Shooters.

Another year goes by. There was hardly a day, when I didn’t take at least one picture. Looking through all the images I realise, it’s been quite a European year. Didn’t cross an ocean in the last 365 days physically and didn’t miss it.
Looking through the images I also realise, how many cameras I’ve been using this year. Some were cool (actually most of them were), some I couldn’t really relate to or get warm with and with some I fell in love as far as love for cameras can go.

I haven’t been writing a lot recently as you know. The reason is, after all that testing and reviewing I needed to take care of my photography instead of cameras and lenses. I found myself doing test-images and forgetting about the primary goal of this blog: the everyday, reallife-use of photographic equipment. I’ve been actually testing quite a few cameras and lenses in the meantime, but with an emphasis rather on their fun-factor than on their high ISO-performance or technical image quality. I’ll give you my impressions of such things as the Canon EOS 60D or the Sony SLT A55 in the next days.

For now I’d like to give you a short summary of which cameras caught my heart or mind and which ones didn’t. (Read on after the break!) weiter lesen

Some things are still best be made with a DSLR. In order to add IQ to the great mirrorless cameras on the market all using APS-C sensors or smaller (except the M9, which isn’t affordable for me), I decided to go for the Canon 5D Mark II. And after a couple of meaningless pictures I’m already a lucky man. The amount of detail has almost got forgotten after using so many APS-C cameras lately. I figured, if I take the burden to carry a DSLR, which always is big compared to the mirrorless offerings, it’s best to go for the best affordable quality. I’ve used the D3s of a friend, had a D700 of my own for quite a while and they all are stunning cameras. But during my choice making I remembered the Detail of the 5DII during a backstage shooting for FireGirls ( www.clubfiregirls.com ) in Arizona last year and I went for that camera again. I think it will be a long-time companion now.

Life isn’t easy these days for enthusiastic photographers. Especially when you’re looking for the gear that perfectly fits you and your needs or wishes and try and keep the compromises as small as possible.
My name is Wolfgang Spekner and I’m a “the perfect gear addict”.

In analog times, the camera I did everything with and held dear for a decade (I still like it today), was the Nikon F90x (N90s). I started to do real photography, when I was 7, with an old Praktica and a 50mm f1.8 lens. Later, when AF-times dawned, I got myself a cheap Yashica AF200 with 35-70/3.5-4.5 and the 70-210/4.5 (I think). After using this camera for about ten years or so, the shutter broke and I bought my first Nikon, an F50. A couple of months later I upgraded to the older F-601 (N6006). Again a couple of months later I added a F90x. That was in 1996. I have used these two cameras until 2004 for almost everything I shot (I had also some compact cameras like the Yashica T5, Leica’s Minin III and two Olympus Mju coming and going.) My F-601 was gone in 2004, but I kept the F90x and still have it and maybe will never sell it, for it was my affordable dream camera at the time.

All that changed in 2004. (Read on after the break.) weiter lesen