How Often Do You Use Your Camera?

[joslocum]

I'm assuming pros use their camera quite often but what about the rest of us?

I tend to go in spurts and the one thing that bothers me is after a few weeks of the camera sitting in the closest, once I pick it up again the controls, switchgear, menus, and dials have lost their intuitive nature.

I saw one video where the guy said he tried to take 27 photos every day to keep things fresh.

How often are you out shooting?

 

[Sue Anne Rush]

Hello...

I'm assuming pros use their camera quite often but what about the rest of us?

I tend to go in spurts and the one thing that bothers me is after a few weeks of the camera sitting in the closest, once I pick it up again the controls, switchgear, menus, and dials have lost their intuitive nature.

I saw one video where the guy said he tried to take 27 photos every day to keep things fresh.

How often are you out shooting?

I try to take one photograph a day.

 

[Mika Y.]

I'm assuming pros use their camera quite often but what about the rest of us?

I tend to go in spurts and the one thing that bothers me is after a few weeks of the camera sitting in the closest, once I pick it up again the controls, switchgear, menus, and dials have lost their intuitive nature.

I saw one video where the guy said he tried to take 27 photos every day to keep things fresh.

How often are you out shooting?

Like probably for many other people, there's quite a bit of variation depending on how busy I am with work or other responsibilities, how awful or nice the weather is etc.

But looking at this month's photos, I've taken 72 photos in 27 days. The longest break without any photos has been 9 days, which I'd say is longer than usual; usually I take at least a couple of photos in any given week. Then again it's been a fairly busy month, the weather has been pretty cold, days are very short (about 6 hours of daylight here up in the north, which mostly overlaps with working hours) and due to everyone's "favourite" pandemic rearing it's ugly head again I have mostly been working from home and I rarely get inspired about taking photos inside my own home.

 

[Flowchart]

Almost every day.

I'm assuming pros use their camera quite often but what about the rest of us?

I tend to go in spurts and the one thing that bothers me is after a few weeks of the camera sitting in the closest, once I pick it up again the controls, switchgear, menus, and dials have lost their intuitive nature.

I saw one video where the guy said he tried to take 27 photos every day to keep things fresh.

How often are you out shooting?

 

[AlgarvePhotography]

Smartphone pics maybe every day. Reason? My family and closest friends live far apart - South Africa, USA, UK, Portugal, Belgium and Denmark. So we communicate a lot via Whatsapp etc and we tend to use photos a lot.



I take my GoPro when I’m out mountain biking and my phone for road riding - although I do approx 500km per week training, I rarely take photos when doing so and given I’m training 3-5 hrs a day, I don’t have a lot of time for photography afterwards. My sport is my priority these days.



My main camera gets used for some walks, hikes etc but only really gets used when I’m on weekend breaks, holidays etc.

 

[AstroVagabond]

I'm assuming pros use their camera quite often but what about the rest of us?

I tend to go in spurts and the one thing that bothers me is after a few weeks of the camera sitting in the closest, once I pick it up again the controls, switchgear, menus, and dials have lost their intuitive nature.

I saw one video where the guy said he tried to take 27 photos every day to keep things fresh.

How often are you out shooting?

I love this question in the sense I was about to post the same question with the same qualification excluding people who make money with their camera which you refer to as as pros.

My answer specific to me is not enough for stills. I'm looking to change that going forward and have created a YouTube channel specific to using my Fuji X System gear to keep me honest. If I'm not putting up new content then it is not being used for stills.

I do use my X-T4 often as part of the video production gear for our 4 YouTube channels.

 

[Bobthearch]

Once a week on average. But it just depends what's going on. I can go weeks without touching it.

 

[joslocum]

I'm assuming pros use their camera quite often but what about the rest of us?

I tend to go in spurts and the one thing that bothers me is after a few weeks of the camera sitting in the closest, once I pick it up again the controls, switchgear, menus, and dials have lost their intuitive nature.

I saw one video where the guy said he tried to take 27 photos every day to keep things fresh.

How often are you out shooting?

I love this question in the sense I was about to post the same question with the same qualification excluding people who make money with their camera which you refer to as as pros.

My answer specific to me is not enough for stills. I'm looking to change that going forward and have created a YouTube channel specific to using my Fuji X System gear to keep me honest. If I'm not putting up new content then it is not being used for stills.

I do use my X-T4 often as part of the video production gear for our 4 YouTube channels.

I realize that something like the Z9 is a pro camera but I can't imagine how long it actually takes not only to ramp up to using all of its features (30+ buttons and 4+ dials) correctly and in cooperation with each other, then perhaps using another camera for two weeks for whatever reason, and then going back to the Z9 and instantly shooting with it without any hitches.

I find that there is some weekly lose of memory, whether momentary or not, from not using a camera. After two weeks or so it takes a few shots or more to get back up to speed. Sometimes I'll just play with the menu system and adjust some settings without taking a photos to feel comfortable again. Scrolling thru the menu can help remind me of what I'm trying to do.

 

[LeicaEye]

I'm out on my scooter everyday, taking pics etc.. as per to-day, rainy days are a no go..


cacophony of colors..



--
If you understand everything, you must be misinformed...

 

[Bob A L]

Depends on what you would accept as your meaning of "camera"

 

[AstroVagabond]

I'm assuming pros use their camera quite often but what about the rest of us?

I tend to go in spurts and the one thing that bothers me is after a few weeks of the camera sitting in the closest, once I pick it up again the controls, switchgear, menus, and dials have lost their intuitive nature.

I saw one video where the guy said he tried to take 27 photos every day to keep things fresh.

How often are you out shooting?

I love this question in the sense I was about to post the same question with the same qualification excluding people who make money with their camera which you refer to as as pros.

My answer specific to me is not enough for stills. I'm looking to change that going forward and have created a YouTube channel specific to using my Fuji X System gear to keep me honest. If I'm not putting up new content then it is not being used for stills.

I do use my X-T4 often as part of the video production gear for our 4 YouTube channels.

I realize that something like the Z9 is a pro camera but I can't imagine how long it actually takes not only to ramp up to using all of its features (30+ buttons and 4+ dials) correctly and in cooperation with each other, then perhaps using another camera for two weeks for whatever reason, and then going back to the Z9 and instantly shooting with it without any hitches.

I find that there is some weekly lose of memory, whether momentary or not, from not using a camera. After two weeks or so it takes a few shots or more to get back up to speed. Sometimes I'll just play with the menu system and adjust some settings without taking a photos to feel comfortable again. Scrolling thru the menu can help remind me of what I'm trying to do.

I agree on loss of memory which I call reduction in proficiency. For example it took me longer to get my Airplane Single Engine Land certificate because I was not flying often enough. Once I stepped up my frequency my proficiency went up accordingly. Same thing with my camera and bowling.

One of the goals of my FujiVagabond channel is to be a reference guide for me to look back on when need be as to which settings I used for different situations and the images that resulted using those settings.

Part of the fun of moving into a new camera system, I left Canon for Fuji X, for me is learning how to do what I need to do myself. Yes there are many resources that can allow me to nail things more quickly but that would take the fun away for me. It would be cheating in my mind but this is a personal thing.

 

[HRC2016]

I like taking my camera out every weekend but it doesn't always work out. That's ok.

What about us who shoot for pleasure and for pay? If I'm being paid then I take my camera out more often.

As for shooting a certain number of images a day to stay fresh, that's nonsense. You'd need to use every possible permutation of settings, and that's more than 27.

It also depends on the person's brain.

Using your gear often will help you stay fresh, but why nor do it as much as it brings you pleasure rather than what some internet stranger advises?

 

[Sue Anne Rush]

Hello...

I like taking my camera out every weekend but it doesn't always work out. That's ok.

True

What about us who shoot for pleasure and for pay? If I'm being paid then I take my camera out more often.

As for shooting a certain number of images a day to stay fresh, that's nonsense. You'd need to use every possible permutation of settings, and that's more than 27.

It also depends on the person's brain.

Using your gear often will help you stay fresh, but why nor do it as much as it brings you pleasure rather than what some internet stranger advises?

Yes, you are correct. 100%

 

[joslocum]

Depends on what you would accept as your meaning of "camera"

I wasn't talking about cell phones, but even they are starting to get a few helpful features for those attempting better pics.

But I agree, some cameras are certainly easier to operate than others. The more features the more often one should shot to keep intuition ingrained into memory.

 

[InkedMarie]

In the spring/summer/fall, I use it 3-4 times a week. Winter? Not very much except for the holidays.

Marie

 

[joslocum]

I like taking my camera out every weekend but it doesn't always work out. That's ok.

What about us who shoot for pleasure and for pay? If I'm being paid then I take my camera out more often.

As for shooting a certain number of images a day to stay fresh, that's nonsense. You'd need to use every possible permutation of settings, and that's more than 27.

It also depends on the person's brain.

Using your gear often will help you stay fresh, but why nor do it as much as it brings you pleasure rather than what some internet stranger advises?

I'm not sure why the guy said 27, but that's probably why I remember it--odd number.

Still it's close to 10,000 pics a year for what it's worth.

When I go out shooting I seem to come home with about 50-100 pics depending on weather, scenery, etc.. Not sure how many I take during the course of a year though. Personally I'd like more "keepers" than just many shutter releases. I suppose one comes with the other.

 

[joslocum]

In the spring/summer/fall, I use it 3-4 times a week. Winter? Not very much except for the holidays.

Marie

Probably the same here Marie. It's cold-ish bleak winter where I live in the northern hemisphere so the camera does not come out as much.

 

[AlgarvePhotography]

I like taking my camera out every weekend but it doesn't always work out. That's ok.

What about us who shoot for pleasure and for pay? If I'm being paid then I take my camera out more often.

As for shooting a certain number of images a day to stay fresh, that's nonsense. You'd need to use every possible permutation of settings, and that's more than 27.

It also depends on the person's brain.

Using your gear often will help you stay fresh, but why nor do it as much as it brings you pleasure rather than what some internet stranger advises?

--
Satan loves the shadows - and the highlights.

I know I’d forget some things so I have set the 3 customisable settings on my R5 to action (animal eye AF), portrait (eye AF) and landscape - taken from Nina Bailey’s R5 pocket guide - and then simply tweak from there as the scene requires. Works very well for me especially if I need to capture an image quickly.

 

[New Day Rising]

Which one? I have several but they all get a run more or less regularly.

It really depends. Most times I am going for a walk or bike ride to somewhere potentially photo worthy I will take a camera (and always have my phone). Some days or just comes for the ride and never gets used. Some days I take one or a few photos that I open for editing and delete without bothering. Some days - like Sunday when I went for a hike to a stunning part of the Victorian coast - I take a couple of hundred

But, the answer to your question is anywhere from every day for a week, to once a week, to not at all for two or three weeks. It depends.

 

[TMG1961]

I use my camera every day. Most days the shots that i take are not even worth saving but that is not the fault of the camera or the used lens but my fault. Not that the photos are not sharp or well exposed, it is more a question of composition problems that i am having.