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Anyone Into Photography? Photography Thread


theduke
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A bit off topic but Sunday morning in work (i work in different places everyday) i stopped and thought wow look at that view and took a snap with mobile and uploaded it as my fb cover photo, then got home and realized how crap it looked on a decent sized screen.

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I decided to get a 1/2 decent camera i budgeted around £350 unfortunately my bank balance and wife would only agree to about £100 so picked up a Fuji S4300 bridge camera from argooose, Im mainly going to photograph other than home family shots Quarries, Open cast mines, Construction sites, Demolition sites and Wind farms and reading up about dust getting in dslr cameras im hoping ive made the right decision although i couldnt get a dslr really for sub £300 really and i could always upgrade later

Any pointers or tips or pics you want to post??

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Thats the trouble - if you want quality you have to pay for it

The New York Times has just sacked all their photographers, it used to send 2 people (a journalist and a photographer, probably a couple of Canon or Nikons with a bagfull of big lenses) to cover a story

Now, it sends just 1 person (the journalist) and an i - phone!

I had a fuji 5700 to use at gigs, incase my Canon got dameged/ covered in beer, the pictures looked good on the little screen on the back, but were a bit grainy when shown on a pc, the lens was not that good, with "purple fringing" and the overall quality was ok but nothing like as good as the Canon

The conditions at gigs are very difficult for "budget" cameras, if there is a lot of smoke it "whiteouts" when you use flash, and the lens is not "fast" enough - you have to use a high iso and you end up with a lot of grain (probably due to the small sensors on these cameras)

With the D-SLR the sensor is bigger/ low light sensitivity is much better, and "fast" lenses can be used (f2.8 or faster)

the results were much better than the fuji

A secondhand 500D, 550D and an Canon 18-55is (to get you going) with a 55-250 or EF 70-300mm is telephoto zoom, or a Sogma 18-125 would be fairly affordable,

The 550D has the same 18megapixel sensor as the 600D, 650D, 700D, 60D and (expensive/ semi pro) 7D, the 500D has a decent 15mp sensor - with the prices coming down as newer models are released, i personally would not bother with the 450D, 400D 350D or 300D

The earlier "semi pro" models are a lot tougher than the "consumer" models,(metal instead of plastic bodies) the speed (burst rate) is a lot faster they are bigger and heavier, though, the 20D and 30D are a bit dated, they only have 8MP, the 40D is a good camera, its very fast (6.5fps) and the 10mp sensor is actually pretty sharp and decent in low light, you can pick up a secondhand body- only from about £200, the 50D is almost idintical, but with 15MP, you will pay about £300 for a body-only, i rate these cameras, a budget alternative to the (£700+) 7D, and exellent for sports, wildlife when partnered with a 70-300 is (£250/£300) or 55-250 is (£120-ish) at a pinch

The 40D or 50D would be "decent" for landscapes, but ideally you would be better with a full-frame like a 5dmk2 or mk3 or a 6d (these are expensive cameras, even a s/h 5dmk2 body-only would be £1000+ )

Ive had most of the cameras mentioned here, ive assisted a pro photographer, ive been published and done a few magazines, even got a cover, i was upset they binned my best photos and used the *removed* ones, the work dried up and some people went bust (not me - i just really did it for fun, but i decided not to turn pro,) ive still got a 50D and a 550D, (will be upgrading when i ger round to it) and a roomfull of various lenses, hardly touch them now though, (apart from taking pictures of eBay items etc) i suppose its a shame really

I got the 550D as a backup/ as a "walk-around" camera, i have a 18-125mm OS and the performance / results are very good (takes 1080 hi-def video too) its still a bit bulky compared to a compact camera, so i don't carry it around as much as i should, i have not been able to find a compact camera that performs anywhere near as good as the 550D, though

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i have just finished creating a website for my friend who is a keen photographer, just waiting for him to say go so I can get it online.

He has spent quite a few pounds on his camera and he has a real nack for finding the perfect pictures.

I wish I could afford a bridge camera :(

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I won't go into what I've spent on camera gear... It upsets me lol!

I had the unfortunate luck that my 350D and 50D with associated kit all got nicked in a burglary... Luckily the insurance paid out, I the decided as a enthusiastic amateur I didn't really need two cameras... So I settled for a 5D mkII, and some lovely L Series Lenses!

Haven't done much recently tho, lost the bug for it when my bro in law died in December, me and him used to do a lot of low light stuff.

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Sorry to hear that Dave, hopefully you can pick the bug up again as more of an "in his memory" passion than anything else.

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I neven know what to say in that kind of situation.

I found a review of the Fuji s4200, looks similar to the s5700 i used to have exept the mp are 15 instead of 7, when you try to squeze more and more pixels into a very small sized sensor - low light performance and quality suffers -

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/fujifilm-finepix-s4200-black/4505-6501_7-35139205.html

I recon its worth spending a little bit more and picking up a "proper" D-SLR, even if it is an older design / secondhand one - i was looking on eBay and they have 40Ds (body only) for as little as £200, buy-it-now, now with a second battery, a decent sized CF card, and a Sigma 18-125mm (there is a non OS version you can pick up for under £100) or a canon 18-55mm IS can be picked up for £50-60 (if you can live with the 88mm equivelant maximum zoom) / the Sigma 18-125 would give a 28-200mm 35mm equivelant and you could use it as an "all rounder" without needing a telephoto zoom (eg a 55-250 or 70-300) at least at 1st

As new cameras are released, the older ones' secondand price drops, when i bought my 40D (body only) it cost £500, s/h, and a 50D would have cost £700+ i recently sold my 40D on eBay (with a nice bag, a lens, spare batteries/ loads of extras, all surplus ) and got £350 for it, that was enough to by a secondhand 50D (body only) as the prices have come down a lot since the 60D & 7D were released,(a while ago now)

Same with my "backup" camera - sold my 400D,(had that for years) bought a 500D, sold the 500D and bought a 550D when i spotted a "refurbed" 550D for £270! (i think i even made a profit on the 500D) i would recommend the 500D for photography, its a great camera, but if you are serious about video the 550D has some advantages (30,25 & 24 fps at 1080, 50& 60fps at 720, stereo sound and a mic socket) + the 550 has the same sensor as the 7D, and there is little difference between the 550D, 600D, 650D etc (basically the same/ same sensor/ similar performance but with some minor "bells and whistles" )

I lke having the second "backup" camera, the 50D (ive also used 5ds, or 1- series, not mine though) with a 580ex /grip and a big lens its quite an imposing camera - you are "mister photographer" with it on, and its quite bulky and i wouldent want to break it - the 550D is compact, with the 18-125mm in a small case it looks just like what a tourist would use, so is less "imposing" / intimidating to your "models" + if someone spilled beer all over it or i dropped it it wouldent be the end of the world

i planned a secondhand 5dmk2 but they seem to be holding their value, even though they are out of production/ replaced by the mk3, i might get a 6D

Ideally i want a full frame for portraits/ landscapes (6D) a fast crop sensor for sports/ wildlife (7D) and a 100D for a compact backup, + suitable lenses (the 700D also looks good, (especially the video autofocus) but at £1100 for a consumer camera?- might as well stick with the 550D, the 7D is not that much better than the 50D, either/ but want to do some "serious" video)

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I just bought an SLR, point and snap many times, hoping out of the many snaps I take that some are decent :P

Unfortunately small digital camera's only have smaller compact bits inside them, so the picture quality is never quite there on an SLR, but unless you're shooting animals or sports, or going for maximum quality shots, a digital camera should do the business.

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Dave,

I was speaking with my friend who does photography. He recently attended a family event for us doing the photography and that is exactly what he said. The art of photography is taking as many snaps as possible and hoping you get some good ones in the process. He took over 400 snaps, and there were only about 120 that he thought were acceptable enough to provide to us :)

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Yeah, I ended up taking 2000 pictures at a car show with that Philosophy :P

Here's a few snaps of mine.

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not bad at all!

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The Fuji bridge camera you have will do you for now until you start to understand the difference between aperture, shutter speed, iso and so on.

I have the Canon 50D and can honestly say it's a great camera (I had the 40D until the shutter decided to die on me, I still have it in my camera cupboard).

I could go on about Canon vs Nikon vs Sony all day long but to cut it short, go for what feels right in YOUR hands and does what YOU want it to do, everyones style of photography is very different you just need to find yours.

You'll know when your ready to upgrade and lenses will become a lot clearer as you learn. My advice would be just get out there take pictures and have fun with it, as long as you like the pictures your taking then thats all that matters!!

some of my work-

colchesterspidermonkeys1_zpsba6d6e47.jpg

colchesterrobin1_zpsdc4d10e0.jpg

colchesteraugust2011101.jpg

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colchesterjune2012048.jpg

whfashford412.jpg

If you feel like a browse just click on the picture and it will take you direct to my photobucket account.

Emma

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Hi Emma,

Some very nice pictures there! are you a fan of animals by any chance ;)

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Hi James,

Thank you very much for your kind words :)

I find animals very unpredictable and enjoy there quirky ways, I do human portraits too haha!!

I'm just starting to get into landscapes, weddings and general photography so theres a whole new element for me at the moment.

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I have a Sony, nice camera and handy for crowds too with the screen. I'm looking at getting a £1,500 camera when student loan comes through.

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heres me thinking a student loan was to help pay for your time whilst at Uni ;) lol

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Taken with 400D and 18-55 IS or EF 50mm prime (can't remember which, it was all the non-telephoto lenses i had at the time (2007-) ) AV mode - High iso (but not too high to introduce grain, i think i used to run the 400D upto 1600) because of the low light, (it was VERY dark) & long exposure (i experemented with the exposure length to get the light lrails) no tripod/ braced against a lamp post - i stopped it down a little to get the depth-of-field and get it into the lenses' sweet spot but not TOO much to reduce the light - i don't think the 400Ds AF would have worked in this light (so MF) -

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I tested a load of lenses (including a Canon 70-300 IS-USM and a Sigma 400mm prime) And varius cameras - (40D 500D, 5dmk2) to see which combination took the best photo of the moon - i tried different apertures/ exposures and settings (long exposure nr on/off etc etc) with a heavy pro manfrotto tripod - surprisingly, it was not possible to tell the difference between the 10mp 40D and the 15mp 500D (in fact the 40D seemed slightly sharper - might be the micro-lenses on the sensor that the 500D does not have, again the 21mp 5dmk2 is full-frame, and the 1.6x crop of the 40d otperformed it in the image centre- the 70-300, cropped& stopped down, was a bit sharper than the 400mm Sigma prime) -

post-38050-0-91931100-1373628890_thumb.j

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Here's a few of mine, am posting from my phone, please let me know if these don't come out at full quality!! I'll try and sort it if they don't!

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One day it was as if the sky was on fire, or iwas on an alien planet -

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This one was taken with an 18-55 is (ive got specalised macro lenses, but they were at home(of course!)) - i stuck it at 55mm,(88mm equivelant at 1.6x crop) set it at the minimum focussing distance and focussed it by moving the camera backwards & forwards, even at f8 the depth of field is very shallow (wings in focus but rest out-of-focus) - i dont like using a smaller aperture than f8 as the diffraction distortion rises -

post-38050-0-09524900-1373661639_thumb.j

I love macro stuff and i would like to have huge- poster sized prints of tiny things all over my walls (if i was allowed :( )

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Ah I love my 1.4 50mm prime... Need to get that back out again!! It's great for things like wildlife!!

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Anyone else here using a micro 4/3rd system that could recommend a reasonably priced lens?

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Anyone else here using a micro 4/3rd system that could recommend a reasonably priced lens?

I use the EOS system -

"resonably priced" means different things to different people, especially when it comes to photography

It is possible to get a 4/3rd to micro 4/3rds adaptor that allows you to use 4/3rds lenses (potentially a larger choice of lenses) on your camera body - if you purchase 4/3rd lenses you can always upgrade to a 4/3rds body in the future

http://www.tmart.com/JY-43F-Four-Thirds-to-Micro-4-3-Lens-Adapter_p152120.html?cc=gbp&fixed_price=hk_intl&utm_source=baseuk&utm_medium=organic&utm_term=85003441&utm_campaign=product&gclid=CNzEhc-vrLgCFfQetAodPEkAng

Did your camera come with a kit lens/ or no lens at all? if you don't have a lens, a good place to start is the 14-42mm "kit" lens,

if you already have the 14-42mm kit lens (your question was a bit vague) and are looking for a telephoto zoom to compiment it, the 45-150mm is a good choice (from about £150)-

http://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/8522807496324387152?q=micro+4/3s+lenses&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48705608,d.d2k&biw=1280&bih=684&tch=3&ech=2ψ=YDrhUZ6xGOTB0gWD2IHQBA.1373715039765.1&wrapid=tlif137371503976510&sa=X&ei=mjrhUcqQCKmh0QXdzIDAAQ&ved=0CHYQ8wIwAA

You can buy an adaptor for old, manual focus lenses (this one is for a c-mount) -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/C-Mount-Lens-to-Micro-4-3-M4-3-Adapter-Olympus-E-M5-PL3-P3-PM1-Panasonic-GX1-GF5-/140861669153?

Lieca m39 adaptor -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Leica-M39-L39-Lens-to-Micro-4-3-M4-3-M43-Mount-Adapter-f-EP1-EP2-DMC-G1-GH1-GF1-/120995197973?pt=UK_Photography_CameraLenses_Lens_caps_hoods_adaptors_ET&hash=item1c2be03415#ht_5133wt_1170

m42 adaptor -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOTGA-M42-Lens-To-Micro-4-3-m4-3-Adapter-For-GH1-G1-GF1-EP-1-/261070088053?pt=UK_Photography_CameraLenses_Lens_caps_hoods_adaptors_ET&hash=item3cc8fd6775

then fit an old manual focus lens (originally made for film cameras- this is a pentax 110 one) -

pt=UK_Photography_CameraLenses_Lens_caps_hoods_adaptors_ET&hash=item20cc027f21#ht_4708wt_1170

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PENTAX-110-18mm-f2-8-Lens-Suitable-for-Micro-4-3-Superb-quality-/310704242733?pt=UK_Lenses_Filters_Lenses&hash=item48576a802d#ht_896wt_904

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done loads of shoot and hope its good shots heres my favourite so far anyway DSCF1096_zps4974b817.jpg

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I use the EOS system -

"resonably priced" means different things to different people, especially when it comes to photography

Thanks, i have looked at the lens adapters before but could never find any aftermarket ones, only the heavily priced Panasonic ones, have 2 lenses, a 14-42 and 45-200, i keep looking at the olympus lenses but they are supposedly horrible with the stability switched on with the Lumix bodies, and i don't carry a tripod, and shoot from the hip, i may well have a look at the adapters if i can find some happy priced lenses.

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Thanks, i have looked at the lens adapters before but could never find any aftermarket ones, only the heavily priced Panasonic ones, have 2 lenses, a 14-42 and 45-200, i keep looking at the olympus lenses but they are supposedly horrible with the stability switched on with the Lumix bodies, and i don't carry a tripod, and shoot from the hip, i may well have a look at the adapters if i can find some happy priced lenses.

attachicon.gifP1030202.JPG

The 14-42 and 45-200mm should be enough for most situations you will encounter, what is the problem with them? is the 45-200 image stabilised? is there a specialised application you wish to use your camera for (eg - birds on the wing etc)

Using the cheap adaptors allows you to use old, manual focus lenses, they will only work in "simple" modes (eg - AV or M) and you have to set the aperture manually, they are liable to be more difficult to use/ set up than your present lenses and may be difficult to get even as good results, BUT can be useful for "fast" prime lenses (there are plenty cheap f2 50mm-ish m42 lenses on ebay)

And remember never shoot straight into the sun :lol: -

The Black Isle looking over the Moray Firth (you can see why its called the black isle(its not actually an island))(1200x800)

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large vertical version - (1067x1600)

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