What has been your most defining camera purchase?

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In other words, what single item purchase has given you the largest boost in your photo taking abilities?

I am wondering what other items are lurking out there waiting to be discovered e.g. ring flash for macro photography, wide angle lenses, tripods, remote releases, even camera packs for allowing you to have all your kit with you.

Mine has been the Canon 300mm f/4L IS lens that I purchased, almost exclusively for birding.
 
Probably my Sigma 12-24mm. Love it.
 
An slr camera. It gets me out more, and i properly enjoy photography because of it.
 
Lately?
My D3 and D3x bodies...

Ever? My F3 body - so much better than my old F2AS...it was like it was from Mars...
 
originally it was when I bought the Sinar Norma 5 x 4 camera - that was the point when I knew I'd have to go full time pro to justify the purchase! That was in 1971 !

recently - D3 :)
 
My Sigma 105mm macro which I bought over 6 years ago! Superb and I believe very underrated lens.
 
As it is an open question to me i.e. camera or camera thingy, I would have to say my:

Nikon 105mm 2.5

It's images are beautiful on a Nikon D and the photo's on an F3 are equally as good (if not better through developing etc)

Autumn shots for prints so far.

Alistair
 
Getting back into photography after a few years of hibernation, was the D70 (2004) that started to bring everything back :thumbs:
 
An Olympus 1.3 megapixel point and shoot camera, my first foray into 'digital' from film, and I can still remember viewing the first picture I took with it (a sheep from Malham moor) on my computer screen, the quality (even then) just blew me away.

It's been a long slippery downward slope since :)
 
I would've thought my first DSLR too... a Nikon D50 back in 2005. It really opened my up to experiment. :)
 
alistair.o said:
As it is an open question to me i.e. camera or camera thingy, I would have to say my:

Nikon 105mm 2.5

It's images are beautiful on a Nikon D and the photo's on an F3 are equally as good (if not better through developing etc)

Autumn shots for prints so far.

Alistair
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The 105 f/2.5 was a damn good lens - be interesting to see how it stacks up against the newer model from Nikon - maybe the new one will be a tad sharper, better CA handling, etc etc etc

But will any of that equate to better portraits?
 
Nikon D300 was the camera that drove me to take a whole load more pictures than I had whilst owning a d70 or D200, it finally delivered what i was looking for in a dslr
 
Mine was when I bought my first digital camera thanks to Kodak miss pricing their EasyShare DX3700 for £100 instead of £329 in 2002 :clap:
I then sold that after a few months for about a tidy little profit on ebay and bought a Canon PowerShot G2.
So thanks to Kodak I had my first introduction to digital something that probably wouldn't have happened until much later.
 
Canon 17-55mm IS

Mainly because my shaky hands were becoming more of a problem and I can now get nice sharp pictures again
Do agree that stabilisation shouldn't really be needed at these focal lengths, but there are exceptions such as mine.
 
Canon D30, got me into football photography at just the right time, never looked back since.
 
My D3s, the low light master. I now don't have to worry (as much) about ISO and light at all.
 
Upgrading from the Canon 75-300 f4-f5.6 USM lens, to the 70-200f2.8L, there was such a big difference in the quality of my motorsport images.
 
My first "modern" (ie AF, AE etc) SLR, an F65. Got me back into photography after a longish break. In slightly more recent times, I suppose my Coolpix 3100 was an eye opener - proved to me that digital was a real option. Another year or two closer to tyhe present, my first DSLR, a D70 - not only is digital an option, it also gives me all I need apart from the wide angles (now sorted with a D700).

Of all the above, it was the F65 that had the biggest impact (it was the first camera I ever owned with auto anything - and it all worked well!)
 
Probably my 5DII. Having been a film shooter for many years, going up to digital full frame just felt like a natural progression, and the images fro the 5DII are just wonderful.
 
Canon 5D. That was when I moved from the occasional happy accident to shooting something by design.

Recently, the move to Nikon and the D700, again due to the low light capabilities. Shooting things that were previously out of range. :)

And the sheer engineering of the Hasselblad 500. Even if I never took another image on it, I'd still love it as an ornament.
 
My first digital camera, a Casio EZ4.

A whole new world of possibilities opened up.
 
Nikon D3. I remember the first shot, from Calton Hill, looking towards EDI Castle. Drab featureless gray skies, hardly any detail. I had my D200 with me at the time. I took a D200 shot, and as I was used to, lots of red and absolutely NO sky detail. Got the D3 out, same lens, I was shocked at how much more I could see......but the real delight was when I got a lovely detailed sky, with excellent tones, and a completely balanced exposure. I was still fairly new to the scene, but I could tell from here and from my own limited experience that the D3 was a game changer.

G.
 
In terms of quality of my images, getting a SB600 - this made a massive difference compared to camera flash.

In terms of taking better pictures, I think my 50mm 1.4. Gave me confidence and topped being lazy with zooms, made me think more about what I was doing.
 
Thanks to everyone who responded, it has been an interesting read (didn't expect quite so many responses to be honest).

Quite a few have said switching over to an dSLR and (most of the) remaining stated a particular lens.
 
My D700 although that might well be relegated to spare soon :schtum:
 
cowasaki said:
My D700 although that might well be relegated to spare soon :schtum:
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Oh God in Heaven, do spill the beans; where is this going now ;)
 
Wail said:
Oh God in Heaven, do spill the beans; where is this going now ;)
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Chatting about delaying the 70-200, keeping the 80-200 and getting a D3s or a second hand D3 but just chatting at present. I did my first wedding yesterday and thought, what if the memory card broke afterwards or what if the camera packed up mid-way. The D200 is not quite in the same league anymore. The D200 would go the Cameron and I would sell off his D60 or give it to Chloe. I think doing weddings might be addictive and this from someone who said NEVER!
 
:lol:

"never" is a word I've learnt, the hard way, to never say it :p

Now, you sure know how to plan well; that much and how to build a very good kit :thumbs:

D3s sounds yummy, and that's real yummy.
 
My secondhand-but-like-new 1D IIN. Absolutely love using it.
 
Wail said:
:lol:

"never" is a word I've learnt, the hard way, to never say it :p

Now, you sure know how to plan well; that much and how to build a very good kit :thumbs:

D3s sounds yummy, and that's real yummy.
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We're going off topic but there is a thread about it. It was my brother's wedding but also my first as main shooter. I did all the things that people advise on here. Spare or two spares of EVERYTHING. Spoke to both the couple before hand and got complete guest list. Asked what pictures they wanted. Advised them on pictures that I would suggest. Visited each location. Spoke to the registry office. Timed everything. Made a list. Got Helen to tick everything off etc etc etc
 
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