I want a good camera, I've been putting it off for way too long now. And its just plain silly that I dont own a decent caemera. Most of my life I've been communicating in visuals and I've always been a huge fan of photo art, but for some reason I've been delaying the purchase of a camera which is something other than a crappy ol' digi cam.
I've borrowed a mates Nikon D70 a couple of times and I quite like it. Im not interested in using heaps of money on a starter, but I want one that has a decent way of handling light and shadow, since I've always really liked b/w photography I think its what I would shoot most of the time.
So bring it on, give me some pointers you photo people you 
I cant wait for you lazy photo people you 
I talked to the photographer out here at work and he recommended this one:
Canon EOS 450D
I also bought a 55-250mm zoom objective, an 8GB memory card and a tripod.
:photo:
That's exactly what I have just bought.
Cost me £480 with the 18-55mm kit lens. I paid £17 for a 16Gb SDHC card and I bought a MEGA-cheap tripod for £14, just so I had one. If I find I use it a lot, I will get a better one.
I also bought a mid-priced Canon UV filter to protect my lens, which was about £17 and I have bought a Crumpler Muffin Top 7500 camera bag.
My next intended purchase in a month or two will be this.
P~
495 quid?! Fuck right off... :( Prices in Denmark is just ridicules I paid £690 for it, and it was even on a discount. But Ill pay it through the company so its tax-deductible.
Originally posted by: Phantom My next intended purchase in a month or two will be this.
Rofl, thats the one I ordered. I also ordered a backpack type of camera bag, I love spelunking so I thought it was a good investment for the various items you carry around.
No, not 495...£480 like I said.
Dude you should have said. I would have happily bought it over here and sent it on to you, if you had asked.
P~
Originally posted by: Phantom No, not 495...£480 like I said.
Dude you should have said. I would have happily bought it over here and sent it on to you, if you had asked.
P~
yes yes 480 - does not make it more fair :P
Yeah I should have bought it outside Denmark, but theres some new VAT rules here when buying items from the international market which are silly and way too complicated. As of opposed to before the 1. January, where you just submitted a VAT for international buys and it went through the tax department, you now have to submit a form to the country you bought the things in to get your VAT back... And I'm not known for my patience when it comes to stupid laws.
At least we have better weather... oh wait :mad:
The thing is mate - you could have flown over here for the weekend - picked up your camera from my house, then flown back...and it would STILL have only cost you about the same as you paid!!
P~
Nice camera. You and P better start posting photos like mad in the open photo thread. I just got a new 23" monitor so I should start posting more as well. I realized that the 13" of real estate on my MacBook was the main reason I was so reluctant to process photos.
Yay! I can pick up my camera + accessories tomorrow :zippy:
Which accessories are you getting?
A backpack, a tripod and a 55-250mm zoom lens.
Canon EOS 450D 17-85 IS Sandisk Ultra II SD 8 GB lowepro Flipside 300 Manfrotto M-Y NR. 7322YSHB micro BH Canon EF-S 55-250mm F/4-5.6 IS
Was it all that, that cost the money you mention above, or was it just the body and 18-55 kit that cost you £690?
After yesterday's outing, I think I am going to have to invest in the 55-250 lens you have bought. When something is far away, I really feel like you can tell that the pics have been taken with the kit lens at full zoom.
just the body and kit. The whole deal is about a 1000 pounds. But thats VAT included, which I get refunded, 880 pounds VAT excluded.
Holy cack!
The next time you plan on spending money like that, call me up. I will order it in the UK for you. You can bounce over here and spend the weekend at Chez Phantom and take your stuff home. You will have spent less AND had a weekend in the UK.
You got it yet? Get some shots up!
I just picked it up
Two quickies from the office - nothing special. But I need to sit down and learn the camera before I go around playing Helmuth Newton
SWEET! Have fun.
Don't be afraid to set it up to shoot rapid-fire and take 5-6 shots of everything. You'll get a ton of image files, but you can throw about 5/6ths of them easily and you're more likely to catch the shot/focus/etc. you want.
Originally posted by: mclarkson Don't be afraid to set it up to shoot rapid-fire and take 5-6 shots of everything. You'll get a ton of image files, but you can throw about 5/6ths of them easily and you're more likely to catch the shot/focus/etc. you want.
Also, find a combination of settings that you like and keep it there. This will let you focus on content and composition as you build a sense of how light, motion, and whatnot affect the output. Then start playing around with the dials and knobs and whirlygigs.
...says the guy who has no formal training in photography and did not pick up a real camera until last April.
Originally posted by: baron ruhstoff [quote]Originally posted by: mclarkson Don't be afraid to set it up to shoot rapid-fire and take 5-6 shots of everything. You'll get a ton of image files, but you can throw about 5/6ths of them easily and you're more likely to catch the shot/focus/etc. you want.
Also, find a combination of settings that you like and keep it there. This will let you focus on content and composition as you build a sense of how light, motion, and whatnot affect the output. Then start playing around with the dials and knobs and whirlygigs.
...says the guy who has no formal training in photography and did not pick up a real camera until last April. [/quote]
yes, yes nevermind, most of us are amateurs this field anyway and you have a helluva lot more experience than me, Its just nice to get some pointers. I've been trying to remember in general what settings I took a particular image with, and then copying those settings when taking another image in the same lighting and conditions. I've also been playing a lot with the combination of shutter speed and aperture to get a feel as to how to get the best picture in low light settings without flash.
I've still got some issues when it comes to something moving in low light settings though, either it gets blurred or too dark.
Originally posted by: n-gen.dk I've still got some issues when it comes to something moving in low light settings though, either it gets blurred or too dark.
There's really no help for that. You can force the shutter to something high enough (manual shutter setting), increase the ISO (gain), or add more light to the scene.
I have also found that our camera (450D) does not always capture the RAW file when using burst mode. Gets it for the first shot in the sequence, but is not there for the rest.
Could be something I have not set properly, tho.
P~
That's weird. My Canon gets pretty slow after the first few, but it never just gives up or doesn't give me anything.
Ari also gave me some good advice a while back: take lots and lots and lots of pictures. It sounds obvious, but it does wonders for helping you forget there is a camera in your hand - something especially important when it comes to portraits. If you are relaxed, your subject will be honest and open. If you are tense, your subject will pick up on it and you'll lose the shot. With stills, it will help you to find a rhythm - look, compose, snap... look, compose, snap...
So yeah, my suggestion is to screw the details (for now). Take advantage of the auto settings and let the camera take care of all the nitty grit stuff while you focus on finding cool things to show people.
Me? I keep my Canon at the setting that adjusts everything according to my current aperture width.
:thumbsup:
Which Canon you got? And which setting is that?
gotta be Av - Aperture Priority - hasn't it?
Originally posted by: DontBogartMe gotta be Av - Aperture Priority - hasn't it?
That's what I thought, but I wanted to see if I have learned a little of the basics, but without looking stoopid if I was wrong.