Your current GAS list? (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

Unlike @Sam Posten , I have been revamping my kit over the past 3 years, transitioning from dSLRs to mirrorless. Last week I bought a Canon R10 APS-C mirrorless body, along with RF-S 18-150mm lens. This body will replace both the Canon 7D2 APS-C dSLR that I used primarily for wildlife (and sold a couple of years ago during the pandemic) and the Canon M50 APS-C compact mirrorless body that I used as a light weight travel kit. I sold my entire M50 kit.

My kit is getting closer to being complete, as I still want to upgrade my Canon EOS R full frame mirrorless body to a R6 Mark II, and want to sell my Canon EF 100-400L II lens + EF 1.4x III teleconverter. I also want to eventually pick up an ultra wide angle zoom lens for the R10 once Canon offers one in a RF-S mount.

My kit has gone from three bodies to two, and from about a dozen lenses to eventually seven. Many of the new lenses are smaller and lighter than what they replaced, which was part of my desire to convert to mirrorless -- to have a lighter kit as I get older.

We have planned a trip for later this summer to Colorado, and I plan on taking the R6 Mk 2(or EOS R if I don't upgrade in time), R10, RF 24-105mm f/4 L, RF 16mm f/2.8 and RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 lens. This will be a significantly lighter kit than the equipment I took on our last major trip before the pandemic to Iceland -- 7D2, 5D3, M50, EF 24-105 f/4 L, EF-M 11-22mm, EF-M 22mm f/2 pancake, and EF 70-200 f/4L + 1.4x TC (because the 100-400L was too big and heavy to fit in the bag).

When we head to Mackinac Island next month, I will take just the R10, RF-S 18-150mm and RF 16mm f/2.8 as my compact travel kit. In the past, I would have brought the M50, EF-M 18-150mm, EF-M 11-22mm and EF-M f/2 pancake lenses. I will be missing a UWA lens, but I can live without that for now, as I don't shoot much UWA landscapes.

 

[JohnRice]

When I switched to mirrorless, I went a little insane picking up lenses, often used ones. As Nikon (and hopefully others) increase their offerings of Z Mount lenses, I'll probably be too eager to update those. Nikon seems to have some kind of agreement with Tamron, and I sure hope they do one with Sigma as well. Sigma has a bunch of neat mirrorless lenses, but only in Sony mount.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

What kinda GAS thread is this anyway? Still no mentions of the newly announced Nikon Z8? Where's @Sam Posten anyway?

_Man_

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Not camera equipment per se, but I did just pick up a Spyder X2 Elite calibration tool for calibrating my monitor. I had a Spyder 5 Elite, and upgraded for a few reasons: (1) the Spyder 5 was going out of support, (2) the company was offering $100 off to owners of the product going out of support, (3) the software that came with the Spyder 5 never did a proper job of calibration (there was always a teal color cast), and (4) the DisplayCAL open source software I used in place of the Spyder software wouldn't run properly on my new Windows 11 PC.

The Spyder X2 software works fine on Windows 11, and after calibrating there was no teal color cast -- my monitor looks just like it did after calibration on Windows 10 using DisplayCAL.

 

[Sam Posten]

What kinda GAS thread is this anyway? Still no mentions of the newly announced Nikon Z8? Where's @Sam Posten anyway?

_Man_

From prior page:
"I’ve made it about 3 years being satisfied with my kit and not desiring major upgrades. I still want an exotic tele but I don’t think I ever will get one."

I know, uncharacteristic of me. New iMac is all I need.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

From prior page:
"I’ve made it about 3 years being satisfied with my kit and not desiring major upgrades. I still want an exotic tele but I don’t think I ever will get one."

I know, uncharacteristic of me. New iMac is all I need.

Aw, come on Sam. You know you want one. It's new... it's shiny... it's cool... everyone's getting one.

 

[Sam Posten]

I watched the intro videos. “Hmm, no big viewfinder changes, no more DR than my D850, guess I’m good for 2 more generations”

 

[JohnRice]

What kinda GAS thread is this anyway? Still no mentions of the newly announced Nikon Z8? Where's @Sam Posten anyway?

_Man_

It's nice, and I'm glad it didn't turn out to be the $5K that was predicted. However, it seems its main gains are in performance, but not really any image improvement over my Z7II. Performance isn't that important to me. Plus, I agree with Sam about the lack of viewfinder improvement being a disappointment.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

It's nice, and I'm glad it didn't turn out to be the $5K that was predicted. However, it seems its main gains are in performance, but not really any image improvement over my Z7II. Performance isn't that important to me. Plus, I agree with Sam about the lack of viewfinder improvement being a disappointment.

I hadn't looked too closely at the info just yet and only saw very brief comparison to the Z9, not Z7II.

But yeah, if I'm considering a new body, it'd far more likely be the Z7II or probably the next revision of that. I definitely have no need for anything that shoots remotely close to 45MP RAW at 20fps(!) although some of the other enhancements (inherited from the Z9) may be nice to have, including what's supposed to be better AF via the stacked sensor...

_Man_

 

[JohnRice]

For most people the Z5 is a great option, especially for $1K.

 

[Sam Posten]

For most people the Z5 is a great option, especially for $1K.

Including Sam

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Nobody else mentioned it so far, but just noticed DPR apparently found a new owner/home to save it (from Amazon's retirement). That's definitely very good news!

DPReview.com looks forward to a new chapter with Gear Patrol

We’re thrilled to share the news that Gear Patrol has acquired DPReview. Gear Patrol is a natural home for the next phase of DPReview’s journey, and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together.

www.dpreview.com

I apparently missed/overlooked their email about the good news from a week ago... or I would've mentioned it sooner...



_Man_

 

[Scott Merryfield]

A small GAS acquisition. I picked up a Black Rapid Cross Shot camera strap to replace the cheap Altura strap I was using as a 2nd shoulder strap. I have owned an original Black Rapid strap for many years. The Altura came loose while we were hiking in Colorado last week, so i decided to buy another Black Rapid (had enough Amazon rewards points to cover the cost).

The Cross Shot has a rubber molded shoulder pad instead of their standard nylon pad to help prevent slipping, so I thought I would give this a try instead of another standard BR. The pad is narrower than the nylon pad on my old BR, but that shouldn't be an issue, as my gear is lighter now that I have moved completely to a mirrorless system, and I still have the old nylon strap for the one heavier lens I own (the RF 800mm f/11). I did notice a couple of other cost-savings items that the company has implemented, though. Both the swivel connector and the Lockstar connector are both a composite plastic material instead of metal. I doubt it will be an issue, but it was still noticeable.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I should probably buy a new strap for my Z6 at least to use w/ longer lenses. I had just been using/relying on my Peak Design wrist strap for the Z6, which I really still haven't used quite that much, especially since the pandemic began. Definitely haven't used it much at all w/ long lenses....

For my biggest lens, the Tamron 150-600 G2, I've mostly just kept it on a tripod, especially when moving about and/or not actually shooting (w/ it) anyway, though I do sporadically take it off the tripod when shooting (besides storing it away that is)... Then again, I also haven't used/needed that lens that many times either (again, due in part to the pandemic), so...

_Man_

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I should probably buy a new strap for my Z6 at least to use w/ longer lenses. I had just been using/relying on my Peak Design wrist strap for the Z6, which I really still haven't used quite that much, especially since the pandemic began. Definitely haven't used it much at all w/ long lenses....

For my biggest lens, the Tamron 150-600 G2, I've mostly just kept it on a tripod, especially when moving about and/or not actually shooting (w/ it) anyway, though I do sporadically take it off the tripod when shooting (besides storing it away that is)... Then again, I also haven't used/needed that lens that many times either (again, due in part to the pandemic), so...

_Man_

For a wrist strap, I have one of these on each of my Canon R6 Mark II and R10 cameras. They are inexpensive, and work well when I am not using a shoulder strap. They stay out of the way when I do use a shoulder strap, too.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

For a wrist strap, I have one of these on each of my Canon R6 Mark II and R10 cameras. They are inexpensive, and work well when I am not using a shoulder strap. They stay out of the way when I do use a shoulder strap, too.

Oh, I meant I should get a new shoulder strap (as I hadn't bothered using one) for my Z6, heh. My PD wrist strap works fine and no need to replace. Had previously considered a PD shoulder strap to keep things simpler, but never actually bought one.

For my old D800 DSLR, I used a fairly basic, Op/Tech somewhat stretchy strap.

_Man_

 

[Scott Merryfield]

For my old D800 DSLR, I used a fairly basic, Op/Tech somewhat stretchy strap.

I had an Op/Tech stretchy neck strap that I used for several years, too. It's probably still in the camera bag I use to store things I no longer use. That strap was much more comfortable than the neck straps that Canon includes with their cameras. With every Canon camera I've sold used over the years after the first one, the buyer has received a new, still in the wrapper, official Canon neck strap. I do prefer a shoulder strap now, though. It distributes the weight better.

I still need to pick up a Black Rapid Arca-Swiss plate to pair with the Black Rapid shoulder straps. It would be more convenient than disconnecting the BR connector and installing a standard AS plate whenever I want to use a tripod. It hasn't been an urgent need, though, as my tripod use has diminished a lot over the years. I just use it mostly with longer lenses now, and I bought a tripod foot with an integrated AS plate for my RF 800mm f/11 lens, so a body tripod plate is unnecessary there (had one for my old EF 100-400L II lens, too). We are going to Hawaii this winter, though, and I may want to use the tripod for some sunset shots -- will need to see if I have room in the suitcase to bring it along.

 

[Citizen87645]

For a wrist strap, I have one of these on each of my Canon R6 Mark II and R10 cameras. They are inexpensive, and work well when I am not using a shoulder strap. They stay out of the way when I do use a shoulder strap, too.

Coincidentally I picked up a lightly used Black Rapid wrist strap from eBay a couple weeks back.

In de-acquisition news, I decided to trade in a quartet of EF lenses for an RF 70-200 f/4. The long EF 70-200 m2 that was part of the trade was becoming sort of a tail wagging the dog situation when it came to my camera bag, so I decided to make the trade for the purposes of having my kit all fit together better in my preferred camera bag, rather than having to pull out a bigger one just to bring along the 70-200. I was also wanting some performance improvements by using native RF vs. adapted EF.

I got a good trade in value for my lenses at KEH and they had the lens I wanted to switch to in stock, giving me enough left over that I can use on Black Friday if they have their usual sale. I think I want to get the RF 100mm macro next, though possibly the RF 100-400 f/5.6-8.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Coincidentally I picked up a lightly used Black Rapid wrist strap from eBay a couple weeks back.

In de-acquisition news, I decided to trade in a quartet of EF lenses for an RF 70-200 f/4. The long EF 70-200 m2 that was part of the trade was becoming sort of a tail wagging the dog situation when it came to my camera bag, so I decided to make the trade for the purposes of having my kit all fit together better in my preferred camera bag, rather than having to pull out a bigger one just to bring along the 70-200. I was also wanting some performance improvements by using native RF vs. adapted EF.

I got a good trade in value for my lenses at KEH and they had the lens I wanted to switch to in stock, giving me enough left over that I can use on Black Friday if they have their usual sale. I think I want to get the RF 100mm macro next, though possibly the RF 100-400 f/5.6-8.

That RF 70-200 f/4 lens is tempting. However, I used the EF version (along with a 1.4x TC) mainly as a light weight alternative to my EF 100-400L II, and I now have a RF 100-400 f/5.6-8, which is lighter than either of those lenses. I liked the RF 100-400 enough to sell my EF 100-400L II, with the proceeds of that sale (plus the EOS R) funding a new R6 Mark II.

How do you like the RF 70-200 f/4?

 

[Citizen87645]

I've used one at work for about a year and like it pretty well. I know the extending barrel causes concerns for some people (but what choice do they have now?), but the space savings in day to day transport are the upside. Since switching to a 24-105, there are fewer occasions when I need the reach of the 70-200, so I could never justify buying a new one. With the trade in discount at KEH I got a good price for it.