What $125 Can Get You in the Digital Photography World by Justin Press

What $125 Can Get You in the Digital Photography World

By Justin Press

Steve and Brandon.

As always a pleasure. Just a brief glimpse into what a used Sony NEX5 and a Tokina 80-200 f/4 manual lens which I purchased together for $125.00 US can do if the setting and lighting is right.

Two shots I did of the band Baroness in the mid-day (it was overcast)and one of Iggy Pop at dusk. In post was able to give them some texture and grit.

Thanks for sharing and never let gear get in the way of some wonderful opportunities.

baroness1

baroness2

iggy

Justin Press

11 Comments

  1. Interesting shots. I see shots that people get paid for that “weren’t my cup of tea” and it doesn’t matter what others think of your work….what matters is that you like it….. keep at it……

  2. $125 + imagination gets plenty

    Nex3, Nex5, Ep1, Ep2 $60-$70
    +
    F1.4 50-58mm $50-$70
    Or
    F1.8/2.2 50mm $30
    F2.8 28mm $30
    +
    Adapter $15

  3. I was highly impressed by your photos, then I got to your third one and burst out laughing thinking OMG is that Iggy Pop? Anyway, that was a great shot as well; a cautionary tale about something, or the danger of becoming a caricature of a caricature.
    You are right the original NEX 5 is capable of some really nice results, always was. Bigger pixels sometimes better than more pixels.
    Thanks for the post, it was a salutory reality check.

    • Admitted so in the post about post-processing otherwise it would’ve have been a bit bland and washed out.

      But thanks for giving it a look nonetheless

      Happy shooting

  4. I absolutely believe that excellent results can be had by cheap equipment. The lens I use most (on an E mount body), a Nikkor 50-135/3.5, cost less than $100. I don’t know about full sized 135 sensors, but it works really nicely on an APS-C sensor. It has a little distortion (not that big a deal as I only use this for people shots) and it’s not parfocal. But it’s quite sharp, if a little tricky to focus.

    BTW I don’t like the processing in the last shot – that sort of thing is a waste of time. IMHO, let the sensor and lens do their thing.

  5. Good shots. The NEX series will do a lot. I always bought mine when they had gone out of date because the next model had come along – much cheaper that way! As a result I have three bodies (C3, 6 and 6000 all with much better than kit lenses on them and no need to change). So I hope you’ll go on enjoying yours.

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