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Infrequent DSLR user: How silly is my idea?

are you making prints from these photos? if so, how large?

you said you wanted more reach at a dinner table when using your 30mm. why not just crop the image from the 30mm? it will look fine printed. even up to 20x30".

i wouldn't buy the 50mm if you already have the 30mm. just wait and get the 85mm. that will be a big difference.

i'm a wedding photographer and shoot mainly primes. i like primes and prefer to either zoom with my feet or crop when needed.
 
In my personal opinion, option 4 of keeping the Tokina 12-24 and Sigma 30mm would be the most ideal.

For travels, most shot can be covered by the 30mm and occasionally, landscape shot which the Tokina 12-24 would come in handy.

I believe this would cover more than 90% of your needs.
 
ComputersaysNo said:
There's a program of which i forgot the name at the moment, that looks at the exif info of your photo's and shows what focallength you use the most. Based on that you can see if you really need new stuff or maybe sell something.
Click to expand...

There's jhead, a free command-line utility for reporting focal length use (among many other features) for JPEG files. Assuming you have JPEGs rather than RAW images, you can install jhead and use the command line below in Terminal to get a summary of what focal lengths you use:

jhead [path]/* | grep -i focal | sort | uniq -c

After checking out Exiftool though, it seems to do the same thing on JPEGs and RAWs... Awesome find!
 
jabbott said:
There's jhead, a free command-line utility for reporting focal length use (among many other features) for JPEG files. Assuming you have JPEGs rather than RAW images, you can install jhead and use the command line below in Terminal to get a summary of what focal lengths you use:

jhead [path]/* | grep -i focal | sort | uniq -c

After checking out Exiftool though, it seems to do the same thing on JPEGs and RAWs... Awesome find!
Click to expand...

Who needs command line prompts when you can... data plot your focal lengths!

http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/data-plot
 
ManhattanPrjct said:
Who needs command line prompts when you can... data plot your focal lengths!

http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/data-plot
Click to expand...

The data-plot program looks cool but it requires Lightroom, which costs $90-$100. For the time being I'm happy with iPhoto. Plus jhead and exiftool are free. Using them with the sort -n | uniq -c commands gives you a text histogram which is almost as cool as the graphical data-plot you mentioned. :D I think it's great that all of these tools are available, both command line and graphical -- the more the merrier.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Although I already had my options listed, I needed to hear some opinions to make the right decision. :)

For those who asked what I decided to do:


1. After using a Sony NEX, Olympus PEN, and Panasonic GF2, I realized that there's no way these cameras could replace a DSLR. At best, they'd be something to supplement a real DSLR kit, not replace it. I guess I'm sticking with DSLRs for awhile.

2. Buy the Sigma 50 mm f1.4 and go to Japan with it. ;) I found it on sale for less than I could find it anywhere, even the US. It's a legit store as well.

3. Sell the Sigma 24-70 mm and Tokina 12-24. On paper, it seems like a huge risk to have such an inflexible lens collection. In reality, I've been doing just fine with 2 macros, as all my favourite photos have been taken using them. Regardless of the gaps in focal length, I think I'll be fine. ;)
 
Sounds like an interesting lineup. I read of many people who only have primes, they force you to think and compose differently.
Enjoy Japan! Consider posting some shots in PODT when you return ;)
 
Abstract said:
Hi,

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Although I already had my options listed, I needed to hear some opinions to make the right decision. :)

For those who asked what I decided to do:


1. After using a Sony NEX, Olympus PEN, and Panasonic GF2, I realized that there's no way these cameras could replace a DSLR. At best, they'd be something to supplement a real DSLR kit, not replace it. I guess I'm sticking with DSLRs for awhile.

2. Buy the Sigma 50 mm f1.4 and go to Japan with it. ;) I found it on sale for less than I could find it anywhere, even the US. It's a legit store as well.

3. Sell the Sigma 24-70 mm and Tokina 12-24. On paper, it seems like a huge risk to have such an inflexible lens collection. In reality, I've been doing just fine with 2 macros, as all my favourite photos have been taken using them. Regardless of the gaps in focal length, I think I'll be fine. ;)
Click to expand...

Definitely - the M4/3 system is not on par with full size DSLRs...yet! I am excited to see where this format goes through. It's popularity is driving panasonic, olympus, sony, samsung, and soon nikon - to get into the game and develop some fun and verstatile cameras!

Nice outcome there! Can't believe you let go of the tokina. I would have loved to keep that for some fine landscapes of Japan. I think if I were to go on any sort of trip, a wide angle is a must.
 
Ha, I love people like you. You populate the used camera/lens market with posts like "Barely used lens, 50% off purchase price!"

Seriously, if you're not taking pictures with the equipment you have, simply getting new equipment isn't going to change that.

I think you have to decide how much you really enjoy photography.
 
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