Plans For 2024

I think 2024 may be the year that I drastically alter my online presence. I have become very disappointed with Zenfolio, the host for trulandphotography.com. It is very slow and they introduced a feature that archives inactive galleries so that it takes days to access those photos. My twelve image 2019 wall calendar gallery, for instance, has been in the process of restoring for about a week now.

Some blog features, such as the article archive function which allows viewing older articles, just stopped working. I can't offer prints at base lab prices as Zenfolio adds its own fees on top of the subscription cost, which I would have to pay.

My yearly subscription ends at the beginning of June and I'll be looking for a downsized alternative between now and then. I will probably keep the domain name and switch it to whatever else I end up using, even if that is only this blog. 

I start the year with a slightly downsized kit having sold my RF 85mm f/2 IS STM lens in my last MPB transaction. Further downsizing is unlikely as I don't have a lot left. Of my one body and four lenses, none are redundant. About the only swap I can think of is to exchange the RF 24-240mm variable aperture lens for the RF 24-105mm f/4L lens which loses a small amount of weight and size and adds weather sealing, better image quality and 8 versus 6.5 stops of image stabilization but at the cost of half the focal length range. The other possibility would be to rely solely on whichever zoom lens I have and get rid of the RF prime STM lenses. This would only happen if I switched to the 24-105mm f/4 lens.

While this is unlikely, you never know. Here are some comparison photos from The Digital Picture showing the two lenses.

UPDATE: As frequently happens, the act of writing about something makes that something, or something else, happen. On this occasion, I took the 24-240mm lens out and mentally compared its features with the 24-105mm lens. Afterwards, I decided that trading all my lenses and a backpack for the 24-105mm L lens didn't make much sense and I would still have to kick in almost $100. 

Instead, I decided to trade in the 24-240mm lens and the backpack and add the RF 85mm f/2 IS STM lens, a lens I've owned up until recently, to my 16mm, 28mm and 50mm STM lenses. 

The 85mm lens gets 8 stops of image stabilization with my EOS R6, the same as the 24-105mm f/4 lens and is two stops faster and focuses to half life size. And I will get almost $200 back in the deal. 

I will lose the 86mm to 240mm focal lengths but will have a more capable setup, as long as lens changes are feasible. 

I had this same exact setup back in September but then added the 24-105mm STM and the cheap 100-400mm lenses, then the 24-240mm lens to replace them both, then sold the 85mm lens because I wasn't using it as both it and the 24-240mm lens are weighty.