The Photography Thread

[Paleface]

Peanuts - definitely go with the 70. The D200 isn't really a good idea if it's your first DSLR - there's enough to get used to on a D70, even if you've used film SLRs before.

If you can afford the D70, by all means go for it, but the D50 is pretty substantial too - certainly compared to the Eos350D/Digital RebelXt/Digital Kiss. The second dial is moderately handy, but I haven't found the D50 too hard to control with its single dial. Budget and size of the camera made me go for the D50.

The 18-200VR is a pretty awesome lens, but it's rather expensive, and as you point out, there are supply problems. The 18-70DX (the D70's kit lens) is a very nice lens too, light years better than the 18-55, so don't feel like you'd be buying something less than stellar if you went for that.

In short: sounds like you've made up your own mind; I think it's the right choice. I don't think the D200 would be right for you - yet...

[Richard.John]

Cheers Paleface.

I am now going to throw you a curve ball in the form of the EOS 30D. The pluses are the superior build quality in comparison to the D70s, Canon' tech edge and the fact that it has full auto and scene modes so I can hand it over to my wife and her parents for snapshots, without fear of them having a techno-jargon heart attack. LOL

It seems to tick all the right boxes and money will not be an issue so I am considering turning to the dark side, from a potential Nikon buyers point of view! Choice is good!

[Ish]

My latest effort

[Alastair]

What did you shoot it against in the end Ish? Looks like it's getting close to the idea you were after. Gonna use it for the competition?

Thanks for the info about ND filters everyone.

[Ish]

I shot it against some black material (read t-shirt!) with a couple of desk lights to provide lighting. Not perfect but it came out largely as I'd imagined and I'll probaby enter it for the competition.

I was playing round with a home made white box style thing yesterday. A box made out of photographic paper with a couple of flourescent lights over the top propped on books. I was trying it out on fruit and ended up having this Andy Warhol inspired idea and "made" (I hesitate to say took) the following with a fair bit of Photoshop work. I'm reasonably pleased with it but the yellow of the lemon didn't come out quite how I would have liked. The source colour wasn't really contrasty enough. I might try an orange instead!

Edit: I've found it looks good in the middle of a white background and makes quite a decent desktop that way.

[DaiSuki]

Heh heh @ playmobil guy. That's class. And Warhol himself would be proud of the fruit

I seem to have taken a classic postcard image of my town this weekend...


...and this rather moodier one to balance it:

[Richard.John]

Nice pics guys. It does look like Mr.Playmobil (?)is being chased by a dildo though. LOL

The abstract fruit looks great as do Daisuki's 'postcards'.

Cracking stuff.

[Paleface]

Cheers Paleface.

I am now going to throw you a curve ball in the form of the EOS 30D. The pluses are the superior build quality in comparison to the D70s, Canon' tech edge and the fact that it has full auto and scene modes so I can hand it over to my wife and her parents for snapshots, without fear of them having a techno-jargon heart attack. LOL

It seems to tick all the right boxes and money will not be an issue so I am considering turning to the dark side, from a potential Nikon buyers point of view! Choice is good!

Choice is, indeed, good. The 30D is a lovely camera, too. I don't like the 350D much, but I've briefly used a friend's 20D, and it's gorgeous: solid metal, the big wheel on the back, lovely handling. All these cameras take great pictures, to be honest, so it comes down to features, lenses, and handling.

The Canon lenses are great, too - though the range offers a few different options to Nikon. The Nikon 18-55 is marginally better than the Canon 18-55, but you shouldn't make this decision based on crappy kit lenses! The Canon 17-85IS is a great lens, but it costs a fair bit more than the Nikon 18-70 (a "kit lens" that is, in fact, in no way crappy; the 70-200f4 is a lens I wish Nikon would make a version of; the Nikon 18-200VR is without equal. Any of these might end up on your camera, and that's before you consider all the primes.

The 20D/30D is a good camera, but I'd argue it's fairly close in spec (bar a few little features, and that extra 2MP - which means relatively little) to the D70, which, over here at least, is a lot more affordable.

Scene modes: the Nikon has these too, practically identical, and a green-mode which is full-auto point-and-shoot with no control. So that shouldn't sway you at all; you could hand a D70 to someone who'd never used an SLR, stick it on green, and they'd take nice pictures for you.

"Canon's tech edge" - not strictly true. Canon are all about the whizz-bang technology, and whilst they've come up with some nifty things - image stabilisation, for instance - these features exist on Nikon's lenses, too. In many ways, Nikon's cameras are less fiddly, less swathed in features, and more targeted at just letting you get the shot you want. My D50 has five focus points; I'm not sure, really, that having 20 would make me take better pictures, as by and large I don't shoot very, very fast moving sport, and also because I know how to use focus zones. The "tech edge" you describe often comes down to fancy frills that people have managed without for years. Yes, they're advanced, but so's everyone else. It's really just a case of differing philosophies. Nikon are less... nerdy, I guess, about their technology, than Canon.

It honestly depends which system appeals more. Go and handle them all - the 30D is a fine, fine camera. Like you, I have no previous lenses informing a decision. I went with Nikon because, for my budget, the D50 was preferable to the 30D. Were money no object, I might well have ended up with a 20D.

So: play with them both, handle them both, consider what lenses you might want now and in future, and go from there. Discussions of "dark sides" are silly - it's horses for courses, and there are times when the 20D feels just like what I'd want - the right size, the right build. As it is, I love my D50, and feel I made the right choice for me.

[Richard.John]

Paleface,

The D50 is indeed lovely. For me I think in will come down to the D70s and the 30D, I just can't decide whether I am willing to pay the twice the price for the 17-85 IS kit. Either way, thanks for your input it has been most appreciated.

[Alastair]

Peanuts, just in case you wanted to consider a nearly new D70 I've just spotted this on RLLMUK:

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?showtopic=127173

Not mine of course, thought you could save some cash and get some nice lenses.

[Richard.John]

Agent L,

I am in Japan at the mo so it's not really do able right now, but thanks anyway.

[Alastair]

https://www.nonphotographyday.com

[MartyG]

Bet the organiser takes drab photos

[Ish]

Someone should go take a picture of the organiser...

[Alastair]

That's not too far from my house actually, wouldn't it be ironic if I staked out her house and took a shot of her the minute she walks out of her door on the 17th July Non Photography day indeed!