Solideliquid
Member
Can someone please tell me what would be the best DSLR camera for an amateur photographer (good quality pictures, not too hard to use)? Thanks !!
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The Official Camera Equipment Megathread
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CrushDance
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This as well please.Solideliquid said:
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Surprisingly, pure image quality isn't as tiered as features in a camera. Canon would and does trump their higher end cameras, as far as image sensors in their lower line of cameras when its refreshed (if the tech is there). The higher price points come down to usability (button layouts, interface, quality of the viewfinder etc) and other features that aren't hinged on the pure IQ of an image. So basically rest assured that even that $800 Rebel can still churn out amazing photos in comparison to similar cameras (and I mean similar in regards to the size of the sensor itself. So similar cameras would be the Rebel Line, the XXD line and the 7D).
If you're considering Canon, just get whatever current Rebel is out. If you want to buy used, you can check out my photostream ( Here ) to see what a five year old DSLR can do (a Rebel XT/350D). Also don't get too hung on the latest and greatest, when it comes down to it the quality of a photo, in digital or film, is dependent on the quality of light or subject, nothing else.
If you're considering Canon, just get whatever current Rebel is out. If you want to buy used, you can check out my photostream ( Here ) to see what a five year old DSLR can do (a Rebel XT/350D). Also don't get too hung on the latest and greatest, when it comes down to it the quality of a photo, in digital or film, is dependent on the quality of light or subject, nothing else.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Alucrid said:
Not too sure about the video aspect on DSLRs but the 60D looks to be more of a hybrid of a still camera and video camera than any of the current Canon DSLRs. The articulating screen alone should be very helpful. Not bad considering its only around $1000. You could probably get by with a Rebel T2i but thats only a price difference of $300 or so.
Not sure if this link will work for you but here's a comparison table between the Canon Rebel 550D (T2i), 60D and 7D...
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp
Best is very subjective. I eventually decided to go with a Nikon D3100 (it was between this and the Canon T2i). The one advantage the Nikon has over the T2i is autofocus while taking video, but from what I have read neithers video is anything to get overly excited about.Solideliquid said:
I have been using it for a few weeks and have had some awesome pictures (and honestly some horrible ones as well as I get used to how to use the camera). I got a reasonably good deal on it and got it with a 18-55mm lens kit for I believe $580 on Tigerdirect.com. The T2i is a few hundred more, but it does have some more features (more megapixels and an input for audio come to mind immediately).
As noted in my previous post, I was torn between the 60D and 7D. I was upgrading from a 20D though. I decided on the 60D when I figured that the features and $600 price difference didn't appeal to a hobbyist like me. I would definitely recommend the 60D if you can afford the $300 difference. The 60D feels a lot sturdier, with a bigger grip. I am iffy about the buttons... the "d-pad" on the back kind of sucks, and I'm getting used to the button placement, but its nothing you can't get used to. Love the articulating screen though.Alucrid said:
Bought the kit with the lens since that's all they stock at Best Buy (2 yr no interest financing :-D), and didn't want to wait for the body only SKU to arrive in mid-January from their site.
Was going to sell the kit lens (18-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS) since I have a 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM I've been using, but wow, I think the kit lens is better. Any reason for me not to keep the kit lens and ditch the 28-105mm?
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interested in getting into dslr territory. Thinking of one of the following:
Canon Rebel XS
Nikon D3100
Nikon D5000
what I'd like to do is be able to take good quality pictures of my son, plus some macro photography, depth of field stuff, etc. I'd also like to be able to take night sky shots.
Which of these would be the best, in your opinion? or is there something else in the $5-600 range? Going much further over $600 would be tough. Also I'd be using the kit lens for a while, until I can afford something else/get used to what I'm doing.
Canon Rebel XS
Nikon D3100
Nikon D5000
what I'd like to do is be able to take good quality pictures of my son, plus some macro photography, depth of field stuff, etc. I'd also like to be able to take night sky shots.
Which of these would be the best, in your opinion? or is there something else in the $5-600 range? Going much further over $600 would be tough. Also I'd be using the kit lens for a while, until I can afford something else/get used to what I'm doing.
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the ones i mentioned are on sale on amazon right now (most expensive is the d5000 at $629 which is doable). Would it be worth the extra money to go for the d5000?bionic77 said:
The_Inquisitor
Member
sarcastor said:
just bought a used 5dc + my two month old (but used) 70-200mm f/2.8 shot with a Rebel Xsi and 50mm f/1.8. Speaking of which, anyone want to buy a slightly used Rebel Xsi?
Congrats! I shoot a f/4L 70-200mm. Absolutely stunning lens. Planning on selling mine when I graduate and getting the IS version.
Agent Ironside
Member
Alright, so I have a Canon T2i, atm im using the Canon 1.4 50mm lens and the kit lens, looking for a decent wide angle, low aperture lens, preferably with some sort of IS and under 500 if at all possible, any suggestions?
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Bought a Nikkor 28mm f/2 AI lens off of KEH for $225. A shot of the lens but not by me (pulled from Google images)...
Can't wait to get it Wednesday. I'll probably shoot some available light photos for New Years with this lens. From what I've seen it has fantastic bokeh rendition for a wide angle, is very contrasty when stopped down to f/2.8 and beyond (loses contrast at f/2 but still has good resolution), has fantastic colors and finally is equipped with Nikons CRC (Close-Range Correction) which is basically their term for "floating elements". This allows for better closeup performance which makes it a great general lens (from Minimum Focus Distance to Infinity).
Can't wait to get it Wednesday. I'll probably shoot some available light photos for New Years with this lens. From what I've seen it has fantastic bokeh rendition for a wide angle, is very contrasty when stopped down to f/2.8 and beyond (loses contrast at f/2 but still has good resolution), has fantastic colors and finally is equipped with Nikons CRC (Close-Range Correction) which is basically their term for "floating elements". This allows for better closeup performance which makes it a great general lens (from Minimum Focus Distance to Infinity).
Finally getting around to rounding out the studio equipment. Got a bunch of light modifiers (soft boxes, strip boxes, beauty dish, background shovel, snoot, grids, etc) and a set of Pocketwizard Plus II's... I'm so happy to be completely untethered (unless I'm tethering to Aperture because the EyeFi is too slow, but that is a different story).
Now, once they become available do I spring for a Pocketwizard MiniTT1 for Nikon? Or do I just save the $ and deal with the obnoxiously large Plus II in the hotshoe? Decisions decisions!
Now, once they become available do I spring for a Pocketwizard MiniTT1 for Nikon? Or do I just save the $ and deal with the obnoxiously large Plus II in the hotshoe? Decisions decisions!
Agent Ironside said:
I don't think there's any wide fast prime with IS. If you want something a little tighter than the 50mm, consider the Sigma 30/1.4 or the Canon 28/1.8.
Don't bother with getting a wide angle prime @ 2.8, because you're better off opting for the Canon 17-55/2.8 (roughly 1k$, the cost of both the two primes above. AND has IS to boot!)
POWERSPHERE
Member
Tokina 11-16 2.8. I got it with a sigma 1.4 30mm with my canon 550d. Beautiful lens in my opinion, and a great companion to the sigma.Agent Ironside said:
I got the 550d mainly for video as I make film clips, and also love photography and want to learn more aboutusing an SLR. Great camera! My girlfriend has a Nikon 700d and whilst I'd love to go FF, this crop is a great place to learn.
The 720p double speed is nice for slow mo, the video really is awesome on it.
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decided to go with a d3100 from amazon. $599, not bad, plus no tax
I got a 8gb class 4 sdhc card, will that be sufficient? New to the whole dslr thing.
I got a 8gb class 4 sdhc card, will that be sufficient? New to the whole dslr thing.
Size wise you are fine, but that card might be on the slow side if you try to shoot video with it. Off the top of my head I believe they recommended class 6 and above for shooting video?JodyAnthony said:
I got this class 10 card for the same camera and have not had any problems yet.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VNKNEG/?tag=neogaf0e-20
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just realized I have an 8gb class 6 in my dsi. I'll just switch the two.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Zyzyxxz said:
Sucks about the metering. One reason I'm happy I went with Canon is due to the average quality stop down metering. Don't think I would have gone down the alt lens path if I had bought a Nikon.
Witchfinder General
punched Wheelchair Mike
I got a Nikon D3100 for my birthday the other week and I'm loving the hell out of it.
You know a camera is good when you spend an hour taking dozens of photos of a fly:
You know a camera is good when you spend an hour taking dozens of photos of a fly:
Jayayess1190
Member
Instigator
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Jayayess1190 said:
Sounds like a moderate update. Hopefully, they'll think to include an orientation sensor in the thing. :lol
Did you take the picture with the kit lens? No way in hell that I could take a picture like that of a fly with my Nikon D3100 + kit lens unless the fly in question was huge. :lolWitchfinder General said:I got a Nikon D3100 for my birthday the other week and I'm loving the hell out of it.
You know a camera is good when you spend an hour taking dozens of photos of a fly:
Witchfinder General
punched Wheelchair Mike
Danielsan said:
Yup, the standard 18-55 lens that came with the camera. Keep in the mind the picture has been cropped as there's no way the standard lens can fill the viewfinder with a fly.
POWERSPHERE
Member
It's a hot lens! Great for video, too. I just import it all directly off the card, no transcoding till it's edited in FCP or AE.spindoc said:
I love this camera a lot!
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Just got my Nikon 28mm f/2 AI lens. One word "Amazing". I freaking fell in love with it from the moment I laid eyes on it. Some preliminary non-artsy shots. Just testing out stopped down performance at or near Infinity and two low light shots at Minimum Focus Distance and wide open (f/2).
*The IQ of these shots seem to be compromised a little bit by the image host I'm using to post them
Here are the stopped down shots @f/5.6...
Here are the low light shots (at f/2 at around 1/30s handheld ISO800, so true sharpness is probably being effected here due to handshake at this shutter speed)...
One thing that popped out at me first, this lens provides a lot of contrast. Even wide open. Stopped down its almost too contrasty (as seen in the first two photos). I'm not used to this high a contrast in a lens. Also I've read that it loses a bit of the contrast wide open but I'm not seeing that indoors. It does have a bit of a glow wide open, probably spherical aberrations but its still very, very sharp and still more contrasty than my own Zeiss 50/1.7 at f/2.
On the sharpness, the first Christmas bulb shot should be enough to speak on that matter. That shot is wide open and at the lenses closest focus. Jesus! Nikon's CRC is working some magic here. Stopped down its just sharp all over. I like the look I'm getting from this lens stopped down and at larger distances. I'll probably be using it constantly for the next few days so I'll be exploring how it performs in this situation ('cause I'm already sure that its phenomenal at near to mid distances).
Colors. They're pleasing. They almost have that "pure" look that I like from the Zeiss but not too matter of fact as the Zeiss is, there's a punchiness to the colors. From the preliminary shots I'm finding that I like the colors it produces.
The bokeh looks a little funky but what should one expect from a fast wide angle? All I know is that the specular lights it produces are pretty nice. I took a quick shot of the christmas tree totally out of focus and liked what I had seen. I'll try some thin Depth of Field photos throughout the coming days and see how much I really like it.
The build quality is fantastic. It has a great amount of heft in my hand. Its also mostly all metal with a rubber focus ring (and aperture ring). The focus action is on the smooth side to a little stiff but I like that vs. a ring that moves too easily. The aperture ring clicks are very solid. They're not smooth like my Zeiss 50/1.7 but theres a solidness to the way they click thats pleasant.
But all in all, very happy with this purchase.
*The IQ of these shots seem to be compromised a little bit by the image host I'm using to post them
Here are the stopped down shots @f/5.6...
Here are the low light shots (at f/2 at around 1/30s handheld ISO800, so true sharpness is probably being effected here due to handshake at this shutter speed)...
One thing that popped out at me first, this lens provides a lot of contrast. Even wide open. Stopped down its almost too contrasty (as seen in the first two photos). I'm not used to this high a contrast in a lens. Also I've read that it loses a bit of the contrast wide open but I'm not seeing that indoors. It does have a bit of a glow wide open, probably spherical aberrations but its still very, very sharp and still more contrasty than my own Zeiss 50/1.7 at f/2.
On the sharpness, the first Christmas bulb shot should be enough to speak on that matter. That shot is wide open and at the lenses closest focus. Jesus! Nikon's CRC is working some magic here. Stopped down its just sharp all over. I like the look I'm getting from this lens stopped down and at larger distances. I'll probably be using it constantly for the next few days so I'll be exploring how it performs in this situation ('cause I'm already sure that its phenomenal at near to mid distances).
Colors. They're pleasing. They almost have that "pure" look that I like from the Zeiss but not too matter of fact as the Zeiss is, there's a punchiness to the colors. From the preliminary shots I'm finding that I like the colors it produces.
The bokeh looks a little funky but what should one expect from a fast wide angle? All I know is that the specular lights it produces are pretty nice. I took a quick shot of the christmas tree totally out of focus and liked what I had seen. I'll try some thin Depth of Field photos throughout the coming days and see how much I really like it.
The build quality is fantastic. It has a great amount of heft in my hand. Its also mostly all metal with a rubber focus ring (and aperture ring). The focus action is on the smooth side to a little stiff but I like that vs. a ring that moves too easily. The aperture ring clicks are very solid. They're not smooth like my Zeiss 50/1.7 but theres a solidness to the way they click thats pleasant.
But all in all, very happy with this purchase.
phisheep
NeoGAF's Chief Barrister
Well, I finally bit the bullet on buying a DSLR - off to pick up a 550D (Rebel T2i) in a few hours.
Crazy variation in prices on this. With the 18-55 kit lens prices range from £699 (Comet instore) to £649 (Jessops) to £620 (Amazon/John Lewis online).
But, for any UK GAFfers, it is worth going to a John Lewis store. Instore price is only £599. So that's where I'll be at about 10:30 this morning.
EDIT: Woohoo! Got it! John Lewis rang me at 11:30 to say the delivery hadn't come in and not to bother making th journey - but the reason they couldn't find it it was I had already picked it up an hour earlier!
Takes an age to charge the battery though.
Crazy variation in prices on this. With the 18-55 kit lens prices range from £699 (Comet instore) to £649 (Jessops) to £620 (Amazon/John Lewis online).
But, for any UK GAFfers, it is worth going to a John Lewis store. Instore price is only £599. So that's where I'll be at about 10:30 this morning.
EDIT: Woohoo! Got it! John Lewis rang me at 11:30 to say the delivery hadn't come in and not to bother making th journey - but the reason they couldn't find it it was I had already picked it up an hour earlier!
Takes an age to charge the battery though.
bean breath
Member
Jayayess1190 said:
reggieandTFE
Member
bean breath said:Here's another shot of it in silver with a macro spotlight accessory. I've been eyeing the epl-1 for a while but I think I'm going to hold off until the e-pl2 comes out.
Yeah, it looks like they combined the nice grip of the E-pl1 with the all-metal body of the E-p1 and 2. In the micro 4/3 realm I'm still most excited about Panasonic's 25mm/1.4; I can't wait until it's formally announced.
Got rid of my old 50D and replaced it with 7D.
Here is a shot with 24-70 2.8 lens testing out some higher ISO setting using 2000.
Next I will have to test out some new video feature in the camera.
I wish I had higher funds to get a Canon 70-200 2.8 US ISM MKII lens along with the camera.
Here is a shot with 24-70 2.8 lens testing out some higher ISO setting using 2000.
Next I will have to test out some new video feature in the camera.
I wish I had higher funds to get a Canon 70-200 2.8 US ISM MKII lens along with the camera.
Instigator
Banned
captive said:
I don't see it...
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
spats said:
I've never used a UV filter. Sure there's always the chance of ruining your lens by having something smash into the front element but its like wrapping your car in styrofoam just to protect it but it impedes performance. Just be careful, don't have to baby it but don't be reckless with the lens.
But there is another way. Just get a lens hood. It'll make it harder for the front element to be poked or smashed into and the lens hood will help protect against flaring when shooting in tough lighting situations (directly into the sun, on cloudy days etc). Generally it'll prevent the type of flaring that causes specks of color being reflected from the element from appearing in your photos and the other type of flaring (veiling flare) that drops the photos contrast.
Unlimited4s
Member
So, as I (hopefully) will travel a lot in the next couple of years I'm thinking about tagging my photos with GPS data on my 550d.
Does anyone here have a GPS module? If so, is it worth it?
Does anyone here have a GPS module? If so, is it worth it?
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