PRO CASE STUDY

Photographer Kevin D. Jordan (KevinDJordan.com) recounts his experience of changing camera systems

WHAT DID YOU FIND MOST CHALLENGING ABOUT SWITCHING SYSTEMS?

The most noticeable challenges that arose turned out to be the small things that I didn’t expect to matter. Being a night photographer, I’ve learned how to operate my camera in the dark. When I switched systems, buttons were in different locations and menu organisation changed, so it took a while to reset my muscle memory and then adjust to the new configuration.

HOW DID IT IMPACT ON YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY?

Switching from a Canon EOS 6D to a Nikon D750 had a largely positive effect on my photography. The features of the Nikon better suit my personal requirements, so I can take fewer exposures, which saves me time and hard drive space.

WHAT ARE THE LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES OF MAKING SUCH A CHANGE?

The long-term consequences I considered were mainly monetary. Cameras and lenses are expensive. When I switched systems, although I felt that I was moving to something that was a better fit for my photography, I acknowledged that I couldn’t predict the future – a different system could surpass the quality of mine down the road. While I’m happy with my decision to switch, I thought a lot about the money I was investing long-term before doing so.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE ANYONE THINKING OF SWITCHING SYSTEMS?

If you are considering switching camera systems, be honest with yourself about why you are switching and educate yourself on how (or if) switching will benefit your photography. As a landscape and night sky photographer, I knew that dynamic range, high ISO performance and ISO invariance were most important to me. However, the move I made may not have been the right one for another photographer. If you can’t explain exactly why switching will benefit you, it may not be a necessary move to make. FACEBOOK.COM/KEVINDJORDANPHOTO INSTAGRAM: @KEVINDJORDANPHOTO

Below COSTS AND REWARDS For Kevin D. Jordan, changing systems had advantages and disadvantages – it brought him perfect features for low-light photography, but made handling an unfamiliar design difficult in the dark

Left KEVIN’S KITBAG Requiring specific features, Kevin D. Jordan moved from the Canon EOS 6D to a comparable camera in the Nikon range – the D7500. Not all system changes are purely ‘upgrades’