A Photography Transition

I DID IT.

I knew it would happen at some point. I sold all of my professional photography equipment (well, 98% of it anyway). This equipment was mostly bought in 2004-05, and at that time I spent close to $12,000 for the camera body and multiple long (and short) lenses. I took many hundreds of thousands of photographs with that equipment and it served me well allowing me to shoot things like an NFL game, a NBA game, hundreds college and high school sports, aging rock stars, wild life and even some Americana. But the truth was I hadn’t used any of it in over a year, maybe even closer to 2 years.

Admittedly, most of the camera equipment has been updated and in the case of the camera body…it has been updated multiple generations since I bought my Canon 1D MKIII. The camera body and lenses were still in perfect condition and to be honest, they could still make wonderful photographs. But this equipment was heavy and cumbersome to carry…and in my old”er” age, my back just couldn’t stand lugging it around anymore. So I sold it! I tried selling it local for a very reasonable price, but to be honest I knew that was a long shot. The longer I held on to this equipment, the more it would depreciate. So I contacted the vendor that I originally bought the equipment from, BH Photo out of New York City.

When I got no responses on my camera equipment locally, I asked them for a USED equipment quote and they responded back with the kind of quote I was expecting…Lower than I was asking for originally, but not too much lower than I was asking for locally. They sent me a Fed Ex label and I packaged it all up and waited for them to inspect the equipment. When I heard back they actually increased the amount of the original quote (nice surprise). That made it much closer to the amount I was asking locally for the equipment. So I’m a pretty happy camper. I still have a few items left like some 77mm filters, 2 Lowepro camera bags, and some miscellaneous items. I don’t know what I’ll do with them…maybe sell as a bundle at some point, or donate.

Some might wonder if I’m done with photography. Well, I am…kinda, sorta, but not really. I still love photography and always enjoyed the travels and experiences I gained from it. But honestly for the past few years I have mostly used my iPhone to take pictures. I have my phone with me all the time, so it’s easy just to take the shot for most every day images. And the image quality of smartphones continues to improve with every new generation. Lastly, I can edit photos and add effects or creativity right in the phone and upload if I like the image. It was just too convenient and a spoiler for someone that was shooting fewer and fewer events and important photos.

But as good as, and as much fun as the iPhone has been, the image quality is still not up to par with DSLR cameras (not even the old DSLR I sold), and I missed that quality. Plus Lee Ann and I will be going on a trip to New York City later this spring and I wanted to be able to take some better quality pictures than what I would get from my iPhone. After a little research on “point and shoot” and/or compact cameras, I found several that peaked my interest. It seems that many people are getting away from the large DSLR and going mirrorless and/or compact cameras and I liked the idea of a small camera that weighs practically nothing, but still offering high quality images.

In my research I found that many of the main camera manufacturers are not updating point and shoot or compact cameras as often because of the Smartphone market taking over. The lower end cameras just didn’t offer a lot of features or qualities I wanted in a replacement camera for all the equipment I had sold, so it meant going to higher quality cameras in the point and shoot market.

I ended up choosing a great little point and shoot camera with a good zoom. I bought one of the highest rated ones on the market today, and although it was expensive (in the context of a point and shoot camera), I justified in my (crazy old) mind that it was bought as a replacement for all the equipment I sold. I’ll probably still use my iPhone for most of the stuff I shoot, but it’s nice to know I have a good quality, easy to carry camera for those special occasions and images.