We were in New York City for spring break this past week and it just so happens our hotel was only a few blocks from B&H Photo, perhaps the greatest camera store on the planet
I’ve been shooting with a Nikon D300 for a while now – I still think of it as my new camera. I bought it as a “new dad” gift when my wife was pregnant with our first child. That child is now most of the way through her sophomore year of high school, so that shows you where my sense of the passage of time is.
I had always thought I’d always shoot Nikons. I bought my first in about 1998 when I was working at Ritz Camera. It was an N70 SLR, and I bought it because it fit my hands so much better than the comparable Canon. Since I worked in a camera store, I got to spend A LOT of time playing with the cameras, and it was a no-brainer. The Canon was a nice camera, it just felt too small.
Fast forward to today and I think Nikon really dropped the ball. I hate that I need an adapter to use my old lenses, but everyone is doing that. It really kills loyalty – if my old equipment is no longer compatible, I lose a lot of incentive to stay with one manufacturer. And I think the Canon EOS R6 and R6 Mark II slot in just between the Nikon Z7 and Z8. I don’t mean to be a snob (well, maybe a little) but the Z7 doesn’t feel like a pro camera to me. The Z8 does, but it’s significantly more expensive than the EOS R6. I just couldn’t justify it.
My only qualm is that I’ve been shooting almost everything for years with a Tamron 17-50 F2.8. Having a max aperture of 2.8 on the whole lens is amazing. But the Canon 24-70 2.8 was just too much money to justify today. I got the kit with a 24-105 F4 IS, which is a cool lens, just not as fast as I’m used to. Hopefully I don’t regret it.
Keep your eyes peeled for the first photos from the new camera. The battery is still charging and it’s killing me.