The Photography Thread

[Magnakai]

Exactly right Malc. That's exactly what a cropped sensor does.

[HaHaUK]

Chipmunk performing at Westfield:


And a roadworker actually working!

[hudson]

LOL

I like that shot hoolak pretty original

Just snapped this little critter in the back garden. It's Marco week for me lol

Thanks man! My goodness, what is that? Sure I fought this in Monster Hunter.

About the shot, did you blur the body out later or was this done with focusing? Looks cool. As I said earlier, haven't had much experience with good cameras. I am loving using that close-up flower icon mode lol Noob in da house!

[Malc]

Looks to me like Tommy's just used the focusing in the camera. As you can see the sharp in focus wood in a line running to the left and right on the bizzare creature.

[TommyG]

Tommy - your question about cropped or not cropped:
1st - cropped. The background is a distraction (not a bad one by any means) so the crop gets in to the good stuff.
2nd - non-cropped. The background is excellent and gives a real sense of place. I would probably crop it ever so slightly however and also clone out the green grass on the right hand side.

Guess what - I've had a pic authorised on iStock!!!! It's got a five star rating too, although nobody has bought it

Thanks Pete, I agree with you as well, I would clone the grass if I had PS but I don't unfortunately. Congrats on the iStoke photo as well dude, care to share with us which one?

Looks to me like Tommy's just used the focusing in the camera. As you can see the sharp in focus wood in a line running to the left and right on the bizzare creature.

Yep absolutely right Malc. I used flexizone as the little chapper wasn't moving so was able to quickly change a few settings before taking two shots with and two shots without the flash.

I went into Jessops today to hold a few DSLR's.

I really liked the Canon 500D straight away i was able to navigate all the settings thanks to having a G9 so the familiarity was there and the ergonomics were good and aesthetically pretty sweet.

The Nikon D5000 felt slight better in terms of build quality and weight but for the same kind of money I could also be looking at the Sony A700 which again felt great to hold but i'm not sure I want a Sony camera plain and simple.

I've heard there's a new Nikon D3000 coming soon, does anybody know if Canon are due to upgrade any of their cameras at any time?

Also it would be interesting to know who's got what on the forum and why you choose your particular brand?

Please and thanks

[Garf]

Not been here for a while as I've been away on holiday. As it was a family trip, photo ops were a bit limited, but will have a look through my stuff later to see if there is anything worth sharing.

Good to see lots of excellent stuff in here, some great work all round.

Tommy - I currently use a Nikon D40, which is about 2 years old now. I originally went for Nikon as, at the time, the D40 was the cheapest introduction into the world of DSLR's by a long way, and I didn't want to lay out too much in case I didn't take to photography.

I am still very happy with the stuff the D40 produces, but at some point I can see myself upgrading, possibly to a D90. That won't be for a while yet though.

Not sure about Canon upgrade schedules, but am fairly certain that they would upgrade models at some point this year/early next.

Never used a Sony DSLR, but they seem be good cameras from what I hear. They did offer very good value for money until they hiked all their prices up recently.

To be honest, any camera from the major players will be very good these days, and the best one to pick will be the one that feels best in your hands to hold and operate.

[Malc]

I've got a Sony A200 but not sure if it's a bit too basic for what you're looking for Tommy. It has all the main features that you'd expect a DSLR to have and is good for beginners like me. The good things is that it's got an amzing battery length one of the biggest in it's range, and the INFOlithium battery displays an incredibly accurate percentage of how much battery is remaining. It's also cheaper that most cameras I think.

The problems are that it's a bit on the heavy side; you can only use lenses that are from Sony or Minolta; no live view ( although this extends the battery length); also there's no depth of Field preview, although i'm not even sure how this would be displayed to you if it had it?

Anyway, it's a good little camera and any photos on mine or Rossco's Flickr! pages are taken with the Sony a200.

[Magnakai]

I moved from a Canon G5 (a much older version of your G9) to a Canon 400D, which at the time was the best in it's price range, especially for low-light photography. Nikon have since produced some very good low-end cameras, and the upcoming D3000 could be a really nice piece of kit. I now shoot with a Canon 5D as my main camera as well as several different film cameras. Because it's ace and I got it cheap.

I don't expect Canon to replace the 500D for a good 9 months at the earliest, though Canonrumors.com seems to think that they'll announce a new DSLR at the beginning of September. So if you don't mind holding on, it'll probably be worth waiting a couple of weeks just to see what they announce, though it's unlikely to be in your price range. If, however, you've got (another?) holiday coming up, buy now and just use it. All the cameras nowadays are good. You can't really go wrong.

Personally, if I was doing it from scratch, I'd be tempted to go Nikon, and wait for reviews of the D3000 to hit the net.

[Magnakai]

also there's no depth of Field preview, although i'm not even sure how this would be displayed to you if it had it?

When you look through the viewfinder, the aperture is always wide open, which gives you the maximum amount of light to play with. A DOF preview closes up the aperture to whatever you've got it set to, which gives you an idea of how the picture's going to look through the viewfinder before you take it.

[TommyG]

Thanks Garf, Malc and Magnakai

I think there are a few factors i'm considering, Firstly money. So Nikon might be the way to go in terms of lens's as I believe that all the IS and stuff is done from within the camera rather than the lens therefore savings can be made on lens's (correct me if i'm wrong about this)

The D3000 certainly has the spec of a really good camera and the video capabilities would be something i'd be interested in as well.

Does anyone here have a Nikon?

Also could anyone recommend a good all round lens? and a good Macro lens

EDIT: Scratch that the D3000 doesn't have video or live view mode for that matter

[HaHaUK]

Ive got the Nikon D40, and bought it as an entrylevel SLR and absolutely love it. For an SLR, its really small and light to hold and carry all day without a bag.

Only downside is that some lenses dont automatically focus with the D40 , so youre limited to motorised lenses if you dont like manually focusing.

As for a good all-round lens, Ive read that the Nikon 18-200mm AF-S DX is supposed to be really good, and really want to get one soon.

Not sure for macro lenses. I used macro filters with the standard kit lens, and occasionally a Sigma 70-300mm which is pretty good.

Heres a hoverfly (?) I caught earlier this week with the Sigma:

[TommyG]

That's brilliant HaHa!

It just goes to show it's alot about the glass rather than the camera. I'm thinking the Canon D500 would be perfect for me. Just need to decide whether to get the lens that comes with it or the body plus a lens of choice.

[Ginger Tosser]

The kit IS lens is fine (think it's the 18-55 IS). Much better than the old one. If you bought it with the kit and 55-250 IS you'd have a nice setup that'll cover most things (except macro - though you could try extension rings etc).

The alternative is the 500D and the 18-200 IS, however I know nothing about this lens. And personally it's asking a lot for any lens to be good wide and zoom at the same time.

[Ginger Tosser]

I've heard there's a new Nikon D3000 coming soon, does anybody know if Canon are due to upgrade any of their cameras at any time?

The 500D is fairly new so earliest replacement is Feb next year, the schedule for canon updates is usually:

xxxD - 12 months
xxD - 12-18 months
xD - 24-36 months

The 40D was replaced after 12 months with the 50D back in September, so they may update that again. Personally I reckon i'll either be nothing (except loads of compacts, probably Canon G11 as well) or an Eos 1D MkIV

Also it would be interesting to know who's got what on the forum and why you choose your particular brand?

I'm a Canon Eos user. I started in the 90's with an EOS 500 film camera, chose Canon as it was a brand I was more familiar with at the time (I used to fix their Laser printers!). After the 500 I went up to a 50E, super film camera that was. Eventually digital called (was waiting for the right camera at the right price) and as I had a few lenses for the EOS system I decided that was where I was going to go.

So current kit is an Eos 5D and a selection of lenses from 15mm to 300mm

[Magnakai]

I think there are a few factors i'm considering, Firstly money. So Nikon might be the way to go in terms of lens's as I believe that all the IS and stuff is done from within the camera rather than the lens therefore savings can be made on lens's (correct me if i'm wrong about this)

Yer wrong! There are SLRs with in-body stabilisation, but Canon and Nikon are never going to let that golden egg go!

IMO, the Canon 400D with a Canon 28mm 1.8 was just an absolute pleasure to use, as I expect the 500D to be. Personally, I really like running around with a prime. If you're a zoomy person who wants to have all bases covered, then the two lens kit recommended by GT will do the job. The 18-200 is versatile, and not much more. Anyway, lots of Canon lens reviews here: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ and at www.fredmiranda.com

Are you sure you want to fall down this financial rabbit hole?