The Photography Discussion Thread

[Sledgehammer]

Originally Posted by 2ndclasscitizen

experiment with different angles of the lights, lighting filters and hoods and see what you get.

What is hoods? Im thinking it has something to do with covers for lighting, but thats a guess. Lately I have been into spiders more specifically spider webs. Some really cool macro photos.
Ex.

If only it was summer and I could find a few webs.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Originally Posted by Sledgehammer

What is hoods? Im thinking it has something to do with covers for lighting, but thats a guess.

Yeah that's right. They have another name, but I forgot it. There's all sorts, like spotlight-type ones, flood-types, and attachments for softboxes

[Cotterik]

if you have access to diffused lighting equipment, you can get some amazing portrait shots.

[drakkie]

Ok, I will arrange everything this weekend and try and make an arrangement to go shoot there I will need a model and some stuff like a much larger card(50 RAW-shots wont do it I think). I checked and it is all free, i just have to flash my school-ID around ! Hopefully more news coming soon !

[drakkie]

Originally Posted by tuk3410

Oh ok, cheers for the help. There is a small light trail on my photo but am not sure what its from.
(why remove date stamp?)

The way I order my photo's is to put them in a folder named after the location and date. There's no distracting stuff in the picture then.

Have a look at
http://www.photonhead.com/simcam/
Might be quite handy for you !

[Jack_Bauer]

Ok, I have a fairly random question to ask you photography buffs out there.

My mother has always fancied getting into photography but has never had the time etc, but she's due to go into semi-retirement soon so is wanting to get herself her first digital camera. Only problem is she knows nothing about them, and frankly neither do I!

She is thinking of a budget of between £100-£200. Obviously I know that in photography terms that's a small drop in the ocean compared to what it is possible to end up spending on gear, but she doesn't want to blow a huge load of cash on a DSLR for her first camera and not get half the use out of it that the cost would warrant.

So she'll be looking for a decent point-and-shoot camera in that sort of price range. What sort of brands and models should she be interested in in your expert opinions?

Also for the British contingent, what stores or websites are the best for getting good deals and the best customer service? Are the big electronics stores like Currys any good, or should they be avoided?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[NSXType-R]

Nikon's point and shoots are pretty good.

In fact, I'll post up my Quebec pictures right now. My Nikon's about 5 years old. It's not a fancy SLR. It's just a point and shoot. Still takes awesome pictures though.

Can't really go wrong with any main brand camera though (Canon, Sony, Casio, etc).

[Manik]

Originally Posted by Jack_Bauer

Ok, I have a fairly random question to ask you photography buffs out there.

My mother has always fancied getting into photography but has never had the time etc, but she's due to go into semi-retirement soon so is wanting to get herself her first digital camera. Only problem is she knows nothing about them, and frankly neither do I!

She is thinking of a budget of between £100-£200. Obviously I know that in photography terms that's a small drop in the ocean compared to what it is possible to end up spending on gear, but she doesn't want to blow a huge load of cash on a DSLR for her first camera and not get half the use out of it that the cost would warrant.

So she'll be looking for a decent point-and-shoot camera in that sort of price range. What sort of brands and models should she be interested in in your expert opinions?

Also for the British contingent, what stores or websites are the best for getting good deals and the best customer service? Are the big electronics stores like Currys any good, or should they be avoided?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I was in a similar price range when looking for my digital camera, and I was drawn to the Fuji Finepix e900, simply because of its mega pixels, than after neglecting to do research on the other cameras I ended up regretting the purchase about a month later. But right now if I were in the same price range I would go for anything by either Canon or Sony, as they are both solid all round cameras in this catagory. Although I'm unsure of price, I know that the Powershot series by Canon is great. But somebody, I can't remember who, spoke highly of Sony in this catagory as well.

EDIT: Sorry, these cameras might run you a little more than I thought...

[henk4]

we recently bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ3, which was chosen Camera of the year for 2007. Works fine and good enough for the starting photographer. During the photography process you will start to appreciate what you actually need in a camera. Also remember the good old 90-10 rule, meaning that in 90% of the cases you will use 10% of its possibilities. Same actually goes for our Canon SLRs....

[Jack_Bauer]

Thanks for the input people, much appreciated.

Originally Posted by henk4

we recently bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ3, which was chosen Camera of the year for 2007. Works fine and good enough for the starting photographer. During the photography process you will start to appreciate what you actually need in a camera. Also remember the good old 90-10 rule, meaning that in 90% of the cases you will use 10% of its possibilities. Same actually goes for our Canon SLRs....

Had a quick search online for prices on the camera you suggest. Looks like it might just squeeze into the price bracket my mother is looking at, but it will be pushing things when memory cards and all that sort of stuff needs to be bought as well.

So I'm guessing that you rate the Panasonic Lumix range of cameras? Looking at that range there is another camera that looks tempting, FX33. It is smaller and more portable, at 8.1 has more mega-pixels in the sensor (which I'm assuming is a good thing) but has much less zoom capability. In your far-more-expert-than-mine opinion, which would be the better option for someone looking to get into 'proper' photography? Is the difference between 7.2 and 8.1 megapix really appreciable? Is having only 3x optical zoom on the FX33 a real handicap for getting into photography?

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Jack_Bauer

Thanks for the input people, much appreciated.



Had a quick search online for prices on the camera you suggest. Looks like it might just squeeze into the price bracket my mother is looking at, but it will be pushing things when memory cards and all that sort of stuff needs to be bought as well.

So I'm guessing that you rate the Panasonic Lumix range of cameras? Looking at that range there is another camera that looks tempting, FX33. It is smaller and more portable, at 8.1 has more mega-pixels in the sensor (which I'm assuming is a good thing) but has much less zoom capability. In your far-more-expert-than-mine opinion, which would be the better option for someone looking to get into 'proper' photography? Is the difference between 7.2 and 8.1 megapix really appreciable? Is having only 3x optical zoom on the FX33 a real handicap for getting into photography?

The difference in megapixels is not too grave and I think inconsequential. As far as zoom reach is concerned, I think having a wider field (the low end of the zoom range) is of more importance than having a good tele option. (Talking from the point of viw of the average snapshot photographer, unless your mother intends to start shooting birds zoomed in as much as possible).

We choose this one as a holiday option (also easy to carry during my business travels) also operable by my wife. It is actually her camera, which I am allowed to borrow...I am quite pleased with the results so far. The camera came with a one GB card, and one battery. For optimal flexibility we just bought another battery, (recommended) and another card (only needed when you plan to be away from a computer for a more extended period).

[RacingManiac]

Ok a good place to ask for stuff like this I reckon. I'll be heading to see the Toronto Autoshow again this year, and my past results there are a mixed bag I think in terms of pic quality....I am wonder whats a good setup to shoot at a car show, in terms of lenses, flash and how to use it properly. I am assuming most goes to a show only shoot with a single flash setup, how do you make the best use of it, and are there any way to lessen the effect of the multiple surrounding lights reflecting off the car's paintwork?

[henk4]

Assuming you will use an SLR camera, a wide angle zoom lens is essential. 17-40 or something like that. Flash is greatly dependent on the lighting conditions. Engine/interior shots = flash. outside shots, trial and error, dark cars as little as possible. Never open your focus completely 5.6 minimum, even if the shutterspeed goes down. Depending on a steady hand you can do a shutter speed of 1/20 of a second with a wide angle lense, otherwise take tripod, (then you can also close the diafragm more.
Also avoid using the full range of the zoom, as cars will look slightly bend, whatever the lens quality is.
Take always more shots than you think is necessary.......

[RacingManiac]

how much memory? or should I just bring my HDD along?

[henk4]

Originally Posted by RacingManiac

how much memory? or should I just bring my HDD along?

as a golden rule: enough memory....HDD/Laptop and enough cards. Don't forget spare batteries for the flash....