Thinking of selling Nikon d3

JayC

JayC

5 kids,3 dogs,only 1 wife
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I just finished reading all posts in the "who's buying the x-pro 1" thread and a couple of short user reviews. It has prompted me to do an analysis of selling off my Nikon d3 and related f2.8 and faster lenses. I really don't use it except for real estate photography and the want to take it to the zoo and photograph my kids in sports.
I could get the 7-14 for my GF1 and use that for interior real estate. I wouldn't get as many "wow, that camera is big. I'm glad I hired you to take these photos." But the results would be the same as my d3 and 17-35 given the photos are only used for web and up to 8x10 flyers.
For the occasional wedding (I have done 3, but want to do more), I could be a film-only shooter, or rent a dslr kit for the event. The d3 was also supposed to be my landscape camera. I like the immediate feedback to make adjustments - like "will this turn out if I use a shutter speed of 5 seconds at f 11?" With film, I wouldn't know for 1-2 weeks if it turned out.

My plan:
Panasonic gf1 with 7-14 and 20: Real estate, travel, pocket camera. use my 90mm on it for longer reach stuff.
Mamiya 7 with 50/65/80: Landscape and other.
Leica M2 and M6ttl with 21/35/50/90: travel, recording family memories on film, use for future wedding film work. Sell extra lenses.
Fuji X-Pro 1: Maybe I don't even need it with the above choices.... But I will have plenty of $ available after selling Nikon stuff if I want it later.

Putting a lot of $ in the bank should make my wife happy, too.
Feedback from other in same decision process?
 
As an interior/real estate photographer, I think it would be a mistake to replace your D3 with the GF1.

I use D700s and I owned a LUMIX G1. The dynamic range difference is significant. Maybe your style is really different from mine, but every stop of dynamic range is critical to my interior work. It is true our images are often degraded by traditional real estate media. So if you can light the interiors skillfully the difference between the m4/3 images and D3 images could be moot. I also have interior designers as clients, so the D3/D700 image quality is worth while.

It is true clients are impressed by studio-like equiptment. Don't forget that home owners are even more impressed. This helps my clients get more listings via word of mouth. So even though it is silly from a photographers point of view, equiptment that looks serious does help the business.
 
Hmmm,
Like you, my D3 is kinda wasted on mainly eBay photos or for when I need telephoto reach/shallow DOF. It does so many things right (especially low light) that it's hard to sell off. It has been depreciating at around the same rate as 2 or 3 rental sessions a year, so it's probably better economic sense to keep it.

Consider selling off the glass to release funds? A 14-24mm should cover the purchase of your GF1 kit. Keep some long glass for the D3 for portraits?

Or wait a little for the D800 to hit the streets? Sell your D3, add some small change and you have a D800 to go with all that glass.

I can't comment on the film aspects (digital only).

Regards,

~
 
Looks like your D3 is a work tool to you. Am I right?

Why sell a good tool, then? What are you going to get from the deal? Replace it with a Panasonic, or a Mamiya RF or a Leica with four lenses? Do you know for sure your clients will take your work seriously if they see you with an antique-looking camera or with film?

I wouldn't sell the D3 unless it were for a real upgrade in your tool kit. There you go! 🙂
 
The only item on my list I do not own is the Panasonic 7-14 (and the x pro 1). But before any of you posted, I went and bought one. They also had a 45-200 there so I got that as well. I have been shooting around my house with a wireless flash set up to see how I can replace the d3. You all made good points. Maybe keep the d3 and 17-35 and a 50, sell the mid and long zooms to help fund the master bath remodel.
 
willie_901 said:
As an interior/real estate photographer, I think it would be a mistake to replace your D3 with the GF1.

I use D700s and I owned a LUMIX G1. The dynamic range difference is significant. Maybe your style is really different from mine, but every stop of dynamic range is critical to my interior work. It is true our images are often degraded by traditional real estate media. So if you can light the interiors skillfully the difference between the m4/3 images and D3 images could be moot. I also have interior designers as clients, so the D3/D700 image quality is worth while.

It is true clients are impressed by studio-like equiptment. Don't forget that home owners are even more impressed. This helps my clients get more listings via word of mouth. So even though it is silly from a photographers point of view, equiptment that looks serious does help the business.
Click to expand...


Willie, gotta ask as I recently gave up my real estate license. What does one charge for real estate photography? This may be the direction I need to consider for my own livelihood.:angel:
 
I work in commercial construction and did a little bit of real estate stuff on the side for friends/developers when I had DSLRs. I usually wound up charging $75-125 (depended on how much I liked the person), which was shooting RAW, doing edits myself and delivering JPGs to them.
I never had the money or inclination to buy a wide tilt/shift lens or 14mm, which would have broadened the type of stuff I could do. 24mm wasn't wide enough (IME) for a lot of commercial interiors to really get a sense of the space.
 
dave lackey said:
Willie, gotta ask as I recently gave up my real estate license. What does one charge for real estate photography? This may be the direction I need to consider for my own livelihood.:angel:
Click to expand...

Dave,

The fee depends greatly on where you live. On the web site

http://photographyforrealestate.net/

there is a lot of discussion on what to charge and how to get started. The site owner, Larry Lohman is a great guy who has helped many, many people get started. His eBooks are worth every penny.

In general Larry says a reasonable basic price is what it costs in your area to have your furnace cleaned and maintained by a qualified HVAC pro.

The PFRE site has a Directory and many of the photographers list their fees on their web sites. The PFRE site uses a Flickr group to share and discuss photos. The discussions in this group are very helpful and quit a few discuss pricing. Here's the link. I think you can do a search.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/

If you have any other questions, let me know.
 
If you want to shoot your kids in any competitive sports you need a camera like the D3. I shot my son's baseball career and my daughter's equestrian career from high school through college with a D1h and then a D2h. The pro caliber cameras to allow you to produce outstanding results.
 
I shoot architecture with a Canon 5D, 24 and 35mm shift lenses, and a 17-35 when I need to go wider. I will probably continue to use that outfit for the foreseeable future, because it does a good job and it's paid for. However, I also have an Olympus E-PL1 with a 12 megapixel sensor that I use for travel. Some photos from that camera are printed 12x12 in my latest book, and look every bit as good as the 5D, shots and the scanned 6x6 and 6x7 transparencies. Page 46 is a good example -- it looks every bit as good on paper as it does on the screen. http://www.blurb.com/books/2390260

 So I would say that from a quality standpoint, get a 7-14 lens for your GF-1 and use it to your heart's content. If a client or anyone else makes a comment about your little camera, just casually remark about how amazing it is that technology has advanced to the point that some small cameras can produce results comparable to great, big cameras!
 
Dave Jenkins said:
I shoot architecture with a Canon 5D, 24 and 35mm shift lenses, and a 17-35 when I need to go wider. I will probably continue to use that outfit for the foreseeable future, because it does a good job and it's paid for. However, I also have an Olympus E-PL1 with a 12 megapixel sensor that I use for travel. Some photos from that camera are printed 12x12 in my latest book, and look every bit as good as the 5D, shots and the scanned 6x6 and 6x7 transparencies. Page 46 is a good example -- it looks every bit as good on paper as it does on the screen. http://www.blurb.com/books/2390260

So I would say that from a quality standpoint, get a 7-14 lens for your GF-1 and use it to your heart's content. If a client or anyone else makes a comment about your little camera, just casually remark about how amazing it is that technology has advanced to the point that some small cameras can produce results comparable to great, big cameras!
Click to expand...

Agreed...until lately, I did not necessarily think it would be worthwhile using a compact camera for anything besides snaps, however, the new developments in these cameras have made it a reasonable choice of gear in many instances. How hard is it to work into a studio/on-location set with lighting and such? I have no idea but there will always be room for the larger DSLRs and set-ups because they just plain work better. Then there is the cost.

Is it worth it to spend $10-20k for gear to use shooting houses for $100? Not here in my town. Maybe the upscale neighborhoods in Buckhead if the agents are into that, but I have no idea what they are doing around here, much less in Atlanta, an hour's drive away.

So, what does one do? Research...that's all I can do for now.
 
dave lackey said:
How hard is it to work into a studio/on-location set with lighting and such?
Click to expand...

To all who have such questions, I would suggest that you read Kirk Tuck's blog http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/

Kirk is a successful working photographer who makes his living from actually doing photography for clients, not giving seminars. He writes on a wide range of subjects relating to photography and regularly shoots assignments with Olympus and Panasonic m4/3s cameras. Search his archives and you'll find a great deal of useful information. Also, he writes well, so he's always a good read.
 
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