Any photographers in the house?

Jonman wrote:
Skiptron wrote:

Thank you all the the advice. I appreciate it. In general do you recommend buying via amazon or some other website? I know we've got a camera store around here, but I've heard prices are quite a bit higher than the net. Is there much benefit (other than supporting local business)?

Getting an expert opinion on the purchase before you commit to it? Depends how sure you are on your purchasing decision going in, I guess.

A lot of stores will also price match, plus it's often easier to get things serviced if you're walking into a brick and mortar, rather than dealing with shipping. If you like the local store, it's definitely worth checking how much of a difference you'd be looking at

Tanglebones wrote:
Jonman wrote:
Skiptron wrote:

Thank you all the the advice. I appreciate it. In general do you recommend buying via amazon or some other website? I know we've got a camera store around here, but I've heard prices are quite a bit higher than the net. Is there much benefit (other than supporting local business)?

Getting an expert opinion on the purchase before you commit to it? Depends how sure you are on your purchasing decision going in, I guess.

A lot of stores will also price match, plus it's often easier to get things serviced if you're walking into a brick and mortar, rather than dealing with shipping. If you like the local store, it's definitely worth checking how much of a difference you'd be looking at

Also to consider, a lot of the 'cheaper' deals on sites like amazon are from regions outside North America so they do not have any warranty. Some of the big manufacturers may still fix the camera if something happens, but it's not a certainty.

IMAGE(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/42549797_270585513579696_5247261377743028224_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&oh=3260892a48cc2e0bae45cecfe700d23c&oe=5C174364)

Oh hell yeah I love that one.

Tried the demos of Capture One and Luminar... I think I'm on board with C1, more so with the newly announced Fuji partnership. The histogram levels tool and the HSL tool are way ahead of how LR works. The masks and layers very nice too.

Hoping this action between C1 and Fuji will nudge adobe to address how poorly it handles x- trans raws. If it isn't fixed by the time my sub is up, I'll probably finalize my switch.

Luminar is decent too and has interesting features, but the windows version is a little janky and doesn't have feature parity with Mac so that makes it harder to learn. Definitely feels like more of a beta for now but still handles Fuji Rae's better than lightroom.

Managed to get along to that city fest mentioned previous page a couple weeks ago... Forgot to post anything...

Here's one... Punk band Black Boxes front fella...

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/nAbM4rl.jpg)

Up close with a 50mm and a sprinkling of pub lighting and some weak floor cans pointed in the wrong direction

I have a question for the photography hive mind.

My father's hobby is photography. He's been posting his photos at 500px just for fun. But recently he's been thinking about selling photos. He is NOT very website savvy, as in, he has no idea how to make one. So, what's the best option for him to make some extra money on the side selling photos he takes, not making a job or career out of it. He intends to remain an amateur.

Is it to sell to Getty? Or sell on 500px or some other site? Or something else entirely? He's considered selling them to National Geographic, it's mostly photos places and people. But I assume he would have to give away his rights to the photos, and I don't want that to happen. (edited)

Cross posting from a thread I created. Will read through more.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Recently, my wife and I have been thinking about whether we should upgrade to a dedicated camera from just using our smartphones (iPhone SE and Galaxy). At a couple of my daughter's events, my wife's friends have sent us some very nice photos they took on their fancy looking cameras that look way better than what we took.

Anyway, we'd love to take those kinds of pics but we're both novice photographers so we're worried about whether we'd get value from a nice camera. I know that a dedicated camera has true optical zoom but I'm unsure about the other differences. We'd also like to take videos with it. We're wondering what would be a nice camera to get that would be an appreciable upgrade over our phones even though we're novices.

Thanks!

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Cross posting from a thread I created. Will read through more.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Recently, my wife and I have been thinking about whether we should upgrade to a dedicated camera from just using our smartphones (iPhone SE and Galaxy). At a couple of my daughter's events, my wife's friends have sent us some very nice photos they took on their fancy looking cameras that look way better than what we took.

Anyway, we'd love to take those kinds of pics but we're both novice photographers so we're worried about whether we'd get value from a nice camera. I know that a dedicated camera has true optical zoom but I'm unsure about the other differences. We'd also like to take videos with it. We're wondering what would be a nice camera to get that would be an appreciable upgrade over our phones even though we're novices.

Thanks!

So, it's a bit of a complicated question, but first off, what kind of photography are you planning on doing with the new camera? Portraits of family/pets/friends? Landscapes? Tourist stuff or nature?

If you want the flexibility to do all of those, you'll probably want to get a baseline Canon or Nikon with a starter lens (kit lens), usually with an 18-55mm range (basically going from somewhat wider than the normal human field of vision to somewhat more narrow). Those camera bodies will allow you to branch out into different lenses if you want to experiment more - telephoto lenses for shooting animals, or ultra-wide lenses for shooting real estate, etc., etc., etc..

The most important thing to study up on when you get a new camera is the exposure triangle - the interaction of ISO, shutter speed, and aperture that controls how much light gets into your camera:

Edit to add: if you're looking for a great camera that has a more fixed field of view, Fuji makes a great series of cameras that start with X100 which equate to a 35mm field of view (roughly the same as what you see with the human eye). I think all of the other manufacturers have similar ones.

It's come to the point I need new photo editing software. I used to use Aperture and limped along without Apple support but I've decided I need to make the switch.

Before I go to Lightroom and the monthly subscription fee, what other options are you all using these days?

Rahmen wrote:

It's come to the point I need new photo editing software. I used to use Aperture and limped along without Apple support but I've decided I need to make the switch.

Before I go to Lightroom and the monthly subscription fee, what other options are you all using these days?

Depends on what kind of camera you're using - Adobe's great for Canon, Nikon, and I think good for Sony. Lightroom has real issues with Fuji raw files, and doesn't show any sign of fixing them - it's why I've been switching over to Capture One, at least for raw processing.

Might try RawTherapee

Thanks for the quick answers so far. I have Nikon equipment currently and if I moved off of it, most likely to Sony since my dad just made that switch and it helps if we can borrow lenses from each other.

Lightroom 5.5 works well for my Sony. You can still get lightroom 6 without a subscription.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Cross posting from a thread I created. Will read through more.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Recently, my wife and I have been thinking about whether we should upgrade to a dedicated camera from just using our smartphones (iPhone SE and Galaxy). At a couple of my daughter's events, my wife's friends have sent us some very nice photos they took on their fancy looking cameras that look way better than what we took.

Anyway, we'd love to take those kinds of pics but we're both novice photographers so we're worried about whether we'd get value from a nice camera. I know that a dedicated camera has true optical zoom but I'm unsure about the other differences. We'd also like to take videos with it. We're wondering what would be a nice camera to get that would be an appreciable upgrade over our phones even though we're novices.

Thanks!

If the Samsung is of a similar era to the iPhone SE you will be amazed at how great photos from newer phones like the Pixel 2, iPhone 8+, and newer are. They are easy to use, require very little skill, and get great results for most types of photos. Not that you can't use automatic mode for DSLRs but if you want the best results, you won't.

That said, a DSLR will always give you better results if you put in the work. Additionally, DSLRs have interchangeable lenses that are much higher than the clip-on crap you get on phones. If you want to do macros or sports photography (or just zoom in from a distance) a cell phone camera won't cut it. If you don't need a zoom lens, you will get a huge improvement going with a new pixel or iphone (though they'll cost as much as a very good dslr).

As for getting into DSLRs you will need at least two lenses (kit lenses are okay but not great). A short lens (often 18-55) and a zoom lens (55-200). Many DSLRs sell kits that have the camera and these two lenses. They are decent but not great (though they are steps above cameras). Both Canon and Nikon have great cameras and lenses available to them. You can get something decent

Another option is a mirrorless camera. They are sort of a combination of a cell phone and a dslr. They are quite capable, smaller than dslrs, and have lots of lenses (not as many as for dslrs, though). If space is an issue, they are a good setup but a little smaller. Lenses are really the only issue with them but they have enough for most people. Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony make excellent mirrorless cameras. Canon and Nikon have gotten into the market recently but I think they still lag behind the other three.

Finally, you can get a bridge camera or enthusiast camera. Bridge cameras smaller cameras with a zoom lens built in. They have a lot of features of a dslr but not quite the quality. They are small but have a lot of zoom capabilities. Many have a zoom greater than most of your kit lenses for a dslr. Enthusiast cameras are generally very feature packed, have larger sensors, but have shorter zoom than a bridge camera. They aren't great for sports but good for most other things. Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, and Sony make excellent cameras in these categories.

Tanglebones wrote:

So, it's a bit of a complicated question, but first off, what kind of photography are you planning on doing with the new camera? Portraits of family/pets/friends? Landscapes? Tourist stuff or nature?

Most family stuff, maybe some vacation photos. Specifically, comparing the photos my wife’s friends took, they used zoom to capture both close up action shots (running, jumping) and reaction shots (laughing, receiving a medal), stuff we have trouble getting anything to look half decent on our phones. In terms of portraits, we can usually do ok with these but I notice their photos just look nicer, the colours are warmer, more like a film photo would look? I have no idea how to describe it properly in photography language.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

If the Samsung is of a similar era to the iPhone SE you will be amazed at how great photos from newer phones like the Pixel 2, iPhone 8+, and newer are. They are easy to use, require very little skill, and get great results for most types of photos. Not that you can't use automatic mode for DSLRs but if you want the best results, you won't.

It’s a Japan only budget Galaxy model so I’d be surprised if it matches up to the most recent Galaxy phone. I do think I would enjoy the latest iPhones but, for the time being, the SE has the compact size I like, touch id and a headphone jack. Only thing it’s lacking is the high end cameras of the newer iPhones. My wife is the same in that her Galaxy is a touch smaller than the mainline Galaxy phones. And, in both cases, we got them included in the cost of our plans.

It seems like mirrorless cameras might be our best bet. I threw a few on a wishlist to start. The price of them is a little intimidating of course but I wonder if we went for a cheaper enthusiast camera then we might end up wishing we hadn’t bothered.

Spoiler:

IMAGE(https://imgur.com/9luG6Wl)

Need to do a lot more research of course. Thanks for the feedback all!

I just spent a week in Florida and I may have been a tourist armed with only an iPhone 7 plus to take pictures but I think I got a few good shots.

Catching the Sunset
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/S2yEUEY.jpg)

The Boardwalk
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/qMNMFgU.jpg)

Under the Boardwalk
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/uD7QE15.jpg)

Architecture in the Dali Museum From Two Perspectives
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/M7LaQ2T.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/BEfDzBH.jpg)

The Curator
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/PDF849F.jpg)

A Night Out
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/lEDgCKJ.jpg)

Lighthouse Point
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/EWHuGhl.jpg)

Driftwood
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/GN4zInT.jpg)

"The best camera is the one you have with you"

[quote="Mr GT Chris"]

Tanglebones wrote:

It seems like mirrorless cameras might be our best bet. I threw a few on a wishlist to start. The price of them is a little intimidating of course but I wonder if we went for a cheaper enthusiast camera then we might end up wishing we hadn’t bothered.

Spoiler:

IMAGE(https://imgur.com/9luG6Wl)

Need to do a lot more research of course. Thanks for the feedback all!

Mirrorless cameras are compact and are very close to the quality of a dslr. Go and touch some to see how their size suits you. While smaller than traditional DSLRs they are not small. Don't be afraid of buying used. I have two used lenses that work fantastically. Adorama is a good place to buy. They have good prices and don't deal in grey market stuff (some stuff on Amazon is not intended for sale in the US so no warranty over here).

For lenses, you should get two to start (any may never need more). A shorter zoom 14-40ish and a longer 40-140ish (some lenses are 16-42, some 14-40, etc). This will cover you for closer and longer shots. You want the lowest F-Stop you can get. An F3.5-5.6 lens is not as good as an F2.8 lens. That said, the F2.8 lens is going to cost significantly more. Most people are fine with the lenses that come with the camera. You can find packages with both lenses for under $750 (and a single F2.8 lens can be twice that). Where the more expensive lenses are more needed is dark areas with action shots. Things like indoor sports and outdoor sports at night.

Also, don't forget to include the cost of a bag in your budget. Figure $50-100 for the bag. Also, an SD card.

Finally, DPReview.com is a great site for research. They do a lot of reviews and have great forums.

Current (last three years) mirrorless cameras are as good as, if not better than comparably priced DSLRs, actually..

The other big advantage they have over DSLRs is that, in many cases, they have electronic viewfinders, so what you see in the viewfinder is what your photo will actually look like, rather than having to take the photo, then pull up the preview to see if your lighting/other settings were on target.

I'm skimming a bit, but if taking first step up from mobile to camera, I'd probably recommend some kind of bridge camera, used, (A condition) from a reputable dealer who offers a lengthy guarantee. Maybe a slightly older iteration released in the last 5 years. Something can work up to using full manual control and once you're there, then get something more fancy down the road. You'll know how much it's worth it for yourselves and also the kind of things you find that you like to photograph, which will defo influence your buying decisions. That old bridge camera you've learned the ropes on will still make a decent knockabout camera in situations uncomfortable taking your new and shiny into.

If I do buy anything it's usually pre-owned. Like anything buy new and the price'll plummet as soon as you've used it. Cameras are costly if you're not sure what'll work for you, buying used and being able to resell at not a huge loss softens the blow hey.

Side note Tanglebones offered up the Fuji X100 up top somewhere... I have the first iteration, now a 7 year old model. I bought it used at £200 about two years ago and have taken some of my fave photos of the family/boy with it. It's a great, retro looking camera and does the job. The user interface is a mess though and not for beginners for sure, need to know what you're looking for in the mass of menus. I think there have been maybe 3 iterations since and they've cleaned that up loads apparently second time round onwards plus speedier focus. I will probably trade up at some point, nice camera.

Also Canon Prime 50mm F1.8 lens (Nifty Fifty). I can in no way shape or form afford the prime lens out there with big price tags... but sub F2.8 lens available here and there and do a half decent job... gig photo top of the page taken with that £60 nifty fifty lens bought new about 5 years ago. Also Sigma are pretty good and cost a lot less than the Nikon's, canons etc and do the trick if looking for a zoom f2.8.

Hi! I started doing photography this summer. I'm using Pentax K-5. Still struggling with exposure and often have to shoot multiple photos to adjust it. But I love it. Here's some of the shots I made:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/7gauNuG.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/AsmXtTT.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/OyWQTKf.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/DNZBSkE.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/pwtQ07N.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/gOXZVLi.jpg)

Hi Ollie, welcome to the thread!

Hmm.... Just discovered that I can use Capture One just fine with my Miix Tablet accessing the files on my desktop though a mapped network Drive seamless to switch from one to the other. LR never allowed this.

Between that and the better handling of Fuji files I think this just killed LR for me.

Some photos from Friday night:
IMAGE(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/44968934_10156685637768718_4388188354273869824_o.jpg?_nc_cat=108&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=2fe4b7bba96df586394f72bdd7d0ff3a&oe=5C44F37B)
IMAGE(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/44851547_10156685738173718_4708155480726306816_o.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=ca05745ebee00d13f5b3e6e6bcd04bb6&oe=5C4A720B)
IMAGE(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/44870330_10156685736968718_3676884196019666944_o.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=3080330b16e957a801a7dbb0383c4a90&oe=5C512E4B)

Really like the black and white one.

Yeah, the shapes in that corridor of Grand Central are ridiculously photogenic

I forget where I was reading this but basically it was an argument in favour of mirrorless systems over DSLRs because the EVF allows you to see in black and white (with whatever film simulation mode you picked) as you shoot.

Even if you intend to shoot for a colour photo, using the EVF in B&W mode (jpeg + raw) made for better composition because you can forget about colour and focus on tonal range etc. You have so much power to adjust colour in post that that seems to be a legit approach... havent tried yet though.

Went out birding for the first time in ages, and managed to capture this Great Blue Heron that just let me walk within ten feet of it; unprecedented in my experience:

IMAGE(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/45122529_10156692835108718_6901974511520841728_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=52a8d5d2911131620a781485fad56173&oe=5C89CE44)