Photography Thread

Philligan

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Thanks for all the input. Seriously. I mainly would like to shoot landscapes from hunting and hiking but also have the versatility for closer shots as well. I know that will all fall on the lense but I just would like to be able to capture some cool moments while not being limited to my phone. I've looked around at the d3300 and 3400 models but I know down the road I wouldn't mind making the investment for lenses. Would the J5 be a good choice for mirroless?

Nikon-focused semi-rant:

The D3xxx and D5xxx Nikon bodies do not have AF motors on the body, so you must buy lenses that have AF motors built-in (this leaves out a major-if not all-of the AF-D lenses). This is a predicament for most people looking to enter photography as a serious hobby (as opposed to taking snapshots with a dSLR), but not spend a lot of money.

You get the most lens economy by buying lenses that work with full-frame cameras (if you should ever upgrade), which means buying used AF-D (or older) lenses. However, these lenses do not work on the entry-level camera bodies except as manual focus lenses. While this isn't a deal breaker for some people, it's an added source of frustration for new-to-photography folks (especially with those tiny viewfinders).

The Nikon 1 (the J5 is one of these cameras) is extremely lens poor and does not use the same lens mount as the traditional dSLR line.

Agreed. Stay away from the J5/Nikon 1 cameras.

I'm not sure if this would fit your budget or not, but see if you can find a D7000 used (or a D7100 is possible). They let you use the AF-D lenses that Philosopher was talking about, so you have a lot more lens options on the cheap. Plus, a D7000 will grow with you more because it has a layout more like the professional bodies.
 

Mattykoda

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Agreed. Stay away from the J5/Nikon 1 cameras.

I'm not sure if this would fit your budget or not, but see if you can find a D7000 used (or a D7100 is possible). They let you use the AF-D lenses that Philosopher was talking about, so you have a lot more lens options on the cheap. Plus, a D7000 will grow with you more because it has a layout more like the professional bodies.

Will do. Thanks for all the feedback. I may just end up going with a good compact for now just to get a feel for everything and after a while start making the investment after finding where it takes me.
 

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ThePhilosopher

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Will do. Thanks for all the feedback. I may just end up going with a good compact for now just to get a feel for everything and after a while start making the investment after finding where it takes me.

If you do go this route, please find one that has full manual controls and can shoot RAW. These two options will give you a feel for what it is like to shoot with a DSLR without the high price point, the mess that can be lens selection, and experience with RAW processing workflow. Treat it like a rangefinder and you should be good to go.

Having a clear goal/mindset when you say, "I want to get into photography," helps direct others on how to give advice on how to allocate a budget (even if it's to say your budget is too small :lol:) for the desired outcomes.
 

takotakumi

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Hi guys, maybe someone can enlighten me on what lens I should get next

Currently I have a Canon T2i with the kit lens (18-35mm I believe) and a 50mm 1.8

My original plan was to get the Yungnuo 35mm 2F since I like the lowlight capabilities of my 50mm but find that it is a bit to tight or crops too much for me. I want to eventually use it for some cover videos as well so the 1.8 is great.

I then started looking at Canon 35mm 2F that was a bit more expensive but had sharper images.

Kept on reading forums and started to like the 24mm 2.8 suggestions but that 2.8 kind of took me off.

Kept doing some more research and currently debating about getting a Sigma 30mm F 1.4 for Canon.

I have a photographer friend and he suggested a canon 55-250mm to get into telephotos. While I like the idea, I currently do not need that much zoom I believe, unless I go out on a trip to a zoo or something like that. I will definitively get one in the future.

Anything I am skipping here? My reasoning is that I want a sharp low light friendly lens less than $300 and that does the same a 50mm does but with more range.

Also, going to my sister's graduation next week and would like to use the new lens there haha I think I should be fine with a 30mm? I'd take the zoom lens but since its going to be at night I do not think it would be light friendly...

thanks :eek:
 

Philligan

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My wife had the 24mm 2.8 pancake and it's a great lens. It's essentially only 1 stop slower than the 50mm, but it lets you use a slower shutter speed, so it can help mitigate the difference. I would definitely recommend that lens, especially for the price.

I almost bought the Sigma 30mm 1.4 (the newer Art one, although I'm sure the older one will still be a decent lens). Having 1.4 is really great in low light, and if you can fit it in your budget, it will be better for that purpose than the Canon. If it's the older version, read some reviews - I know autofocus and overall image quality can be a bit hit or miss on the older Sigma lenses.

I'd stay away from the Yongnuo lens personally. Image quality will be fine but not great, autofocus will almost definitely be noisy and probably not that great, and the build will be super cheap. If that's the only one that's in your budget, it will definitely get the job done, but if you're looking at more expensive lenses, I'd avoid this one.
 

Furtive Glance

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After a lot of hemming and hawing, I sold my two most expensive L lenses because I never used them. Realized that 90% of my favourite things to shoot involve either a really wide angle or a supertelephoto. (And it was also somewhat sad that I seriously considered picking up a used 400mm 2.8 IS II a few weeks ago. So ridiculously expensive and since it's purely a hobby, I'd feel really stupid doing that.)
 

ThePhilosopher

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Our little one, born on 4/14 (2lb 8oz, 14.5") connecting with mum at 1 day old under photo therapy:
20170415_MM%20is%20Born_0113_BW_FB.jpg

Olympus E-PL3 with Olympus 14-42 f/3.5-5.6: ISO 400 1/160s ƒ/5.6

...and turned 1 week old yesterday:
20170421_MM%20is%201%20Week%20Old_0001_BW_FB.jpg

Olympus E-PL3 with Olympus 14-42 f/3.5-5.6: ISO 1600 1/30s ƒ/8
 

ThePhilosopher

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Mom and baby connecting a little better.
20170428_MM%20Gets%20a%20Name_0006_BW_FB.jpg

Olympus E-PL3 with Olympus 14-42 f/3.5-5.6: ISO 1600 1/30s ƒ/5.6
 

Tyler

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Just bought a Polaroid 250 land camera. Its such a shame the film for it got discontinued last year though, anyone have any stories with them? Im looking forward to not only taking some shots with it, but also doing some negative reclamation
 

Philligan

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It's been a while. Life has been busy.

We just took a short anniversary trip to Niagara Falls. I shot the whole thing RAW + JPG. This was only the second time I've done that and I loved it. I normally would shoot RAW and do JPG conversions in-camera as I wanted them, or shoot straight JPG if it was just gonna be like snapshots. R+J was great because I could wifi whatever I wanted to my phone without having to do a conversion first, but now I've got all the RAWs to work on if I want.

I'd like to print something on canvas from the weekend - I'm currently thinking one of these two, but I haven't gone through everything yet.

From the Skylon Tower observation deck (X-T1 + 35mm). I'm leaning towards printing this one, because I like the context of the river.

FXT10078 by Phil Babbey, on Flickr

From the walkway beside the falls, at ground level (with the 16mm).

FXT10161 by Phil Babbey, on Flickr
 

Philligan

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And just for something different than portraits of my wife :lol: here's one I shot last week for someone who got a new job at a bank. I don't have a good place with enough space, so portrait sessions like this are ad-hoc; I shot this one in a hallway at the college I work at.

This was with the 35mm, because I didn't have enough space to use the 56.

brad-fullres-005 by Phil Babbey, on Flickr
 

Philligan

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Thanks man! It's a 24x36 softbox to camera left and a bare flash on the right and slightly behind the subject.

It's somewhere in the neighbourhood of f/2.8, ISO 200, and 1/180, with the softbox light probably at 1/16 power and the rim light at lowest power (1/64 or 1/128).
 

Philligan

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My friend's tattoo shop had a fundraiser last weekend that I took some photos at. I've never shot an indoor event with so much light - I was shooting at 1.4, 125-250, and ISO 400.

Also, I shot the tracing desk every chance I got, because the light coming off that is incredible. :lol:

JNL-50 by Phil Babbey, on Flickr

JNL-17 by Phil Babbey, on Flickr

JNL-06 by Phil Babbey, on Flickr

JNL-10 by Phil Babbey, on Flickr
 

Whammy

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I love dropping back in here and seeing everyone still talking gear and sharing photos.


Our little one, born on 4/14 (2lb 8oz, 14.5") connecting with mum at 1 day old under photo therapy:

A little late to the party but congratulations on the baby body :)


So I finally set up a proper webpage for getting work. I held off on that for way too long. Don't know why because it's been so helpful. I went with Squarespace and so far am really happy with the service. I tried smugmug first. That was awfully bad.
Unfortunately the page is in Swedish so not much point sharing it :lol:

The blog is in English though. I've been trying to keep it stuff related to educating potential wedding clients and the other posts are aimed at hobby photographers. Just doing what I can to get a better organic reach in google.
https://www.primaluxphotography.com/blog/

I still use the Adobe Spark page for the displaying the personal projects that I worked on but I plan on having everything self contained on the main wedpage as the Spark page, while it looks nice, is slow to load.

But yeah apart from that this is me dropping in saying I should post more but never do because I don't have many personal photos to share :lol:

Anyone out there working on some projects?
I need to try a project again as it'll give me a reason to take photos for myself again.

My friend's tattoo shop had a fundraiser last weekend that I took some photos at. I've never shot an indoor event with so much light - I was shooting at 1.4, 125-250, and ISO 400.

Also, I shot the tracing desk every chance I got, because the light coming off that is incredible. :lol:

It's great. Modern tattoo studios are so well lit :) It's been a while since I hung out in one.
 
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