spankinspinach

Nah I think you got it. Veiling art as hostile architecture is fairly common so I think the artist lead took over and they forgot the intent of ruining someone's ability to sleep haha

This was the perfect balance of sardonic response and 90s/early 2000s

I see what you're digging at, I was confused by them too. Hostile architecture meets just plain terrible design?

Hahaha ever since I saw your msg I've been wanting to use the phrase: You want to disabuse me of the notion that this is a one-and-done purchase. I like it, what I'm learning as I read and review responses is that there's a lot to learn, a lot of growth to be had, and a lot of money to be spent.

I'm glad to hear that the cropped sensor is a reasonable starting point, and maybe even a little overdoing it - I can live with having a few functions that remain mystical for a while!

Thanks for sharing about the issues you had with Fujis, it sounds like they're at least decent cameras with largely foreseeable issues across the years? Based on your comments and some of the known issues with the X-Ts, it seems like they've done this before.

I love the story of how you got to where you are, I see a reflection of how I think I'd want to approach this - with intent, both in the photos and learning/buying the equipment. Even as I've started talking about this, I've already started looking at things a little differently - seeing much smaller photo opportunities around the city, moments that would have been fun to capture.

All this to say, I don't mind learning the camera/lenses, their advantages and drawbacks. If you're gonna spend more than 2k on any given item, might as well get to know its abilities - I think the lenses are gonna be a danger to my pocketbook after looking into them a bit hahaha. Man, they get expensive. I think my hope is that the X-T5 (which I seem to be settling on) will be a solid all-rounder for at least a couple of years, to investigate the hobby further, build my skillset, and see what I actually end up using it for. While I started at landscapes/slow-moving nature, as I mentioned above about seeing small opportunities, it seems to be evolving just by talking about it.

I really appreciate this last bit of advice. Its a good philosophy that I keep coming across - it's not just about the camera, it's about the person behind it and how they use it.

That's a great point. I was quite worried about the Autofocus on the recent X-Ts, early reviews indicated they did a lot of searching for nothing haha - my love of sticks and leaves is great, but usually tapers out around the time I'm busy admiring a bird or smtg. It sounds like at least a few reviewers have found Fuji has dialed it in in the past little bit. But also that if I want --AMAZING-- AF, just to go with Canon or Nikon(?).

Is there any particular setting/requirements that you'd recommend looking for in a camera when it comes to ease of focusing modes?

As I talk about this, I'm realizing that I will want some attn to go to wildlife and potentially some low-light photography (e.g. dusk-time animals in a field comes to mind), but more of an opportunistic thing than the dedicated daylight shots/landscapes/etc. I absolutely plan on hiding behind the AF for a while, but do hope to make use of some of these settings as I improve.

This may have missed the point of your asking, but I wrote it so I'm posting it lol my apologies if it's not what your looking for:

I'm gonna advise a thought on what I had to do. I love being informed. But I reached such a level of depression and anxiety of the future that I had to do something.

So I stopped. I told myself it doesn't have to be forever, just a break. Took about 2 weeks of much less news consumption, forced myself to be brain-dead as much as possible. It led to a few conclusions:

The world turns. No matter what you do, ppl do insane shit. Taking a break for you doesn't mean stupid shit stops happening, but it makes it less the center of your world. You don't have to own it.

Life is about a lot more than what's going on in the news cycle. I have friends who never look at a newspaper, and they're far happier than I am overall. Just a thought.

The kicker - I still knew what was going on. The media milks a big story over days and weeks, so you can easily come back to your favorite website and pick it up quickly. Haven't missed anything that I could have changed regardless haha.

A great comment I saw a while back: put down the phone for a few days, and you realize it's still 2005 outside. The world is boring, but blessedly so. For your health, let it be 2005 for a bit.

Now, I just read the headlines unless something really grabs my attn. Reading the news makes many problems that aren't yours a you problem. Overall, I've realised it's the little things that make life better. Do the little stuff - help in your community, give the homeless guy a fiver, call your mom, ask the cashier how her day is (and genuinely care about her answer). If you're up for it, maybe then undertake some of the actions other ppl are suggesting about political action, volunteering, etc.

You can't pour from an empty cup, my friend. Take care of you first and the world becomes a little better ☺️

It's funny how, though this was sarcasm, it still bumped my blood pressure that teensy amount haha

Dude, thank you.

Sorry it took me a bit to get back, wanted to give this my full attn. You've given me a lot to chew on, but reading this, I think my major takeaways are: a) image quality and getting there reign supreme (go full frame), b) recognize that my needs and priorities will evolve as I get deeper into the hobby (e.g., lens collection, post production, printing), and c) spending the $3-5k on a comparable full frame and some good quality lenses/attachments will be worthwhile, but lifespans on some gear are not as long as they once were. I hope that doesn't cheapen the value of your comments. Full disclosure, I hadn't given any real attention to printing (your highest recommendation), I was just excited at the prospect of better photos!

A couple of questions then:

a) I did a some research on full vs. cropped and their +/-, and compared two comparable-ish cameras (XT-5 vs. Sony A7 III/IV full frame), at least in price point. Is the cropped a reasonable intro for now, as I develop my eye for detail/style/preferences? Your comments suggest it's just not worth it. My thinking is, coming from a phone, everything should look better for a while, and I have a steep learning curve ahead. STEEEP lol. Does this seem like a reasonable interim approach? Or would you still just push for a full frame/end game camera?

b) I love your comment about how it feels in the hand and the joy of use. The comments on the X-T series suggest this is a pretty fun camera to use, which drew me to the X100VI initially (before realizing X-Ts are a better fit). I think on top of ergonomics, fun to use sounds important. Can you share some thoughts on your ergonomics/fun to use experiences with the X-Ts vs., for example, the Leica?

c) More of a comment: I'm mindful of the allure of Leicas. Even before this venture, I had heard of Leica, and decided against early on cuz they absolutely destroy anything like my budget lol. Since your camera history mirrors my potential future, did you find Leica lenses were good with an X-T? Or was it the apparent gap that made you go "screw it, getting a Leica full frame"?

Duly noted about the 70-200mm range, thank you! Also, I looked at lens prices and I see what you mean by out of control - holy crap.

Thanks again for your feedback, and sorry for deluging with more questions - just getting my bearings on what is turning out to be a rabbit-hole :)

This is a great thought! From my understanding, the 16-50 is supposed to be a remarkably good kit lens, so in discussion with the local shop, I'd initially planned to run that and maybe pick up a pancake/prime lens (not sure if I'm using that right) too.

But it sounds like maybe the 50 is a little short for wildlife shooting? This might be a lack of familiarity on my part of the "effective range" that lenses have.

I'll make a point of digging in a bit more detail on telephoto lenses - thanks!

Interestingly, this is a reflection of a natural human phenomen. Evolution taught us to be wary of negative events (being dead is a bad look), and to remember them so they're less likely to get us. As a result, we bias towards negative information because it keeps us alive.

Positive events don't convey much more value than our base drives can figure out (e.g., this food good, can be eaten). So they aren't remembered without effort, and ppl prefer to share info on things that will keep us alive as opposed to things that make life a little more pleasant. It's a shitty system for modern life, but it worked to get us here lol

This is the most alarming experience. Especially in the middle of winter when fewer things have corn readily included

I would even argue the controversy about it is the point. It's art. It's meant to make you think about things you might not ever consider, and in the case of No Russian, it's the horror of committing a terrorist attack. Imo, it's an intentional but valuable (both financially and ethically) lesson in what art can do