Digital SLR, or Compact? Part 4
Taner Tarim Restauranteur and Yoga Teacher!
Landscape photographer Paul Butzi recently acquired a Canon EOS 5D. He calls it a great little camera and intended to use it for ‘scouting’. Normally he uses a large format camera, especially to shoot landscapes.
I haven’t compared the size and weight of the Canon EOS 5D and the older Canon EOS 20D but I guess they’re roughly equivalent? Either camera is certainly smaller and more compact than a 5 x 4 field camera, even if the 5 x 4 when stowed is smaller than most people imagine and also lighter.
Neither the Canon EOS 5D, nor the Canon 20D is as light as a Leica M series camera. Nor is it as compact as my Fuji Finepix E900. You may well wonder where I’m going with this?
Really I’m about to state the obvious. Any compact camera with a modest zoom lens represents far less weight and bulk than any a Field Camera, a Medium Format Camera, A 35mm SLR Camera, Most 35mm Rangefinder Cameras, DSLRs, The Epson RD1 Rangefinder Camera, when one accepts that the Fuji Finepix Zoom lens offers 32mm ~ 130mm equivalent 35mm perspectives and you would need three prime M series lenses on your Epson RD1 to achieve these focal lengths.
Today Amazon, Irem and I went to the market in Turunç before later visiting Taner at the Tibetan Kitchen. It’s not easy to carry the EOS and a two and a half year old toddler, but attaching the Finepix E900 to my belt is a breeze. Yet within seconds it was possible to select the Finepix’s spot metering option, zoom the lens to a ‘normal perspective’, and make the photograph above. The point is that although the Fuji Finepix E900 cannot make images of the same technical quality as a large format camera, a medium format camera, a professional 35mm camera, or an up-to-date DSLR such as a Canon EOS 5D, or D20, it was able to make this photograph of Taner Tarim which I have blown up to 15″ x 12″ with no ill effect to its quality.
The Fuji’s advantage as a camera is quite simply that it can be carried without any discomfort and is therefore a superb photographic tool. In short the Fuji Finepix E900 is to the Canon EOS 20D what Paul Butzi’s EOS 5D is to his large format cameras.
Is the Fuji Finepix E900 my camera of choice for landscape photography? No I would prefer something larger such as the EOS 5D, or even a large format field camera. I see little point, however, in investing in medium format equipment at this stage of the development of digital imaging? This doesn’t mean that I don’t shoot landscapes with the Finepix E900, sometimes a shot presents itself and I happen to be carrying the camera.
On the other hand try making this photograph with a compact!
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July 16th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
[...] Here in Amos I have a small Suzuki generator that keeps us on-line when the power fails, [and it fails here with far more frequency than in Utah, where Matt is located]. The problem is that Taner has ‘borrowed’ my Jerry Can of fuel to start his jeep, so when the fuel runs out in our generator’s tank we too will go off-line! [...]
May 13th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
Stephen ~ would you say hello and give our love to taner and his staff at the tibetian kitchen for us we will see you all in a couple of months. love Kelvin and Carole
May 15th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Hello Carole,
Taner isn’t running the Tibetan Kitchen this year. He has yet to put in an appearance in Turunç, but if I see him I will most certainly pass on your best wishes.
Stephen
May 20th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Thankyou very much stephen for letting us know about Taner. Does he still own Tibetian Kitchen and will it be open for buisness this summer? Although Carole and I havent met you we did meet your wife and young daughter briefly at the kitchen last summer. Stephen hope to see everyone soon . . . luv Kelvin and Carole
May 21st, 2007 at 9:35 am
Hello Kelvin,
I believe Taner leased the kitchen from the owner, who has decided to run it this year. It’s no longer called ‘The Tibetan Kitchen’ but reverted to the original name ‘Minem’, which is the name of the owner’s wife.
It’s still there and worth a visit.
Kind regards,
Stephen
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Hi Stephen
Thanks very much for your replies, although Taner will not be at the “minem” of course we will still visit there, thanks again love to everyone
Kelvin and Carole
December 18th, 2008 at 6:57 am
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