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The Official Camera Equipment Megathread

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P

Prez

Member
Is it a good idea to get a used Canon D20 as my first camera? Less than 20,000 clicks and $40 which seems like a pretty good deal. I will combine it with a Canon 24mm 2.8 and later on I plan on getting a 40 or 50mm.
 
H

Herbs

Banned
Prez said:
Is it a good idea to get a used Canon D20 as my first camera? Less than 20,000 clicks and $40 which seems like a pretty good deal. I will combine it with a Canon 24mm 2.8 and later on I plan on getting a 40 or 50mm.
Click to expand...

do you mean 20D? and you originally wanted a good low light solution so 2.8 may not be enough for you.
 
P

Prez

Member
Herbs said:
do you mean 20D? and you originally wanted a good low light solution so 2.8 may not be enough for you.
Click to expand...

Yes I meant 20D. I've looked at photos taken with the 24mm lens and it certainly seems more than good enough for me. I'm hesitating about the Nikon 35mm because it still seems a bit too cropped, especially in small rooms. The 24mm focal length on a crop camera looks perfect.
 
H

Herbs

Banned
Prez said:
Yes I meant 20D. I've looked at photos taken with the 24mm lens and it certainly seems more than good enough for me. I'm hesitating about the Nikon 35mm because it still seems a bit too cropped, especially in small rooms. The 24mm focal length on a crop camera looks perfect.
Click to expand...

If you're looking at getting a 20D you should consider a higher aperture lens. The 20D doesn't have the best ISO which is what you'll need to use to compensate for the darker environment. To help with that, you should at least have a 2.0 lens if not a 1.8. 2.8 will limit you drastically on the 20D
 
T

TronLight

Everybody is Mikkelsexual
I will be buying my first DSLR soon, and well I'm on a budget and I know that basically the entry level ones are basically the same, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

The Canon 1200D (with the standard 18-55mm) would fall dead on the price I want to pay (350€).

But would it be wort it to shell out 50€ more for a Nikon D3200 with a 18-55mm?

Canon has more lenses (afaik) but let's be honest, I'm not in anyway capable of affording to buy a shit load of lenses so it's kind of a moot point.

Also, I have an old Olympus Zuiko OM 50mm 1.8f (from an older DSL I've been using). Can anyone reccomend a good adapter? I don't want to lose the ability to focus to infinity (I've read that some dumb adapter can cause that). Maybe even a speedbooster if it exists?
 
H

Herbs

Banned
TronLight said:
I will be buying my first DSLR soon, and well I'm on a budget and I know that basically the entry level ones are basically the same, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

The Canon 1200D (with the standard 18-55mm) would fall dead on the price I want to pay (350€).

But would it be wort it to shell out 50€ more for a Nikon D3200 with a 18-55mm?

Canon has more lenses (afaik) but let's be honest, I'm not in anyway capable of affording to buy a shit load of lenses so it's kind of a moot point.

Also, I have an old Olympus Zuiko OM 50mm 1.8f (from an older DSL I've been using). Can anyone reccomend a good adapter? I don't want to lose the ability to focus to infinity (I've read that some dumb adapter can cause that). Maybe even a speedbooster if it exists?
Click to expand...

Addressing the OM lens first, I don't think there are any Speedboosters designed for OM to EOS. As far as straight adapter you can't go wrong with Fotodiox in my experience.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/995123-REG/fotodiox_om_eos_p_pro_canon_eos_camera.html

As far as Canon versus Nikon it comes down to ergonomics. What feels better in your hands is what you should go with. Unless you are thinking further down the line in regards to lenses then Canon is better.
 
T

Ty4on

Member
Prez said:
Is it a good idea to get a used Canon D20 as my first camera? Less than 20,000 clicks and $40 which seems like a pretty good deal. I will combine it with a Canon 24mm 2.8 and later on I plan on getting a 40 or 50mm.
Click to expand...

For night photography the 20D doesn't have live view. AF doesn't work at night so you'll have to focus manually and live view is really helpful. One trick could be to focus on city lights far away and never touch the focus afterwards (unless you're taking pictures of something that is close) using back button focus.

Night photography also benefits from good high ISO performance. If you want pictures of the night sky don't want star trails you'll need a reasonably wide and fast lens and good ISO performance. You can still get usable shots through stacking, but the worse the low light performance the more work you have to do.

For taking shots of the city at night here's DPReview's long exposure part of the 20D review. Hot pixels can be an issue in those older DSLRs.

If you can find some cheap glass though it's probably a nice and cheap way of getting into photography. If you like it you can buy a higher end Canon body with the features you want or switch system and sell your old gear (lenses hold their value much better than camera bodies). I'm not sure what the price is, but if you can find an old 18-55 for a low price then that is probably a nice starter lens. They're not great for low light, but very cheap and get the job done.
Herbs said:
Addressing the OM lens first, I don't think there are any Speedboosters designed for OM to EOS. As far as straight adapter you can't go wrong with Fotodiox in my experience.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/995123-REG/fotodiox_om_eos_p_pro_canon_eos_camera.html
Click to expand...
You can't make a speedbooster for an SLR mount. No space for the optics.
 
P

Prez

Member
Herbs said:
If you're looking at getting a 20D you should consider a higher aperture lens. The 20D doesn't have the best ISO which is what you'll need to use to compensate for the darker environment. To help with that, you should at least have a 2.0 lens if not a 1.8. 2.8 will limit you drastically on the 20D
Click to expand...

Ty4on said:
For night photography the 20D doesn't have live view. AF doesn't work at night so you'll have to focus manually and live view is really helpful. One trick could be to focus on city lights far away and never touch the focus afterwards (unless you're taking pictures of something that is close) using back button focus.

Night photography also benefits from good high ISO performance. If you want pictures of the night sky don't want star trails you'll need a reasonably wide and fast lens and good ISO performance. You can still get usable shots through stacking, but the worse the low light performance the more work you have to do.

For taking shots of the city at night here's DPReview's long exposure part of the 20D review. Hot pixels can be an issue in those older DSLRs.

If you can find some cheap glass though it's probably a nice and cheap way of getting into photography. If you like it you can buy a higher end Canon body with the features you want or switch system and sell your old gear (lenses hold their value much better than camera bodies). I'm not sure what the price is, but if you can find an old 18-55 for a low price then that is probably a nice starter lens. They're not great for low light, but very cheap and get the job done.

You can't make a speedbooster for an SLR mount. No space for the optics.
Click to expand...

All of this is good to know, thanks. Though I think I might just deal with the limitations since canon doesn't have a good prime lens with 1.8 aperture for <$200 and Nikon doesn't have any cheap prime between 24 and 30mm and I can see 35mm getting annoying for indoor shooting on a crop camera.

So far a Canon 20D + 24mm prime for $200 looks like the best deal for me to start out but I'll check to see if I can find something better.
 
T

Ty4on

Member
Prez said:
All of this is good to know, thanks. Though I think I might just deal with the limitations since canon doesn't have a good prime lens with 1.8 aperture for <$200 and Nikon doesn't have any cheap prime between 24 and 30mm and I can see 35mm getting annoying for indoor shooting on a crop camera.

So far a Canon 20D + 24mm prime for $200 looks like the best deal for me to start out.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it always comes down to the lenses. You should be able to find a Canon 50 f1.8 for less than 100 on the used market. Any model will do, the older models without STM are just a bit noisy while focusing.
 
H

Herbs

Banned
Prez said:
All of this is good to know, thanks. Though I think I might just deal with the limitations since canon doesn't have a good prime lens with 1.8 aperture for <$200 and Nikon doesn't have any cheap prime between 24 and 30mm and I can see 35mm getting annoying for indoor shooting on a crop camera.

So far a Canon 20D + 24mm prime for $200 looks like the best deal for me to start out but I'll check to see if I can find something better.
Click to expand...

what are you wanting to take pictures of?
 
T

TronLight

Everybody is Mikkelsexual
Herbs said:
Addressing the OM lens first, I don't think there are any Speedboosters designed for OM to EOS. As far as straight adapter you can't go wrong with Fotodiox in my experience.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/995123-REG/fotodiox_om_eos_p_pro_canon_eos_camera.html

As far as Canon versus Nikon it comes down to ergonomics. What feels better in your hands is what you should go with. Unless you are thinking further down the line in regards to lenses then Canon is better.
Click to expand...

Honestly I wanted to spend... way less than that for the adapter ahah.
I saw this one http://www.amazon.it/dp/B00OOJ8C7G/

Can't find any review on the specific model but the brand seems to be decent for the price.

I'm planning on keeping the camera for long, I mean, I'm not gonna change after 2 or 3 years...
 
R

RuGalz

Member
TronLight said:
I will be buying my first DSLR soon, and well I'm on a budget and I know that basically the entry level ones are basically the same, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

The Canon 1200D (with the standard 18-55mm) would fall dead on the price I want to pay (350€).

But would it be wort it to shell out 50€ more for a Nikon D3200 with a 18-55mm?

Canon has more lenses (afaik) but let's be honest, I'm not in anyway capable of affording to buy a shit load of lenses so it's kind of a moot point.
Click to expand...

If high iso performance matters, Nikon would be a better choice.
 
H

Herbs

Banned
TronLight said:
I don't know if I'm going to shoot much in low light. I mean, it might happen, but I want something generally well rounded.
Click to expand...

it doesn't matter and isn't that much of a difference. seriously, I can't express enough that at that price point it comes down to ergonomics. you can't do wrong with either really. go the store and handle both of them and see what feels better. check the location of buttons etc.

People get bogged down in the versus battle when it's pretty simple for the lower end models. When you get into the higher end stuff is when the little things start to add up and inform your purchase.

Go for the K&F. i use them for my XT-1.
 
T

TronLight

Everybody is Mikkelsexual
Herbs said:
it doesn't matter and isn't that much of a difference. seriously, I can't express enough that at that price point it comes down to ergonomics. you can't do wrong with either really. go the store and handle both of them and see what feels better. check the location of buttons etc.

People get bogged down in the versus battle when it's pretty simple for the lower end models. When you get into the higher end stuff is when the little things start to add up and inform your purchase.

Go for the K&F. i use them for my XT-1.
Click to expand...

Thank you. :)

Just to be sure, did you see the edit about the other Fotodiox adapter? I can spend 10€ if it's worth it.
 
P

Prez

Member
Herbs said:
what are you wanting to take pictures of?
Click to expand...

Some street photography, both in daylight and in the early evening, some in the late evening/night which will be tougher but I can limit myself to streets that are well lit. I also want to take pics indoors without flash, for example in bars, one better lit than the other but I'd rather capture the whole atmosphere than focus on an object/person so the lens should be wide enough and 35mm might not be sufficient on a crop camera. Also pictures of friends and family and the occasional group picture but with plenty of room to capture the background.

I've compared street and indoor photography taken with 24-28mm and 35-40mm lenses on Flickr and the former better suit my needs.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Herbs said:
it doesn't matter and isn't that much of a difference. seriously, I can't express enough that at that price point it comes down to ergonomics. you can't do wrong with either really. go the store and handle both of them and see what feels better. check the location of buttons etc.

People get bogged down in the versus battle when it's pretty simple for the lower end models. When you get into the higher end stuff is when the little things start to add up and inform your purchase.

Go for the K&F. i use them for my XT-1.
Click to expand...

This.

I literally went into a local camera store and played around with both canon and Nikon, and went for canon because I preferred how it felt in the hand - the Nikon dials felt oddly positioned to me, and turned the 'wrong' way for my liking. This was way back with the 350d and was it the D90? I bought the 350d
 
H

Herbs

Banned
TronLight said:
Thank you very much again!
Click to expand...

No problem, good luck, and if you can get the book Understanding Exposure. This was the single most important thing I purchased when I started out.

edit:
Though, I realize if you're adapting lenses then you don't need to know the basics so nvm, haha
 
R

RuGalz

Member
Yea I agree how it feels is important; if it weren't I wouldn't be with Pentax. But if they feel similar to the user, Nikon any day. The dynamic range differences is just too big now to simply write it off imo.
 
H

Herbs

Banned
RuGalz said:
Yea I agree how it feels is important; if it weren't I wouldn't be with Pentax. But if they feel similar to the user, Nikon any day. The dynamic range differences is just too big now to simply write it off imo.
Click to expand...

And the Canon lenses tower over Nikon's meager offerings. Both have their benefits and those benefits matter to the individual user and at the lower end it doesn't matter. It's just that simple.
 
T

TronLight

Everybody is Mikkelsexual
Herbs said:
No problem, good luck, and if you can get the book Understanding Exposure. This was the single most important thing I purchased when I started out.

edit:
Though, I realize if you're adapting lenses then you don't need to know the basics so nvm, haha
Click to expand...

No no I need to learn them haha.
The Olympus 50mm comes from my mother's old SLR, which I used for a bit but I didn't really experiment with much. Took some decent pics but nothing special. (Because developing film it's slow and expensive sadly).

I mean I know some of the theory (how f/stops, aperture and exposition works, focal lenght) but I don't have much experience yet. Thank you for the suggestion, I'll be sure to check the book out.
 
R

RuGalz

Member
Herbs said:
And the Canon lenses tower over Nikon's meager offerings. Both have their benefits and those benefits matter to the individual user and at the lower end it doesn't matter. It's just that simple.
Click to expand...

Who cares about how big a lens ecosystem is if all you need is find one for the category you need? The number doesn't mean anything. The lower end does matter now when an entry level D3200 can outdo 5DM3 in dynamic range at base iso by more than 1 stop. It may not matter for well planned shots. It does come in handy when you need to rescue photos.
 
H

Herbs

Banned
RuGalz said:
Who cares about how big a lens ecosystem is if all you need is find one for the category you need? The number doesn't mean anything. The lower end does matter now when an entry level D3200 can outdo 5DM3 in dynamic range at base iso by more than 1 stop. It may not matter for well planned shots. It does come in handy when you need to rescue photos.
Click to expand...

See kids, this is an example of why you don't get into arguments over gear. Amateurs thinks they have to have the bigger dick measuring with their gear, while pros sit back and laugh. Good luck in here the turd has come to roost.
 
R

RuGalz

Member
Herbs said:
See kids, this is an example of why you don't get into arguments over gear. Amateurs thinks they have to have the bigger dick measuring with their gear, while pros sit back and laugh. Good luck in here the turd has come to roost.
Click to expand...

Lol you must have forgotten to take a pill.
 
T

Ty4on

Member
JadedWriter said:
Is there an exact reason why it's hard to find APS-C lenses with image stabilization at F1.4 to 1.8?
Click to expand...
Fast and stabilized lenses in general are quite rare. I think it's because the OIS element has to be quite large as there are no small elements.

Canon's stabilized 50 f1.8 has been rumored for a long time and Sony has one for e-mount.
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
TronLight said:
I will be buying my first DSLR soon, and well I'm on a budget and I know that basically the entry level ones are basically the same, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

The Canon 1200D (with the standard 18-55mm) would fall dead on the price I want to pay (350€).

But would it be wort it to shell out 50€ more for a Nikon D3200 with a 18-55mm?

Canon has more lenses (afaik) but let's be honest, I'm not in anyway capable of affording to buy a shit load of lenses so it's kind of a moot point.

Also, I have an old Olympus Zuiko OM 50mm 1.8f (from an older DSL I've been using). Can anyone reccomend a good adapter? I don't want to lose the ability to focus to infinity (I've read that some dumb adapter can cause that). Maybe even a speedbooster if it exists?
Click to expand...

At the entry level, it doesn't really matter which brand you go with. Any DSLR used or new made within the last 6 years + that brand's 50mm f1.8 prime lens is the best mix of price and performance IMO.
 
hitsugi

hitsugi

Member
H3XAntiStyle said:
Aren't all of Sonys primes OSS? IIRC they have a 1.8 OSS at both 50 and 35. I think maybe the 16 isn't OSS though...
Click to expand...

You're correct. They're also not too terribly priced, but I'm honestly disappointed with the 35mm. The 24mm is where it's at.. for triple the price.
 
P

Prez

Member
Rentahamster said:
At the entry level, it doesn't really matter which brand you go with. Any DSLR used or new made within the last 6 years + that brand's 50mm f1.8 prime lens is the best mix of price and performance IMO.
Click to expand...

I almost considered a 50mm lens but it is too cropped for general purpose imo. Great in combination with a 28 or 35mm though.
 
C

captive

Joe Six-Pack: posting for the common man
Herbs said:
See kids, this is an example of why you don't get into arguments over gear. Amateurs thinks they have to have the bigger dick measuring with their gear, while pros sit back and laugh. Good luck in here the turd has come to roost.
Click to expand...

I think you need to take a gander at the photography thread, RuGalz is anything but an amateur.


Also the amount of lenses a manufacturer has is meaningless to the person, as the person is only likely to own 2-4 lenses. To the public its meaningful to attracting a more people as different people have different needs and wants for lenses.
 
A

Astral/H3X

Member
captive said:
I think you need to take a gander at the photography thread, RuGalz is anything but an amateur.


Also the amount of lenses a manufacturer has is meaningless to the person, as the person is only likely to own 2-4 lenses. To the public its meaningful to attracting a more people as different people have different needs and wants for lenses.
Click to expand...

This has been my opinion on the matter. I use only a small handful of lenses on a regular basis, and only one of them is even a native eMount lens. I didn't choose the a6000 because of the lenses, I chose it because of the body, which has been awesome.

As long as you can get the lenses you need, who gives a shit?
 
O

Orkidea

Member
Does anyone know if the Benro C38F Monopod

c38f_1.jpg


Works with another base like this instead?

71pJPcbQ1SL._SX355_.jpg
 
T

Ty4on

Member
NysGAF said:
I have wife approval, so if any of you notice a nice deal on a 5D classic, please let me know.
Click to expand...

Prices seem much closer to 500 than 300. I was thinking converted to my own currency when I said sub 300 :/

KEH prices don't look much worse than Ebay and if you're in the US you can return it if you don't like the condition it is in. You could get some extras on Ebay (and I guess craigslist and similar) listings like a battery grip, extra batteries or memory cards.
 
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