Equipment
I must admit a couple of years ago, I was not too keen of photography. Because of my lack of interest back then, my first camera was a disposable camera. That was just after I moved to Canada. I found it to be an interesting “hobby” so I purchased an early generation digital camera. However, I did not took that many pictures with it and, when finally decided to start again (2007), I found out it was broken. Oh, well. Since this time I wanted to commit myself to go out and take pictures, I went for broke (not 100% true, but you get the point) and purchased a dSLR. So, without further ado, here is my current setup:
Camera: Nikon D40
Lenses:
- AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II (as of 20090423)
- AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR (as of 20090423)
- AF-S DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II (as of 20100422)
- 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor
- 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Nikkor with a Hoya UV HMC Super Muti-Coated 52mm Filter
- AF-S DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED – Thanks CIM!
- AF-S DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED VR
Post-processing: Apple Aperture
For memory, I use Sandisk SDHC a variety of different brands of flash cards, but all of them at least Class 4 and above; other usual gear include a mini-tripod and a regular sized tripod.
Now, I will not discuss/argue as to which is better, Nikon or Canon, or my “lock” to Nikon due to its lenses. It was something I was researching and decided to jump into it. Anyway, I started using post-processing recently and I must say it is a day/night type difference.
Having said all that, below is a sample of pictures I have taken.
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Winter 2007/2008 – Gingerbread House competition (Vancouver) |
Winter 2007/2008 – Celebration of Light – VanDeusen Botanical Garden (Vancouver) |
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Spring 2008 – Burrard Skytrain Station (Vancouver) |
Fall 2007 – Central Park (Burnaby) |
Spring 2008 – Nitobe Memorial Garden (UBC) |
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Winter 2007/2008 – Sun Yat Sen Garden (Vancouver) |
Winter 2007/2008 – Downtown Vancouver (View from Londsdale Quay) |
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Spring 2008 – Queen Elizabeth Park (Vancouver) |
Spring 2008 – Stanley Park |
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Kim,
I just want to say how inventive your reviews are! Being a food lover myself, you’ve helped me greatly in deciding which restaurants to go
Recently, me and my partner started a video marketing solution catered only to Vancouver restaurants! We recently finished our first deal with EBISU on Robson!
It’s $20 credit worth of food for $10 bucks! There’s a video to watch also
If you like, you can purchase the deal at http://www.vaneats.ca
::Keep writing and please drop us a note on any restaurants you like to see a great deal and a video from!
Kind regards,
Billy
VANEATS.ca
Billy, welcome! Thanks for your thoughts; however, as a reminder, I do NOT do reviews!
Hey Kim,
I found you through Elaine (or who you call Elaine2, I guess).
Being a photography enthusiast, I was drawn to your equipment page, and I was wondering: since you appear to have sold your zoom lenses, don’t you feel a bit restricted by the primes? I mean, for food photography it’s fine, but how about in other situations?
Adam
Adam, welcome! Actually, I haven’t updated this page so your thoughts might not be 100% accurate! (Please, check again for the updated list).
Having said that, have I felt restricted? Yes and no. Zooms are fun, in the sense you can do a lot with them. However, at the same time, but allowing you to do a lot, it takes away what you want to focus on. Let me put it this way: if you have a prime lens, you know what you will be seeing *before* you look at the camera, which allows you to focus on the best way to take that picture, rather than zooming in and out.
Now, the fact that I somewhat plan my trips helps, which means I can carry my gear accordingly. Plus prime lenses are usually smaller and lighter so it is not that much of an issue compared to carrying a wide-angle and a telephoto!
Of course, those are my thoughts: other people would certainly disagree!
Its been ages since I checked this page – you had that massive beast of a 18-200 eh? What happened with it? Looks like you’re shooting mainly with your 35mm lately, the images look really sharp. Happy with the lens, say in comparison to the 50mm?
shokutsu, yup, I had the 18-200mm but gave it away to my baby sister. I gave her my D40 last year and, on my last trip to Panama, I gave her that lens.
Once again, yup, my 35mm is my “default” lens. It is difficult to compare the 35mm vs. the 50mm because the former is a DX lens, compared to the 50mm which is a full frame lens. As a result, due to the 1.6x cropping factor in my D40, the 50mm is actually a ~80mm lens. Also, in the D40, the 50mm does not autofocus. In other words, a combination of factors prevents me from using the 50mm as my default lens for taking pictures of food! However, the 35mm is not perfect. The major flaw is that it does not focus to infinity! (Sorry for this sort of long explanation).
Sounds like both those prime’s aren’t ideal, but you’re doing well with the results. Appreciate the detail. Behind food, photography is my next big passion.
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