Sunday 6 February 2011

Gear Decision Time

So in the space of this last week, I have sold two camera bodies - the 1Dmk111 and the old 5D, and three lenses, and two flash items.  The first 7D we bought will be on eBay later today, and the battery grip is on its way to Cornwall where it will picked up by a friend of this blog.

When I put the gear up, I had a few comments asking me if I was going to switch to the 'Dark side'

Well given how easy it has been to see the kit I had and get reasonably acceptable prices, I guess the time is right to think about it.

So can I easily shift two more bodies, three L zoom lenses, 4 L FF lenses and a non L fixed lens, three converters, tubes, and a couple of 580 flash heads.  Big decision time now.

My main goal at the start of this process was to sell the 1D, 5D and a 7D and keep one of the 7D's and get a 5Dmk2.

Now I know that the rumours are of the 5Dmk111 later in the year but I will not buy a new body now, at least with six to nine months of launch as they ALL have problems of some kind, and you ALWAYS pay full whack i.e. - totally over the top here in the UK particularly with Canon.  For example the 1Dmk4 is now 1200 pounds!!!!!! lower than when launched.  Another reason not to wait is that I want Full frame NOW - I love it for a big part of my photography, and if Canon stay true to form they will whack it with a massive price hike.....as usual.  The 5Dmk2  does pretty much want I NEED (not want), and with a good couple of years in, it is now 'stable' both in firmware and price

I have a few days to make a decision while I wait for my sales money to clear and check out what I might get for the rest of my kit.

But, as I said earlier, I didn't start this trip with a mind to switch, but I am giving it some more thought now!!

Martin

2 comments:

  1. Trouble is, we pay over the odds for *everything* here in the UK, not just on Canon gear. Nikon is no cheaper than Canon and, in some cases, they're more expensive.
    It's the price of lenses that annoys me more than anything. Camera prices drop quite quickly but not lens prices which, if anything, go UP. I want a 500 f4 L but I can't afford £5000+ which is their current price; not that many years ago, they were around the £3000 mark. I might, instead, go for a Sigma 500/4.5 which, although it may not be as good as the Canon, is at least £2k cheaper.
    The mark II L lenses are out soon. The existing 200 f2.8 L is around £3000, the mark II version will be twice that.

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  2. Well I switched to Nikon,got pretty much the equivalent bodies/lenses. Although had a 600mm f4 afs II without IS (which I don't miss) And got the Nikon D3s with the saving on the lens. 300S as back up but I still reckon a cropped image from the F/F D3s is superior to any image from the 300S. I sold and exchanged all my kit over about 2 months. Cost to change like for like was about £200 out my pocket. Would I switch back, no way just love the D3s.

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