# An introduction and a dilemma



## seqiro (Oct 3, 2014)

Hello!

I'm new here and thought I'd introduce myself a bit before getting to my question.

TL;DR - I have $2800 to spend on equipment and need ideas.

I'm an almost 40 former IT engineer who has enjoyed photography since I was kid a with a Kodak 110 film camera. I got my first SLR in the 90s and my first DSLR was a Canon 10D.

I'm currently unemployed having gotten fed up with my former career and I also suffer from bipolar II disorder and chronic insomnia. Through the ups and downs, the one thing I still really enjoy photography. I like wildlife photography, although I'm limited by my equipment and I can't really afford to travel. I also enjoy taking candids of people at parties and such, though I don't think the life of a wedding or event photographer would be compatible with my struggles with anxiety and depression. I also enjoy taking pictures at local clubs where no flash photography is allowed, but my current equipment struggles in low light. My apartment has no windows exposed to light so it's hard to do much indoors. I'm not particularly skilled at landscape photography.

Lately I've felt like I'm in a creative slump. What I don't want to happen is to lose interest. I want to light the spark back up.

My current equipment (from when I had money to buy it):

EOS 7D
EF 100-400L
EF 24-105L
EF-S 10-22mm
EF 85mm f/1.8
430EX II 

I recently went on an eBay spree and earned about $2800. I want to spend all of this on photography equipment. I don't have a lot of money, but one thing I do have is a lot of time. I could learn new things.

My biggest dissatisfaction with my current gear is the noise of the 7D. Whether I'm trying to take a picture of a blue heron, a indie musician, or a baseball player at a night game I'm always pumping up the ISO with the equipment I have and the noise and shadow banding is driving me nuts.

Do I keep the 7D and add a 6D? I think the inferior autofocus system would annoy me because I'm used to the advanced 7D.

Do I ditch the 7D and go 7D II? It's tough to say until people have it in their hands for reviews, but what I've seen so far seems better.

Do I go 5DIII? I admit this is a dream body for me. And I could do it with the current rebates, but that would be ALL I could do. But maybe that would be ok.

I also have no macro equipment. I admit the MP-E 65mm intrigues me, but I see so many horror stories about how hard it is to use (and I've done my research and understand the limitations of that particular lens). If I go with a standard macro, there's choices with the 100L, the 180L, and the Sigma. Then I get stuck trying to decide between the ring flash or the twin flash. Focus stacking seems like something I'd be interested in but again I worry that it's beyond me.

Astral photography would be interesting but it's tough to get away from light pollution here in Massachusetts.

A tilt-S___ lens could be fun to learn to use, but since I have a crop sensor body I don't know if that's a wise choice. I wouldn't be able to get much else with the price of those.


So, if you were me what would you do if $2800 (and possibly a little more, as I have more things to sell and birthday coming up) fell into your lap?

And yes, I know that only I can really know what I need, but since I'm feeling so stuck right now I'm looking for ideas to push me in the right direction.

Any help is greatly appreciated. 

Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

Paul


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## mkabi (Oct 4, 2014)

All the lenses you own are perfect for Full Frame, not crop.
My suggestion, sell the 7D and get yourself the grey market 5DIII (should cost you about $2600; watch for deals on Canon Rumors).

You could also buy a Sony A7s with Canon lens adapter.


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## seqiro (Oct 4, 2014)

mkabi said:


> All the lenses you own are perfect for Full Frame, not crop.
> My suggestion, sell the 7D and get yourself the grey market 5DIII (should cost you about $2600; watch for deals on Canon Rumors).
> 
> You could also buy a Sony A7s with Canon lens adapter.



Well one of the lenses won't work at all on full frame. So that would have to go too. At that point, my widest lens would be the 24-105L. A comparable EF lens would be fairly pricey and while I'm by no means great with that 10-22mm lens, I've taken a few pictures I couldn't have taken without it.

I do think full frame is the way to go for 90% of what I want to do, though.


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## NancyP (Oct 4, 2014)

IF you want one "does it all" body, the 5D3 would be good. If you want an action body and a landscape/portrait/everything else body, you could add the 6D body to your current gear. If you want an occasional ultrawide for not much money, the all manual Samyang/Rokinon/Bower 14mm f/2.8 rectilinear projection lens is a great deal at around 300 to 350 bucks. It is perhaps not the greatest for architecture, as its distortion is complex, but it works a treat for landscape, group shots in tight places, astrophotography. I think you have a pretty good start already, the 6D will add some low-light, narrow depth of field wide open, and ultra-wide-angle capacity. I have 6D and 60D. I am actually using my old film lenses on the 6D with adapter. 

Personally I would spend more time learning post-processing and learning specific skills (how are you on your lighting?) - consider those things to work on when you can't get out. 

Ansel Adams or some other luminary said that there's nothing worse than a sharp picture of a dull concept. I think that we all spend a little too much time pixel peeping and not enough time seeing and thinking and planning.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Oct 4, 2014)

seqiro said:


> mkabi said:
> 
> 
> > All the lenses you own are perfect for Full Frame, not crop.
> ...


 
24mm on a FF is wide. You are getting into ultra wide when you get wider. Some like ultrawide, some don't. I'd start with the 24-105 on a FF body, and then decide if you want wider. Most likely, for bird photography, you will want longer. You can use a 1.4X TC on a 100-400L with a 5D MK III.

I love FF, but in your situation, just buy a 7D MK II and sell the 7D. The 7D MK II will be able to AF with a 1.4X TC on your 100-400L which for bird photography you will love. 

You might even sell the 100-400L and pre-order one of the new Sigma 150-600mm lenses with the proceeds and the $1000 left over from buying the MK II.


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## old-pr-pix (Oct 4, 2014)

As noted, you have a good line-up of lenses, except if you want to do low light stuff indoors. Your only wide-ap lens is the 85 and that can be too long for close action indoors (clubs, etc.) Consider getting a shorter focal length, wider aperture lens. On crop, something like the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 has 2+ stops advantage over your current lenses. Learning to work with low light and limited DOF should be a good challenge.

7DII maybe just what you need, but it's too soon to really know. If you go to 5DIII, you should be able to buy a wide ap prime in the 28/35 range for what you can get from selling your 10-22. Be sure to check the Canon Direct store's list of refurb. products (5DIII is ~$2700 at the moment) and watch for a sale.


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## Too_Many_Hobbies (Oct 4, 2014)

Hi Paul,

First off, best of luck with your struggles – glad that photography can be an outlet for you! I’m also an IT engineer, and although I don’t have the guts to give it up, I certainly do feel like it some days!

Here are some of my thoughts:

*Creative slump:* Have you tried any online photography courses? I personally really like Lynda.com and in particular Ben Long who has a boat load of courses there. He is also an IT guy and I really appreciate his sense of humor (not sure if those two thoughts are related or not). You can subscribe for $25 for just one month and then cancel if you want to. If you have a lot of time, watching techniques and then trying them might be a great way of getting out of a slump.

*Camera*: I had the 7D but sold it as I also was not a huge fan of the IQ especially at higher ISO. I have the 6D and use that camera most of the time (I sold the 7D and bought a 70D package through B&H and ended up ahead). If you tend to use the center point to track your subject then I think the 6D is great. What I don’t like is the focus point spread, the smaller buffer, and slower frame rate more than the autofocus compared to the 7D. The features of the 7D Mark II seem fantastic. I just don’t know that I could go back to crop IQ/low light noise. 

I was also in the same boat thinking that the 5D Mark III is really the camera for me, but I didn’t want to spend that much. I bought the 6D refurbished through Canon for ~$1215 around this time last year (I think there was a Halloween 20% off coupon which didn’t work for the 5D Mark III so that decided me). I’m kind of waiting to see what the 5D Mark IV will be and how that may drop the prices of the III. Personally I wouldn’t make too many moves at once – so I would either buy the 6D and use that for a while before buying anything else or sell the 10-22 & 7D and buy the 5D Mark III. That should still give you money to buy a lens.

*Lenses*: The 24-105, 85, and 100-400 are much different lenses on a full frame. I shot with a pro who at the time used the 16-35, 24-105, and 100-400 in his travel/backpack kit that he led photo tours with. 24mm is quite wide on FF. Do you use lightroom or something similar to catalog your photos? You could do something like look at all the focal lengths you use possibly filtered by rating to see what you use/like the most. If you go to FF (which you really should if your major complaint is noise) then you’ll need to factor that in. 
•	If you shoot a lot in the FF equivalent of < 24mm then maybe you would want something like the new Canon 16-35 F4 lens (if that's fast enough for your uses).
•	If you go with the 5D Mark III then maybe get the Tamron 150-600 or see what the Sigma is like in a few months. You could pick up the 1.4 extender as well, which even though you would have to manual focus on anything but the 5D Mark III you could still use it for static subjects like perched birds, the moon etc.
•	Maybe get the cheap 50mm 1.8 so you have something wider than your 85 for low-light indoors? I personally really like the Sigma 35 Art but it is fairly expensive. I bought that refurbished too (through Sigma) but I think it was still close to $700. I find I want wider than my 50 a lot though which is why my 35 sees way more use. I agree with old-pr-pix - something wider would be better. I don't have any first hand experience except for the 14mm Rokino (which is extremely wide and manual focus and for me at least much more of a specialty lens) and the Sigma. I do recommend them both, but they wouldn't be my first recommendations for you.

*Misc*: If you want to try macro, I would get a set of extension tubes (I have the Kenko personally) and try them on the 24-105 first.


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## mkabi (Oct 4, 2014)

seqiro said:


> mkabi said:
> 
> 
> > All the lenses you own are perfect for Full Frame, not crop.
> ...



Sorry, I skimmed through your list of lenses. Your 10-22mm was hidden in that.
What you have to remember is the crop factor in the 7D. As long as you remember that you have to multiply every number by 1.6... you will know what range you want. So that 10-22 is really 16-35... but this is what most people don't know... you have to multiply 1.6 to the f-stop too. So all your f/4 are really 6.4, kinda light limiting isn't it?

85mm is the fastest lens you have and its f/2.88 on your 7D...
Now, I hear praise for the 135mm, and unless thats what you're aiming for 85mm isn't exactly the same as 85 on a FF.

Anyway - here is that link for a $2600 5D MkIII
http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=23099.0


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## seqiro (Oct 4, 2014)

Lots of great stuff here. I do think full frame is something that I really want to go for and selling the 7D & 10-22mm might just be the way to go.

I'll respond in more detail to these suggestions tomorrow evening. I actually have to try and sleep (emphasis on try!) because I need to be up early in the morning, but I appreciate all the advice so far and would love to hear even more thoughts.

Thanks again, everyone!


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## Steve (Oct 4, 2014)

seqiro said:


> So, if you were me what would you do if $2800 (and possibly a little more, as I have more things to sell and birthday coming up) fell into your lap?



If I had nearly 3 grand and a ton of free time I'd throw that 7D and a couple of those lenses in a bag, buy a ticket to somewhere in southeast Asia or south america and see how long I could hang out before running out of money. I bet that would help get some photographic creativity going. Experiences and opportunities are far better than any gear you can buy. It might be worthwhile to think of other things you could spend that money on that would be good for your photography besides a new camera body or lens. Good luck, man, and take care of yourself.


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## Sporgon (Oct 4, 2014)

Steve said:


> seqiro said:
> 
> 
> > So, if you were me what would you do if $2800 (and possibly a little more, as I have more things to sell and birthday coming up) fell into your lap?
> ...



Good point. I wouldn't pay out for a 5DIII if money is tight. The 6D is a fine camera and the AF has never let me down.........it would also be a much better match for your current lenses. Sell the EF-s and add a 50 f1.4, then youre good for anything.


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## Drum (Oct 4, 2014)

+1 on the 6d. then you could also buy another lens either a uwa to replace the 10-22 or you could try out the macro lens and flashes you are thinking about. Don't forget that with all the full frame bodies you will need a speed light. Personally I have the Yongnuo 565 and 568 flashes and for my needs they are perfectly acceptable. Your lens setup so far as others have suggested is perfect for ff. good luck with your choice.


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## Bdazzler (Oct 4, 2014)

Hello Paul,

I am writing this because I worry for your future and your finical situation. First off I will say I embrace your love for photography and its great that you are able to find happiness in life through photography. However with that said I know you were asking for help in how to spend this money that you have to buy photographer gear. But I have to say maybe at this time in your life you might be better off saving this money for a rainy day. You said you have no job and live in an apartment. I have to assume you need to pay rent. Do you have an emergency fund or any other source of income. Is this money you are going to spend on photography equipment going to bring you in to harder financial troubles. 
From what I see you already have some pretty nice equipment and you should be able to make money from the photography equipment you already have. But you listed what you are willing to do and not do and you are narrowing your ability to make money in photographer to some very narrow markets in the industry. Maybe instead of spending money on new equipments you can challenge yourself and use your free time to go out and become a better landscape photographer or even just try some photography that makes you scarred.
With all this being said I do hope you succeeded in life on whatever you choice to do. I know you did not ask for this kind of feed back but I see everyone was telling you who to spend this money and when I read you you had no job I was worried that it might not be the best choice to spend this money you have saved.

Good Luck
Peace


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## MintChocs (Oct 4, 2014)

Hi Paul,

Congrats for posting such an open honest request. Whilst I may not be able to give you the answer you want I hope you might find some food for thought. I moved from a 12Mp crop Xsi to the 6D( I don't shoot sports or action, yes the lack of AF points is annoying but I can live with it). Yes there was a great improvement in the quality but the greatest improvement was in learning how to use better software to improve my images. I would be stressed but after sitting down editing, hours would go by without me noticing until my back/eyes started to hurt. Start a photography plan maybe just for a few days make a plan of a topic you can shoot, street photography(not necessarily people could be shapes patterns etc), macro another day (close up filter cheaper than a new lens), environmental portraits of friends plus you get to meet them and have a chat! Just a few suggestions, see what makes you smile.  Personally I wouldn't spend the whole hunk of change probably less than half. I would use the money on going to places nearby, parks, cities etc. You could spend the all the money on one camera body and it's all gone but is it going to get you extra opportunities to take photos? Finally slight off topic, have you tried acupuncture, I find it quite helpful, being in a calmer more positive mood can do more for photography than any piece of equipment. Cheers 
, wishing you happy snapping.


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## seqiro (Oct 4, 2014)

Just some quick responses before I head out. And thanks again to everyone offering advice!

First off, I do have a speedlite, the 430 EX II at the bottom of my list. Not the high end, but a decent flash. I have a flash bracket and a Demb diffuser.

I am married and my wife is a voice teacher, and while not pulling in the kind of cash that I made working for Fortune 100 companies, we've already experienced most of the financial hardships that we are going to. She's very supportive of the idea of me expanding my photography skills. I essentially made all of this money by selling unread books and and old Atari 2600 cartridges (several of which turned out to be very valuable) and aside from a set of new glasses and car repair bill, the rest is allotted to me for this purpose. I appreciate the concern!

The travel idea is certainly one I've thought about. And honestly I think my wife would support that too, though it's unlikely we could both afford to go. Also since the only place outside of the US I've ever been is Canada, I have a feeling I'd need a really long time there because I wouldn't want the WHOLE trip to be behind the camera. I'd want to spend a lot of time eating the local cuisine!  I will put additional thought into this. I'd need a passport and I do worry about taking my medications with me (and also not having someone around who I trust who can say, "Hey, be careful!" Depression is awful, but the euphoria of mania can lead to really bad decisions.

As for the 6D and 5DIII, the 6D would afford me the opportunity to get some more glass and keep the 7D, while the 5DIII would mean chucking the 7D + 10-22 and maybe when all is said and done either replacing the UW or adding a macro.


Ok I have to get out of here before I am late, but I really do want to thank everyone again for all the kind words and thoughtful suggestions. Please feel free to continue! Tonight when I get home I'll pore over this more carefully.


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 4, 2014)

mkabi said:


> What you have to remember is the crop factor in the 7D. As long as you remember that you have to multiply every number by 1.6... you will know what range you want. So that 10-22 is really 16-35... but this is what most people don't know... you have to multiply 1.6 to the f-stop too. So all your f/4 are really 6.4, kinda light limiting isn't it?



No, it's not light limiting. It's depth of field limiting. The crop factor effect on aperture applies to depth if field for equivalent framing, because with the 1.6x sensor you're 1.6x farther away to get the same framing, and that means deeper DoF. Exposure is determined by light per unit area, so at a given ISO f/4 will give the same shutter speed regardless of sensor size (however, the smaller the sensor the less total light gathered, meaning more noise with smaller sensors).


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## unfocused (Oct 4, 2014)

First of all, let me say I really admire your self-awareness. I have known far too many people suffering from mental illnesses who simply refuse or are unable to recognize their limitations and the results have sometimes been tragic. 

Keeping on the path that you are on is the most important thing in that regard. 

Now, as far as cameras go. My personal suggestion would be to buy a 6D. For just under $1,450 you can get a new US Warranty 6D through Canon Price Watch's street price program. I own a 5DIII and love it, but with limited funds I can't honestly recommend spending an additional $1,250 for the 5DIII. Unless – and this is a big "unless" – you know you will absolutely never be satisfied with the 6D and always regret not buying the 5DIII. I'm not talking small regret here, but big-time every-time-you-pick-up-the-camera regret. I'm talking irrational, gut-feeling response. ONLY if that is the case, should you consider the 5DIII.

At the current price for the 6D, you can keep the 7D for awhile and have it available in situations where you need the ultra wide angle or the extra reach. After 3-6 months with the 6D you may decide you don't. With the announcement of the 7DII the resale value of the 7D has already dropped, so holding it for a few more months probably won't make a lot of difference. 

Photography equipment is expensive and the costs never end. Depending on what direction you may go in the future, you will want to invest in lenses, strobes, light modifiers, tripods, etc. etc. Plus, the travel idea is a good one, so holding back a little money for those things might be a good idea. If you really need an ultra-wide angle, there is nothing wrong with the old reliable 17-40 f4. It's still a good lens and reasonably priced, but as long as you have the 10-22 and the 7D, you can get by for quite a while using that.

I'm also undergoing a transition so very attuned to the need to conserve resources. Just one guy's recommendations.


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## drjlo (Oct 4, 2014)

seqiro said:


> As for the 6D and 5DIII, the 6D would afford me the opportunity to get some more glass and keep the 7D, while the 5DIII would mean chucking the 7D + 10-22


. 

I personally wouldn't touch any of the Canon crop sensors, even the 7D II sensor. It may have good improvement in IQ from 7D in JPEG, but I highly doubt RAW's have much improvement, just like 70D over 60D. 

6D actually has better center AF point (low light sensitivity) than 5D III and slightly cleaner noise at high ISO, which will serve you well in your low-light candid photography. When I bought my 5D III, 6D was not out yet, but if it was available, I would have bought the 6D instead and save myself money for other things. 

As for Macro, you can easily delve into that by putting on a cheap extension tube and putting it on your 85 mm. I feel Canon's macro flashes are too expensive myself. "Phoenix" Macro flash is a real macro ring flash (not one of those weak LED ring flashes) and works great at $89. 
http://www.adorama.com/SYRF46C.html


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## Steve (Oct 4, 2014)

seqiro said:


> The travel idea is certainly one I've thought about. And honestly I think my wife would support that too, though it's unlikely we could both afford to go. Also since the only place outside of the US I've ever been is Canada, I have a feeling I'd need a really long time there because I wouldn't want the WHOLE trip to be behind the camera. I'd want to spend a lot of time eating the local cuisine!  I will put additional thought into this. I'd need a passport and I do worry about taking my medications with me (and also not having someone around who I trust who can say, "Hey, be careful!" Depression is awful, but the euphoria of mania can lead to really bad decisions.



Just to be clear, my suggestion wasn't necessarily meant to be completely literal. I was saying what _I_ would like to do with some extra money and free time. You don't have to go halfway around the world to kickstart your photography. The point of my post was that there are other things you can spend money on that will help you get the creativity and inspiration going. You could get some backpacking gear and go on an outdoor photo adventure, take some private workshops or continuing ed classes to learn new techniques, hire a hot air balloon and take a bunch of cool aerial shots, buy a bunch of photo books (the kind with good photos in them, not the kind with a bunch of words) or just take some long drives in the American North East and see whats out there.

Travel is awesome and I encourage everyone to do it, but I was mostly trying to give you some non-gear alternatives that might also be good for your mental well-being. New experiences are really a great way to help feel alive and encouraged and good about the future. They are also good for artistic discovery. 

One last thing that is a bit more nuts and bolts - do you have a Photoshop license? That could be really great, especially with some of the Topaz plugins like Denoise, Detail, ReMask, etc. I struggled with the noise on the 7D when I had one and sold it before I'd really learned how to deal with noise and sharpening in a more structured way. Learning how to convert for good noise reduction and sharpening and learning how to do those things in PS could get you a lot more IQ out of your 7D than upgrading your camera body would. I found I could use much higher ISO's successfully with good post technique and get a lot more keepers. So that's something you might consider. Those skills transfer to new camera bodies as well!


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## Larry (Oct 4, 2014)

[quote ... I do worry about taking my medications with me (and also not having someone around who I trust who can say, "Hey, be careful!" Depression is awful, but the euphoria of mania can lead to really bad decisions.
[/quote]

Hey Paul,

Many others here can and have given you some good photo-food for thought. I'd like to add a bit of encouragement on the health issue:

Keeping in mind that reasonable emotional balance and the best physical health we can maintain is fundamental to all else we do, try to make that a priority that a moment's mania can't shake. Re. depression, absolutely maintain the meds, and consider the effects of living in an apartment with "no windows that admit light".

I imagine that you are familiar with the effects of S.A.D., but if not, read up a bit. The effects of a relatively sunlight-free environment can be very severe on some people, ...responses vary. In any case, more light on the subject(you) will add weight to the anti-depression side of the scale. [ SAD = Seasonal Affective Disorder. ]

If your intent is to actually become an income producing photographer, rather than a fulfilled amateur, consider carefully the many posts re. this idea on numerous photo forums. Reality can be much more demanding than dreams, ...especially if the dreams are fueled by both periodic mania and G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome  )

I'm convinced that if an authoritative voice spoke from the clouds, decreeing that there would be no new gear available, most of us could nevertheless have some very rewarding experiences using what we already have.

Try for patience, and give yourself plenty of time for thought. 

Congratulations on having such a supportive wife, and best wishes, whatever your decisions,

Larry


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## Marsu42 (Oct 4, 2014)

seqiro said:


> Lots of great stuff here. I do think full frame is something that I really want to go for and selling the 7D & 10-22mm might just be the way to go.



+1 for that, though you won't get that much now that the 7d2 is announced. On the other hand, you can now grab a cheap 17-40L since the successor 16-35L/4 is out. 

In general, after reading your op, I'd advise you to get a 6d. Yes, the af system is a pita, but I find spending $2500+ on a 5d3 with no fresh money coming in questionable... and struggling with the af results in a lot of learning as I can tell . Better get other stuff with the money left like flashes, lighting gear (diffusers, reflectors, flash bracket), filters - that will give you much more to do than just owning the latest and greatest camera body.


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## surapon (Oct 4, 2014)

seqiro said:


> Hello!
> 
> I'm new here and thought I'd introduce myself a bit before getting to my question.
> 
> ...




Dear Friend Paul.
Well " I'm currently unemployed having gotten fed up with my former career and I also suffer from bipolar II disorder and chronic insomnia. "---Yes With 3 Problems that you have, No Job-Yet, And Chronic Insomnia ( after 2 days with out sleep), that the worst part, to make your BipolarII come back at the peak most of the time---Yes, I know, Because of my son ( 33 years Old) have the same 3 problems as you have---Yes, He have the job that I offer him 1,000 times to work for me ( Yes, He is a great Musician, and Good Photographer And Professional Graphic Designer with Master degree, Who has a better artistic ability better than me), But he do not want to work for me as the AUTOCADD Operator and I already pay him $ 46,000 per year---Yes, He want Money, But hate to work, and do not work, or looking for the job past 12 months----Ha, Ha, Ha.---Yes, The Complete Music Studio with All most Musical equipments in my Spare room 14 X 24 Feet is lock for 12 months, And All Camera Equipment that I let him use never touch with in 6 months---He just stay with me in is part of my home ( Bed room + Bath Room + The Small Den), Eat, Sleep, Play the Video Games, Watch TV, and go to see the Doctors in every 2-3 weeks. Yes, I and my wife/ His Mommy must pay every thing for his needs and his requirement too.

Sorry, To tell my sad story of my son--------
NO, Dear friend, ---You already have a good set of Photographic equipment that can produce the best photos, as your love hobby--Forget about the noise---No one care about the noise, if your great photos are in good composition, Unique point of views and great story teller.= Will creat the best of your ability-----Well , Be careful Your Sickness Bipolar will force you to buy the equipment that you do not need---Please Use your equipment up to 120% of their ability first, And Keep the money that you have for the rainy day, most important in your life, when you need them.

Just my Idea that involve with my dear son similar to your position.
Good luck.
Surapon


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## Hjalmarg1 (Oct 4, 2014)

seqiro said:


> mkabi said:
> 
> 
> > All the lenses you own are perfect for Full Frame, not crop.
> ...



5D3 will fit your needs, specially working in low light. Sell the 7D (I did and no regret at all) and the 10-22mm lens. 24 mm in FF is wide enough for most of your needs.


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## Too_Many_Hobbies (Oct 5, 2014)

Just wanted to follow-up on this thread.

I agree with the travel sentiment. Most of my fondest memories revolve around having a new experience usually in a different place a bit outside of my comfort zone. Even if it is just a day trip maybe a change of scenery would help. I had the great fortune to take a trip to Hawaii with my wife for a conference. We haven't traveled that much and Hawaii was not anything on our radar, but since I was there I went kayaking, stand up paddling, snorkeling, and windsurfing on the ocean, went on a hike to a waterfall - all sorts of stuff I don't normally do. Even though we were only out there for maybe 10 days I think of it often and have a lot of my mental real estate devoted to those memories. 

On the other hand, your frame of mind does affect so many things and helps you see things differently. Sometimes a good/fun exercise is to give yourself a challenge like try to only use your 24-105 at 24. You can go to the same places you've been and just see things differently based on your mindset.
(I really like this amusing talk about happiness:
http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work?language=en)

On the looking at pictures sentiment, before we traveled to Utah (on our "last hurrah" splurge before our daughter was born) to go on a photography trip I spent a lot of time on flickr just looking at the pictures people took of the area so I could get an idea of what things looked like, what pictures struck me, and how those pictures were taken (at least from an EXIF perspective).

@Surapon - so sorry to hear about your son. To a much lesser extent my brother was in a similar situation - living at home with no job and not really doing anything in particular. It's so hard to relate and figure out if there is anything you can actually do to help. I imagine that I'm like a lot of people here were your reaction is to evaluate, problem solve, and come up with a solution, but it doesn't really help if you can't convince the person to take any actions!

Anyway, best of luck with everything. Please let us know how you make out!


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## seqiro (Oct 5, 2014)

Many great things here and a lot to ponder.

(You can skip the next few paragraphs to the dashed lines if you just want my thoughts on photography equipment, but I wanted to address some of the really kind thoughts about my wellbeing too!)

To answer a couple of things, I do currently subscribe to the photographer's bundle of Creative Cloud, so I have the latest Lightroom and Photoshop. I also have the (now Google) Nik suite. I shoot primarily RAW. I have a flash, a flash bracket, a diffuser, and a semi-decent ball head (Induro BHD2), though my tripod could probably stand to be replaced soon (Manfrotto 055MF3 that has possibly seen too many trips to beaches and hiking).

I also want to emphasize that buying this camera equipment is not taking the the place of, say, food or electricity. Bankruptcy and foreclosure is behind us, we don't keep high balances on our one credit card, and neither of us has a car payment. My wife's job is a private practice with her parents doing something she absolutely loves. We aren't struggling, we just aren't living the lifestyle we were. I took the initiative to find things that we had in storage or in my parents' basement that were valuable and took the time to list them all on eBay and was successful, so this is kind of my reward and honestly it's the best I've felt in a long time. It was something productive I could do on my own schedule and not have to worry if I had an off day.

The apartment situation is a bit of a bummer on a lot of levels, mostly because in this area it's tough to find a place that will let you have a dog and two cats and I'd sooner give up all of my camera equipment than my pets, who are our family. So we took what we could get. It's a great location in a small town I like, it's just a crummy building. I am very aware of S.A.D. and am quite affected by it, but I plan to get a light therapy box which I think will help.

Surapon I obviously don't know your son's situation and I can understand how tough it is on you, but I will say from my own experiences at least it's not about not wanting to work (though I NEVER want to work at my previous occupation again, which is less about the work and more about the people you have to work for and being verbally abused every single day) but there are days where I either cannot sleep for 48 hours or cannot get out of bed for 48 hours. It's hard to keep any kind of job when your life is like that. My family has been very supportive of me and I've been trying to find ways to overcome it, but it's been really tough. My therapist is actually actively trying to push me to do more with photography and I think she's on to something, which is part of what led me here.

As for classes, I actually wouldn't mind taking some. I've always been skeptical of the online classes and never really sure what they would be like. I'm obviously an amateur, but I know all the basics and have been shooting for years. One thing I don't know a lot about is studio lighting because I've never really had the opportunity. If I had the space, I think that's the type of thing I would be looking into. I don't know much about reflectors either. Again, just not the type of thing I ever had the opportunity to experiment with. I did look to see if there were any classes around here at the community colleges, but they looked terrible. If I lived nearer to my wife's uncle he'd be willing to train me as he actually is a graphic arts/photography professor.

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I think the most repeated sentiment that I should be using some sort of full frame body. I can't say that I disagree with this.

The only thing I can say for certain is that a 6D would have to be supplemental to my existing 7D because when I'm shooting birds at the wildlife sanctuary on the shore, the 6D autofocus would just not suffice. From a value perspective, I definitely see its benefits. Significantly cheaper, good IQ, built in wifi & GPS (things I would actually like), great in low light.

The things that have always had me on the fence with the 6D are the autofocus system (which if I'm keeping the 7D, perhaps not a big deal), the different layout (I'm VERY used to and comfortable with the 7D buttons and joystick and the 5D III is very similar), the plastic shell (my camera goes hiking with me when I'm up for it and spends time at the beach), and strangely enough the 97% viewfinder. When I went from the 20D to the 7D, the viewfinder just seemed to make a big difference. Granted that was 95% to 100%. Maybe it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

What I really need to do is try one, but I'm not sure where around here to do that. There's one possible camera store nearby, but they never seem very friendly when I go in there and i would almost certainly not be buying anything from them.

So there's 6D as a supplemental body and maybe some updated equipment and a new piece of glass. There's the 5D III, sell the 7D & 10-22mm and maybe get a 1.4x III. Or there's sticking with the 7D line and getting some new glass with wider apertures such as the Sigma 18-35 1.8 which seems to never be in stock but I've liked what I've seen.

To those who have said that I already have everything I need, I really feel like I don't. For those music club shots where photography is permitted but flash is prohibited, the light is so poor and even with my 85 1.8 I have to crank the ISO so high to prevent motion blur that the amount of detail I lose to noise just makes for an unattractive photo. I have the same issue at night sporting events.

And then the other idea is to go in a new direction, maybe re-enter the world of macro (I once had a Sigma 150 which was fantastic, but it met an unfortunate death years ago) and then I don't have to worry about travel (don't get me wrong, I love travel, it's just tough to do alone right now), I don't need a lot of space, and probably I can get by with what I have and just get a lens and a flash.

A lot to think about and I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to give me some input and for all the kind sentiments regarding my health.


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## tayassu (Oct 5, 2014)

Hey seqiro!

First of all, my best wishes to you, I hope photography and your kind wife can give you enough joy (please don't see that ambiguous) to lead a happy life despite the lot of challenges!

Second, if you are shooting birds, I think 5DIII +100-400+1.4x is a worse solution than 7D + bare 100-400, because you have more AF points with the 7D, the 5DIII has a lot less with f/8 lenses. I understand your worries about noise, but I looked at the 7DII samples yesterday and they are absolutely amazing, it looks like you could use it thoughtless up to ISO3200 detail-wise, just look at the squirrel shot! 
I vote for 7DII, sell the 7D and with the rest 1000$ + the money you make from the 7D I'd get a Sigma 35/1.4 for wider low-light shots and a Tamron 2.8/90 VC Macro for macro (best bang for the buck today), a really great lens. The rest I would save or buy small stuff like memory cards etc. with it.

I hope you can make the right decision for you!


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## Rob-downunder (Oct 5, 2014)

Hi

For what it's worth here are my thoughts. 

Your main problem is image quality and importantly noise at high ISOs. 

Your needs are wildlife, people, clubs, indoors and maybe improving landscapes. 

A 7D will not suffice for low light. A 6D will not suffice for wildlife. A 5D MIII will cover all your needs. 

The further complication is you go hiking and need to carry your gear with you and extra weight will be a burden. 

If the 7D will cover all your needs when hiking (I expect you are out shooting wildlife) and the IQ is OK then keep the 7D, add a 6D for the low light stuff and landscapes, sell the 10-22 (don't shoot landscape and UW with the 7D) and then buy the 16/35 F4 IS which will also improve your IQ as it is sharper than the 10-22. Shoot wildlife with the 7D and telephoto and everything else with the 6D. 

If however you shoot landscape, low light or UW when out hiking then sell the 7D, 10-22 and buy the 5D MIII and the 16/35. 

If funds allow you can add either a 35 F2 or 50 1.4 from eBay second hand for a few hundred with will give you 2-3 stops over the zooms in low light. 

I have recently upgraded from a crop sensor 550D with EFS including the 10-22 to 6D with 16/35, 24/105 and 70/300L and the IQ jump is really significant. I have got the double whammy of body and L series lens upgrades, where some of your glass is already L series so you will only get the sensor upgrade. But 6400 ISO cleans up perfectly in LR with pretty minor settings. 

Good luck and best wishes from OZ.


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## seqiro (Oct 5, 2014)

Rob-downunder said:


> Hi
> 
> For what it's worth here are my thoughts.
> 
> ...



This is a combination I have definitely considered. It would probably be a stretch to get the 16-35 AND the 5DIII unless the rest of my eBay selling goes very well, but not impossible.

Thanks for the insights as you really did manage to sum up all my ramblings rather nicely.


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## Valvebounce (Oct 5, 2014)

Hi Paul. 
One thing I would recommend to help with the creative slump is to find a photography friend! I started walking from home to a local town about 3 miles along the river with my camera, I would meet the other half after her Zumba class and she would drive us home. After a few times of doing this it lost its sparkle. 
A neighbour is in to photography too and having told him what I was doing he asked to come with me, well we chat and he stops to shoot something and I look and think yes that's something I would not normally shoot but what the hey! Then the situation reverses and we are learning from each other! 
See if there isn't someone around that would like to do something similar? 
Now it is getting dark earlier we are experimenting in the back garden (could be a local community park?) with flash, (photography) we both needed to figure out our flash guns, him a bit more than me, and I have some (crappy, they are too loose) macro tubes which we spent an hour or two photographing creepy crawlies and the one or two remaining blooms.
Just a couple of thoughts that may be an option for you. 

Cheers, Graham.


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## Cinto (Oct 5, 2014)

One suggestion I would make is to give Magic Lantern a try. It will expand the creative possibility's of your camera for free. A used 17-40L can be picked up fairly cheaply right now to replace your 10-22 if you go full frame and want an ultra wide. Your 85mm can be used quite well with extension tubes if you want to go macro cheaper. When I get stuck, I like to try some niche photography\video stuff, time-lapse, Long ND or night exposure, focus stacking(which is quite easy with photoshop), HDR(Magic Lantern dual-iso works pretty good for single shot HDR). Right now I've been doing a lot of scanning of flowers with a Canoscan 8800F, mixing back-lit transparency scans with regular flatbed ones. Next I think I'm going to try some cinegrams.

Good Luck.


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## lb (Oct 5, 2014)

mkabi said:


> All the lenses you own are perfect for Full Frame, not crop.
> My suggestion, sell the 7D and get yourself the grey market 5DIII (should cost you about $2600; watch for deals on Canon Rumors).
> 
> You could also buy a Sony A7s with Canon lens adapter.


I agree fully dump the idea of a out-dated Canon 5D111 body and go for the upmarket Sony body and adaptor


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## gm66 (Oct 6, 2014)

If you need a FF wide angle lens I really like the Samyang (/Rokinon/Bower) 14mm F2.8. It has lots of 'creative' potential - nightscapes/panoramas/landscapes. It can be bought for a fraction of the price of other wide lenses and has good IQ.


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## jhanken (Oct 6, 2014)

I really want to encourage you here. Pursuing something creative like photography might help with chronic insomnia, definitely can give the mind something enjoyable and positive to latch onto as you are working on yourself.

I highly recommend getting an original 5D, or if you can pull together a few more bucks, a used 5D II or a 6D, but focus on getting some fun lenses, mostly good artistic prime lenses. I also suggest buying used gear carefully. I would definitely suggest the Canon 85mm f/1.8 and a good 50mm, like the Canon f/1.8 or better yet a used Sigma 50mm f/1.4. The Canon EF 35mm f/2 would also be a great lens that could grow with you. 

If you don't have a decent tripod, also budget for a good Manfrotto or similar. I wouldn't spent up for other accessories yet, wait till some money falls in your lap. For now, make do with some packing foam and a old backpack or something.


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## ajfotofilmagem (Oct 9, 2014)

seqiro said:


> I'm currently unemployed having gotten fed up with my former career and I also suffer from bipolar II disorder and chronic insomnia. Through the ups and downs, the one thing I still really enjoy photography. I like wildlife photography, although I'm limited by my equipment and I can't really afford to travel. I also enjoy taking candids of people at parties and such, though I don't think the life of a wedding or event photographer would be compatible with my struggles with anxiety and depression. I also enjoy taking pictures at local clubs where no flash photography is allowed, but my current equipment struggles in low light. My apartment has no windows exposed to light so it's hard to do much indoors.


I reread your post and realized some important details. Insomnia and depression are strongly influenced by the environment. The biological clock regulates the cycles of day and night. the fact that your home does not have windows to the outside environment, affect the perception of time to feel sleepy. 

Recommend leaving home in the morning sun, and physical exercise daily. By nightfall, avoid bright lights and also TV screens or computer, which stimulate the body to stay awake. Search on Melatonin supplements, which can help regulate the cycle of sleeping and waking. 

If photography gives you pleasure, practice and share this pleasant pastime with people nearby. If the noise in the images of his 7D bothers you, you should not be very pleased with any other APS-C camera to shoot in nightclubs without a flash. Seems to me that 6D is suitable for your use. 

Honestly, I do not recommend investing in wildlife photography. This would only be rewarding if you could travel very often carrying heavy equipment and invest a lot of money. Your GAS (mine too) is a facet of anxiety and competitiveness in this type of photography can be harmful. 

When you have a stable job, then think more seriously expensive equipment and travel required for wildlife. However, visits to the zoo unpretentious usually pleasant and without competitive pressure.


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