Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: dreed on January 31, 2017, 11:11:45 am
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Some years ago I was in Yosemite and came across a gentleman who had a large telephoto prime plus 1.4x mounted on a tripod for taking pics of a baby bear. As he was using the same brand of camera as I was (and we were of similar height so no tripod adjustment necessary), he offered to let me hook up my camera to his lens and shoot some pics (which I did and thanked him for.)
Some years later I find myself doing something similar: when out taking pictures locally and there is wildlife around, I often ask others who have the same brand camera (but only have their kit lens or something with not much reach) as I if they'd like to use one of my lenses to get a better shot (haven't yet had a refusal.) They almost always get the shot they want and walk away with a smile.
In a way it kind of feels strange handing someone else my $$$ lens and sometimes I do feel a bit nervous about it but I've not once come even close to having my trust betrayed.
Does anyone else here happen to do this on occassion?
If you do, what are your experiences?
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I have done this, I am friendly with some local photojournalists and when we cover the same event I will ask if they want to try my 85 1.8 or even take a few images with a D810 instead of their D700.
I have offered to lend a P.C. lens or additional flash to friends who I trust.
I have also given away rolls of film and batteries to strangers when on vacation. The thank you email when returning home is always a pleasant surprise.
Jim
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I've done it a few times at the local Audubon Society viewing platform. If I see someone drooling over my tried and true non VR Nikon 600 F4 and TC I will ask if they would like to hook on and take a few shots. I've met several very nice folks that way.
Kevin in CT
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Kevin, that's the simple and secure way - heavy lens mounted on tripod.
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I have handed my gear plenty of times to strangers. I was never given the opportunity to use gear I couldn't afford or didn't own when I was younger, so I don't want others to miss out on opportunities.
I never handed film, but I'll try that as well. Have a lot of film I will probably never shoot, even some small film cameras I got at flea market for a few cents, so that could make for a nice experience to someone else. :)
Thanks for the idea Jim!
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I have a couple friends that I have done this with before. In fact we often borrow or rent gear from each other in a pinch for shoots. What goes around comes around.
With others... Not often strangers...but then again strangers have rarely asked. I always let some handled or try something I have if they do ask.
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Well, in college, a friend of mine borrowed an SLR for her intro to photography course for a semester. She had, unfortunately, left hers in a car on a really hot day and it had melted!
After that, I have been known to hand gear to friends and vice-a-versa. But it's always been people I know.
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When I go to workshops, or am at outings of our photo club, I share. I know these people, and we are all there for the duration. I might add, the little items are as popular as lenses. Pop-up reflector or diffuser? Filter? Spare batteries? Cable release? Clean lens cloth? Spare flash? Voice-activated light or reflector stand (me)?
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I was once asked by a young competitor if he could borrow one of my lenses. As he was trying to muscle into my fashion clients I though what a cheeky sod! So no, I did not.
My view is this: if they can't afford one for themselves, how do they replace yours if they lose it or otherwise can't/won't return it? Imagine telling your insurance company - or your wife - why you need a replacement camera or lens through your own stupidity.
My cameras and lenses feel as sacrosant as did my wife, my watch and my car. Non-negotiable.
Rob C
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I have no issues with lending out my equipment to people I know. What's the difference lending a lens or lending a car or lending your chain saw?
What is so sacred with camera gear?
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I was once asked by a young competitor if he could borrow one of my lenses. As he was trying to muscle into my fashion clients I though what a cheeky sod! So no, I did not.
My view is this: if they can't afford one for themselves, how do they replace yours if they lose it or otherwise can't/won't return it? Imagine telling your insurance company - or your wife - why you need a replacement camera or lens through your own stupidity.
My cameras and lenses feel as sacrosant as did my wife, my watch and my car. Non-negotiable.
Rob C
My Grandfather said a man should never lend his razor or his wife. He didn't own a camera, but I believe he did occasionally lend his horse.
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My view is this: if they can't afford one for themselves, how do they replace yours if they lose it or otherwise can't/won't return it?
Bingo.
I've loaned out old clunker lenses to beginners to allow them to experiment with a new focal length before buying their own. But they're always lenses I no longer use. In the field strangers (only the polite and deferential) might get a look through my viewfinder for a glimpse of what they can achieve with a new focal length, but that's rare.
My wife was in the photo biz with me, and that was entirely different. Often the best place to look for one of my lenses was in her camera bags! Sheesh, was she ever a lens leech! ;D
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I rarely even talk to other photographers. To me photography is a solitary activity, even if there are many people present. I like to concentrate on my photography and I presume that other photographers want to do the same. As long as I am not interfering with anyone, I expect to be left alone.
If someone came up to me and asked if they could borrow a piece of my equipment, my decision would be based on the value of the equipment. Since most photographers can run faster and longer than I can, there is a definite risk on my part. In any case, if I do lend out a piece of equipment, I would have to stop my photography and wait for the photographer to get done and return my stuff... kinda interfering with my photography.
I have not had any stranger ask me to borrow a piece of equipment of mine, but then honestly, I try to exude an attitude of "I am trying to concentrate here, I am really not the person you want to talk to right now".
Other photographers treat photography in a more social way and that's great for them. I don't get a lot of time to go out and take photographs so when I do, I want to take photographs.
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If you attend an airshow in Japan with a 400mm f2.8, odds are that the people around may be kind enough to loan you their 600mm f4... ;)
Cheers,
Bernard
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I was at a special shoot at a zoo with Joel Sartore the National Geographic Photographer, a lady was frantically going through images on her camera to see what she could delete. She did not have any spare cards, and the one she was using had a lot of pics of her family and children. So I gave her two spare memory cards. I had plenty of them with me, way over kill so it was no problem. She was extremely grateful. A good experience all around.
Alan
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If you attend an airshow in Japan with a 400mm f2.8, odds are that the people around may be kind enough to loan you their 600mm f4... ;)
Cheers,
Bernard
LOL ;D
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Years ago I attended a wedding as a guest. I took a minimal amount of equipment with me as I knew there was to be a “pro” photographer for the shoot.
I ended up having to lend the “pro” two lenses because he was woefully underequipped and it wasn’t an attempt to limit my shooting. I got no thanks.
On a second occasion I shot a wedding for a friend. One of the guests said that he had run out of film (it was a few years ago!) and did I have any? Well, what do you do? I gave him two rolls of something which cost me CAD$9.00 each and later on he came round and gave me CAD$5 which he thought covered it!
Over my life I have learned to float over small stuff and never go to weddings.
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No I do not. Quite honestly I am never around "other photographers".
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...
If someone came up to me and asked if they could borrow a piece of my equipment, my decision would be based on the value of the equipment.
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I've never had people ask if they could borrow something nor have I ever asked. I've offered as have others offer to me that I've run into.
But I wonder ... is there a market for an Uber-like company for cameras and lenses? How many amateurs or hobbyists have equipment that sits on a shelf or otherwise unused for 80+% of the year?
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I've never had people ask if they could borrow something nor have I ever asked. I've offered as have others offer to me that I've run into.
But I wonder ... is there a market for an Uber-like company for cameras and lenses? How many amateurs or hobbyists have equipment that sits on a shelf or otherwise unused for 80+% of the year?
It's already in business: it's called a brothel.
Rob
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It's already in business: it's called a brothel.
Uh, no, a brothel is something else entirely.
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Uh, no, a brothel is something else entirely.
Really really?
;-)
Rob
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So yes most definatley I have loaned to others, many times over the years even given equipment away. I was in Montana with a group of guys one had a 600 mm with extenders on double tripods. The guy looks at me and says we both have the same body why don't you slap yours on my lens with a fresh roll of film and shoot this bear on the hill which was about the size of a dog without the glass. Wow that was really cool I got a few great images. 15 years later I took a workshop in Yosemite everyone was shooting Hasselblad including me at this point in my life I pretty much had whatever I wanted and never borrowed anything from anybody all though from time to time out in the field I would ask people hey you want to put this lens on your camera. We were in a field with a stand of trees far away one of the photographers said to me hey have you ever shot the 350 I said no I haven't he went into a case got the 350 it's a put this on your camera and try it it's a great lens. So you know you eat dinner together you get up in the morning and go out and shoot together it was a friendly group I loaned out my 28 mm to a guy who only have the 24 and wanted to try the 28mm. We then moved from Yosemite to Sequoia national it rained every day one night I went on top of the mountain approximately 11,000 feet up and shot the most incredible Sunset pictures with three rainstorms in the distance. That next day I invited one of the photographers to go to the spot with me at night and shoot the sunset but he had broken his camera and I opted out. I asked several other photographers nobody seem to want to go out at night with 80% chance of rain to shoot The workshop leader brought lots of equipment and we were told before the trip yeah you can use anything I bring . Nope not the case so something I've never done before I asked one of the other photographers if I could borrow a piece of equipment since he didn't want to go that night and shoot and he replied "I think it would be better if you borrowed it from the workshop leader because I don't have insurance". He went on to explain couple other different reasons and I said hey forget about it man it's no big deal. At that point I was kind of embarrassed that I even asked because if I wanted that piece of equipment and I had thought about i'd buy one. The next two days which were the last two days of the trip got really weird so weird in fact....that's a story and lesson learned about workshops in itself, that I divorced myself from the workshop group. I would've never gone to Sequoia but I'm glad I did for two days by myself I move much faster than a group and shot some fantastic images.
In between the rainstorms every day it would stop raining the sun would come out the colors on the floor of Sequoia Forest were at peak it was unreal a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Oh ya The night I went up on the mount to shoot when I had wanted to bowrrow that piece of equipment that image that night turned out to be the best image of the entire trip. So I'll be happy to borrow but I don't think I'll ask.
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I do it all the time. In fact, on a workshop a guy was struggling with a mediocre tripod. I had a spare he used the whole rest of the workshop, probably 4 days or so. On that same trip I couldn't find my CF card reader, so I had to borrow someone else's. What goes around comes around. Same thing with someone's ball head that went on the fritz in Death Valley. I had a spare they used most of the workshop.
Lenses, cameras, batteries... as long as I don't need it for that shoot they can use it. I just look at them as tools that should be utilized as much as possible.
Dave
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I have been on workshops only as assistant, so giving out equipment was no big deal for me. I know workshops are good opportunities to go to places where you normally wouldn't, but I have been exploring by myself or with friends all my life so I don't need that incentive to get out and shoot even if it's a rainy winter day on the beach with big waves. As long as my body keeps up, that is!
Maybe it's because I don't own ultra expensive gear and I keep the most sentimental stuff close, but my digital gear is all expendable. All that stuff are just tools to me. All I really care about are my pictures, as long as I can keep them safe I don't care if a camera or lens fails or is lost. It's just stuff. Memories and people are way more important than things I can easily buy or fix.
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Never, ever, although if I ever get over to Rob's Mallorca I'll make an exception.
Hmmm... then I may feel obliged to let you try my great, vintage D200 or, goodness, my state-of-the-art 12 mp D700!
Oh well, just because it's you, then, but be careful with them!
;-)
Rob
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I am rarely around amateurs and don't lead workshops. I have learned a valuable lesson though. I am booked through an agency that also books other photographers/videographers. One other videographer has asked to rent equipment from me, a slider, a portable jib, and a teleprompter. I have rented to him. However these bits of equipment are an investment and are part of my competitive advantage. When he asks to rent gear over and over, I have to assume he is using my investment against me. I made the investment and the competitive advantage should be mine. It would be different if it weren't a matter of protecting my advantage and investment. I hope that doesn't sound harsh. I would help an amateur, just not my competitor.
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I think it goes without saying that you shouldn't help your competition?
I haven't really specified it, but all I said above is about amateurs. In the professional world you don't just lend your gear to someone who can steal your job. You are out there to make money for a living, not to do charity for photographers that are clearly not prepared for the job (and would be better off learning a hard lesson instead).
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Wot, no jaunt on the Campbell yacht?
;-)
Ah Keith, had the Campbell yacht materialized back in '80/'81 the Campbell family would have been bankrupt within two years. Skipper Rob had absolutely no idea that buying a boat big enough for living on wasn't the same as buying a house or a car: the purchase is but the tiny tip of that titanic, growing iceberg... Fortunately, the First Mate knew better - instinctively. Blessed be First Mates!
NEVER share first mates. In comparison, cameras fade into nothingness.
:-)
Rob
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I've been trying to convince the First Mate that it would be wise to replace our ten year old Mini with a nine year old Cayman. No luck so far...
I imagine your First Mate is just as all seeing as was mine. Looking at this equation coldly, from the outside, where it is often that bit cooler if one discounts artificial heat or freshness within, I'd say that her reluctance is understandable. Looking at the Cayman with male admiration, I'd say it's a far more delightful object than the 911 which should really be retired and allowed to fade into the questionable, hedge-ploughing glories of memory.
However, I believe your FM probably mirrors my own reasons for not buying some old(er) exotica: replacement parts and the specialist labour involved are geared to suit the deep pockets of the new buyer. If I were able to afford that, then I'd opt for the whole thing, new. I have no idea where you'd have to live to get reasonable insurance: after we left the UK I bought a year-old Fiat 127 (in 1982) to keep there for use during our returns (I was still working) and the only permanent address available to me was my mother's up in Perthshire. She left there, and as my son, living in Glasgow, also used the car, I had to transfer the address to his, city-centre: it was going to run over a grand (pounds!) so I just told him sorry, and sold the car back to the dealership. (This was owned by our yachtie friends here...)
A new Mini would be very nice, too! However, if your Miss Cooper has no rust problems, I'd run her into the ground and then see what's available on the market at that point. The smell of new upholstery fades within months... and with it the pride in the new purchase, but the security of the guarantee is still firmly alive and on paper somewhere!
;-)
Rob
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I do it all the time. In fact, on a workshop a guy was struggling with a mediocre tripod. I had a spare he used the whole rest of the workshop, probably 4 days or so.
That would have been me, Dave. I was very grateful at the time and remain so, although your generous gesture gave me a lust for an RRS tripod which in due course is going to cost me a lot of money!
Jeremy
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Looking at the Cayman with male admiration, I'd say it's a far more delightful object than the 911 which should really be retired and allowed to fade into the questionable, hedge-ploughing glories of memory.
;-)
Rob
Respectfully disagree. :)
While shooting at Yosemite noticed this beauty posing on the landscape. And I doubt it was available for a test drive or lending. :)
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While shooting at Yosemite noticed this beauty posing on the landscape. And I doubt it was available for a test drive or lending. :)
https://goo.gl/photos/vieeYuTu412VER6T6
It looks pretty much like every other 911 ever made, doesn't it? Apart from the lack of a picnic table on the back, of course ;)
Jeremy
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Respectfully disagree. :)
While shooting at Yosemite noticed this beauty posing on the landscape. And I doubt it was available for a test drive or lending. :)
https://goo.gl/photos/vieeYuTu412VER6T6
What you've done, actually, is underline my own problem with landscape: again, it's been proven that landscape is best used as background to something else.
(http://www.roma57.com/uploads/4/2/8/7/4287956/4776623_orig.jpg)
Rob
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...it's been proven that landscape is best used as background to something else....
If I ever need a pitch line for another Ad Men show, you've provided it.
Thanks. I'll file it away.
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What you've done, actually, is underline my own problem with landscape: again, it's been proven that landscape is best used as background to something else. ...
Rob
Well done! :)
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Wow, you can really learn a lot about people by how they responded to this post, from the very generous to the very self-protective... very interesting.
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It looks pretty much like every other 911 ever made, doesn't it? Apart from the lack of a picnic table on the back, of course ;)
Jeremy
You mean like this one parked on the Apple campus? :)
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You mean like this one parked on the Apple campus? :)
Of course not! Anyone can see that that one is red.
Jeremy
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No, this one has a picnic tray:
(http://www.roma57.com/uploads/4/2/8/7/4287956/298037_orig.jpg)
From my discontinued series on the cellphone - a waste of time. (IMO)
Rob
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Let me contribute!
First one is in Pistoia, the other two in Viterbo.
(http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/Andrea_Minganti/_AM21208_zpsc9fvbsmb.jpg)
(http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/Andrea_Minganti/_AM21943_zpsvy7vtdbu.jpg)
(http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab14/Andrea_Minganti/_AM21957_zps1gr28nby.jpg)
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Okay, the first one may, just may have a distant family connection to a Porsche; the second one might even be made from recycled Porsche, but the third, the Saintly P 1800 one, is not at all to do with the same family.
However, you may be abe to claim Scottish Rootes roots for the latter, because I remember seeing a trailer laden with unpainted P 1800 shells driving along near Linwood, Paisley... I only saw that once, because our local engineering unions must have seen it too, and quickly dealt with that piece of nonsense! Steel works indeed! What a cheek! We need revolution, not work!
;-)
Rob
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No, this one has a picnic tray:
(http://www.roma57.com/uploads/4/2/8/7/4287956/298037_orig.jpg)
From my discontinued series on the cellphone - a waste of time. (IMO)
Rob
Those 911s and Caymans are sissy cars.
The last real man's Porsche was the type 356 Carrera (vintage ~1955). My brother and I bought one that had been raced for 10,000 miles, killing the engine. When we got it, it had a roller-bearing "Super" engine it it, and the roller bearings soon seized up, after which a plain old Volkswagen engine was put in it as a loaner while the Super engine was rebuilt.
But it still said Carrera on the back, which intimidated any other sports cars that came near.
And no picnic table either.
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Those 911s and Caymans are sissy cars.
The last real man's Porsche was the type 356 Carrera (vintage ~1955). ...
Like this one? :)
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Like this one? :)
That's pretty close. But ours was white and well used. Our nickname for it was "Poor White Trash."
I don't recall those fancy rings around the headlights, so I think your image is a bit later.
The earliest Porsches were structurally so similar to the VWs of the day that when our Porsche engine quit, the service guy could simply drop a VW engine in its place and the bolts all lined up perfectly. But the heater ducts didn't, so we had no usable heater for the winter while waiting for the engine to be rebuilt.
I think I posted a photo once of the engine compartment with the VW engine. I'll see if I can find that again.
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My emphasis.
That's exactly what I love about the Cayman, there's no raging testosterone involved, she's all female and beautiful curves. Not sure if I want to drive her or fuck her but admit that could just be raging testosterone talking.
;-)
Ride 'n' drive.
Unlike with a camera, you can do them both at once.
Does testosterone come as pills? My question is just out of curiosity; I have as much use for testosterone as I have for a Porsche. However, were somebody to throw in a Ferrari instead, then I might find renewed interest in both directions: car and pep pil.
To be brutally honest, I'd really rather just make some final, stunningly beautiful fashion pictures somewhere, but there you go - the Ferrari's probably a more realistic option, not that it's an option if I want good one.
;-(
Rob
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That's pretty close. But ours was white and well used. Our nickname for it was "Poor White Trash."
I don't recall those fancy rings around the headlights, so I think your image is a bit later.
The earliest Porsches were structurally so similar to the VWs of the day that when our Porsche engine quit, the service guy could simply drop a VW engine in its place and the bolts all lined up perfectly. But the heater ducts didn't, so we had no usable heater for the winter while waiting for the engine to be rebuilt.
I think I posted a photo once of the engine compartment with the VW engine. I'll see if I can find that again.
The 356 roadster I posted is a very early Gmund car probably built in 1948 and on exhibit at the Porsche Museum (https://goo.gl/photos/6Zjob14jLXJmxtUg7) in Stuttgart.
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The 356 roadster I posted is a very early Gmund car probably built in 1948 and on exhibit at the Porsche Museum (https://goo.gl/photos/6Zjob14jLXJmxtUg7) in Stuttgart.
Ah, then it is earlier than mine by a few years.
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Back on topic ... I've lent gear to friends, both expecting to get it back (which I did) and not expecting to (which went as planned). It feels good to help people.
And I'm still pretty happy with my 997. But the new 991 looks really sweet. You think GASsing over a camera gets expensive?
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I've loaned my gear to two professional photographers in my area and a couple of very good friends. Thanks to one of those photographers, I was given the opportunity to buy a home in Yosemite (El Portal). I remember lending him a lens which was promptly returned - no problem. The second professional wanted to compare my Nikon lenses. I was given some nice test charts that showed my beloved Nikon 24-70 wasn't the sharpest tool in my bag.
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I've loaned my gear to two professional photographers in my area and a couple of very good friends. Thanks to one of those photographers, I was given the opportunity to buy a home in Yosemite (El Portal). I remember lending him a lens which was promptly returned - no problem. The second professional wanted to compare my Nikon lenses. I was given some nice test charts that showed my beloved Nikon 24-70 wasn't the sharpest tool in my bag.
You see? Instead of running those lending risks, all you had to do was believe my oft-voiced gripe about my own, brand new Nikkor 24-70 which went straight back after the first test. It was my first - and last - zoom.
That Russ also owns the same type of lens and that it performs nicely is not a contradiction: it's proof of yet another belief of mine: we, the buyers, are now the unpaid Final Inspection departments for these companies.
Listen to Granddad; he doesn't fib to you, why would he?
Rob C
P.S. Why did you want to buy a home built on top of a bomb?