The Camera Thread

[Dual]

Asked for the nifty fifty for Christmas ^___^

[Victor Mildew]

Asked for the nifty fifty for Christmas ^___^

Seems great so far, the amount of light it picks up is staggering. Just about everything i took was blurred to strawberry float though (as in camera shake blurred) but that was to be expected. It'll be great for better lit, or tripod portraits though.

[Harry Bizzle]

Your camera probably doesn't change its ISO automatically despite being in aperture priority mode.

With an f/1.8, you should be able to shoot in indoor lighting at ISO 800 quite happily, but try 1600 if you can't.


I've shot mine at f/1.8, iso 1600 and 1/60s outside in very dark situations and had absolutely fantastic results.

[Victor Mildew]

Yeah i don't know enough about the camera in general to be honest which is why i'm sitting down with my magic lantern book and dvd tonight to figure it all out.

[Exxy]

I feel like getting a new lens. I have the 18-55 kit lens that came with the camera (the pretty worthless one) and a 35mm prime lens.

Any recommendations for where to go next?

[Fatal Exception]

Telephoto zoom for perving? Macro lens for up close shots of plats and insects?

[Knoyleo]

I'd say go for something with a bit of tele, as it's a focal length you won't have tried yet, then get yourself some wide angle glass and chuck the kit lens.

Although, I went for a 16-105 as my second lens after the 35mm, and I love it. probably my fave all rounder.

[Nova]

Thanks for your help, guys. I think, in truth, I'll stick with my compact. It means I see more with my eyes Perhaps I'll pick up an SLR in the future.

[Harry Bizzle]

I have the 18-55 kit lens that came with the camera (the pretty worthless one).

You have been misinformed. There is almost no such thing as a worthless lens, and certainly not the 18-55mm VR.


It is a very sharp lens, with fast autofocus, VR, very little distortion, very close focusing and it's the cheapest "wide angle" (18mm, even though that's only a 36mm equiv.) you'll get on a DX body.


And any telephoto will have the same Aperture range as the kit lens (which I assume is what makes you think it is rubbish) until you get to about £600 for a low end fixed f/2.8 70-200mm.


And I generally wouldn't recommend buying a lens without some idea of what you want to get into, and I would prioritise around what you feel you're missing when you're out. For example I'd love an 11mm or an 85mm f/1.4, but can't justify the price as I only feel I would have used it a few times by now, and there are other tricks I can use to get similar effects with what I have, where as I feel there's quite a few shots I've missed due to lack of a tele.

[Poser]

Harry - just read (what I assume is) your blog. Really enjoyed it; I'll certainly be back. Please keep it up - really good stuff on there and nicely written.

[Harry Bizzle]

Thanks for that. It's really nice to know someone has actually enjoyed reading it.

[Frank]

Your camera probably doesn't change its ISO automatically despite being in aperture priority mode.

With an f/1.8, you should be able to shoot in indoor lighting at ISO 800 quite happily, but try 1600 if you can't.


I've shot mine at f/1.8, iso 1600 and 1/60s outside in very dark situations and had absolutely fantastic results.

Just piggybacking onto this answer to someone else, my brother wants a camera for Christmas that's good in low light conditions (i.e. indoors, and dark rides and shizz). Is the f number taken from the camera or the lens?

Also, any recommendations for cameras would be smashing

[Dual]

It's the lens, although some cameras will fair better in low light than others. Does he want an SLR?

[Frank]

I think he's after a digital SLR, yeah.

[Harry Bizzle]

The aperture (f-number) is lens dependent, but the low light performance of the camera is dependent on the sensor in the body.

So a lens with a wider aperture will let more light in, but with the same amount of light (e.g. same lens) two cameras can perform very differently.

Newer cameras = newer sensors which tends to = better noise performance.

[Outrunner]

What's your budget?

Also, watch this:




A Panasonic GF-2 (old version of the white one in the vid) can be had relatively cheaply.

Then again, you might want to think hard and go for a cheap DSLR and some nice (but inexpensive) glass. Depends what kind of photography you're thinking of getting into.

Sorry for the late reply, various things and expenses meant I had to put any plans to get a camera on hold.

What I'm after in a camera is:

Something relatively compact, so a bridge camera or similar to the one in your video are more in line with what I'm after.

One that I can take action shots with. Primarily for my pets (getting a decent shot of fast moving ferrets on my otherwise great compact camera is next to impossible)

I want to be able to take decent distance shots. The ones on my old camera of the cool Japanese catle on a hill look like a a hill with a white spot on it.

Being able to take some nice nature shots/wildlife photos would be nice

I don't really need the latest tech, I'm quite happy to shop on ebay (and will really need to)

Budget - I can't really stretch past £200 (hence looking for used cameras)

[Harry Bizzle]

Anyone watch The Intenet's Next Top Photographer?

I only just watched the last two episodes now. I hated that gimp Charlie and had resigned myself to him winning, but the way it ended.

[Knoyleo]

Couldn't stand that series, really, although I did have a good chuckle at that kid getting chucked out.

Far too much of it seemed to be about the contestants and their shitey video diaries of how challenging it was, and other bollocks, rather than actually taking a good photo. But then, given that most of the photo critique boiled down to, "Nah, I don't like this," I guess there wasn't much else to go on. Glad it's over and I can go back to getting excited about new DRTV uploads.

[Harry Bizzle]

There were some good ones, but on the whole I think the topics were picked rather poorly.

"Outside the box" and "Mobile Phone Photography"?


How do you even judge those?

Bit like the Pro Photographer, Cheap Camera series. Sadly they're just getting a bit stupid now that they give them absolute disasters to work with. The last one where they gave that guy a Nokia to work with was a complete and utter waste of time.

[Knoyleo]

I suppose you're right, but they are at least a bit shorter, and generally more light entertainment than that slow paced contest was.

Still though, Christmas special with Chase Jarvis and the Lego camera coming up.