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Any hobbyist photographers here?

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2026 7:24 pm
by Arne2
We all know that we all take pictures of our cars, but how many of us actually shoot other things and places for fun?

I've gone through several iterations of cameras and lenses, and have recently slimmed down what I carry with me to simplify my prep for a shot. Currently, all I generally pack with me is a Nikon D5300 with a lightweight 18-300 super-zoom. (The D5300 is a small sensor camera, so the 18-300 is equivalent to 27-450 in 35mm or full-frame digital.) No more swapping lenses, just pick it up and shoot. The only other lens I use now is a 35mm F1.8 for low-light shots.

This camera/lens combo gives amazingly sharp shots. While some of these pics were taken some time ago with different equipment, check the detail on the last picture here of the kestrel. That was taken with the current camera and lens.

Anyone else want to share some?
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Re: Any hobbyist photographers here?

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2026 9:37 pm
by BennSport
Wow, those are all beautiful! Although I haven’t been at it for a couple of months, I do love to shoot with my Sony A6400 and a handful of separate lenses. Since I don’t compress most of my photos I’m not able to share a ton of them on here, but these are a few of my favorites.

Re: Any hobbyist photographers here?

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2026 5:19 am
by spacecad3t
Not as much these days. I mainly use a Contax G1 that Ive had for 20 years, but I also sometimes bring out a Sony RX1R.

Here's a couple from both.

I use to process/develop my own film at home, but haven't in a long time. I have several years of rolls building up :(

Re: Any hobbyist photographers here?

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2026 7:40 am
by Stormy_Monday
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Re: Any hobbyist photographers here?

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2026 7:42 am
by Stormy_Monday
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Re: Any hobbyist photographers here?

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2026 7:50 am
by blueline
I'm loving the photos and the discussion!

@spacecad3t

Many eons ago I processed my own B&W film as well as printing/enlarging/cropping/manipulating etc. in a dark room. I also spent a number of years processing my own Ektachrome film. The colors of the resulting wet slide film were always fascinating and as I hung the film to dry. :thumbup:

edit: I miss those days!!

Re: Any hobbyist photographers here?

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2026 9:42 am
by Stormy_Monday
I have 20+ years of digital images.
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Re: Any hobbyist photographers here?

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2026 9:57 am
by RDMcG
Casual over the years but have a lot of them- a few here:
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Re: Any hobbyist photographers here?

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2026 10:17 am
by blueline
Ancient digital image from over 20-years ago taken with a long gone Sony DSC-V1.

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Re: Any hobbyist photographers here?

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2026 5:27 pm
by Arne2
blueline wrote: Sun Jan 11, 2026 10:17 am Ancient digital image from over 20-years ago taken with a long gone Sony DSC-V1.
Nice shot. I used a Sony DSC-V3 for a few years. Great non-SLR digital with true optical zoom. The third picture in my original post was with the Sony.

But the V3 was my last non-SLR camera, the zoom was just too slooooow. Replaced by a Nikon D40 in 2008, then a Nikon D5100 in 2014. I shot with that camera for 10 years, and would still be using it if it had been able to do distortion correction on the new 18-300 lens. It was replaced with a D5300 (which does perform the distortion correction) in 2024. Probably done now, this package does everything I need.
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