Photographic concessions to the advancing years

[squeamishossifrage]

Much as I would like to think ageing has had little impact on my lifestyle, I know it's just wishful thinking. I sold my boat four years ago due to a loss in upper body strength, essential when single-handing a 15 metre yacht. I have now made a further concession to the years adding up by splitting the camera gear I carry into light and heavy kits. I thought of going mirrorless, but a saving of a few hundred grammes on the camera body seemed pretty pointless when the lenses were going to weigh more or less the same.

What used to be my standard kit is now my heavy kit, to be used only for relatively static shoots. It consists of body + grip + 24-70mm, 15-30mm, 70-300mm, 50mm f:1.4, 70mm macro, 1.4x wobbler, spot-meter and flash gun. It weighs in at 7kgs. The light kit is the second body + grip + 28-75mm, 17-35mm, 75-300mm and a couple of diopter lenses, all weighing in at 3.5kgs - half the weight of what I used to carry, which is good if I have to walk any significant distance. Most of the weight saving comes from using second tier lenses, which tend to have a less substantial construction and a smaller objective lens. For instance, my 24-70mm has an 82mm filter thread, whereas the 28-75mm, also f:2.8, is just 67mm.

Has anybody else made significant adjustments in their photography to accommodate, or in anticipation of, the inevitability of the ageing process - or any other deterioration in physical health, come to that? 

[andy]

No, or at least not yet   .

Then again I mostly just take a camera with the lens I intend using. If I take a bag it's more likely to be for juice and cakes than photo gear.

[peterob]

I never really saw the point of lugging around everything I owned “just in case”. I’ll generally take one camera and one lens, occasionally a second lens. I do have a “heavy” and a “light” kit but it is more “large” vs “small” depending where I am going than the weight itself and I don’t take the whole “kit”.

[squeamishossifrage]

Feb 19, 2023 10:44:47 GMT andy said:

No, or at least not yet   .

Then again I mostly just take a camera with the lens I intend using. If I take a bag it's more likely to be for juice and cakes than photo gear.

I do occasionally take a camera and a single lens only when I am going somewhere where there may or may not be a photo opportunity, in which case it will be either a Tamron SP 24-135mm f:3-5.6 for daytime (the better lens), or a Sigma 24-135mm f:2.8-4.5 for social occasions as it has an eight pin connection for ADI flash. If I want to go really light and small, then I have occasionally taken just a body without the grip and a 50mm f:1.4. Most of the time, however, I like a full range from wide to tele on hand.

[zou]

Not as such but I know my next camera will need an EVF as I'll need glasses to use the rear screen. I've always valued light weight kit so no need to make progress in that regard.

[squeamishossifrage]

Feb 19, 2023 11:07:39 GMT peterob said:

I never really saw the point of lugging around everything I owned “just in case”. I’ll generally take one camera and one lens, occasionally a second lens. I do have a “heavy” and a “light” kit but it is more “large” vs “small” depending where I am going than the weight itself and I don’t take the whole “kit”.

I would need more than a camera bag to lug everything I owned around, with three bodies with grips, over twenty lenses and half a dozen flash guns, all for the same system! My love is landscapes and ancient monuments, and that can require all three groups of focal lengths from wide angle to telephoto. I have frequently set up a tripod in front of a view and used all three focal length zooms on different aspects of the scene.

I used to go out quite frequently with just a standard length zoom - a bit wide to a short tele - but reviewing things in Lightroom revealed a startling truth. It is an interesting experiment in LR to select images by lens, and then review the number of photos by focal length. I found a slight bulge around the centre of a standard zoom, but a peak at either end of the zoom range i.e. I should have changed lenses for those shots.

[stevewmh]

I have to accept that these days only the necessary kit comes along on my walks. Usually a small range finder style mirror less favorite is the xe1 as its small enough to stuff in a coat pocket and not have carry a bag......but I did miss the chance of a couple of Kites circling overhead this morning. If I'd had the serious kit they would have been great shots, colors clearly visible. Never mind 'eh
It's not just the carrying, it's the holding of heavy cameras and lens that's getting a bit of a problem but as always its about enjoying what you can do and not worry too much about what you used to do

[pixelpuffin]

I virtually never carry a 2nd body these days with the exception of the canon M system - occasionally a pair of M50’s with zoom and fast prime (18-150 & 22)in the smallest bag I have.
Likewise if carrying a dslr I usually decide between two primes or a zoom, and the smallest lightest flash just in case I need fill light.
I only pack a maximum of 2 spare batteries and a spare card.
That’s it and tbh it’s still a Pita!! I just don’t have the same enthusiasm as I once did, opting instead for pictures that present themselves as opposed to looking for them. I guess getting older has made me lazy. Or maybe I’m just jaded by photography -it’s been ongoing for pretty much 40yrs. In some respect it’s a kind of sickness in that you never get over it.

I’d love to be like others who simply accept what their phone gives and again to be brutally honest it would be good enough mostly. Except for sport or macro with flash.

I often wonder whether I’m fooling myself and maybe I should let go.



Update:
Having pondered it some more I guess it’s not having someone to share the enthusiasm with. My partner is bored to tears by my taking pictures, if we go somewhere and I see a shot, she just carries on walking ( don’t blame her) likewise my son who was my main subject now avoids having his picture at all costs. So I’m left isolated in that I’d like to take a great shot, but those around couldn’t give a shit!! It makes it seem pointless.

[nimbus]

I still have heavy kit which I only take when I will need it. I have heart problems, a hernia and a recovering knee injury so walking around with a lot of heavy gear isn't an option. The release is Fujifilm CSCs, a body with the 18-55 f2.8-4 is very light and performs well, even adding another lens isn't too bad in weight terms.

[dorsetmike]

Advancing age for me brings advancing laziness, in order to cover most eventualities a Tamron 18-250 is rarely removed from the Minolta 5D although I do have other lenses that cover part of that range all at f2.8 and also longer Tokina 70-400 and Tamron 150-600 which rarely see use these days

[zx9]

It is not so much a physical in ability to cart around a full frame DSLR kit with 3x f/2.8 lenses more a realisation that I don't need to, a modern APSC with small light lenses is perfectly good enough.
I think it was more an ego thing for me but I am enjoying days out with the EOS M6 and a couple of lenses stashed in my jacket pockets, almost as discrete and portable as a rangefinder and 50mm / 35mm lenses but more versatile.

[pixelpuffin]

Feb 19, 2023 13:49:28 GMT zx9 said:

It is not so much a physical in ability to cart around a full frame DSLR kit with 3x f/2.8 lenses more a realisation that I don't need to, a modern APSC with small light lenses is perfectly good enough.
I think it was more an ego thing for me but I am enjoying days out with the EOS M6 and a couple of lenses stashed in my jacket pockets, almost as discrete and portable as a rangefinder and 50mm / 35mm lenses but more versatile.

I have to agree with you, the M6ii is superb. I like how I can omit the EVF, slap a 22mm on and not feel in the slightest hindered. Likewise I can put the body in a cage, add the EVF, fit my 70-300 nano is ii and know whatever I aim at the camera will capture it. It’s a brilliant piece of kit. A pity canon retired it.

[Fenris]

I used to carry around about 15kg of camera gear when covering events (2 bodies, 2 lenses, flash, other bits)
Was way too much.

[squeamishossifrage]

Feb 19, 2023 16:16:40 GMT Fenris said:

I used to carry around about 15kg of camera gear when covering events (2 bodies, 2 lenses, flash, other bits)
Was way too much.

That's waaaay too much for me to contemplate. My Rollei system got up to 8kg at one time, but even that was pushing it on the hills.

[Chester PB]

Writing as a 67 year old man with lower back 'problems', I now rarely go out locally with my APS-C DSLR camera body and more than one lens. Hopefully I will have chosen the best lens for what I want to photograph. If I have no specific subject in mind, it will be my old-model Sigma 17-70, which has proved to be very versatile. Otherwise the next most likely lens will be my old-model Sigma 10-20 or a Tamron 18-250. The 'primes' I own get less use, but come out for specific purposes.

I have a small ancient Jessops camera bag that will hold the camera body with a lens attached, plus a second lens. This is not too heavy, and having two lenses allows more flexibility. This is the largest camera bag I am prepared to carry.

An old person struggling with a full frame DSLR and an attached 500 mm F4 lens is not a pretty site. I've met a few of these.