The Photography Thread

[Mamimikun]

Santa has giving me a Cannon Rebel T2i and this is my real first nice cam, would anyone be willing to give me some tips of what to do or not to do lol?

[miokomioko]

Canned air is fine as long as you're holding the point of spray like a foot away from the sensor. Point-blank (or close to it) is how you fuck shit up.

Santa has giving me a Cannon Rebel T2i and this is my real first nice cam, would anyone be willing to give me some tips of what to do or not to do lol?

Hmm... don't drop it, don't get it wet... heh. I don't know what to say other than don't use the on-board flash because it's ugly! :3

Just start with using either shutter-priority or aperture-priority settings so you'll generally get a good exposure and have some control of your depth-of-field and/or shutter-drag.

[Zansho]

go to www.strobist.com if you want to learn a bit about off camera lighting - nice information there.

go to http://photography-on-the.net/forum/index.php - it's a Canon forum that has tons of info about cameras, techniques, and tons of other stuff.

Other than that, don't drop your camera, don't shoot in P mode (if it was up to me, that mode would be bansticked -.-) and take the time to learn how to shoot in manual. Shutter priority and Aperture priority is good too, as long as you understand the relationships and differences between them.

[Mamimikun]

So this is my first picture with the rebel t2i Its been raining in LA so havent taken it outside

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...58/bags008.jpg

[Fhqwghads]

It's a start. Learning the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO are the fundamental concepts you need to wrap your head around. They're all basically related to controlling light, and light is what makes a picture. In a nutshell, shutter speed controls how much light hits the sensor via how long the sensor is exposed to light, aperture controls how much light hits the sensor via how wide the hole opens up which lets the light in, and ISO controls how much light hits the sensor via how sensitive the sensor is. It's a matter of balancing out this triad based on the environment and results you're looking to capture while maintaining a good exposure that typically takes people lots of practice to get comfortable with. Luckily with a digital camera you can practice to your heart's content, since the only thing you'll be consuming is battery life.

After that you can move on to lighting techniques, composition, and other subjects that will help you take a great photo.

Speaking of photos, here's one of a few I took the other day of my wife cosplaying as Ivan from "Priest":



Scene is purposefully lit from below to enhance the creepy factor (Ivan is supposed to be a dead guy.)

[Doombear]

Also, by most accounts I've read, the 60D is shit. Don't consider it.

Wondering if any of the more recent reviews have swayed you off of this opinion? I am just curious. It is getting far more praise after the initial fervor died down when the camera was not the successor to the 50D that people were hoping it was going to be.

[Zansho]

One of the biggest things that turned me off from the 60D is this - it uses SD cards. I HATE those little cards with a passion, even though now I use them on my 1D Mark IIN for writing backup files in addition to the main CF card.

It's a pretty good camera, to be frank - and definitely a lot better than the rebel line. ISO handling is pretty amazing (although, it won't be on par with a 5DII or a 7D), and it's a quick camera. I just don't like the SD card setup, at all.

IF it had a CF card setup, I'd pick one up and sell my backup 40D.

[Doombear]

Brain dump inc...

I have put a LOT of time lately into which of the EOS line to go with. Initially I was looking at a 40D/50D as that was months ago, with the 7D being a bit out my current price range (I want $ for glass too). As the 60D info came out as well as the actual camera the initial impressions were a lot of whining. A lot of 'well this sucks, it TOTALLY isn't a real successor to the 50D' and most people initially wrote it off. In the last month however I think people have had more time to really use the camera and I for one have been torn between it and a 7D for a few months.

I will be making my purchase in the next few weeks though, and the 60D is really coming out on top. I have held both cameras and they both feel nice. I wouldn't say my hands are huge but I do hate that the feel of the rebels tiny/short grip and the way your pinky finger doesn't fit on the grip. Silly? Maybe, but that is what it is. At this point, I just don't think I will use the 7D to its full potential, and I would be spending another $600 for a lot of features I will not use. Namely, the speed is not something that I need. I will not be shooting BIF or sports and the better AF tracking and more points are not going to be of much use to me. I will not be shooting rapidly so the higher fps isn't something I need.

I love the ease at which I can change the focusing screens on the 60. I don't mind SD cards at all, as my laptop (and most these days) has a built in reader. The grip and heft of the 60D is much better than the Rebel line in my hands. While the 60D only has 9 AF points they are ALL cross type points unlike the rebel where the only cross type AF point is the center point. For me it comes down to the things that the 60D does amazingly and the things that the 7D does that I will not use.

Now, let the sales begin. Sadly I missed a 10% off 1-day special at Newegg... but I am sure I see something somewhere else soon enough. Now I just need to figure out what lens I want to start with. As I will be doing mostly portraiture and art prints the following lenses are what I am looking at so far:

• Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM - My lady has the 50mm 1.8, and it is a bargain lens no doubt. Cheap plastic and you either love it or hate. For those of us that can't get L glass or the 50mm 1.4 though, it is worth having (and taking care of due to its very plastic nature). This would be a more 'true' 50mm for a crop sensor for me.

• Tamron AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di-II LD SP ZL Aspherical (IF) - both this and the next are a better replacement for the kit lens I would be doing without. The 60D usually comes with the 18-135 or the 18-200 and both are a little more than I would need.

• Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM FLD

• Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM - I keep coming back to this one. Even though on a crop sensor it would mean that it is more akin to a 135mm lens... the softness it can give me wide open is something I am drawn to. Perhaps this and the Sigma/Tokina.

All this said... would I love a 5D MkII? Fuck yes. Would I love to have a 24-70L, a 16-35L or good lord my dream lens the 85mm 1.2L? Fuck yes. Right now though, this is not the source of income that it may become. I need to be realistic rather than let my desire for the shiny (and yes, better) things distract me from reality.

Anyway, yeah... this has been pretty much all my brain has been doing for the last few months. Sorry for the massive text spill.

[Kkel]

I have an EOS 60D and I absolutely love it. I haven't really pushed it as much as I probably could (I don't use in-camera RAW editing, or special effects, or any of the pre-set shooting modes, etc, since I do everything in post with Lightroom and Photoshop), but it has exceeded my expectations. The huge selling points for me were price for what you get and SD over CF. The articulating LCD has served a ton of great purposes, including making it really easy to shoot self portraits.

My brother shoots on a 7D, but he primarily shoots video where as I shoot mostly photos. The 60D is endlessly compared to the 7D, the same way the 7D is endlessly compared to the 5D MkII. For what I shoot though, the 60D is perfect.

I haven't shot much on the kit EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS since the first lens I bought was an EF 50mm f/1.8 II. Awesome starter lens, especially for the $95 is cost. My brother loaned me his EF 50mm f/1.4 USM though and I loved it. It will probably be my next lens purchase. I also usually carry a EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM and an EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, both for their selective purposes (macro and wide angle).

The lens I shoot on most though is an EF 28mm f/1.8 USM. It scales to just about 45mm with the 60D's crop, so it's worked out beautifully for a lot of what I shoot.

[Doombear]

Excellent, thanks Kkel. I am all but certain I will be going with the 60D. I will agree that the 50mm 1.8 is a great lens for the price. I would also recommend that anyone on a budget grab that and take care of it. It is currently rising a bit in price, now around 135 or so but it does fluctuate. I think I would LIKE to start with the 85mm 1.8 and one other lens. I just can't decide if I want to go for a 17-50 or maybe the Canon 28mm or Sigma 30mm... I figure I have about 2-3 more weeks to decide though, so we will see. Thanks again for the input Kkel. For what it is worth I hear that the 60D loses nothing compared to the 7D's video capabilities and if you use custom OS, well Magic Lantern OS is just about ready for 60D anyway.

[Zansho]

Out of all of those you mentioned, I would ask you to think about what kind of a shooter are you?

Shooting with prime lenses (fixed focal lengths) requires a different kind of mindset than shooting with zooms, and you would have to compensate by manually zooming your "body" instead of using the lens' focus to zoom in/out.

Prime lenses offer several advantages - they're generally faster (meaning, bigger apertures/f-stops) than zooms, are sharper than zooms (generally speaking), and can do bokeh like nobody's business, especially the 1.4 and 1.2 range. I have an 85mm 1.2 for my Canons, and it's AMAZING. Is it nice? Yes - however, I wouldn't tell a serious amateur (non professional) to spend their money on it, when an 85mm 1.8 performs more than adequately for their needs. 50mm 1.4 from Sigma and Canon are both good, and you might even want to look into getting some old Zeiss lenses and have them adapted to fit your 60D, they're beautiful in color rendition and sharpness.

Zooms, however - give you versatility. You can cover a wide range of focal lengths, not have to switch lenses and possibly miss a great shot while you're doing so, and have been getting MUCH better as of late in matching primes for sharpness. Drawback is simply that you will have to pay a premium price for faster apertures, and image stabilization (never really a fan, my 70-200 2.8 has it, but I only turn it on for sports), that could help you compensate for the lack of speed on primes. They're expensive compared to primes, however - my 70-200 2.8 IS alone was about 1.8k. Oh yeah, and heavy!

It really depends on how you want to shoot. Right now, in my camera bag, I have 85mm 1.2, 35L, 24-70 2.8, Sigma 105mm 2.8 Macro and the 70-200 2.8. All of them have their uses, and for specific situations.

[Doombear]

I don't know that I have ever tried to classify myself exactly, but here is what I have done recently.

Flickr - EFFNY

Most of the more recent images there were taken with the wife's Rebel 450D. A bit farther back and they are all from a Leica DLUX4, with some scans of 35mm negs in there as well.

So I would say I clearly lean towards portraiture, as that is also what my focus was in college, and what I have always enjoyed the most. Overall, I think I have spent more time behind my prime 50mm on my old Konica FT-1 than with any other lens. That said, the Bokeh from the 85mm 1.8 sounds perfect for me. I do want to leave myself options though. I was considering either pairing the 85mm 1.8 with one of those non-mfg 17-55s or possibly just go for the Canon 17-50 2.8 IS and call it good. I have been scouring dpreview for the last few weeks trying to nail down my lens decision. A fast lens like the 85mm though, it calls to me.

I also keep looking sideways at the Tokina 11-16 2.8. While it clearly is not a portrait lens and is a wide, it covers that base. Other than my old 50mm I also shot quite regularly with a 28mm Hexanon and 105mm, both primes. Decisions decisions. Then there is the lovely wireless flash triggering that the 60D has that opens up the strobist part of my brain... adding a Speedlight to the list.

I hope my rambling here isn't getting annoying, I think we have all been in that place just before a decent sized purchase when we want to vocalize our plans... make sure they 'sound' right. I really appreciate the feedback as always.

[Zansho]

Then it sounds like to me, the best purchase for you is primes. I'd look at the Sigma 50mm 1.4, the Canon 85mm 1.8, maybe even the 135L. Canon has something they call the "Holy Trinity" - which is I believe, the 50 1.2, 85 1.2, and the 100 2.8, I think? That being said, I'd look for similar focal lengths, and keep in mind of your crop factor. Most portraits, you want to be able to stay in the 70-130mm range for the lens.

If you're doing portraits, you want to stay away from wide angle lenses as they will make subjects look VERY unflattering. Nobody wants pics of their faces wider than usual, or pics of big feet and midsections . Wide Angle is fine for Landscape type shots, and for situations where you don't have very much room to maneuver.

[Zansho]

And for what it's worth, the 17-55 is a great lens for a crop body - however, bear in mind that I would spend the extra money for the IS version. Not just strictly for the IS, but the build is better, and from what I've seen, sharper than the non IS versions.

[Doombear]

Yep yep, the IS version was what I was referring to, meant to say 17-55 not 17-50... at $1000 or so it would be the one lens I picked up rather than the 85 and one other. I just don't know if I want to limit myself to a really good zoom lens right off or have a couple slightly less amazing primes for the same price. I can always get more glass!

[Zansho]

Have you considered renting the lenses in question? You really won't know until you actually use them.

[Doombear]

I am actually planning on heading to a local Pro Photo shop this week/weekend and looking over some rental prices. Part of me though, and yes it is stupid, can't stand the thought of not having a new lens with my new body. =P Your common sense is infuriating. =P

EDIT: Actually here is their price list. Seem reasonable to you? I haven't rented equipment since college, and it was much more free then =)

[Headspace]

Here was my final portfolio selections from last semester

Spoiler: show

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/...bf2fe621_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1115/...1291c556_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1380/...8e35ee45_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1302/...18be2a91_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/...3b342bd5_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5047/...10d5fe27_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/...30386872_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5128/...05e7c34d_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5087/...545cba23_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5124/...fc061c96_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/...43b9eecd_b.jpg

[Zansho]

Shit, 17 bucks to rent a 85mm 1.8? I'd jump all over that just to try it out if I were in your position

[Doombear]

Hehe, well sure, for a week it is per day price x 4. Not bad at all. The caveat being you have to put down a deposit for the price of the item in full, or $1000 whichever you hit first. So there is that.