purchasing camera & equiptment

[kiley9806]

just wondering what you professionals would reccomend as the basics for a beginner to purchase when just starting to build their business? as well as what brands or specific cameras/lenses etc you find best for quality and price. thanks!

[tegan]

It depends on how you envisage your business. A studio camera and lighting set-up is certainly going to be different than a kit for on location work. Sports is certainly going to require different equipment than public relations or photojournalism and product work and advertising is even more specialized.

You might also consider finding a job where a company pays for your equipment. A friend of mine joined the media department of an oil company and was quickly making over $!00,000 Another ended up running a television production studio for Canada Tire Corp.

Even part time, there is work in advertising photography for small businesses, producing media presentations, and even doing presentations.

So, figure out which direction you plan to go with your photography and that will help you determine what equipment you will need.

Tegan

[kiley9806]

well, the direction my photography seems to go is nature based, outdoors (wouldnt be a studio type thing) so on-the-go type equipment would be good. im a stay at home mom, looking to start something web-based, making custom frames & matting with photos to sell online. then ive also considered doing mobile services, family/pet photography, weddings, etc. once i get more experience with photographing people - if thats something im good at. im currently taking a photography course via correspondance, and am just learning & building & expanding my hobby/passion. right now, most of my subjects have been my surroundings (outdoors, buildings, landscapes, & travel), not nessesarily people, unless you count my daughter... anyway, i use my sony dsc h5 (which i love) for everything, but im looking to get something more - for starters just a camera and a lens or 2, like telephoto or macro. budget would be about $1500-$1700, but thats negotiable!

[tegan]

Well considering the fact that you like your Sony, you might want to research on the Web, the Sony Alpha 350 (Minolta heritage) with 14.2 megapixels which will be coming out around the end of March. With cost of $950 in Canada and $850 in the US, that is definitely good value for the money.

As to lenses for the type of work you mention, I should cover a few basics. You may know this already, but I don't want to assume that. The speed or sensitivity of the lens to light is measured in f stops. For example a f 5.6 lens requires more light in a scene for the shot to come out well than a f 3.5 lens. A focal length of 50mm is normal as in what you see with your eyes is the same size as the image you see in the viewfinder. A focal length of less than 50mm such as 35mm is wideangle which means everything looks smaller in the viewfinder but you get more in the photo. Greater than 50mm such as 100mm is telephoto where everything is larger but you get less in the photo.

The kit lens on the Sony A350 is 18mm to 70mm which in 35mm terms is the equivalent of 27mm to 105mm. This is from wideangle to sliight telephoto which would be good for weddings, candids, kid shots etc.

A 70mm to 300mm which in 35mm terms is the equivalent of 105mm to 450mm would permit you to get close-ups of birds, deer, or animals that you might not want to get too close to in the wild. It also gives you a considerable number of ways of framing your shot without changing location when you are out in the country and up on a hill for example.

Filters are also necessary: particularly a polarizing filter and a graduated neutral density filter. A good flash that will work off camera is useful too.
Pick up some books on Photo-editing as well using software and consider software filter plug-ins to your PaintShop Pro to speed up and simplify postprocessing.

Tegan

[kiley9806]

thats fabulous info - thanks teagan!! i will start my research!

[Lovin]

Hi guys !

I'm really new here, and I am very interested in photography.
I'm quite newbie, but I'm hungry of informations about this art.
My question is with a Nikon D80, what can I do ? Inside or outside photos?
As far as I know is an entry level camera, and got good lens.

Thank you in advance

[Marko]

Lovin, all cameras can shoot both inside and outside. All any camera is, is an adjustable hole (aperture) with a flap(shutter).

Nikon d80 is a fine camera to start with. In fact ANY SLR or DSLR is fine to start with. I'll never understand why people want to spend lots of money when they don't have the photography skills to start. The camera, no matter how expensive will RARELY save you if you do not know photography basics. (Lighting, exposure, composition)

There are MANY new and used cameras that can be had for under 1000.

In terms of lenses - it's true. Most lenses that come with the camera are not that great. I would recommend a 50mm lens to start. They are sharp and cheap in general.

My best advice is to go with something like the D80 or cheaper. Buy the 50mm lens AND if you are a newbie - buy a few photography books. Shoot several times a week. THAT's how you learn. Unless the camera is broken, it's almost NEVER about the camera

Good luck,

Marko

[Lovin]

Thank you Marko.
I'll buy also some photography books, but about the camera, I know that this one is an entry lvl, and I know that Nikon have one of the best lens.
If I'll buy a Canon on same lvl with Nikon D80, they doesn't come with lens, just the body. So Nikon gives you good lens also ( D80 Kit with new AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6G VR ).

Ok, I'll study first some books, and in the mean time I have to buy the camera and practice a lot.

Now I have a very basic camera Nikon Coolpix L5 ) But in the daytime is very good, got nice colors and not only.

Thanx again, keep in touch


I'll be around here from now on, I have to learn from you guys

See ya !

[Lovin]

I found this comment about Nikon D40 :
"...but after you do some cool imaging work (Like HDR photography) you'll see that lack of bracketing will cause lots of problems... Buy the EOS400d... Less noise, more features..."

Now I guess that for each camera you can find pro's and con's, so...

[Marko]

Certain bells and whistles will be a total waste of time for the vast majority of photographers so you really need to think about what that bell or whistle will do for you.

I guess auto-bracketing can be a useful feature...however I have never ever used it.

I have taken maybe 1 shot at 1/8000 of a second or faster in the decades of shooting experience that I have.

How many times do i need to shoot 6 frames a second.? usually never.

So it REALLY depends on what type of shooting you will do that will dictate what type of camera you need to buy. You should be aware that many of these things...like auto-bracketing are pure marketing lures. You'll likely never use them.... I mean all bracketing is, is taking extra shots of the same scene with different wrong exposures to cover people's butts until they figure out what they are doing..... Just my 2 cents.

thx

Marko