Re: What would a pro buy - survey?

[graywolf]

That equipment would work for a freelance photojournalist, or wedding 
photographer. It would be totally inadequate for most other professional 
photography. It is not as bad nowadays as it was back when a pro needed to have 
the "Holy-Trinity of the Professional Photographer" (35mm, 120, and 4x5). But 
still a studio photographer doing advertising (the most profitable type of work) 
plus whatever else was available will need a lot more equipment than you are 
thinking of. I figured that to open a studio back in the 1960's I would need 
about that $25,000 you mention just for camera equipment. Nowadays you would 
probably be looking at $100,000+. In fact you probably would be putting $25,000 
into lighting equipment for serious advertising work.

The above is why "Thomas Arthur Rittenhouse, Photography for Advertising and 
Illustration" never happened.

However, for serious freelance wedding photography and location portraiture you 
probably can set up from scratch today for $10,000 or so (TV can tell you how 
close I am on that figure). I had about $5000 invested in that back in the 80"s. 
I found I hated doing weddings and moved over to doing what I called "Commercial 
Snapshots" for builders, businesses, and others who need a photographic record 
of things. Having a BBC (Big Black Camera) helps a lot in that type of work. 
Much of the work was rather ho-hum. The work I made the most money (profit) from 
was on location photo ID badges with a Polaroid ID Machine which does nothing 
for ones ego.

--
Jens Bladt wrote:
In Denmark there's a rule of thumb, saying that is will cost one million
kroner to create one job.
1 mio kroner is appr. 167.000 USD.
Having done a few rough calculations about what is needed to be a
professional photographer (office/lab space including furniture etc., a
camera and lenses etc., computer/printer/scanner equipment, marketing/adds,
transportation (a car) etc.) I guess there would be room for perhaps
25-35.000 USD for the camera equipment.
25.000 USD will buy:
What would you be looking for, what would you buy?
I would probably be looking for:
2 digital bodies (3-14 MP0), including battery grips etc.
Dedicated lenses:
2-3 zooms f2.8 throughout
3-5 primes f2.8 or better
Tele converter, perhaps a macro converter
Filters, like polarizer and misc. effects (Cokin)
A dedicated flash GN 135 (45)
2-4 RAM cards
Portable hard drive/card reader
Tripod and monopod
And probably some IS equipment or avialable light/evening shots
Which brand would you go for ?
Jens



Jens Bladt
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://hjem.get2net.dk/bladt
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: Cotty [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sendt: 15. august 2004 11:24
Til: pentax list
Emne: Re: Lessons fro a pro
On 14/8/04, William Robb, discombobulated, offered:

This is the webpage to learn from for all you guys who insist on
thinking your 50mm lens is really a 75mm lens.
http://www.proshooter.homestead.com/untitled1.html

ROTL!!

Cheers,
  Cotty
___/\__
||   (O)   |     People, Places, Pastiche
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--
graywolf
http://graywolfphoto.com/graywolf.html