Need a good digital SLR - recommendations?
- Thread starter Jizzlobber
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The next gen. of the T1i, probably not going to be called the T2i, is coming out soon. Saw it on Gizmodo the other day. You may want to double check on that before you buy the super on sale T1i.
You can also toy around with HDR, high dynamic range photography with bracketing and overlaying them on each other, getting all the possible ranges your camera can take of that particular frame.
HDR comparison
That's not HDR, that's shit.
I'm in the same boat. There are some very nice older Minolta lenses that are outstanding. I tried to get a 28-135 of Cl, but the guy wouldn't ship. Look at the a750 when it is released. It doesn't really matter what brand you get as long as it does what you want.
Couple pictures from my a700.
a700 50mm 1.7
24mm 2.8
75-300
Yeah, it's from an HDR autosetting "mode" and not done manually by overlaying bracketed shots. I was trying to show the difference in levels, shitty example though.
some HDRs that are actually decent and not overdone:
You guy's are doing some nice work.
I may up my numbers a bit. I'm thinking of getting an older body that just does tripod duty at home for backyard wildlife shots and get a newer model that would be more versatile when on the go, sharing lenses between the two. Still up in the air over a Nikon vs. Canon.
I may up my numbers a bit. I'm thinking of getting an older body that just does tripod duty at home for backyard wildlife shots and get a newer model that would be more versatile when on the go, sharing lenses between the two. Still up in the air over a Nikon vs. Canon.
Mind posting pics? On one hand I'm sick of my crappy looking pics. On another, there's no way I can carry around a bunch of equipment with all the other crap I have to carry around.
Awesome work, what kind of lenses do you have? Looks like macros or fisheye on the car pics.
Need to know your budget and what you want to shoot, that will dictat what type of body you should get and what you can afford in lenses. I've been shooting for 10 years and been published in a bunch of magazines for club photography, cars and other things, however my current focus is fashion now.
One of the first postings was, "I would rather put money into good lenses then a body that will be outdated in a year," well all bodies will be out dated in a year, it's a matter of what you want out of it. I'm shooting a 5d which is getting to the end of it's life cycle for me (camera has low clicks but for what I'm doing, I need more resolution), but have been shooting L glass for more nearly 7 years now and the quality is just insane in comparison.
For comparison though, having a full frame sensor + super wide non-fish (sigma 12-24) provides some stunning wide-angle shots: St. Thomas Mike Panic
This family set was shot almost entirely on a 70-200 f/4L IS @ f/4: Ami, Chris & Addi Mike Panic
This is a studio shot for a look-book shot on a 24-70 f/2.8L Where Professional Models Meet Model Photographers - ModelMayhem
My camera SUCKS at doing action photography though, so when I need to shoot skate photos (friend owns a skateshop that I do photo work for now and again) I'm left borrowing a 1d3 body.
Knowing what you want to do w/ your photography will dictate what you should buy. Right now I'm actually eyeing up the Rebel T1i because I hate carrying my gripped 5d w/ 24-70L lens around for just casual street / fun photography, I'd like a smaller slr with no grip and a 28 f/2.8 lens, that I can also still use all the glass I already own + mess around with video. The 5d2 is on my list to get towards the end of the year, after PMA and CES shows what's coming.
One of the first postings was, "I would rather put money into good lenses then a body that will be outdated in a year," well all bodies will be out dated in a year, it's a matter of what you want out of it. I'm shooting a 5d which is getting to the end of it's life cycle for me (camera has low clicks but for what I'm doing, I need more resolution), but have been shooting L glass for more nearly 7 years now and the quality is just insane in comparison.
For comparison though, having a full frame sensor + super wide non-fish (sigma 12-24) provides some stunning wide-angle shots: St. Thomas Mike Panic
This family set was shot almost entirely on a 70-200 f/4L IS @ f/4: Ami, Chris & Addi Mike Panic
This is a studio shot for a look-book shot on a 24-70 f/2.8L Where Professional Models Meet Model Photographers - ModelMayhem
My camera SUCKS at doing action photography though, so when I need to shoot skate photos (friend owns a skateshop that I do photo work for now and again) I'm left borrowing a 1d3 body.
Knowing what you want to do w/ your photography will dictate what you should buy. Right now I'm actually eyeing up the Rebel T1i because I hate carrying my gripped 5d w/ 24-70L lens around for just casual street / fun photography, I'd like a smaller slr with no grip and a 28 f/2.8 lens, that I can also still use all the glass I already own + mess around with video. The 5d2 is on my list to get towards the end of the year, after PMA and CES shows what's coming.
had some nice glass no l stuff but when I got my 5d mark2 I went to l glass.
fish eye is 12-24mm sigma and a 24-70mm 2.8 I need to get a zoom lens now I want a EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM for my zoom but I'll get it here soon.
I'd look at a Nikon D60 or similar (i think they replaced it with the d3000?) with the kit lens + a 55-200 VR. You should be able to set yourself up with that for under $1,000. Throw in a 30 or 35mm fast prime (f/1.4 or f/1.8) into the mix for low light and you have a solid setup. (I have my old D60, 2 batteries, 18-55 kit lens and 55-200 lens if you are interested in it... also have a Nikon 18-200mm lens I need to get rid of... although I was not too happy with the image quality of the 18-200).
I have been doing a lot of travel photography and used that setup extensively while I learned the basics.
I wanted easier manual control so I upgraded to a D300s (would have gone with the D90 but it has no weather proofing... I'd hate to be in a small drizzle and ruin the body on vacation).
The setup I run when traveling:
D300s
Nikon 16-85mm VR (general walkaround lens)
Nikon 70-300mm VR
Sigma 10-20mm (for wide landscapes, etc)
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (low light)
The D300s also has dual memory card slots so I can write images to both cards (I am paranoid about having a memory card go bad on me and losing a good batch of photos).
Another high end option would be the full framed D700 which is an amazing camera for High ISO / low light, but I could not justify the additional weight of quality FX glass for a travel setup. I am able to fit all my camera gear + laptop in a relatively small backpack.
Some pics with the D300 setup (I am still learning...)
16-85mm (town of Gefyra shot from Monemvasia, Greece)
16-85mm 15s exposure
70-300mm (Skansen in Stockholm)
I have been doing a lot of travel photography and used that setup extensively while I learned the basics.
I wanted easier manual control so I upgraded to a D300s (would have gone with the D90 but it has no weather proofing... I'd hate to be in a small drizzle and ruin the body on vacation).
The setup I run when traveling:
D300s
Nikon 16-85mm VR (general walkaround lens)
Nikon 70-300mm VR
Sigma 10-20mm (for wide landscapes, etc)
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (low light)
The D300s also has dual memory card slots so I can write images to both cards (I am paranoid about having a memory card go bad on me and losing a good batch of photos).
Another high end option would be the full framed D700 which is an amazing camera for High ISO / low light, but I could not justify the additional weight of quality FX glass for a travel setup. I am able to fit all my camera gear + laptop in a relatively small backpack.
Some pics with the D300 setup (I am still learning...)
16-85mm (town of Gefyra shot from Monemvasia, Greece)
16-85mm 15s exposure
70-300mm (Skansen in Stockholm)
Don't know much about it personally, but you might want to check out some of the aviation spotting forums. Those guys manage to snap crystal clear photos of aircraft at 38,000 feet. Photos: Airbus A380-842 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net
And here is a thread of shots of the space station from the ground:
Extreme Spotting - Samoloty Na Wysoko?ci Przelotowej - Airlines In Flight :: Zobacz temat - ISS Spotting - Zdj?cia Mi?dzynarodowej Stacji Kosmicznej
Just a couple of leads...
What are you guys doing when you go to print some of these shots? Printing yourself - what kind of gear? Local service? Online service? Just curious.
i would grab the canon body of your choice.. like nicky said the newer equivalents of the XTi are sufficient..
then pick up [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-18-200mm-3-5-6-3-Optical-Stabilizer/dp/B000NOSCGM]Amazon.com: Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC AF OS (Optical Stabilizer) Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo[/ame] (Sigma 18-200 f/3.5-6.3) for a good carry lens, it's very lightweight and nicely flexible in terms of zoom range. also is half-decent for low lighting since it's F/3.5 at the 18mm end.
for the zoom (whiskers!) try out a [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Canon-75-300mm-4-5-6-Telephoto-Cameras/dp/B00004THD0]Amazon.com: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo[/ame] (canon 75-300 f/4-5.6)
now, neither of these are high end lenses but i'd start here.. if you want to blow some money, grab this instead of the 75-300 [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Canon-100-400mm-f4-5-5-6L-Telephoto-Cameras/dp/B00007GQLS]Amazon.com: Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo[/ame] (canon 100-400 L)
then pick up [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-18-200mm-3-5-6-3-Optical-Stabilizer/dp/B000NOSCGM]Amazon.com: Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC AF OS (Optical Stabilizer) Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo[/ame] (Sigma 18-200 f/3.5-6.3) for a good carry lens, it's very lightweight and nicely flexible in terms of zoom range. also is half-decent for low lighting since it's F/3.5 at the 18mm end.
for the zoom (whiskers!) try out a [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Canon-75-300mm-4-5-6-Telephoto-Cameras/dp/B00004THD0]Amazon.com: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo[/ame] (canon 75-300 f/4-5.6)
now, neither of these are high end lenses but i'd start here.. if you want to blow some money, grab this instead of the 75-300 [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Canon-100-400mm-f4-5-5-6L-Telephoto-Cameras/dp/B00007GQLS]Amazon.com: Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo[/ame] (canon 100-400 L)
i use imagekind.com.. pretty reasonable pricing for the ones i want framed, never tried ordering just a print