My Canon Experience

My first camera, period, was a Leica M3 which I purchased from the British navy exchange in Hong Kong in 1962 when I was eighteen. I was in the navy of the United States, aboard the USS Point Defiance (LSD-31) then. I had used my mother's Kodaks, a Brownie and a more serious camera with a bellows but the Leica was mine. My Leica was 35 mm, range finder with focal plane shutter. It was excellent but not fancy. It was a film camera, and I used Pan-X, Plus-X and Kodachrome and other films. Eventually, 1983, I went to Minolta and I enjoyed my two Minolta cameras until the film advance failed on both cameras, almost at the same time. I needed a camera. I bought a Canon Rebel G at a Target store and I was using it as my main camera until I began to experiment with some low priced digital cameras just to learn the language of the digital camera. In 2004, in a Sear's store, I saw the Canon Digital Rebel EOS 300D and I had to try it, so I bought it, at around $1,000. My first CF card cost nearly $100 and was not so large then. I did not know about the 10D and 20D cameras. The first advanced Canon I saw was a 30D and I began to think seriously about moving to it. Before I could, voila! There was the 40D and I set my goal for it. In the meantime, as I was doing some weddings and a funeral now and then, I needed a flash so I bought my EX-420, which was good but also very limited in what I could do with it. Of course, having the 300D required Photoshop and I had Elements 2.0 (laugh here). I would see so many things I wanted to try which were grayed-out but my curiosity got the better of me and $650.00 later, I had Adobe Photoshop CS. My computer was too slow for it, but I struggled along, slowly making improvements. I have these cameras: Canon Poweshot SX-110, SX-10, G-10, A590, A1100, EOS 300D, 350F, and now, finally, the EOS 7D, best camera I have ever owned.

When I bought my 300D, I wanted at least a second lens, so I bought a Quantaray 70-200 MM zoom lens. In 2006, when I was attending Photoshop World in Las Vegas, Canon let me use the 85 MM f/1.2 lens that I love so much, about $1,900. I could not afford it so I bought the less expensive 85 MM f/1.8 which I use for many portraits. Sometimes I don't have time for set up and I rely on my kit lens, the EF 28-135 mm, which does very well.

I have bought many books on Canon cameras and flash units and let me say, the system. What I mean by system is, the more I learn about the cameras, lenses and flash units together, the more I respect Canon's engineers and the system. The cameras, lenses and flash units are all designed to work together, as a system. If we use cheaper tools, we are not using our best tools as they were designed to be used. It's not as bad as using a hammer for a saw say, but let's say it's like using a very cheap saw in place of the best saw available. Long short? It costs more, but it's worth it to use the best tools we can use.

I am now using the Canon EOS 7D camera, the transmitter, ST-E2 controller, one EX-580 II flash, one EX-430 and one EX-420 together to make the best photographs I can, as a portable photographer. I may never have a studio, but for now, anyplace I can set up is fine. If I have time and room, I set up my Promaster green screen and make portraits with it as the back drop.

My Canon experience is using my best tools together with my continuing experience and education.

A few photographs are attached.

Stephen Joe Payne

Tags: 7D, Canon, EX-580, Flash, green, portraiture, screen

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Permalink Reply by Cesar Perez on January 20, 2011 at 10:12am

I like your story and I happen to own the same camera. I dont say that just because I do have the same camera but because of how you apreciate what you do and what you have aquire.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Joe Payne on January 20, 2011 at 10:27am

Que bueno y gracias por lo que dijo, pero tengo que contestar en ingles porque casi toda la gente aqui hablan y entiendan ingles. Very good and thank you for your remark. It was very nice of you. Best wishes,

Stephen

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Permalink Reply by Cesar Perez on January 20, 2011 at 11:11am

Me da gusto que nos podemos comunicar en esta hermosa lengua. Lo que pasa es que es como usted a dicho, aqui todo mundo habla Ingles y no se sabe si alguno habla espanol aun que me imajino que si hablen otras lenguas. En fin, hay jente en esta red social de todo el mundo pero por lo que se ve es que todos dominan el Ingles.

Bueno mucho gusto y le mandare una invitacion de amistad.....

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Permalink Reply by Ed Harp on January 20, 2011 at 1:52pm

I'm a Canonaholic. For 34 years that's all I've shot. I see no need to change now.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Joe Payne on January 20, 2011 at 8:33pm

I had felt that way about Minolta Ed, but I was suddenly faced with to auto focus or not and when I learned that none of my lenses would transition over, I just simply delayed and then, about two years later, both of my Minolta cameras faltered and Minolta cameras became hard to find. I was mildly driven to Canon cameras but it was a good choice and I like most things about them. I have a Panasonic DMC-FZ50 that I bought because of (1) the Leica lens, (2) the 35-420 (35 mm equivalent) zoom lens. This was before Canon introduced the SX-110 series and the SX-1 and having that much zoom in an on camera lens was attractive. I just don't like the camera much. The Canon cameras have so much better image viewing in the view finder and LCD display so I'm spoiled to them. This has been converted to my car camera now and it's paid for so I'll wear it out but I won't add tools to it; no flash, no lenses, etc. but it was a wonderful learning experience. I'm certainly sold on Canon cameras and systems now.

Stephen

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Permalink Reply by Ed on January 20, 2011 at 10:50pm

In the early years, I used whatever Santa brought me.

I used a bownie (which I still have),

a Kodak Instamatic (which I still have)

a 110 pocket kodak (which I still have)

a Leica Range finder (which I still have)

In college I used Minolta, Pentax, Nikon and then Canon (all 35mm).

1978 - My first very own Canon was an A-1 and is my beloved camera of fondest memories (which, you guessed it, I still have) and I run some rolls of film through it each year for fun.

......and have been with Canon ever since.

Now, several Canon DSLRs and some really good pieces of glass.

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Permalink Reply by Ed Harp on January 21, 2011 at 5:41pm

The A-1 was one of my best cameras as well till I bought the T-90. WOW that camera out does so many of the top professional cameras today for what it could do. The T-90 was a Zone System companion. You could take 9 exposures with a built in 3 deg spot meter and average them all out for one single right-on exposure. They should make a DT-90 DSLR, but I hate to think what it would cost.