Noobie here!

[Kiddo]

Hey guys, i just picked up my first DSLR yesterday, and i'm not going to lie, it's actually fairly overwhelming! There are so many features compared to my old P&S!

I picked up the Olympus E410 at a pretty good price with the stock 14 - 42mm lens.

I was just wondering, i'm going to be taking mainly landscape shots as i have a lot of open area's near where i live, are there any suggestions as to settings i could use? From reading up it seems a large aperture # is good for the depth of field, any ideas on the ISO/WB/shutter speed?

Thanks in advance :)

[Marko]

Hey Kiddo!

Normally for daylight shots we want to use the lowest ISO setting that we can. This will lead to longer exposures when we use a small aperture (large aperture Number).

For landscapes you can easily use a tripod so slow shutter speeds are fine.
When handholding the camera 1/focal length of the lens is considered to be the minimum shutterspeed. So for a 200 mm lens it should be 1/200 MINIMUM. In my experience I like to add some speed so personally on a 200mm lens I'd shoot at 1/300 or 1/400 of a second.

Hope that helps,

Marko

[Kiddo]

Much appreciated Marko! Will definitely play with those settings :)

[tirediron]

Welcome! Looking forward to seeing some of your work.

[tegan]

I would also recommend getting a polarizing filter which will control and reduce reflections off water, glare off damp vegetation and improve the look of skies. It can also reduce the harshness of light from flash when used inside.

Tegan

[Kiddo]

I would also recommend getting a polarizing filter which will control and reduce reflections off water, glare off damp vegetation and improve the look of skies. It can also reduce the harshness of light from flash when used inside.

Tegan

Ah excellent, thanks Tegan, that brings up another question i had, where do you purchase your camera goodies. I'm based in Toronto, and being a new hobbie, i only discovered Henry's and of course Blacks. Any tips as to where i could get filters and other accessories from?


Also, thanks for the warm welcome guys :)

[tegan]

Ah excellent, thanks Tegan, that brings up another question i had, where do you purchase your camera goodies. I'm based in Toronto, and being a new hobbie, i only discovered Henry's and of course Blacks. Any tips as to where i could get filters and other accessories from?


Also, thanks for the warm welcome guys :)

Downtown Camera near Henry's downtown store has lower prices, so does Aden Camera on some items. If you are not near either store, go to Henry's and quote the web site prices from the others and ask them to match the price. I have never payed Henry's price on camera equipment...always lower.

Tegan

[Travis]

I would also recommend getting a polarizing filter which will control and reduce reflections off water, glare off damp vegetation and improve the look of skies. It can also reduce the harshness of light from flash when used inside.

Tegan

If landscape is gonna be your thing... you may want to consider something like the Cokin P-series(or equiv) square filters. If you do this now the same filter set will work on all your future lenses saving you money in the end.

It may seem complicated now... but in no time you will be looking for the use of ND filters, Graduated ND filters to defeat your camera limitations for landscapes. You can also buy a circular polarizer that fits in you P series holder.

A simple adaptor rings allows you to install the filter set on all of you upcoming lenses in lieu of having to buy a polarizer for each differently sized lens.

good luck!

As for a good start to landscapes..... try using aperture priority around F9 with a tripod. Wait for the goood light...... only a few minutes at sunrise and sunset will the colours be noteworthy..... a remote shutter release will help...

[Kiddo]

Ok great, thanks Travis!

Do i buy a square filter, along with an adapter ring to be able to fit them on different lenses?

So they attach something like this:


Lens -- adapter ring -- square filter -- x type filter

Am i completely off here?

[Travis]

Ok great, thanks Travis!

Do i buy a square filter, along with an adapter ring to be able to fit them on different lenses?

So they attach something like this:


Lens -- adapter ring -- square filter -- x type filter

Am i completely off here?

yup... that's pretty much it... except the polarizer is circular...

the adapter rings are about $15.00

The square filters are good for two reasons..... They reduce the likelyhood of vignetting as opposed to a screw type filter.... and for the ND grads.. you can slide the filter up and down to generally match the landscape... very helpful....

if you are into computers a better and cheaper way is to take two shots of the landscape... one properly exposing the sky... and one properly exposing the foreground... layer them in your graphic program and mask out the overexposed sky...