document a camping trip, a friend's barbecue or snap some photos at Thanksgiving, 12 megapixels is plenty. No one's printing these photos big, and friends and family are just going to put them on Facebook or Instagram anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I might make some 4x6's.
It's for these sorts of wider group shots that I really came to lean on my second shooter's higher megapixel cameras.
Canon 35mm F2 IS
ISO 100 | 1/1000 | F3.5
Photograph by David Rzegocki
Then my second shooter and I were wandering around the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle with the bridal party, and shooting some more expansive group shots; shots that I knew that if people zoomed in to their faces on my D700 files, they could be disappointed. So I borrowed my partner's 6D (or just let him frame up the shot) to make sure that, should they want to make some prints, or just take a closer look at their dresses and suits, they had the resolution they needed.
Now, I said they could be disappointed. There's every chance that they wouldn't care. But I'm reaching the point in my freelance career that it just wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
'What? The autofocus missed?'
Now don't get me wrong - the pro-grade autofocus system in the D700, lifted directly from the D3, is still pretty fantastic. Most of the time. But I'm increasingly realizing that I want a system to be fantastic all of the time - there were a few strange autofocus mishaps I experienced that cost me a shot I was hoping to nail.
Surely it's more about the mixed, dim lighting and old screw lenses than the camera in this case, right? On the contrary, I knew from my time with the D5 that Nikon's newest autofocus system absolutely sings even with older lenses like mine, with a level of precision in marginal light that I'd expect from the D700 in bright daylight.
All I wanted a quick candid of the back of the bride's necklace. It looks okay at 590 pixels, but zoom in any further and it's soft, despite the lens being stopped down and the autofocus point having been placed over the necklace (so plenty of contrast).
Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
ISO 200 | 1/320 sec | F2.8
Lastly, as many times as I have insisted to our technical editor Rishi that 3D Tracking works 'just fine' on the D700, I shall now be unceremoniously cramming those words into my mouth. It was so unreliable compared to the newer models that I fell back on manually placing my autofocus point. I'd been doing this for years before I experimented with tracking on the D700, so my muscle memory came back pretty quickly, but I still knew I was taking a step backward and making just a little more work for myself.
Plus, that eight-way controller on the D700 is like an undercooked banana loaf; it's just a mushy mess.
So what's next?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1600 sec | F8
I have officially sold one of my two D700's (the one that's in mint condition, not the one that's dented and covered in gaff tape to keep the grip rubber on). And as for now, I'm not really sure what's next - Nikon would probably be my first choice, as I still have plenty of lenses, but I'm totally open for some camera-brand soul searching.
One thing's for certain, though. I'm going to take my time with this one. That's because I want the next 'main camera' to be one that I can keep and be as satisfied with as long as possible, just like the D700. This may sound odd coming from a camera reviewer, but I just don't want to upgrade all the time. I want to build up the same level of muscle memory I had with my old Nikon, and besides that, I have enough other interests and expenses that if a new camera won't make a really measurable difference for my style of photography, it's best to just skip it.
But then again - if I hadn't had the opportunity to experiment not just with the Nikon D5, but also cameras like the Nikon D750, Canon EOS 5D IV, Sony a7R II, the Olympus E-M1 (original and Mark II), Panasonic GH5, Fujifilm X-T2 and many, many more, I wouldn't have known what I'm missing.
Nikon 50mm F1.4D
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F2
Now, for better (for my photography) or worse (for my bank account), I do know what I've been missing. After having so many opportunities to try out all those alternatives, I unequivocally know that a newer, updated camera could really benefit me as a photographer. And that's how, finally, I know that it's a good time for a change.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2qtIcOX
0 notes
Text
How do you know you need a new camera?
Introduction
For the vast majority of shooting I do, even on weddings, I find my aging DSLR is still more than enough camera for the job. After all, it's the photographer, not the camera, right?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1000 sec | F8
'Do I need a new camera?'
Unsurprisingly, I get that question a lot. I also ask myself that question a lot, especially after working at DPReview for the last eighteen months. My answer has always been 'no.'
Until now, that is.
You see, I shoot all my personal work on a Nikon D700. Why is that, you might ask? Well, I was handed-me-down a Nikon D80 way back, built up a collection of lenses, and followed the (questionable, these days) full-frame upgrade path. And once I got there, to my used (and abused) D700, I abruptly stopped. What on earth did I need more camera for?
I don't think I'll ever get rid of this D700 because a) it's covered in tape to hold it together, so its ugly and therefore worthless to most resellers, and b) it's been around the world with me and back again, and hasn't missed a beat.
It still shoots 5fps, and that's usually enough for weddings and events. Exposed properly, ISO 6400 is perfectly usable. It's stood up to everything I've thrown at it (and accidentally thrown it at). And, most importantly, I've become familiar with all of its ins and outs, and how to work around its limitations. I am able operate it completely by muscle memory and, despite its aging tech, I've been confident that if I didn't get the shot, it wasn't the camera's fault - it was mine.
With my flash and exposure set, focusing and grabbing this image of a soloing saxophonist on the dance floor didn't pose much of a problem for the D700 and an 85mm F1.8 D lens I was using - but that wasn't always the case.
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F1.8
But as I was shooting a recent wedding, the Nikon D5 kept popping up in my mind. I was lead reviewer for that camera, and this nagging voice kept saying 'the D5 could make this so much easier.' And when a camera makes the task of capturing an image easier, my mind is that much more free to focus on composition, lighting, posing, and so on.
So am I buying a D5? Well, not without selling my motorcycle and my car, which would be a problem for getting to gigs since Nikon hasn't included teleportation into their $6500 flagship. But now I'm finally looking at something a bit newer, and not just because I think it'll make things easier for me.
Megapixels do matter
Sometimes, anyway.
For my own casual photography, for when I want to just take a camera along and document a camping trip, a friend's barbecue or snap some photos at Thanksgiving, 12 megapixels is plenty. No one's printing these photos big, and friends and family are just going to put them on Facebook or Instagram anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I might make some 4x6's.
It's for these sorts of wider group shots that I really came to lean on my second shooter's higher megapixel cameras.
Canon 35mm F2 IS
ISO 100 | 1/1000 | F3.5
Photograph by David Rzegocki
Then my second shooter and I were wandering around the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle with the bridal party, and shooting some more expansive group shots; shots that I knew that if people zoomed in to their faces on my D700 files, they could be disappointed. So I borrowed my partner's 6D (or just let him frame up the shot) to make sure that, should they want to make some prints, or just take a closer look at their dresses and suits, they had the resolution they needed.
Now, I said they could be disappointed. There's every chance that they wouldn't care. But I'm reaching the point in my freelance career that it just wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
'What? The autofocus missed?'
Now don't get me wrong - the pro-grade autofocus system in the D700, lifted directly from the D3, is still pretty fantastic. Most of the time. But I'm increasingly realizing that I want a system to be fantastic all of the time - there were a few strange autofocus mishaps I experienced that cost me a shot I was hoping to nail.
Surely it's more about the mixed, dim lighting and old screw lenses than the camera in this case, right? On the contrary, I knew from my time with the D5 that Nikon's newest autofocus system absolutely sings even with older lenses like mine, with a level of precision in marginal light that I'd expect from the D700 in bright daylight.
All I wanted a quick candid of the back of the bride's necklace. It looks okay at 590 pixels, but zoom in any further and it's soft, despite the lens being stopped down and the autofocus point having been placed over the necklace (so plenty of contrast).
Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
ISO 200 | 1/320 sec | F2.8
Lastly, as many times as I have insisted to our technical editor Rishi that 3D Tracking works 'just fine' on the D700, I shall now be unceremoniously cramming those words into my mouth. It was so unreliable compared to the newer models that I fell back on manually placing my autofocus point. I'd been doing this for years before I experimented with tracking on the D700, so my muscle memory came back pretty quickly, but I still knew I was taking a step backward and making just a little more work for myself.
Plus, that eight-way controller on the D700 is like an undercooked banana loaf; it's just a mushy mess.
So what's next?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1600 sec | F8
I have officially sold one of my two D700's (the one that's in mint condition, not the one that's dented and covered in gaff tape to keep the grip rubber on). And as for now, I'm not really sure what's next - Nikon would probably be my first choice, as I still have plenty of lenses, but I'm totally open for some camera-brand soul searching.
One thing's for certain, though. I'm going to take my time with this one. That's because I want the next 'main camera' to be one that I can keep and be as satisfied with as long as possible, just like the D700. This may sound odd coming from a camera reviewer, but I just don't want to upgrade all the time. I want to build up the same level of muscle memory I had with my old Nikon, and besides that, I have enough other interests and expenses that if a new camera won't make a really measurable difference for my style of photography, it's best to just skip it.
But then again - if I hadn't had the opportunity to experiment not just with the Nikon D5, but also cameras like the Nikon D750, Canon EOS 5D IV, Sony a7R II, the Olympus E-M1 (original and Mark II), Panasonic GH5, Fujifilm X-T2 and many, many more, I wouldn't have known what I'm missing.
Nikon 50mm F1.4D
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F2
Now, for better (for my photography) or worse (for my bank account), I do know what I've been missing. After having so many opportunities to try out all those alternatives, I unequivocally know that a newer, updated camera could really benefit me as a photographer. And that's how, finally, I know that it's a good time for a change.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2qtIcOX
0 notes
Text
How do you know you need a new camera?
Introduction
For the vast majority of shooting I do, even on weddings, I find my aging DSLR is still more than enough camera for the job. After all, it's the photographer, not the camera, right?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1000 sec | F8
'Do I need a new camera?'
Unsurprisingly, I get that question a lot. I also ask myself that question a lot, especially after working at DPReview for the last eighteen months. My answer has always been 'no.'
Until now, that is.
You see, I shoot all my personal work on a Nikon D700. Why is that, you might ask? Well, I was handed-me-down a Nikon D80 way back, built up a collection of lenses, and followed the (questionable, these days) full-frame upgrade path. And once I got there, to my used (and abused) D700, I abruptly stopped. What on earth did I need more camera for?
I don't think I'll ever get rid of this D700 because a) it's covered in tape to hold it together, so its ugly and therefore worthless to most resellers, and b) it's been around the world with me and back again, and hasn't missed a beat.
It still shoots 5fps, and that's usually enough for weddings and events. Exposed properly, ISO 6400 is perfectly usable. It's stood up to everything I've thrown at it (and accidentally thrown it at). And, most importantly, I've become familiar with all of its ins and outs, and how to work around its limitations. I am able operate it completely by muscle memory and, despite its aging tech, I've been confident that if I didn't get the shot, it wasn't the camera's fault - it was mine.
With my flash and exposure set, focusing and grabbing this image of a soloing saxophonist on the dance floor didn't pose much of a problem for the D700 and an 85mm F1.8 D lens I was using - but that wasn't always the case.
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F1.8
But as I was shooting a recent wedding, the Nikon D5 kept popping up in my mind. I was lead reviewer for that camera, and this nagging voice kept saying 'the D5 could make this so much easier.' And when a camera makes the task of capturing an image easier, my mind is that much more free to focus on composition, lighting, posing, and so on.
So am I buying a D5? Well, not without selling my motorcycle and my car, which would be a problem for getting to gigs since Nikon hasn't included teleportation into their $6500 flagship. But now I'm finally looking at something a bit newer, and not just because I think it'll make things easier for me.
Megapixels do matter
Sometimes, anyway.
For my own casual photography, for when I want to just take a camera along and document a camping trip, a friend's barbecue or snap some photos at Thanksgiving, 12 megapixels is plenty. No one's printing these photos big, and friends and family are just going to put them on Facebook or Instagram anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I might make some 4x6's.
It's for these sorts of wider group shots that I really came to lean on my second shooter's higher megapixel cameras.
Canon 35mm F2 IS
ISO 100 | 1/1000 | F3.5
Photograph by David Rzegocki
Then my second shooter and I were wandering around the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle with the bridal party, and shooting some more expansive group shots; shots that I knew that if people zoomed in to their faces on my D700 files, they could be disappointed. So I borrowed my partner's 6D (or just let him frame up the shot) to make sure that, should they want to make some prints, or just take a closer look at their dresses and suits, they had the resolution they needed.
Now, I said they could be disappointed. There's every chance that they wouldn't care. But I'm reaching the point in my freelance career that it just wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
'What? The autofocus missed?'
Now don't get me wrong - the pro-grade autofocus system in the D700, lifted directly from the D3, is still pretty fantastic. Most of the time. But I'm increasingly realizing that I want a system to be fantastic all of the time - there were a few strange autofocus mishaps I experienced that cost me a shot I was hoping to nail.
Surely it's more about the mixed, dim lighting and old screw lenses than the camera in this case, right? On the contrary, I knew from my time with the D5 that Nikon's newest autofocus system absolutely sings even with older lenses like mine, with a level of precision in marginal light that I'd expect from the D700 in bright daylight.
All I wanted a quick candid of the back of the bride's necklace. It looks okay at 590 pixels, but zoom in any further and it's soft, despite the lens being stopped down and the autofocus point having been placed over the necklace (so plenty of contrast).
Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
ISO 200 | 1/320 sec | F2.8
Lastly, as many times as I have insisted to our technical editor Rishi that 3D Tracking works 'just fine' on the D700, I shall now be unceremoniously cramming those words into my mouth. It was so unreliable compared to the newer models that I fell back on manually placing my autofocus point. I'd been doing this for years before I experimented with tracking on the D700, so my muscle memory came back pretty quickly, but I still knew I was taking a step backward and making just a little more work for myself.
Plus, that eight-way controller on the D700 is like an undercooked banana loaf; it's just a mushy mess.
So what's next?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1600 sec | F8
I have officially sold one of my two D700's (the one that's in mint condition, not the one that's dented and covered in gaff tape to keep the grip rubber on). And as for now, I'm not really sure what's next - Nikon would probably be my first choice, as I still have plenty of lenses, but I'm totally open for some camera-brand soul searching.
One thing's for certain, though. I'm going to take my time with this one. That's because I want the next 'main camera' to be one that I can keep and be as satisfied with as long as possible, just like the D700. This may sound odd coming from a camera reviewer, but I just don't want to upgrade all the time. I want to build up the same level of muscle memory I had with my old Nikon, and besides that, I have enough other interests and expenses that if a new camera won't make a really measurable difference for my style of photography, it's best to just skip it.
But then again - if I hadn't had the opportunity to experiment not just with the Nikon D5, but also cameras like the Nikon D750, Canon EOS 5D IV, Sony a7R II, the Olympus E-M1 (original and Mark II), Panasonic GH5, Fujifilm X-T2 and many, many more, I wouldn't have known what I'm missing.
Nikon 50mm F1.4D
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F2
Now, for better (for my photography) or worse (for my bank account), I do know what I've been missing. After having so many opportunities to try out all those alternatives, I unequivocally know that a newer, updated camera could really benefit me as a photographer. And that's how, finally, I know that it's a good time for a change.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2qtIcOX
0 notes
Text
How do you know you need a new camera?
Introduction
For the vast majority of shooting I do, even on weddings, I find my aging DSLR is still more than enough camera for the job. After all, it's the photographer, not the camera, right?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1000 sec | F8
'Do I need a new camera?'
Unsurprisingly, I get that question a lot. I also ask myself that question a lot, especially after working at DPReview for the last eighteen months. My answer has always been 'no.'
Until now, that is.
You see, I shoot all my personal work on a Nikon D700. Why is that, you might ask? Well, I was handed-me-down a Nikon D80 way back, built up a collection of lenses, and followed the (questionable, these days) full-frame upgrade path. And once I got there, to my used (and abused) D700, I abruptly stopped. What on earth did I need more camera for?
I don't think I'll ever get rid of this D700 because a) it's covered in tape to hold it together, so its ugly and therefore worthless to most resellers, and b) it's been around the world with me and back again, and hasn't missed a beat.
It still shoots 5fps, and that's usually enough for weddings and events. Exposed properly, ISO 6400 is perfectly usable. It's stood up to everything I've thrown at it (and accidentally thrown it at). And, most importantly, I've become familiar with all of its ins and outs, and how to work around its limitations. I am able operate it completely by muscle memory and, despite its aging tech, I've been confident that if I didn't get the shot, it wasn't the camera's fault - it was mine.
With my flash and exposure set, focusing and grabbing this image of a soloing saxophonist on the dance floor didn't pose much of a problem for the D700 and an 85mm F1.8 D lens I was using - but that wasn't always the case.
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F1.8
But as I was shooting a recent wedding, the Nikon D5 kept popping up in my mind. I was lead reviewer for that camera, and this nagging voice kept saying 'the D5 could make this so much easier.' And when a camera makes the task of capturing an image easier, my mind is that much more free to focus on composition, lighting, posing, and so on.
So am I buying a D5? Well, not without selling my motorcycle and my car, which would be a problem for getting to gigs since Nikon hasn't included teleportation into their $6500 flagship. But now I'm finally looking at something a bit newer, and not just because I think it'll make things easier for me.
Megapixels do matter
Sometimes, anyway.
For my own casual photography, for when I want to just take a camera along and document a camping trip, a friend's barbecue or snap some photos at Thanksgiving, 12 megapixels is plenty. No one's printing these photos big, and friends and family are just going to put them on Facebook or Instagram anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I might make some 4x6's.
It's for these sorts of wider group shots that I really came to lean on my second shooter's higher megapixel cameras.
Canon 35mm F2 IS
ISO 100 | 1/1000 | F3.5
Photograph by David Rzegocki
Then my second shooter and I were wandering around the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle with the bridal party, and shooting some more expansive group shots; shots that I knew that if people zoomed in to their faces on my D700 files, they could be disappointed. So I borrowed my partner's 6D (or just let him frame up the shot) to make sure that, should they want to make some prints, or just take a closer look at their dresses and suits, they had the resolution they needed.
Now, I said they could be disappointed. There's every chance that they wouldn't care. But I'm reaching the point in my freelance career that it just wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
'What? The autofocus missed?'
Now don't get me wrong - the pro-grade autofocus system in the D700, lifted directly from the D3, is still pretty fantastic. Most of the time. But I'm increasingly realizing that I want a system to be fantastic all of the time - there were a few strange autofocus mishaps I experienced that cost me a shot I was hoping to nail.
Surely it's more about the mixed, dim lighting and old screw lenses than the camera in this case, right? On the contrary, I knew from my time with the D5 that Nikon's newest autofocus system absolutely sings even with older lenses like mine, with a level of precision in marginal light that I'd expect from the D700 in bright daylight.
All I wanted a quick candid of the back of the bride's necklace. It looks okay at 590 pixels, but zoom in any further and it's soft, despite the lens being stopped down and the autofocus point having been placed over the necklace (so plenty of contrast).
Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
ISO 200 | 1/320 sec | F2.8
Lastly, as many times as I have insisted to our technical editor Rishi that 3D Tracking works 'just fine' on the D700, I shall now be unceremoniously cramming those words into my mouth. It was so unreliable compared to the newer models that I fell back on manually placing my autofocus point. I'd been doing this for years before I experimented with tracking on the D700, so my muscle memory came back pretty quickly, but I still knew I was taking a step backward and making just a little more work for myself.
Plus, that eight-way controller on the D700 is like an undercooked banana loaf; it's just a mushy mess.
So what's next?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1600 sec | F8
I have officially sold one of my two D700's (the one that's in mint condition, not the one that's dented and covered in gaff tape to keep the grip rubber on). And as for now, I'm not really sure what's next - Nikon would probably be my first choice, as I still have plenty of lenses, but I'm totally open for some camera-brand soul searching.
One thing's for certain, though. I'm going to take my time with this one. That's because I want the next 'main camera' to be one that I can keep and be as satisfied with as long as possible, just like the D700. This may sound odd coming from a camera reviewer, but I just don't want to upgrade all the time. I want to build up the same level of muscle memory I had with my old Nikon, and besides that, I have enough other interests and expenses that if a new camera won't make a really measurable difference for my style of photography, it's best to just skip it.
But then again - if I hadn't had the opportunity to experiment not just with the Nikon D5, but also cameras like the Nikon D750, Canon EOS 5D IV, Sony a7R II, the Olympus E-M1 (original and Mark II), Panasonic GH5, Fujifilm X-T2 and many, many more, I wouldn't have known what I'm missing.
Nikon 50mm F1.4D
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F2
Now, for better (for my photography) or worse (for my bank account), I do know what I've been missing. After having so many opportunities to try out all those alternatives, I unequivocally know that a newer, updated camera could really benefit me as a photographer. And that's how, finally, I know that it's a good time for a change.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2qtIcOX
0 notes
Text
How do you know you need a new camera?
Introduction
For the vast majority of shooting I do, even on weddings, I find my aging DSLR is still more than enough camera for the job. After all, it's the photographer, not the camera, right?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1000 sec | F8
'Do I need a new camera?'
Unsurprisingly, I get that question a lot. I also ask myself that question a lot, especially after working at DPReview for the last eighteen months. My answer has always been 'no.'
Until now, that is.
You see, I shoot all my personal work on a Nikon D700. Why is that, you might ask? Well, I was handed-me-down a Nikon D80 way back, built up a collection of lenses, and followed the (questionable, these days) full-frame upgrade path. And once I got there, to my used (and abused) D700, I abruptly stopped. What on earth did I need more camera for?
I don't think I'll ever get rid of this D700 because a) it's covered in tape to hold it together, so its ugly and therefore worthless to most resellers, and b) it's been around the world with me and back again, and hasn't missed a beat.
It still shoots 5fps, and that's usually enough for weddings and events. Exposed properly, ISO 6400 is perfectly usable. It's stood up to everything I've thrown at it (and accidentally thrown it at). And, most importantly, I've become familiar with all of its ins and outs, and how to work around its limitations. I am able operate it completely by muscle memory and, despite its aging tech, I've been confident that if I didn't get the shot, it wasn't the camera's fault - it was mine.
With my flash and exposure set, focusing and grabbing this image of a soloing saxophonist on the dance floor didn't pose much of a problem for the D700 and an 85mm F1.8 D lens I was using - but that wasn't always the case.
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F1.8
But as I was shooting a recent wedding, the Nikon D5 kept popping up in my mind. I was lead reviewer for that camera, and this nagging voice kept saying 'the D5 could make this so much easier.' And when a camera makes the task of capturing an image easier, my mind is that much more free to focus on composition, lighting, posing, and so on.
So am I buying a D5? Well, not without selling my motorcycle and my car, which would be a problem for getting to gigs since Nikon hasn't included teleportation into their $6500 flagship. But now I'm finally looking at something a bit newer, and not just because I think it'll make things easier for me.
Megapixels do matter
Sometimes, anyway.
For my own casual photography, for when I want to just take a camera along and document a camping trip, a friend's barbecue or snap some photos at Thanksgiving, 12 megapixels is plenty. No one's printing these photos big, and friends and family are just going to put them on Facebook or Instagram anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I might make some 4x6's.
It's for these sorts of wider group shots that I really came to lean on my second shooter's higher megapixel cameras.
Canon 35mm F2 IS
ISO 100 | 1/1000 | F3.5
Photograph by David Rzegocki
Then my second shooter and I were wandering around the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle with the bridal party, and shooting some more expansive group shots; shots that I knew that if people zoomed in to their faces on my D700 files, they could be disappointed. So I borrowed my partner's 6D (or just let him frame up the shot) to make sure that, should they want to make some prints, or just take a closer look at their dresses and suits, they had the resolution they needed.
Now, I said they could be disappointed. There's every chance that they wouldn't care. But I'm reaching the point in my freelance career that it just wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
'What? The autofocus missed?'
Now don't get me wrong - the pro-grade autofocus system in the D700, lifted directly from the D3, is still pretty fantastic. Most of the time. But I'm increasingly realizing that I want a system to be fantastic all of the time - there were a few strange autofocus mishaps I experienced that cost me a shot I was hoping to nail.
Surely it's more about the mixed, dim lighting and old screw lenses than the camera in this case, right? On the contrary, I knew from my time with the D5 that Nikon's newest autofocus system absolutely sings even with older lenses like mine, with a level of precision in marginal light that I'd expect from the D700 in bright daylight.
All I wanted a quick candid of the back of the bride's necklace. It looks okay at 590 pixels, but zoom in any further and it's soft, despite the lens being stopped down and the autofocus point having been placed over the necklace (so plenty of contrast).
Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
ISO 200 | 1/320 sec | F2.8
Lastly, as many times as I have insisted to our technical editor Rishi that 3D Tracking works 'just fine' on the D700, I shall now be unceremoniously cramming those words into my mouth. It was so unreliable compared to the newer models that I fell back on manually placing my autofocus point. I'd been doing this for years before I experimented with tracking on the D700, so my muscle memory came back pretty quickly, but I still knew I was taking a step backward and making just a little more work for myself.
Plus, that eight-way controller on the D700 is like an undercooked banana loaf; it's just a mushy mess.
So what's next?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1600 sec | F8
I have officially sold one of my two D700's (the one that's in mint condition, not the one that's dented and covered in gaff tape to keep the grip rubber on). And as for now, I'm not really sure what's next - Nikon would probably be my first choice, as I still have plenty of lenses, but I'm totally open for some camera-brand soul searching.
One thing's for certain, though. I'm going to take my time with this one. That's because I want the next 'main camera' to be one that I can keep and be as satisfied with as long as possible, just like the D700. This may sound odd coming from a camera reviewer, but I just don't want to upgrade all the time. I want to build up the same level of muscle memory I had with my old Nikon, and besides that, I have enough other interests and expenses that if a new camera won't make a really measurable difference for my style of photography, it's best to just skip it.
But then again - if I hadn't had the opportunity to experiment not just with the Nikon D5, but also cameras like the Nikon D750, Canon EOS 5D IV, Sony a7R II, the Olympus E-M1 (original and Mark II), Panasonic GH5, Fujifilm X-T2 and many, many more, I wouldn't have known what I'm missing.
Nikon 50mm F1.4D
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F2
Now, for better (for my photography) or worse (for my bank account), I do know what I've been missing. After having so many opportunities to try out all those alternatives, I unequivocally know that a newer, updated camera could really benefit me as a photographer. And that's how, finally, I know that it's a good time for a change.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2qtIcOX
0 notes
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