Equipment

 
 
After several pocket cameras, my first SLR many years ago was a Yashica FX-D.

My first digital experience was with a small Fujifilm camera (3 megapixels!), then a small Lumix. After a brief spell with a Lumix bridge camera, which produced very good pictures but had a pretty basic viewfinder, I decided what I really needed was a digital SLR, partly because of the better viewfinder and partly due to the wider possiblities raw files offer. I worked my way up from a Nikon D50 to a D800 (with a D300s between), which has always really felt like the peak of what was available without going for medium format (too heavy and beyond my budget). I now also have a D750, discovering that 'just' 24 megapixels can produce pictures that are sometimes  almost better than ones with 36 megapixels and enjoying a dynamic range that really is impressive.
 
I have also tried Sony's A7 series of mirrorless cameras, but the first series had a few quality issues (the lens mount really wasn't robust enough) and the range of lenses available (at least while I had it) was very limited. Sony also seemed not to know what direction they should take, first producing a couple of fast, light and compact (and good) lenses without stabilisation and then doing a complete U-turn and offering heavy monsters that completely negated the original idea of a light and compact system. Third-party lens manufacturers have since filled the gap a bit, and the stabiliser inside the camera is a positive development, but the price for that is that the A7 II is now compact but almost as heavy as a DSLR.
 
 
I have since invested in two used Fuji X-T1s as I like the colours the slightly different sensor can produce. Apparently it's something a lot of Nikon users do, since recently Nikon seems to be running on the spot and not producing anything innovative at all.One of the Fujis has just been converted to take IR pictures, as I am fascinated by the IR pictures I have seen so far.