The Photography Thread

[spagmasterswift]

Be warned though, if you do decided to get an SLR there are lots of expensive add-ons that can turn you into a camera junky. I saw one down by the Estuary at the weekend with 3 different makes of SLR hanging off him with all manor of lenses, filters, hoods, etc - I should have taken a picture of him >_<

[Magnakai]

Oh yeah, absolutely! You can literally spend tens of thousands of pounds on one lens if you really, really want to. But the kit lens is perfectly decent. Here are a bunch of photos taken with the Canon one.

[TommyG]

Thanks for the replies guys, the canon looks like the one to save up a little extra for, it certainly seems to have a lot of glowing reports. Still keeping my options open though so if anyone else has any good recommendations please say so

Thanks again

EDIT: If i were to push my budget (not even bought it yet and already started buying extras lol) which entry level lens would you recommend for the canon?

[Rossco]

Like the look of that Canon. Lot of money to spend for a first timer though. I've been considering getting into this for a while. Keep changing my mind though!

[Magnakai]

The kit lens is perfectly decent. You could get the body only and a fixed length 50mm f1.8, which offers decent visual quality and a wide aperture for a relatively low price. The only problem is that it's relatively tightly zoomed in. If you wanted to spend a bit more, the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 is meant to be very good, and would set you back about &#163;250. Yes, lenses are expensive.

[winky]

Hi! I would recommend the kit lens over the 50mm 1.8, the extra width helps for a general lens. The tamron 17-50 is what I am considering next as an upgrade to the kit lens. I hear its much better than the sigma and the canon one is far too expensive to justify purchasing. The 17-40L is a reasonable price but it would be nice to have something a little faster.

Got my new toy, just before heading off for the bank holiday weekend: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM. Its a beautiful thing; solid, good reach, fast AF, full time manual focusing and IS!

Hand holding is fine even in low light thanks to the IS, although extended holding at 400mm can cause a bit of tiredness. Still need to get used to using it though.

Here is a few examples:

at 135mm:


Same deer at 400mm (although cropped a bit for framing):


Another at 400mm:


My favorite of the weeknd was this one, also shot with the new lens because I was reluctant to take it off :P. This one seems a little dark on my works screen compared to the house monitor. The bridge should be visible against the hills.



Good lens and a nice weekend. Spent a few hours camped by an osprey nest but they never showed up. hoping that they will frequent the nest a bit more next time I go up there.

[Spatial]

Been an amazingly nice day here today

[Ish]

Your last shot is ace Winky.

Went back to the windmill this evening to try and catch some better light. Was denied a decent sunset but the evening light made for far better colours.



Taken with my wide angle lens again. It's rapidly becoming my default lens - I love the fact that you can "step back" and get a wide view (like on this shot taken at 16mm) or move in close and get great perspectives (like the earlier windmill and the bridge I posted).

[TommyG]

I went and had a look at the D400 today and then realised that for many of the situations i'll find myself in, it's not practical.

So I've decided to go for the Canon Powershot G9 instead, does anyone have one of these?

Thanks for the advice guys, happy snapping.

[PeteJ]

So I've decided to go for the Canon Powershot G9 instead, does anyone have one of these?

Yep I have one, it's a fantastic compact with almost as much control as a full-blown SLR. It's a little on the chunky side so difficult to get in your pocket and although the image quality is excellent in good light, it doesn't compare to an SLR in low light (though this happens with most compact cameras).

I'm very happy with mine, take it everywhere where as I only take out my SLR+kit when I'm out just to take photos.

[Alastair]

Brilliant and a great lens, I'm truly jealous of that! You must have been rich before you purchased that one!

Also brilliant, I want that lens also.

Just got my confirmation through yesterday for my 3 day photographers pass to The Great Escape. 3 days of pure insane running around trying to shoot as many of the 200+ live acts as I can. There is a team of photographers (don't know quite how many) and one is a mate of mine but I'm pure cacking my pants already and it's still a week away!

[funkydan]

Just got my confirmation through yesterday for my 3 day photographers pass to The Great Escape. 3 days of pure insane running around trying to shoot as many of the 200+ live acts as I can. There is a team of photographers (don't know quite how many) and one is a mate of mine but I'm pure cacking my pants already and it's still a week away!

You lucky git Al! Well done though - and you'll be fine! No need to cack your pants dude How did you manage to get the pass?

There's a wee festy just down the road from me in Paddock Wood in Kent in July that I'm desperately trying to get a pass for (I'm in contact with the right people, just waiting to hear now) - the Saturday is a day of Comedy hosted by none other than the Mighty Boosh, and the Sunday is headlined by Neil Young, and also playing are Supergrass, The Guillemots, Primal Scream and Rufus Wainwright. Fingers crossed an' all that

[Alastair]

You lucky git Al! Well done though - and you'll be fine! No need to cack your pants dude How did you manage to get the pass?

I've heard of that Mighty Boosh fest, sounds good, good luck getting the pass.

Regarding mine it's all about who you know. My mate Kev is a pro photog and knows the guy that is organising the overall photography of the events. That guy also happen to be a contact of mine on Flickr (no coincidence there )so I dropped him a line letting him know I'm available and happened to mention my Hip-Hop festival work as way of letting him know I'm 'qualified' as it were. Also seemed to help that I had a picture of Derek Meins on my stream who is performing, even though I didn't know who he was when I took the shot. Clear as mud eh!

[spagmasterswift]

Ish, your Windmill is lovely - I get teased by yellow fields of rape on the train to work, one day I'll just get off and run into one like a mad man...

This one taken from Tower Bridge and zoomed to the max.

[Herbalizer]

Firstly I just want to say how talented some of you guys are, I've spent hours looking at this thread and have been blown away numerous times.

These are couple of shots from Langland Bay in Swansea, My wife and I went down yesterday and it was stunning.