WHAT CAMERA DO YOU USE?

[H Richard]

You have been given lots of good information, but "good" pictures are created by the "light", not the camera. The camera just has to be capable of capturing the quality of the light with a sharp lens. I use a Cannon A1100 IS, that I bought a couple years ago for $99 at Sam's. (But, I have over a couple thousand dollars worth of Nikon film camera's sitting in the closet gathering dust.) Photography is now so much easier than just 15-20 years ago. I grew up using a 35mm with a rangefinder and a handheld light meter. Study light & shadows and you can take great pictures.

 

[JJEH]

I use a Fuji Finepix S2500HD but want to upgrade with a Fuji Finepix X-S1.

 

[deadin]

8x10 Tachihara........(About 40 lbs of gear to haul around.)

Not really! At around $7.00 (several years ago) a shot for film and processing (color) I haven't used it in years.

Actually I currently use a Canon EOS D60 Digital with a dedicated Macro lens.

 

[Straightshooter2]

You need to let us know the settings for the camera (JEPG vs RAW, ISO, etc....), and if you did not use flash, could you share your light source!??

Tom can confirm all this but I read the EXIF on the photo and it looks like he had the lens set at 30mm, ISO was 200, f/27 and a 6 second exposure, aperture priority and no flash. With a 6 second exposure he wouldn't have needed a lot of extra light. Can't tell if the original was RAW or JPEG but I suspect RAW. Am I right, Tom?

If you download FastStone Image Viewer (free), you can read the EXIF on a photo unless it has been stripped out before the photo was posted.

CW

 

[tom turner]

Thanks for saving me the time of looking it up CW.

Indeed those are the settings! However, I only shot it as a JPEG (set at high quality of course).

LIGHT SOURCE(S)?

I was actually doing a little fun shoot to illustrate to folks on another type forum how easy it would be to construct a home-made light tent (for even light of course) and was constructed easily out of cheap and common materials.

Here's another shot from that same time frame session of the revolver, this time on a pure white background:

. . . and HERE'S THE SETUP . . . something that others here can easily do for almost no cost! I shot the photos on my dining room table.

BTW, I already had several totalite photo lights on stands w/umbrellas . . . but wanted to do this to show how easy this could be done with common stuff.


PS: Nickle revolvers can be SO unforgiving, due to being such natural mirrors! LOOK AT THE RECOIL SHIELD ON THE 27-2 . . . and you'll see a section of the PVC pipe frame that is holding the white sheet "tent" up! LOL

"The Moral of the PVC Story" is . . . folks, no matter WHERE you shoot your reflective guns, keep in mind that their curved surfaces will "mirror" back to the lens what was around the gun. That's why a light tent can eliminate those kind of things. HOWEVER, on my quick little cheapie project I didn't take time to sew in sleeves to run the PVC pipe through on the plain white sheet!

BTW, low-cost commercially purchased light tents generally do not have this problem I just pointed out on mine!

Hope this helps everyone . . . and GOOD SHOOTING!

Tom

 

[Bullet Bob]

"Hope this helps everyone"

Heck, it just made me jealous!

 

[Straightshooter2]

Thanks for saving me the time of looking it up CW.

I have FastStone on my desktop so it's pretty easy to look up. I've always found it a useful tool if I wanted to know how a photo was done and don't have access to ask the photographer. The only reason I guessed RAW was I saw it was processed in Lightroom.

Oh and to answer the OP, for digital I use a Pentax K10D and a K100D Super. I like the shake reduction built into the camera body as Pentax does instead of having to buy it over and over again when it is built into the lens as Nikon and Canon do. Plus with Pentax, I can use those great old metal and glass Takumar lenses from my film cameras.

CW

 

[mwtdvm]

Three

Nikon D90 for the serious stuff, Nikon Coolpix for the vacation stuff and the new toy, Casio ExLim EX-ZR 200 which is very similar to the CoolPix except it does HS videos 120, 240, 480, and 1K. The higher the speed the lower the image quality. Hope to try out the 480 fps in a pumpkin that interacts with a 12 ga bangstick.

Sigh Men and Boys, price of their toys...

 

[tom turner]

Hi,

I LOVE Lightroom for post-processing! I had to get a new computer a few months ago (lost the old one to lightning) and I bought LR4 at that time (August). It is an awesome program and I'll probably start shooting in RAW now that I'm comfortable with it.

I still don't have a new copy of Photoshop for the new computer yet though. My original Photoshop Elements was old and didn't support RAW.

Obviously, the original shot was not processed using Lightroom4, but on the old Photoshop Elements version on my old computer.

After getting the new computer and Lightroom, I "revisited" the image with Lightroom4, using LR to reduce the blown out highlights areas on the JPEG as well as toning down a little blue fringing on some edges . . . that kind of stuff. Minor, but the touches made the image better.

The wonderful thing of the new digital camera age, that beats the heck out of the film SLR days, is being able to do the post-processing rather than get horrid prints from some crappy photo lab that ruined everything about the original negative or slide transparency!!! I can finally process some dang good images . . . and so can everyone else who will invest a little time in learning what the programs can do for your images. It is a great time to take pictures!!!

Here's a recent image, processed from the very beginning on LR4. It was kind of a distant shot, and thus requiring a severe crop that makes it a little "soft," but I love this image of this Red Eyed Vireo in my backyard . . .

Again, the camera is the humble Canon t1i + a Canon EF 200mm f/2:8 II L telephoto lens, on a great tripod that allowed the image to still look good as cropped as it is. I love Lightroom!

 

[V-35]

Hi,


MY CAMERA?

A now discontinued Canon t1i digital SLR. It came with a "kit" lens that zoomed (EF-S 18-55mm) and it cost me $899 about three years ago. I've added other lenses that allow me to shoot some stunning photos.

MY RECOMMENDATION . . .

The SAME camera and lens I proudly own! No point and shoot can touch the lens quality and the image quality of a fine digital SLR, and they do so much more for your images than a point and shoot!!!!

THE BEST NEWS . . .
TODAY Canon is selling the same kit, refurbished for ONLY $286.71 at their site, with a warranty. Refurbs are always an excellent purchase and most of the time are simply store returns where someone got their money back or stepped to another model.

HERE'S A LINK FOR THAT SPECIAL PRICE:
Canon Direct Store- EOS Rebel T1i EF-S 18-55mm IS Lens Kit Refurbished

I've now shot about 30,000 images with mine with ZERO problems. Awesome camera but, like cars, each year they put out something "new" and thus the models get discontinued.
*************************************************************







Tom, Thank You very much for solving my early Christmas shopping problem... X 3.



Art

 

[kozmic]

I've shot Nikon's for 32 years and still use some of my old lenses today. I have a D4, D700 and a D300 bodies and a dozen plus Nikkor pro lenses.

I searched for a while for a point and shoot for my wife. I got her a Panasonic Lumix with a Leica lens (Some of the best stuff out there).
It shoots hd video, has manual modes and a macro function. I paid $400 for hers a few years ago. I'm sure they have better technology and are cheaper today.
It is a total beast of a thing and fits in her pocket! Totally amazing. Do yourself a favor Paplinker and give the Panasonics with Leicas a look!

 

[Lizardman_u]

I shoot Pentax K5, K7, and K20d. Started with Pentax Honeywell Spotmatic, moved up to an ME Super and graduated to digital.

Some of my images here:
PENTAX : PENTAX Photo Gallery artist page

Enjoy,
Dave

 

[tom turner]

Nice images on your website Dave!

 

[Straightshooter2]

Here's a recent image, processed from the very beginning on LR4. It was kind of a distant shot, and thus requiring a severe crop that makes it a little "soft," but I love this image of this Red Eyed Vireo in my backyard . . .

Personally Tom, I think this is just one of those photos that requires a little bit of "soft."

CW

 

[Smith357]

An old Cannon Powershot A560

 

[Straightshooter2]

Some of my images here:
PENTAX : PENTAX Photo Gallery artist page

Enjoy,
Dave

Dave, you made it into the Pentax Photo Gallery? I'm impressed. I had a photo that apparently made it through almost to the end to not be accepted in the final round with the editors. Congrats.

CW

 

[tom turner]

Personally Tom, I think this is just one of those photos that requires a little bit of "soft."

CW

Amen brother!

 

[Straightshooter2]

Oh and to answer the OP, for digital I use a Pentax K10D and a K100D Super. I like the shake reduction built into the camera body as Pentax does instead of having to buy it over and over again when it is built into the lens as Nikon and Canon do. Plus with Pentax, I can use those great old metal and glass Takumar lenses from my film cameras.
CW

I found the K10D online for around $200-300 on that evil bay. You might also try KEH.com here in Atlanta to see what they have.

CW

 

[tom turner]

Here's an image I took in 2006 before I got into the DSLR game. It was made on an early Canon A80. My wife gave it to me for our 30th anniversary in the fall of 2003.

Although "only" a 4MP camera back then, it was Canon's top-of-the-line point and shoot at $400. The A-series ran for a very long time, and there may still be new versions on the market today . . . I simply don't follow it anymore. After a trip to Canon in 2009, she's as good as new too! I still use it on my ATV when hunting, and also sometimes on vacation.

NO, it is no DSLR, but if one uses a tripod and timer mode, and a high number aperture, even close ups like this Performance Center 46 can look good.

DOWNSIDES?
1. Slow reaction time when one pushes the shutter button.
2. The edges of the photo can have a curve to a straight line (barrel distortion) . . . and this camera has it bad, like many P&S cameras.

It takes decent photos though BUT . . . it is no DSLR!

Here's the image . . . not bad though . . . probably an Av of F16 or higher, probably a very long shutter speed . . . just like I'd use when shooting a modern DSLR. Definitely not on "Auto" or "Program" mode. I loved that the A80 could be shot in pure manual mode or with other creative settings. A fine little p&s indeed back "in the day," and far superior to some much later Canon A-series point and shoots.

 

[paplinker]

Thanks for all the advise. Hurricane Sandy has had me working my tail off so I'm just catching up today with my thread. Tom i was wondering if your camera (T1i)uses a standard memory card. My computer is a Toshiba laptop that has a memory card slot right in the front. Hoping to use memory cards so i do not need to learn how to transfer pictures from my camera right away. I already have enough to learn with taking pictures, my computer,photobucket and posting.