***DSLR/Photography MegaThread***

[Deuce]

WTG Deuce!

You've got some good Canonites on here that are really knowledgeable about the equipment that can help you, whereas we Nikonians will only be able to sit back and critique your images. Our favorite saying is, "It would have been a better picture had it been shot with a Nikon."

Nice, I look forward to hearing from EVERYONE. :chums:

 

[BleedingPurple]

With Deuce taking the lead, I think I'm ready to take the plunge into the world of DSLR as well. I've wanted to get into photography for a long time and I've taken thousands of pictures with my Canon SD600 but I think it's finally time to take it up a notch. I have no training whatsoever and I'm a true beginner but I love shooting so I'll probably take up some classes at school.

I've handled a few cameras and I need to handle a few more to get a feel but after a lot of reading, it seems that 2 good cameras to start with are the Nikon D40X and the Canon Rebel XTI. Does that sound about right? I obviously don't want to go for the best camera when just starting out but I also don't want to end up spending money on something that will be outdated or won't last more than a couple years.

An overwhelming consensus around here seems to be that you should spend money on the glass, not necessarily the camera. That being said, is it smart to buy a kit that comes with the body and the lens or is it better to just go for the body so that you can buy a nice lens right off the bat?

For example, I found this on Amazon: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi 2 lens Zoom Kit -Includes Canon 18-55mm + Canon 75-300mm Are these lenses even worth their weight?

Note: I have to buy through Amazon or Wolf online because I'm redeeming a bonus through work that has to be used for gift cards and they are the only 2 camera retailers that I have access to.

Any advice would be awesome. Thanks!

 

[FBJ]

Pass on the D40x and get the D80 instead. More features and available accessories.

 

[VF]

You are right that the body is a cost and glass is an investment, and the choice of which brand to go with should be made mainly on the glass that they offer.

If you do choose to go with Canon, deciding if the body and lens kit is good enough depends heavily on what you want to do with the lens and what are you expecting from it. There is no question that the $1000 17-55 f/2.8 will give you better results, and can take pictures in lower light where the 18-55 simply can't, but is it worth the extra $900? If you have to get the shot in low light, sharp edge to edge with no chromatic aberrations, and you will be using it frequently, the extra cost starts to make sense. If however you just want a little more quality and a shallower depth of field than your point and shoot, and you are only whipping it out every once in a while, then spending that much on a lens doesn't make that much sense. That is not to say that your only choices are a $70 kit lens and the $1000 (or so) 17-55mm, there is a LOT in between, I was just using the 17-55 as an example.

If you are worried about accumulating things that you wont use in the future, then I would recommend not going with the body / lens kit, but rather buy the specific lens and body that you want. I would suggest buying the body that you want, one cheap (but good) lens, like the EF 50mm f/1.8 ($70) then rent a few to see what you like. You can even rent bodies if you are unsure of the one you want. That way you can try everything out before you lay out your hard earned cash.

The one thing that takes a bit of the sting out of buying expensive lenses is that they don't really depreciate that much, so you can always resell them on the used market without much loss.

 

[rinkrat]

Excuse me while I endulge.

I went over by the Aquarium and was intrigued by the lighthouse while trying out the new polarizer.

Canon 30D 17-55 IS
Click on the thumb to view pic.

 

[BleedingPurple]

Excuse me while I endulge.

I went over by the Aquarium and was intrigued by the lighthouse while trying out the new polarizer.

Canon 30D 17-55 IS
Click on the thumb to view pic.

Very nice, RR. I'm impressed.

 

[FBJ]

Nice job, Mike! Good stuff!

The only thing about polarizers is the tendency for us to "over-polarize" the image. The unnaturally blue skies always scream "POLARIZER FILTER!!!" to me.

 

[BleedingPurple]

You are right that the body is a cost and glass is an investment, and the choice of which brand to go with should be made mainly on the glass that they offer.

If you do choose to go with Canon, deciding if the body and lens kit is good enough depends heavily on what you want to do with the lens and what are you expecting from it. There is no question that the $1000 17-55 f/2.8 will give you better results, and can take pictures in lower light where the 18-55 simply can't, but is it worth the extra $900? If you have to get the shot in low light, sharp edge to edge with no chromatic aberrations, and you will be using it frequently, the extra cost starts to make sense. If however you just want a little more quality and a shallower depth of field than your point and shoot, and you are only whipping it out every once in a while, then spending that much on a lens doesn't make that much sense. That is not to say that your only choices are a $70 kit lens and the $1000 (or so) 17-55mm, there is a LOT in between, I was just using the 17-55 as an example.

If you are worried about accumulating things that you wont use in the future, then I would recommend not going with the body / lens kit, but rather buy the specific lens and body that you want. I would suggest buying the body that you want, one cheap (but good) lens, like the EF 50mm f/1.8 ($70) then rent a few to see what you like. You can even rent bodies if you are unsure of the one you want. That way you can try everything out before you lay out your hard earned cash.

The one thing that takes a bit of the sting out of buying expensive lenses is that they don't really depreciate that much, so you can always resell them on the used market without much loss.

Thanks for the advice, ValleyFan. I'm leaning towards the Rebel XTI.

I plan on using the camera for vacations, portraits, etc... I love going fishing in the Sierra's so that would be a large portion of where I'd be shooting. I also live in Thousand Oaks so the Santa Monica's are in my back yard.

Would something like this be a wise investment or would it be overkill for a beginner?

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6


In addition, What other equipment should be purchased for a beginner starting out in the DSLR world? What are those hidden costs that I'll find out about real quick if I don't buy them to start out?

 

[VF]

Thanks for the advice, ValleyFan. I'm leaning towards the Rebel XTI.

I plan on using the camera for vacations, portraits, etc... I love going fishing in the Sierra's so that would be a large portion of where I'd be shooting. I also live in Thousand Oaks so the Santa Monica's are in my back yard.

Would something like this be a wise investment or would it be overkill for a beginner?

I don't think at all that is overkill, it is a fantastic lens. The one thing that concerns me is that you might find it a little long on a 1.6 crop body if you are interested in shooting a lot of landscapes. On a 1.6 crop body, the effective focal length of the 28-135 becomes 44-216mm, which becomes a fantastic portraiture length and telephoto, but is not going to be super wide. If you have a chance to test it out or rent it first, I might do that. If you find that it is a bit to long, you might look at the EF 17-40mm f/4.0L, a bit more expensive, but a killer lens, especially for landscape work. You should probably go down to a camera store with a compact flash card, and ask them to shoot a couple of frames with the lenses you are interested in, then take the card home at look at the image. Who knows, the 18-55 might be exactly what you are looking for (the IS version is pretty different than the kit lens version, very oddly and confusingly there are like 5 different versions of this lens). There is also a handy site over at the-digital-picure which you can directly compare two lenses (select the two you want then roll over the image to compare)

In addition, What other equipment should be purchased for a beginner starting out in the DSLR world? What are those hidden costs that I'll find out about real quick if I don't buy them to start out?

You are probably going to want right of the bat extra batteries (which you can get cheap but good knock offs from places like SterlingTek), memory cards, tripod, a bag to carry it all in. Then you need to think about how you are going to process your images. If you are shooting low volume, the software that comes with the camera isn't bad, but if you plan on shooting a lot, you might need to look into something like Lightroom by Adobe. That also means that you are going to need a computer which has storage space, so that might mean an extra hard drive (or two to have one to back up on). If you want to get into heavy photo editing, you might need then to look at something like Photoshop.

 

[VF]

Excuse me while I endulge.

I went over by the Aquarium and was intrigued by the lighthouse while trying out the new polarizer.

Canon 30D 17-55 IS
Click on the thumb to view pic.

Hey.....links don't work anymore, I haven't had a chance to look at them yet

Speaking of polarizers (kinda), I am reading this amazing book called "Light: Science and Magic" which among many other things has some really interesting uses for polarizers, including product and copy photography. I have been reading it and like every other page it has been "Oooh, that is interesting" Very good read, I highly recommend it.

 

[Unfiltered]

Thanks for the advice, ValleyFan. I'm leaning towards the Rebel XTI.

I plan on using the camera for vacations, portraits, etc... I love going fishing in the Sierra's so that would be a large portion of where I'd be shooting. I also live in Thousand Oaks so the Santa Monica's are in my back yard.

Would something like this be a wise investment or would it be overkill for a beginner?

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6


In addition, What other equipment should be purchased for a beginner starting out in the DSLR world? What are those hidden costs that I'll find out about real quick if I don't buy them to start out?

It's pretty decent glass for the price especially if you can get it bundled. Call around a bit to some of the authorized dealers. You may find the 135mm bundled with the XTi.

 

[BleedingPurple]

It's pretty decent glass for the price especially if you can get it bundled. Call around a bit to some of the authorized dealers. You may find the 135mm bundled with the XTi.

Unfortunately, I have to go through Wolf or Amazon because it's a gift card bonus through work and I'm limited to a couple of different camera retailers. If you happen to run across anything, please let me know. I tend to research things to death when I'm making this big of a purchase so it will probably still be a little while before I purchase the camera.

I don't think at all that is overkill, it is a fantastic lens. The one thing that concerns me is that you might find it a little long on a 1.6 crop body if you are interested in shooting a lot of landscapes. On a 1.6 crop body, the effective focal length of the 28-135 becomes 44-216mm, which becomes a fantastic portraiture length and telephoto, but is not going to be super wide. If you have a chance to test it out or rent it first, I might do that. If you find that it is a bit to long, you might look at the EF 17-40mm f/4.0L, a bit more expensive, but a killer lens, especially for landscape work. You should probably go down to a camera store with a compact flash card, and ask them to shoot a couple of frames with the lenses you are interested in, then take the card home at look at the image. Who knows, the 18-55 might be exactly what you are looking for (the IS version is pretty different than the kit lens version, very oddly and confusingly there are like 5 different versions of this lens). There is also a handy site over at the-digital-picure which you can directly compare two lenses (select the two you want then roll over the image to compare)




You are probably going to want right of the bat extra batteries (which you can get cheap but good knock offs from places like SterlingTek), memory cards, tripod, a bag to carry it all in. Then you need to think about how you are going to process your images. If you are shooting low volume, the software that comes with the camera isn't bad, but if you plan on shooting a lot, you might need to look into something like Lightroom by Adobe. That also means that you are going to need a computer which has storage space, so that might mean an extra hard drive (or two to have one to back up on). If you want to get into heavy photo editing, you might need then to look at something like Photoshop.

Thank you so much for all of the information. That site is pretty cool. I think I'll go to my local hooper and pick their brains a bit and take your advice on the compact flash card. Having them shoot a frames is a really good idea.

 

[VF]

So I know I have in the past said that the cheap knock off ebay wireless flash triggers are great and you should get them instead of the much more expensive Pocket Wizards, I now have to retract that endorsement. I have been processing my pics from the winter break, and almost all the shots taken with the cheapo wireless triggers are now showing RF interference at the top 1/8th or so of frame (depending on shutter speed). Some people say that replacing the battery will help, as a low bat in the transmitter will exacerbate the noise, but it makes them completely unreliable in my opinion. So, if you are in the market for wireless triggers, you get what you pay for. Don't buy the cheapies because you are just going to have to buy the expensive ones later.

Poo.

 

[FBJ]

Wow. Pocket Wizards for teh win.

I don't have a use for a flash trigger right now. What I want is a better remote shutter release than the IR one I have right now. It does okay inside, but outdoors it sucks.

I'd also like to figure out a way to trigger a camera's shutter with a motion sensor.

 

[VF]

Wow. Pocket Wizards for teh win.

I don't have a use for a flash trigger right now. What I want is a better remote shutter release than the IR one I have right now. It does okay inside, but outdoors it sucks.

I'd also like to figure out a way to trigger a camera's shutter with a motion sensor.

For motion sensor, I haven't tried it or seen it, but have you looked at the Zigview R? (A little write up of it here) It looks like you would need this cable with it as well, and once you have that cable, you should be able to use any of the flash / shutter radio triggers to trigger the shutter remotely.

 

[FBJ]

That, right there, is a killer little accessory! I might need to get me one and try it out!

Thanks for pointing me to it, Sam!

 

[DeaderFan]

I'd also like to figure out a way to trigger a camera's shutter with a motion sensor.

You know hunters use trail cameras to document habits of deer. You can buy them through Cabellas or Bass Pro shops or on Ebay. They are usually self contained units though with a cheap digitial camera inside. Maybe you could get a cheap one and adapt it to your D200?

They also have some "home brew" trail camera kits which you could try, but you have to have some electronics know-how to put them together. A quick search of the internet found this little kit: http://www.snapshotsniper.com/Board.htm which might work for you. You would also probably need the Nikon MC-22 cable I mentioned in an earlier post. (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/37720-REG/Nikon_4652_MC_22_Motor_Remote_Cord.html)

 

[DeaderFan]

Following up on my previous post... this thing looks even cooler if you have the cash:

http://www.bmumford.com/photo/camctlr.html

You can get cables for most cameras and they make a variety of sensors for triggering, from motion to laser to sound.

They even have a hummingbird example caught with their motion sensor : http://www.bmumford.com/photo/creatures/index.html

 

[VF]

Wow, that thing is pretty cool!

Man, some of those time lapses that they have on the site are amazing! The water drop and the fire are my favorites.

 

[FBJ]

Wow. Killer. Wish I had the money!

That hummingbird pic is the exact thing I wanted to try and get.