I've made several posts already but I figured I should introduce myself here.
I'm Chris, and I'm no stranger to cameras, film and DSLR and point-and-shoot,
having learned the basics on my dad's Canon FT QL with a 50mm F/1.2 lens, long
before the first digital camera of any kind had hit the consumer market.
But now, years later and most of it spent with the mode dial on a D40 set to AUTO,
I'm finally trying to get a bit more serious about actually learning photography without
using the AUTO mode.
Only a few weeks ago I bought a Nikon D200 (my first camera that was my personal property)
and it needed the ISO/WB/QUAL button assembly (which was missing) and by the time I found
the parts I needed, I'd already ended up buying two more D200s, both in better condition than
the first one, for less than the cost of the parts I needed for the first one.
And then my lowball bid on ANOTHER D200 actually won a FOURTH D200 for me, needing just the
camera door release knob, which I borrowed from the first camera.
So I have three D200s in great working shape. Two of them look like new. One arrived with 1604
shutter clicks on it, with the box and all accessories, instructions, software, cables, strap, etc.
I also went on a buying spree locally. I found several cameras for sale locally, all being sold for
well under average ebay prices. (I checked.) So I have even more cameras, a D3000, a D3200,
a D70, and a D5000, which are all there for me to resell for a modest profit.
The whole point of my camera buying and selling is to end up with one or two really GOOD cameras
and the profit from the resale of the others covers the cost of the best ones.
Today I bought a D800 which has been verified as being free of the autofocus problem. When that arrives,
I think that I'm selling all my D200s except for one. Well, I may keep a second one for sale to a friend of mine.
For all my life I've been into both electronic and mechanical hobbies and electronics has been my profession for
many years. There's hardly a piece of electronic gear that you can break that I can't fix.
I consider myself to be a repairman and craftsman in the old school. I like to fix the things that other technicians
say can't be fixed.
For fun I have started buying high end camera lenses that have been broken and described as uneconomical to repair,
and I take them apart, repair the damaged parts (welding required in some cases, flexible circuit repairs as well) and
then reassemble them and see if they work properly. I should be reassembling a Nikkor 80-400mm lens this evening,
which I bought in two pieces. It broke in half at the aperture ring when the camera it was mounted on took a fall from
a tippy tripod on a windy day.
I've found a few bargains on good lenses, too, and am always on the lookout for more. My best score yet is my Tamron
150-600mm lens that I got in like new condition for 550 dollars.
I usually take a camera with me wherever I go, and won't hesitate to take photos of anything that seems even moderately
interesting, even if it's just a learning experience. I see for myself what it takes to make a GOOD photograph. And I am learning
what goes into poor photos, too. I've made lots of those!
I'm Chris, and I'm no stranger to cameras, film and DSLR and point-and-shoot,
having learned the basics on my dad's Canon FT QL with a 50mm F/1.2 lens, long
before the first digital camera of any kind had hit the consumer market.
But now, years later and most of it spent with the mode dial on a D40 set to AUTO,
I'm finally trying to get a bit more serious about actually learning photography without
using the AUTO mode.
Only a few weeks ago I bought a Nikon D200 (my first camera that was my personal property)
and it needed the ISO/WB/QUAL button assembly (which was missing) and by the time I found
the parts I needed, I'd already ended up buying two more D200s, both in better condition than
the first one, for less than the cost of the parts I needed for the first one.
And then my lowball bid on ANOTHER D200 actually won a FOURTH D200 for me, needing just the
camera door release knob, which I borrowed from the first camera.
So I have three D200s in great working shape. Two of them look like new. One arrived with 1604
shutter clicks on it, with the box and all accessories, instructions, software, cables, strap, etc.
I also went on a buying spree locally. I found several cameras for sale locally, all being sold for
well under average ebay prices. (I checked.) So I have even more cameras, a D3000, a D3200,
a D70, and a D5000, which are all there for me to resell for a modest profit.
The whole point of my camera buying and selling is to end up with one or two really GOOD cameras
and the profit from the resale of the others covers the cost of the best ones.
Today I bought a D800 which has been verified as being free of the autofocus problem. When that arrives,
I think that I'm selling all my D200s except for one. Well, I may keep a second one for sale to a friend of mine.
For all my life I've been into both electronic and mechanical hobbies and electronics has been my profession for
many years. There's hardly a piece of electronic gear that you can break that I can't fix.
I consider myself to be a repairman and craftsman in the old school. I like to fix the things that other technicians
say can't be fixed.
For fun I have started buying high end camera lenses that have been broken and described as uneconomical to repair,
and I take them apart, repair the damaged parts (welding required in some cases, flexible circuit repairs as well) and
then reassemble them and see if they work properly. I should be reassembling a Nikkor 80-400mm lens this evening,
which I bought in two pieces. It broke in half at the aperture ring when the camera it was mounted on took a fall from
a tippy tripod on a windy day.
I've found a few bargains on good lenses, too, and am always on the lookout for more. My best score yet is my Tamron
150-600mm lens that I got in like new condition for 550 dollars.
I usually take a camera with me wherever I go, and won't hesitate to take photos of anything that seems even moderately
interesting, even if it's just a learning experience. I see for myself what it takes to make a GOOD photograph. And I am learning
what goes into poor photos, too. I've made lots of those!
