Portrait studios- Med format out?

[Jeff M]

We had a family portrait done tonight. Local studio, 50 plus years in business. The son of the original photographer now runs it. The only "complaint" I've heard thru the years, is ..expensive. Never...never, any complaints about quality, or lack there-of.
And all his work I've seen bears that out.
I know this studio used MF for years, in particular ...Mamiya.
So I was a bit surprised to walk in tonight, and notice a 30D on top of the tripod.

I wouldn't have been surprised at all to see a Mark IIDs or 5D, but a 30D? Not knocking the 30D, which I have, but I'm thinking in terms of megal pixels...8.2
I presume that's enough for portraiture, as most are going to buy beyond 16x20 anyway.
My first thought was...I can do this, I know the lighting setup he was using, and certainly the camera.
Then I thought about, just having the same type glove as a major league baseball pitcher isn't going to help me strike out batters. :biggrin:
Still, you wonder how many other 30D/D200 users walk in, see the same camera that they have at home, and wonder why they are paying this guy?
Now I know..and you folks here know...we aren't paying for the brand/size equipment being used, but for his skill and expertise in delivering a portrait.
But I have to think it crosses a lot of minds.

[Kevin]

It would cross my mind as well, Jeff! Did you ask him why the switch from Mamiya to the 30D? It would have been interesting to hear his reply.

[Rob]

Hi Jeff, Know what you are saying. I would have porbably been surprised as well. Having said that, I was doing some part time portrait work before I shifted interestate this year & was using the 20D at that time. Never had an issue with clients wanting to purchase prints that were taken with it. I guess I worked out a studio setup that worked & the clients were happy

[Joe F.N.]

It's sort of like being wheeled into surgery and seeing an X-acto knife from Home Depot. That and the surgical scalpel will do the job but............?

[Jeff M]

Hi Jeff, Know what you are saying. I would have porbably been surprised as well. Having said that, I was doing some part time portrait work before I shifted interestate this year & was using the 20D at that time. Never had an issue with clients wanting to purchase prints that were taken with it. I guess I worked out a studio setup that worked & the clients were happy

I'm not bothered that the photographer used a 30D, just surprised. We weren't paying him to use a particular format/brand, but for his skill.

I can buy the same paint brushes as most professional painters. That doesn't mean I can paint a house as well as they can.

I'm not surprised he went from MF to a DSLR, that's been happening in the past couple of years. Though the move has been more to higher mega pixel DSLRs (like the 16.7 Mark II Ds).
That is what my biggest surprise was..that he wasn't using larger digital files.
Oh well, as long as the final print turns out ok, that's what matters.

[davespix]

I had the same experiance buddy has a great website and studio in a higher end of town, has actors and the likes comming to him for update shots or mood shots, I bought a light meter from him, he shoots 20d, and he has some wow shots. If I was shooting fashion I would have to have the MF digital, If I shot stock at some fussy firm I would shoot 1dsm2 probably for the pixels. If I had my controlled enviroment I could shoot d70 or rebel, just tune it in. And get the glass for it. Now a hobby guy shoots MF digital. We love our business hobby.
He probably found printing from that camera and good lens pretty close to what he was producing at 100 times the cost. People probably could not see the diff. High quality paper on a good mount. I wonder if he is just shrude and not raising his prices, to upgrade like most succesful wedding shooters do. I think if the camera produces and files are easy to work on, it could be a fisher price.
My new D2x is a world apart from my d70 and I believe I will be very happy for years inside a controlled lighting enviroment. I would never dream of taking on low low light shots, though passable to most public eyes. Boy can I ramble, must be the age.

[Kevin]

The D2x in studio was fantastic! I loved using it for that purpose.

[Charlemagne]

Its all about the light.. bet he had a sweet profoto setup..!! LOL

Charles

[Carlton]

As I was after the switch from MF to digital, they may still be in the testing stage to find out if digital is going to work for them without spending a large amount of money. Once they find out the major benefits of more pixels, they will make the leap. The one thing for me that has really been a lifesaver with more MP, is the retouching aspect.

BTW- Currently I'm shooting with a D200 and now looking at the D3.

[GoGo]

I still shoot people with one of these http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holga
It is a blast and cost me $25usd.
It will never be about the equipment, stuff is not important.

[Carlton]

I still shoot people with one of these http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holga
It is a blast and cost me $25usd.
It will never be about the equipment, stuff is not important.

Well said!