Robin
The photographic landscape is changing, and manufacturers pull ahead of one another in a matter of mere months. So why should you be wedded to a particular brand, or even worse become a fanboy?
The simple and short answer is: you shouldn’t.
I can already hear you: “But I have X lenses of that particular brand, to jump ship I will have to sell everything!”.
And this is exactly what I want to talk about. Unless you need super fast AF (in that case stick to the manufacturers’ offering) you can take pictures – yes, even professionally – with adapted lenses.
The secret is finding the right tools FOR YOU. With this I mean for your taste, for the way you like to use things, for your travel necessities etc.
For example, I’m “wedded” to Contax glass for the vast majority of what I shoot, with a “side” of Minolta M-Rokkor when I want to travel really light or if I want a less contrasty rendering.
Abandoned fishing net
I’ve had most of my Contax glass since the day I was still shooting Canon. Actually it was the Contax glass that made me “dump” the L series lenses I had at the time. Yes, it is THAT good.
The beauty of using high quality glass like this – and the same goes, for example, if you instead happen to like Nikon glass – is that no matter who will come up with the next big thing in terms of sensor tech you will still be able to use the same lenses, and just swap the bodies.
Nowadays we have even the luxury to be able to use some of this glass with AF thanks to adapters like the Metabones. And now another adapter like the one Techart is about to release is opening up even new roads, giving us the luxury to use with AF even lenses that originally were manual focus only!
For example, should I want I could use my Contax glass on either Canon, Fuji, Sony E, Leica, Olympus or Panasonic bodies. And as well with Nikon, Sony A and Pentax, even if this would require a bit more effort – I’d need to interchange the lens mount removing a couple of screws in order to use a Leitax adapter; still a fair cry from having to buy an entire setup of new lenses!
The advantage is not just an economical one, thought the savings will be huge. To be creative your tools have to become “transparent”, and this takes a lot of time with regards to the lenses because you have to learn how they render in every specific situation.
Being able to use the same glass for years means you will become very familiar with each lens, and be able to choose the right tool for the job each time, or if you prefer to pre-visualize the scene way better – in Ansel’s speak.
We’re probably living in some kind of technical golden age for photography, so let’s take advantage of this!
