Profile Reflections #4

In this edition of the Profile Reflections I take a look back on what we’re all working with here. We touch on two of the more ”religious” topics in the digital imaging community: cameras and computers. The majority of shooters fall into either the Canon or Nikon camps with fewer using Olympus bodies or those made by other manufacturers. As for computers, there’s always been the Mac vs. PC debate and, as with the camera question, the field reflects that divide as well.

My favorite responses to these questions fall under the category of “use what works for you.” You could go on and on about the benefits and downfalls of one side or the other but in the end, it comes down to preference and getting the results you want. For me, that’s shooting with a Nikon and working on a PC. For Stephen Waterfall, it’s shooting with a Canon and working on a Mac.

These are just the tools we use to create. After all, it’s the painting, not the brushes, that matter.

What type of camera(s) do you shoot with?
Note: These responses are true as of the posting of the respective profiles and do not necessarily reflect current gear.

• “All kinds… Whatever is on my shoulder.” – Chris Orwig
• Canon 1D Mark III - Tom Moore
• “There are several that I like. I am a Nikon guy so I would have to say that I love the D80 but still have a warm fuzzy place for my D100. The D200 is also a very sweet rig.” – Jeff Revell
• Nikon D200 – Justin Seeley
• “Most of my old stuff was done just with a plain old Minolta Dimage thing, but now I use the very schexy Canon 5D. When my Dimage broke I used a $5 disposable camera and nobody noticed. Right now I MAY just be using a pinhole camera, you’d never know.” – Joey Lawrence
• A Nikon D50 and an HP Photosmart R707 – Lynda Walldez
• Nikon D2Xs, Nikon D2Hs, Canon G7 – David Hobby
• Nikon D200 – Matt Kloskowski
• Nikon D70 – Mike McHugh
• “I shoot primarily with Canon digital cameras and equipment. Although I’ve been seen shooting with some pretty cool Fuji cameras a time or two.” – Clayton Spangler
• Canon 20D and sometimes a Canon Powershot S3 – Amy Archer
• Canon 350D – Mike Holley
• Nikon D200 - Dave Cross
• “We both exclusively use Canon PowerShot SD500 cameras.” - Eduardo Angel and Timothy Campbell
• “Currently I take pictures with a Kodak P880″ - Jim Larimer
• “At the moment I use Canon EOS-1D. I primarily use digital SLR because of the file-size, the ease of use and the possibility of expanding/experimenting with your kit almost endlessly. I like to have complete control of the equipment when shooting, so the next step is probably medium-format.” – Martin Andreasen
• “Currently a Nikon D200 but I keep a Panasonic LX-1 in my pocket most of the time, too.” – Michael Snell
• “I use rangefinders and some old 6×6 when I was young. In a last few years I am using Nikon F100″ – Richard Vanek
• “I shoot with a Nikon D2Xs as my main camera, with a Nikon D200 as my backup body (but I use that D200 more than I would admit—I love that camera).” – Scott Kelby
• Canon 5D and 30D
  Canon EF 28mm f1.8
  Canon EF 50mm f1.4
  Canon EF 85mm f1.8
  Canon 580EX (x2)
  Canon ST-E2 – Bruce L. Snell
• “I now shoot pretty much exclusively with a Canon EOS 20D” - Paul Politis
• Mostly a Canon 5D right now. – Kathleen Connally
• 2 – 20D’s. – Aaron Johnson
• I shoot with a Canon 5D and have the following lenses:
  17-40mm
  24-105mm
  100-400mm
  100mm Macro
  Lens Baby 3G – Ben Willmore
• Olympus Evolt 500, and before that an Olympus C-4000. – Andy Smith
• “Nikon D200, and I used to shoot with a D50.” - Jason D. Moore
• “Nikon D200 and D70. I also play around with a Holga and a Polaroid. My lenses: Nikkor 70-200mm VR, 17-35mm, 35mm, 60mm macro and a Lensbaby 2.0.” – Doug Stremel
• “I have shot with just about everything (read that as money poorly spent). I now shoot with the Leica M3 or the M6. I shoot with Tri-X film. (Spent one year doing digital with Canon 20D but I like film better – at least for b&w).” – Dave Beckerman
• “The first camera I bought was a Canon EOS film camera back in 1999.  At the time digital was just coming out and I remember debating whether to get the film SLR or a Kodak 1 MP point and shoot for about the same price.  In the end I opted for film SLR and put off buying digital for another 4 years when I picked up the Canon A70 for another trip I was taking.  Finally in 2006 I jumped on the digital SLR bandwagon with the Canon 30D and have since spent a considerable amount of $$ on lenses and accessories.” – Stephen Waterfall
• D200, D70. – Mike Palmer
• “My current Favorite is the Canon 40D, I still own the 5D, 30D, and 20D’s” – David Ziser
• Olympus E300 and a Canon Sureshot A50 – Jennifer Farley
• “My assignment camera is a Canon 5D DSLR, and my favorite lenses are the 16-35 f/2.8 L II and the 70-200 f/4 L. But I like compact cameras too, especially ones that shoot good video also. My current pocket camera is the Canon PowerShot SD700. It takes great pictures, has image stabilization, and records clean video.” – Derrick Story
• Nikon D80 – Terry White
• “I own a Canon Rebel XT, which for most of my needs is great. Lately I find myself rather hungrily contemplating a 5D, though first I think I should invest in some better glass. Of course, I’m reminded of what my friend says when he teaches at high-performance driving schools on the weekends: if most of those guys invested a tenth as much into learning how to use the gear as they put into the gear itself, they’d be way better off than they are. Therefore I continue to want to make time to take more classes. Too bad it’s so much easier just to plunk down cash for gear than it is to become a better photographer.” – John Nack
• “I primarily shoot with a Canon 1DsMkII, but I also shoot with a 1DMkIII and an infrared converted Canon Rebel XTi. I am currently thinking of adding a 6×17 camera to the mix for animal-scapes.” – Andy Biggs

Mac or PC?

• Either – Chris Orwig
• “PC but I long to get back to the Mac” – Tom Moore
• “I have been a PC guy for more years than I can count but I have recently started using Mac. I love both platforms and they each have their plusses and minuses. In fact I had to send my Powerbook back to Apple just two days after buying it because the motherboard fried. There is no such thing as a bulletproof system.” – Jeff Revell
• “Mac would be my first choice. However, I am required to use both for training purposes.” – Justin Seeley
• “I’ll be switching to Mac in about a week. I’m sure Windows is okay for some things though, I’m just becoming less of a fan each day. It’s not that important though, use whatever get’s the job done.” - Joey Lawrence
• PC – Lynda Walldez
• “You’re kidding, right? Mac, forever.” – David Hobby
• “I use both Mac and PC. Doesn’t really matter to me as Photoshop works the same on both. I use my MacBook Pro more lately because of its nice slim form factor for traveling.” – Matt Kloskowski
• “Both mostly Mac. Using Parallels” – Mike McHugh
• “PC – but don’t hold that against me! I can speak MAC” – Clayton Spangler
• Mac – Amy Archer
• PC – Mike Holley
• “I use both but have always mostly used a Mac.” – Dave Cross
• Mac – Eduardo Angel and Timothy Campbell
• PC - Jim Larimer
• “For now I am using my PC, but eventually I will definitely be switching to Mac. Back in 1999, when I started to work with PS it was on an Apple, and now that the prizes and availability is here, I will not hesitate to go back to where I started when I’m finished with this PC.” – Martin Andreasen
• “Definitely Mac although I do also own a Sony Vaio (don’t tell anyone!)” – Michael Snell
• PC – Richard Vanek
• “I’ve always been a Mac guy. I have two Dell laptops, and they’re great, but I’m still a Mac guy at heart.” – Scott Kelby
• Macintosh dual 1.8 G5 with two 20” cinema displays.
  Macintosh TiBook.  – Bruce L. Snell
• PC – Paul Politis
• “PC for now. (Love Mac, though. Someday soon.)” – Kathleen Connally
• Mac – Aaron Johnson
• “I’ve owned a Mac since they were introduced in 1984 and also own a tablet PC, but will be getting rid of it once I upgrade to a MacBook Pro after MacWorld.” – Ben Willmore
• PC – Dave Beckerman
• Mac – Andy Smith
• “PC – but I love the look and feel of a Mac” – Jason D. Moore
• “Die-hard Mac.” – Doug Stremel
• “I’ve been a Mac user for about three years now.  I like the elegant design and simple UI.” – Stephen Waterfall
• “PC, but if I could get to the point to where I was not buying photo gear, I would get a Mac Pro with all of the money I save.  I am OCD when it comes to my system, so change is hard, but I think inevitable for me.” – Mike Palmer
• “Let’s not make it a religious argument here, but I use the best tool for the job and for me 90% of the time that’s a PC.” – David Ziser
• PC – Jennifer Farley
• Intel Mac – MacBook Pro 17” – Derrick Story
• Mac – Terry White
• “Mac, since ’84.” – John Nack
• “Mac when I can get away with it. Mac at home, Mac on the road. However, unless Apple comes out with a lightweight laptop solution, I might move back to the PC just to save some weight on long safaris. Hey, a few pounds here and a few there really do add up.” – Andy Biggs

If you’ve made it this far, and have been keeping count, here’s the tally of where my profilees fall in two of the great techno-religious conflicts:

Canon: 18
Nikon: 13
Olympus: 2
Kodak: 1
Leica: 1

Mac: 12
PC: 15
Either/Both: 8

Click here to view a complete list of profiles.

Dec 06, 2007 | Categories: Blogroll | Tags: Jeff Revell, Nikon, Photo, Photo Gear, Photoshop, Scott Kelby | Leave A Comment »