What's the Zoom on that camera and why to buy professional grade

When I was in New Zealand, I had the opportunity to take a helicopter ride over the famous Milford Sound and surrounding mountains. Of course I jumped on this as quick as I can. As I got into the helicopter, I got my camera (D300 with Grip and 17-70 sigma lens) out and the lady next to me, in a polite way, said "That is a huge camera. How much does it zoom?" I looked at her, a bit confused by her question, but I quickly did the math in my head and replied "Well its a 17-70mm lens so something like 3-4x I guess." She made a slight scoff sound and mentioned that her kodak point and shoot had a 12x zoom and she couldn't understand why anyone would need such a big camera.

I thought I'd share that anecdote with you before this next one.

Towards the beginning of the semester I was shooting the Roger Smith/Frederick Douglass piece for The Exponent. After one of the interviews, I packed up my equipment and slung my camera backpack over my shoulder. I forgot to zip the side door. My almost brand-new nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR, $1600, lens went shooting out of the bag and landed on the carpet-covered concrete six feet away and four feet down. The filter ring got dented and the manual focus ring is a bit stiff (but smooth, and the AF still works).

Now for this anecdote:

A gentleman in Oregon was walking a newly rebuilt road when he decided to take a picture. He set up the camera, turned around and when he turned back, his camera had fallen 50+ feet and landed on a rock. He retrieved his camera. The lens isn't fully functioning, but everything else works fine. You can see the after-math and read the full story here on Peta Pixel.

So why am I blogging this? When that lady in New Zealand said she didn't know why anyone would need such a large and elaborate camera and then I read the story on PP, I just felt the need to explain. Its not all about appearances. Spending money on properly built, high quality equipment not only will help produce high quality product, but will pay for itself when the shit hits the fan (and this is a great example of a photo gallery!).

Keep that in mind if/when you buy a new camera. Spending extra money now will save you on repair/replacement costs and a quality product will stay a quality product for a lifetime.

Oh, and here's a video including part of that helicopter ride.

South Island Road Trip from Michael Carney on Vimeo.