Photography

Paul

Platinum Member
Hey guys,

I know there are a few of us on here who clearly enjoy taking photos and I have been starting to get into it over the past year but so far it has only been with a small compact. Its a Panasonic TZ5 which i have been really impressed with and i have started looking down the DSLR route for a bit more creativity. Stcking with Panasonic I like the look of the G1 and GH1 too partly because of the HD video.

I was wondering if there is anything else anyone can recommend as a good starting point.

Thanks,

Paul
 
The thing that improves photos more so than the camera type is a steady surface, like a tri-pod. As I dont have one any half decent pics I've taken my camera's been sat on a wall or a fence :tongue_smilie:
 
I have a Olympus E 510, which I have had for a couple of years now & found to be pretty good....I also bought a HUGE lens to go with it (70-300mm) , and that really makes a difference to more creative shots.

The 510 has now been upgraded, but I haven't looked at the costs of a new camera.

Adrian on here quite likes photography...from memory I think he has a Nikon (but I could be wrong!)
 
Nikon D3000 is an excellent introduction to a DSLR....plus if you enjoy it you can buy lens' and start playing around with it.

Cheers Hughsie
 
Ive got a Nikon D60 which i use as my "daily" camera as i cant be doing with the pokey little Point-And-Shoot (PAS) things, it may have been superceeded by now (not been keeping up) so potential old stock bargains may be available :thumbup1:

With the AS+VR kit which its a damn good starter DSLR with some nice and easy to use and learn functions. Does lack a few things that the competing Cannon has, but if your new, you wont notice.

http://www.digitalrev.com/en/nikon-d60-with-55-200mm-f4-5.6-ed-dx-vr-len-kit-2925.html

Photography in general has a "collection" side to it.

As ive just said, start out with an entry level Body with a good Lens, i cant stress how important it is to shop for a good Lens. Doesnt matter how good the Body is, if the image it is seeing is crap... your photos will be crap :thumbup1:

Once your climatized to your new kit, id save up and get a second battery, and a couple of spare memory cards, as with a DSLR you should always be shooting RAW as far as im concerned. JPEG Fine is ok if your not too fussed on quality, and you get more image space, but you suffer if you want to tweek things when you get back to the PC. But at the end of the day... you have bought an SLR so you must be interested in image quality, or you would stick with a PAS :smile:

Also get a tri-pod. This one item witll give you a great advantage for the arty shots when you want to start playing with exposure settings etc. Id budget between £50 and £100 and get yourself a good quality and sturdy tripod with fluid actions on the adjustments.

You can of course get a cheaper one, but they tend to get a little flimsy and can be awkward to use.

DSC_0033.jpg

After that, you can go into getting a flash gun and more lenses, the most ideal kit is to get yourself a wide angle lens, macro lens and a telephoto (pervert) lens so you can start to experiment further.

Then who knows, if your cracking on really well, move up into the pro bodys, i have a D2X which is use for my more important pics .

Eventually you will end up with a tidy collection over a few years...

Oh... invest in hard drive space too! :thumbup:

All that tackle and heres some shit pics from my phone :confused1::lol:

IMG_0342.jpg
IMG_0343.jpg
IMG_0344.jpg
 
Thanks to all four of you for the advice. I have a tripod but I don't like using it with my current camera as it looks like overkill as the camera is tiny in comparison lol. Thanks for the detail Jaxx and I actually ordered an external hard drive yesterday which is good timing!

As mentioned I was going to get one of these four thirds DSLRs because I was wanting something a but more portable than a full scale one, but they seem to still have a wide selection of lenses too so that shouldn't be a problem.

I think I have a lot more shopping around to do before I make a purchase, but you have given me some good food for thought and I will have to read so additional reviews about the ones you have suggested.

Thanks again

Paul
 
No worries.

The D60 although not FourThirds size it is a nice compact and lightweight unit for a DSLR, compared to the D2X which is an outright monster! You only take that out if your intentionally going to take pictures for a reason!

The D60 fits nicely in a rucksack and can be chucked around quite readily, and its lightning fast.

Also full size (APS-C) DSLRs have access to an absolute miriad of lenses! And mostly interchangable between brands and bodys.

I can use my 400mm tele-lens on both my D60 and D2X for example :smile:

Best i can recommend is nip to (your local) Jessops, they let you take a look and have a fondle of stuff before you buy :smile:
 
Yeah I visited a few shops over the weekend mainly to have a look at the panasonic GH1 but nowhere seemed to sell them, had a look at the G1 and I was well impressed with the specification and features over my current one but I still need to compare that against others, which is why I was asking. I will have to have a look at the nikon range and see where that takes me. The lens of the G1 was not the best as I am used to a 10x zoom, and as you have said they are crucial to good images. I don't want to be taking a step backwards spending so much money lol!
 
IMO they are just better cameras, and the 'kit' lenses are of excellent quality.

Cool well thanks for your input I will be going at the weekend to have a look at various models in a lot more detail! That is pretty much what I am wanting at the moment just something which I can get on with straight away but also something which has the flexibility above and beyond a point-n-shoot.
 
I would agree with Stumac that Olympus 4/3 are great quality, and they also have an image stabiliser..You also need a good editing system such as Photoshop etc (you might have that already). I invested in Adobe Lightroom, and that is also great (but a bit more expensive...) And then there's the Bamboo pen etc...the list is endless...:smile:
 
Im pretty flexible about price really just want something good, I was looking at anything up to 900 but looking into what you have suggested that seems a bit too much at the moment. The main thing I want is a good quality zoom without having to carry extra lenses for the time being.

Yeah I have Photoshop CS2 and I know its not the most up to date but I know my way around it quite well and I can achieve pretty much anything I have wanted to. What is the difference between Photoshop and Lightroom? Lol its like any hobby isn't it you can spend your whole life getting extras!
 
personally as an only camera I would go for a proper DSLR rather than a PEN, but thats personal preference. Would love a PEN as a 'holiday' camera though.
 
if your going fourthirds the only camera worth looking at imho is the GF1

the others are trying to much to be an SLR but never quite make it.

The GF1 is a great bit of kit and also Panasonic 20mm lens out shines the Olympus by miles. ALso the focus on the olympus is a bit slow.

you can then add a 45-200 zoom

which is like having a 90-400mm zoom on a real SLR.

Or just bite the bullet and buy a Canon 550D
 
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Thanks for your input mate! TBH I was looking at the GF but like you say I would need a proper lens to go with it, I have got too used to the 10x zoom on my current one to be stuck at 20mm. I will probably stay with Panasonic as I get too much discount through work to go anywhere else! I just need to make a decision!
 
Yeah I had looked into that one but im not sure if its a big enough step up from my current one, if that makes sense. I think when I looked into it the functions etc were identical to my camera, just that the zoom was longer.

Im useless with decisions like this lol!