Gear I Regret Buying for Car Photography

All the gear I regret buying for car photography. 🤦‍♂️
I don't have a lot of regrets. Most of the stuff I’ve bought, I have found uses for.
But this video is about the things that, looking back, are hard to justify. Everything is a learning experience, but maybe I can spare you from having similar learning experiences.
Inspired by:
Filmmaking Gear I Was “Influenced” to Buy But I Low-key Regret
• Filmmaking Gear I Was ... by @LucForsyth
Some gear that I DO like! • Eight Essential Pieces...
0:00
0:55 #1
5:11 #2
6:58 #3
8:26 #4
10:31 #5
12:15 What did we learn?
13:15 Outro and next video preview
Some stuff used in this video (commissions earned):
Nikon Z 6 II FX-Format Mirrorless Camera Body w/NIKKOR Z 24-70mm amzn.to/34lWB9B
Nikon Z 7 FX-Format Mirrorless Camera Body amzn.to/3SGYPVR
B+W 77mm Master Circular Polarizer MRC Nano Glass Filter: amzn.to/3XQ4Ykb
NIKON NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 S Telephoto Zoom Lens amzn.to/3P1FT24
Nikon NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S amzn.to/49uLPtx
DJI Mavic Air 2 amzn.to/4aRsTq7
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[@rivaled]

What, no way! My drobo I purchased in 2008 ran like a champ for years. The only reason I say ran was because I retired it myself just because of how old it was. I had it for a good 10+ years with zero issues. Sucks they went out of business.

[@capturingthemachine]

Indeed, the Drobo Dashboard software started getting buggy with recent MacOS updates, and the writing was on the wall. To be fair to Drobo, I had zero issues for 3+ years, but I decided to proactively replace it to be on the safe side.

[@lordhoss5702]

Always find your videos helpful and informative. Granted i really enjoy my 85mm lens, haha. I definitely regret my cheap tripod i started with, the upgrade was so vastly better. Keep up the great work.

[@capturingthemachine]

thanks so much! I definitely go through phases with lenses, so it's possible I'll be saying I was totally wrong about the 85mm in two years time 😆

[@hedrives]

Wow, brave man talking about gadget creep. I think most of us creatives, especially car related creatives, get new gizmos looking for that “edge”…. Plus, it keeps us poor and hungry. Great vlog.

[@capturingthemachine]

Thanks Brad! 'Poor and hungry' made me lol 😂

[@pdcichosz]

I have to admit i've always loved the rig shots and dreamed about being able to make them as a teen... And I still kinda dig them now. With the right background, angle and movement they are second to none at communicating movement in a static photo. I never wanted to sit and delete the whole thing in post image after image though 😅

[@capturingthemachine]

they can be really cool, and I agree there's no other way to get the same results

[@ZombieRofl]

5:25 Funny this is my absolute go to lens when it comes down to autosport event photography. For me it would be Lightroom presets.

[@capturingthemachine]

it's no doubt a great lens, and I could see it being an excellent lens for motorsports. I will probably try it again (4th time's a charm!), but currently, the 85 just doesn't have a place in my bag if I'm already bringing the 70-200 with me.

[@EricNelsonYT]

Part of being in a creative field is that we must try new things for ourselves to decide if we like them or not...... it just so happens that in the photo/video world that experimentation can cost hundreds to thousands just to be a total bust 😂. I totally feel this video & got flashbacks to my own bad purchases

[@capturingthemachine]

Hahah, well said! Do any specific purchases come to mind?

[@eletor]

Lots of buy and try, I know the feeling

[@capturingthemachine]

🫡

[@pathfindercod4638]

Another great video. Informative, thank you! Drobo was neat in the beginning. The expandability was great without rebuilding a raid to expand. To bad they stopped innovating and expanding the technology.

[@capturingthemachine]

thanks so much, and I agree 100% about Drobo. It could be worse, I never had a failure, and it worked fine for 4 years. Maybe that's a reasonable lifespan for something like this, but I just hate to feel forced into making a change.

[@streetlegends]

Your old car rig video was helpful. I took some fotos using a 360 camera and got very good results and the best thing was that 360 cameras eliminates the poll

[@capturingthemachine]

awesome, I have been wanting to try a 360 cam, maybe one of these days

[@wearetrackclub]

Insightful stuff, Kevin! Really like how you put this together 🙌

[@capturingthemachine]

thank you!

[@SteveAshdown]

Yep I’d agree with all of those. 👍I’ve finally realised that anything I can’t carry on my own (rigs, multiple lights, studio etc) is better hired for the individual jobs where its needed as it just won’t get the use the rest of the time.

[@capturingthemachine]

this is smart, and as a bonus, you're not storing closets full of depreciating photo gear 😅

[@SK-mc7uw]

Agreed on the 85mm part! I have owned the 85mm 1.8 at 2 separate occasions, and I always found myself using my 24-70 and 35 prime. If anything, I would rather get a 70-200 2.8 (people still use this for portraits anyways, so you've got your bases covered).

[@capturingthemachine]

Thanks for sharing! I could not live without my 70-200 😆

[@TrashHeapCustodian]

I have one of those tiny manfrottos too, I also barely ever use it lmfao It's basically a "oh shit this'll work for this weird situation" tool in my box of stuff at this point. Not every day use, but handy once in a blue moon :)

[@capturingthemachine]

hahaha, exactly

[@YellowDieselGolf]

😅 I bought a 6 metre long boom rig from marketplace and I’m terrified to use more than 3 metres of pipe. Heck, even 3 metres is sketchy. I’m also too nervous to rig it onto friends cars. I’d be absolutely gutted if it damaged someone else’s car. That said, I’ve taken some really cool photos with it so it hasn’t been a total loss.

[@capturingthemachine]

nice! It's possible to get very cool results, so I'm glad it's working for you! And I know the feeling, I think mine has 4 sections, but I max'd out at 3 sections because it feels way too sketchy to make the pole that long 😆

[@PulpDogg]

A few of those things I never even heard of before :). Like the very first one - that rig contraption. I do like the 85mm though. The one time I used it on cars at the race track, I took some of the best photos of the year. Although I only rented that lense. Haven't bought one. 70-200mm f2.8 is my absolute go-to lense though, especially for fast moving race cars.

[@capturingthemachine]

I couldn't live without my 70-200 2.8 😆

[@andris0807]

The 85mm is interesting for me, beacuse this is my fav prime lens. I use a 1.8D version and thats I use most of the time. I bought a 50mm 1.4, but I am not satisfied with the sharpness. I use a 750D by the way.

[@capturingthemachine]

85 is objectively a great lens, I just haven't found it to be useful for me, but maybe in a year or two I'll give it another shot. 😅 I also encountered sharpness issues with the 50 1.4 (D)

[@tobiashahn7539]

Man, i love your content. I hate gear videos but watched yours till the end… Any chance on you doing photo asignements on a weekly or biweekly basis? Would really like to get into this topic and a step by step learning would be amazing…

[@capturingthemachine]

thank you! What do you mean by photo assignments? It's hard to commit to doing anything on a regular basis, but anything is possible! 😆

[@tobiashahn7539]

Imagine a task for you viewers, for example „Shoot a tripticon of your car, send it in, i‘ll give you tips on how to improve“. Little bit Like photo assignements of „the Art of photography“ or the photo critiques on fstoppers. Dont want you to commit to something you dont like, just jumped in my Head that if i would try to imrove in car photography i would rather „ask“ you for advice Than the rest of the internet.

[@capturingthemachine]

@@tobiashahn7539 thanks for expanding on that, it's a really good idea, I am not sure if I have enough of an audience that would participate in that, but I'll definitely consider it. Maybe just offering feedback to anyone that wants to submit something would be a way to get this started 👍

[@IgorHorvat]

Great video as always! It's very interesting to see someone has exactly same experience with this stuff, especially with 85mm lens, which is so common elsewhere. I totally agree, it's not well suited for cars.

[@capturingthemachine]

thank you, and I'm glad I'm not the only one!

[@ZombieRofl]

The compression a 85mm gives, can isolate a car much beter than a wider angle lens. So yeah, I think it depends what look you are going for.

[@capturingthemachine]

@@ZombieRofl I'm comparing it to a 70-200 2.8, not a wider angle lens ...

[@IgorHorvat]

@@ZombieRofl Yes, but then again, 70-200mm can isolate a car even more...

[@gabrielfilm4181]

yep first one it's a pain and definitely a regret haha

[@capturingthemachine]

glad I'm not the only one! 😅

[@Harkai.Patrick]

Can you also do the same but with what you don't regret buying or are very useful...

[@capturingthemachine]

This video is close, this is about my most essential gear that I use all the time. But that's a good idea, to do a video about some niche items that I really like, thanks!

[@ashesofourpast]

Great video and great content! Thanks for sharing!!

[@capturingthemachine]

Thank you, thanks for watching!

[@user-rs7lw1ip4u]

Thanks for your experience))

[@capturingthemachine]

Thanks for watching!

[@Follett2121]

Great video!

[@capturingthemachine]

Thanks!

[@DrivenDynamicsTV]

maybe related, maybe not, but what are your thoughts on polarized filters, such as a CPL? i'm going to a cars and coffee event and its generally blazing sun (not like sunrise or sunset light) which gives off tons of reflections and generally is kind of harsh light. do you think they are worthwhile? thanks kevin

[@capturingthemachine]

I'm glad you asked, I have a video all about CPL filters here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5fUdIqdiKiMpM0 They can make a huge difference. It won't get rid of every reflection, but it can eliminate that 'whitewashed' look in glass, and can change paint from dull/blown out to vivid and clear. In short, you can optimize the way the paint color and glass will look in your photo before you snap the picture.

[@DrivenDynamicsTV]

@@capturingthemachine thanks!

[@tamasd8]

I threw up a little at "fake HDR" :D

[@capturingthemachine]

hahaha yes, there was a time when this look was all the rage on Flickr 😆