Digital SLRs / Photography

dynamik

Whoops. I just meant the camera and lens; I didn't get the grip. I didn't really look at that package

I did get a couple of extra batteries for my Belize trip since charging wasn't an option some days, and I shot 500-1000 a day. However, I haven't burned through a single battery on any of my days of shooting since.

The only other thing I have that I use regularly is an SB-600 speed light. I have actually used that a lot more than I expected I would.

babixg

I am a student without too much money. I just bought myself a Canon XSi with the 15-55mm lens to take some good pictures on sale.

Still trying to learn though..

wd40

babixg wrote: »

I am a student without too much money. I just bought myself a Canon XSi with the 15-55mm lens to take some good pictures on sale.

Still trying to learn though..

I think you mean 18-55 mm.

You MUST know your equipment if you want to learn. .. .
+
There is a huge difference between 15 and 18 mm.

royal

dynamik wrote: »

The only other thing I have that I use regularly is an SB-600 speed light. I have actually used that a lot more than I expected I would.

Did you buy a diffuser for it? $10 and you can use soft direct flash and bounce light evenly across reflective surfaces at the same time.

dynamik

royal wrote: »

Did you buy a diffuser for it? $10 and you can use soft direct flash and bounce light evenly across reflective surfaces at the same time.

Absolutely. Works great

babixg

wd40 wrote: »

I think you mean 18-55 mm.

You MUST know your equipment if you want to learn. .. .
+
There is a huge difference between 15 and 18 mm.

Oops.. Yes, you are right 18mm.

royal

dynamik wrote: »

Absolutely. Works great

Ya, my stuff needs to come. I'll have everything delivered by Thursday. Lens/filter on Tuesday and the rest Wednesday/Thursday. Agonizing wait!

royal

dynamik wrote: »

Absolutely. Works great

Cool. I've never tried a diffuser but I ordered one of those as well. I'll have everything delivered by Thursday. Lens/filter on Tuesday and the rest Wednesday/Thursday. Agonizing wait!

wd40

royal wrote: »

Did you buy a diffuser for it? $10 and you can use soft direct flash and bounce light evenly across reflective surfaces at the same time.

The Canon Speed light 580 EX II has some kind of a built in diffuser panel, you can pull it out with the reflection card from the top of the flash.

royal

wd40 wrote: »

The Canon Speed light 580 EX II has some kind of a built in diffuser panel, you can pull it out with the reflection card from the top of the flash.

430 EX II has that as well. But from what I hear, it's crap. May as well spend $10 and get a real diffuser.

wd40

royal wrote: »

430 EX II has that as well. But from what I hear, it's crap. May as well spend $10 and get a real diffuser.

Actually I forgot to order one, I had an online chat with the B&H Guys in the same day and they said that I have to call sales, so I just skipped it.

one more thing.
For the flash I bought an energizer quick charger "it charges the batteries in less than 2 hours" + 8 2500 mah batteries.

royal

wd40 wrote: »

Actually I forgot to order one, I had an online chat with the B&H Guys in the same day and they said that I have to call sales, so I just skipped it.

one more thing.
For the flash I bought an energizer quick charger "it charges the batteries in less than 2 hours" + 8 2500 mah batteries.

Too bad you don't live int he USA. I bought 2 on accident and would've just shipped you the 2nd one I got.

I also need to buy a rechargeable battery set for my flash with spare backup batteries.

wd40

royal wrote: »

Too bad you don't live int he USA. I bought 2 on accident and would've just shipped you the 2nd one I got.

I also need to buy a rechargeable battery set for my flash with spare backup batteries.

Thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it ..

get at least 2500 mah batteries .. less than that will work but will not last for long.

There is a strange thing with canon flashes .. you will need to increase the exposure compensation by ~2 stops for it to work properly.

I went to a friends wedding without knowing that and it ended up as complete failure, I spent 3 hours adjusting the brightness of the pictures to get semi acceptable pictures.

wd40

My Brand new 8 days old boy - picture taken with Canon 50 mm F1.8 lens / no flash used ..
The focus mechanism on that lens is lousy .. I'm thinking of getting the 50 mm F1.4 for my next kid ..
Amazon.com: Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Electronics

---

off topic .. I just feel curious about this.<not much about the topic in American movies "
here, after the wife gives birth, she usually goes to her parents house for few weeks, so that her mother can take care of her and her child, specially if it is the first one.

Do you guys "the ladies from the west" do the same thing?

wd40

wd40 wrote: »

My Brand new 8 days old boy - picture taken with Canon 50 mm F1.8 lens / no flash used ..
The focus mechanism on that lens is lousy .. I'm thinking of getting the 50 mm F1.4 for my next kid ..
Amazon.com: Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Electronics

The 50mm F1.4 have to wait .. I went and bought a sigma 150mm F2.8 macro .. I hate Credit Cards, they make you buy stuff you do not need with money you do not have ..

usually I buy my stuff from B&H and it would be cheaper by a lot, but I got this with a big discount for 800 $ only, which is cheaper than the US Price + shipping.

Amazon.com: Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM APO HSM IF Macro Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Electronics

gorebrush

Bought my first dSLR camera a few months ago, Nikon D90.

Am a relative n00b though, I need to read some more books before I can get the full benefit of it.

However, I have been staggered by the quality even I've managed to produce with it ...

royal

I've been looking at the 50mm 1.4 as well. The optical quality is better than the 1.8 and the zoom on the 1.8 I hear sucks.

So I returned my 24-70mm. It had optical issues and with the very big rumors that the 24-70mm with IS will be announced next month, it made sense to return it. I've also been looking at the 70-200mm 2.8 IS. But the 2.8 zooms are just soooooooo heavy and I want to be able to travel. So maybe a 24-105mm makes more sense to me but I love portrait photography in which 2.8 provides great bokeh and stopping motion.

wd40

royal wrote: »

I've been looking at the 50mm 1.4 as well. The optical quality is better than the 1.8 and the zoom on the 1.8 I hear sucks.

So I returned my 24-70mm. It had optical issues and with the very big rumors that the 24-70mm with IS will be announced next month, it made sense to return it. I've also been looking at the 70-200mm 2.8 IS. But the 2.8 zooms are just soooooooo heavy and I want to be able to travel. So maybe a 24-105mm makes more sense to me but I love portrait photography in which 2.8 provides great bokeh and stopping motion.

The focus on the 1.8 suck!, but you get what you pay for.
I hear the focus on the 1.4 is better, but not by a lot, it has a plastic "Micro USM" motor instead of a regular USM motor.
If you want the best you should get the 1.2 L lens @ 1,600 $

There are some rumors about a new version of the 70-200 2.8 IS.
And I find it a bet strange that I could not find Canon 100mm macro on line at any reputable store, I contacted the local agent they did not have it and it is not coming in there next shipment, may be a new version is on the way?, that's why I bought the sigma.
They say Macro lenses are great for portraits, I will take a couple of pictures later and post them here, I'm still finding the shallow depth of field a bit difficult to work with, but it should get easier with time

phoeneous

[old thread resurrection spell]

Just bought a Nikon D5100 with the standard 18-55 kit. Going to do mainly portraits and gigs as a hobby so the 35mm 1.4G has caught my eye. Couldn't decide between that and the 50mm but since my camera is a crop sensor then the 35 is technically a 50. I'm getting obsessed photography, especially manual controls and light manipulation. Havent studied for any exams in months and its awesome!

terryfera

Definitely go with the 35, the 50 is just a bit to close most times I find.

I got in to photography a bit last year and bought a Canon Rebel XS kit and a couple lenses (50mm 1.8 II, Zenitar 16mm Fish-Eye) and have been playing around for the last year or so off and on.

Some of my favourites:


sad puppy dog eyes... by punklefish, on Flickr


Mossy log by punklefish, on Flickr


sun showers by punklefish, on Flickr


watch the corner by punklefish, on Flickr

it_consultant

gorebrush wrote: »

Bought my first dSLR camera a few months ago, Nikon D90.

Am a relative n00b though, I need to read some more books before I can get the full benefit of it.

However, I have been staggered by the quality even I've managed to produce with it ...

I splurged and picked up the Nikon D7000 with a SB-700 speedlight. Best camera and meter combination I have ever used. It shoots a little cool compared to Canon (nothing a post process or in camera adjustment can't fix) but the flash exposure fill matching is truly second to none. I went with the 7000 because it could be a remote commander for off camera flashes, which is a surprisingly useful tool.

it_consultant

phoeneous wrote: »

[old thread resurrection spell]

Just bought a Nikon D5100 with the standard 18-55 kit. Going to do mainly portraits and gigs as a hobby so the 35mm 1.4G has caught my eye. Couldn't decide between that and the 50mm but since my camera is a crop sensor then the 35 is technically a 50. I'm getting obsessed photography, especially manual controls and light manipulation. Havent studied for any exams in months and its awesome!

If you are going to do a lot of portraiture with tight crops there is nothing to compare to the 50, 85, 105 DC, and 135 DC. These lenses are why people still buy Nikons. The 35MM and the 16-85 are fantastic lenses too, a little less sharp and contrasty but much better suited to a wide range of photography.

Everyone

I've been wanting to get a DSLR for a long time now, but haven't been able to justify the expense. Other things need my $$$ more. I've had my eye on the Canon T3i lately. I have an old manual SLR (made in the 70's) that was made by Hasselblad for Sears. I've got a handful of lenses and filters for it. It hasn't seen use in over a decade now.

cyberguypr

Checking in with a Canon 40D with Tamron 17-50mm 2.8. Drooling over a 70-200mm but can't seem to commit to it. Maybe when the bonus comes in April.

phoeneous

it_consultant wrote: »

If you are going to do a lot of portraiture with tight crops there is nothing to compare to the 50, 85, 105 DC, and 135 DC. These lenses are why people still buy Nikons. The 35MM and the 16-85 are fantastic lenses too, a little less sharp and contrasty but much better suited to a wide range of photography.

1.4 or 1.8 on the 50?

it_consultant

I would get the 1.8 50G (the new one, I have the old D but it won't auto focus on your body), the extra stop of speed is not worth the extra...$350 or something? Optically the rest of the lens is exactly the same.

wd40

wd40 wrote: »

My Brand new 8 days old boy - picture taken with Canon 50 mm F1.8 lens / no flash used ..
The focus mechanism on that lens is lousy .. I'm thinking of getting the 50 mm F1.4 for my next kid ..
Amazon.com: Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Electronics

---

off topic .. I just feel curious about this.<not much about the topic in American movies "
here, after the wife gives birth, she usually goes to her parents house for few weeks, so that her mother can take care of her and her child, specially if it is the first one.

Do you guys "the ladies from the west" do the same thing?

Wow, Time does fly, my 8 days old boy is 2 years and 3 months old now
and I bought a sigma 70-200 F2.8 lens + 2X teleconverter + heavy duty tripod and head to support the new lens

phoeneous

At an air show last weekend...

EmpoweredBizTech

I'm thinking of picking up a Canon 7D in the next couple of weeks after I do the adult thing and by a new Bed. Does anyone here have one ?

wd40

EmpoweredBizTech wrote: »

I'm thinking of picking up a Canon 7D in the next couple of weeks after I do the adult thing and by a new Bed. Does anyone here have one ?

I would love to have one .