What the heck IS a "semi-pro" camera?

Started Sep 22, 2012 | Discussions thread
Chuck Yadmark
Senior MemberPosts: 2,936Gear list
Re: What the heck IS a "semi-pro" camera?
In reply to Turbguy1, Sep 22, 2012

The d3 was clearly a much better tool than a d300 at night and indoors. It also has a couple of features that full-time pros use like voice annotation, dual cf slot, more quick access to settings. The d700 came along to really blur the line though, possibly a marketing blunder by Nikon that I fear they won't repeat.

The d3s then came along to put some distance between pro and semi pro. And the d4 puts still more distance.

The d800 is handicapped in a couple of ways to make in not adequate for all uses like the d700 is. And certainly the 600 is.

So right now the d4 and d3s are clearly at the top of the heap, a moderate bit above the 700, a bit below the 800 from a studio standpoint but far above it from a sports/pj standpoint, and far above the 300s and 7000

Pro features:
Speedy focus
high FPS
tough construction

esoteric features that make life easier but are hard to understand until you are shooting and filing thousands of photos a day and dealing with that workflow.
Good High ISO performance.

I know the sports photo world, that's the world I play in. You are competing with guys and gals who are shooting right next to you for sales to stock agencies, news organizations. Minute differences in camera performance can make your photo just that little bit better than the next person and someone choosing photos on the other end isn't going to give you extra credit for having a D300, they're gonna buy the better cleaner shot taken with a D4. Added up over a whole year and it's easy to justify spending for the better camera.

Again, I own semi pro cameras because it's not my living I cannot mathematically justify the extra expenditure, but the pros sure can.

Also a semi pro camera like a D300 or 700 makes a good backup to a "real" pro

But let's not get into the argument over semantics. Yes, a pro camera can be anything that is used to make money - if it is adequate - and the results don't handicap you vs competition.
Ann Arbor, MI USA

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