We got our first "real" camera

[bushmaster1313]

Here is the best of the first indoor shots:







I hope I can get it to shoot better pictures than the old "point and shoot"

[Rastoff]

What do you mean by "real" camera? If it takes pictures, it's a camera. The quality of the photograph is determined by the photographer not the equipment. Equipment only makes it easier or more difficult.

Set that bad boy to the green setting and work on subject matter and lighting.

Here's one professional's opinion and worth the read: How to Take Better Pictures

[Rastoff]

Here's an example of what I mean...

Is this one better...


...than this one?

[Faulkner]

Originally Posted by Rastoff

What do you mean by "real" camera? If it takes pictures, it's a camera. The quality of the photograph is determined by the photographer not the equipment. Equipment only makes it easier or more difficult.

Set that bad boy to the green setting and work on subject matter and lighting.

Here's one professional's opinion and worth the read: How to Take Better Pictures

I'm not sure I totally agree with you. If you have weak photographic skills, then I agree, more expensive or quality gear is not likely to help much. I often see people buy more camera with features than they will ever learn how to use.

Conversely, those who have developed a higher level of photographic skills can certainly generate some quality pictures with low end equipment, but the advanced skills can also allow them to produce some fantastic pictures with more quality equipment.

I've been able to capture some awesome shots with my Nikon D5300 DSLR and newer VR capable lens that I've been using lately that I never was able to capture with my 12 year old Nikon D70 DSLR with Nikkor DX lens. Sometimes that PHD setting (push here dummy) just won't get you where you want to go with a picture.

[Faulkner]

Originally Posted by Rastoff

Here's an example of what I mean...

Is this one better...


...than this one?

Rastoff, good shots of the gun itself, but your background is distracting from the detail of the gun. Consider a backdrop that is less colorful that will help your overall light absorption. Something more like this;

[Rastoff]

Originally Posted by Faulkner

Rastoff, good shots of the gun itself,...

Not my shots. I copied the one from the OP to show how a pic could be improved regardless of the source.

Here are two of mine:




Which was taken with the $1,800 Nikon and which was taken with the $200 Samsung tablet?

[Smith357]

I look forward to seeing your progression now that you have invested in a quality tool. Learning how to compose a shot and manipulating lighting, exposure, and post processing can be daunting at first but it really pays off in the long run.

[bushmaster1313]

Set that bad boy to the green setting and work on subject matter and lighting.

Good advice.

[vic3620]

So.... What did you buy?
I bought a DSLR also this weekend. I'm partial to Pentax, and found a used one in a pawn shop that I wanted for a backup camera to my
K200d.
I've been eying it in the case since before Christmas, it looked so lonely this time I had to adopt it.

Vic3620

[J. R. WEEMS]

Originally Posted by Rastoff

Not my shots. I copied the one from the OP to show how a pic could be improved regardless of the source.

Here are two of mine:




Which was taken with the $1,800 Nikon and which was taken with the $200 Samsung tablet?

I am guessing the top one was taken with the Nikon, The second looks to be a bit over saturated for my taste-- JMHO they are both good.

[Straightshooter2]

Originally Posted by bushmaster1313

Good advice.

But once you get subject matter and lighting down, start learning to shoot in the Manual setting. Sometimes there are situations where you will want to underexpose by 1/3 to 2/3 of a stop and sometimes you will want to overexpose same amounts. Also learn to set for cloudy and other conditions.

For those who are advanced, try setting your camera to tungsten, use your attachable flash, cover it with a yellow filter and shoot a picture of someone at sunset. Interesting isn't it?

CW

[rwsmith]

Owning a nice one doesn't make you a better guitar player. But I will say that you got much nicer detail than I get with my cellphone since my Olympus got stolen.

The key to a nicer camera is being able to do what a point and shoot doesn't want you to do. Man I miss my Olympus.

[Cpo1944]

There is a very Major problem with a SLR thats almost as bad as revolver addiction , and that is the dreaded "lens lust"! I am carrying 5-sometimes 6 lenses, plus a flash, batteries, filters, cleaning stuff, remote shutter release, bottle of water, breakfast bars, CCW & 1 reload. i have recently started thinking about big telephotos,and possibly a spare camera body.. and Just typing this makes me tired, I`m gonna have to get me a wheeled cart soon!

[jag312]

A real camera uses film. These new-fangled digital things are just a passing fad.

[red14]

Originally Posted by jag312

A real camera uses film. These new-fangled digital things are just a passing fad.

I still have my Canon AE-1, with a rigged-up redneck fish-eye, a 28mm lens with a adapter. I also have a A-100 Sony DSLR. The biggest advantage of the digital is it holds over a thousand pictures, and I can erase and keep taking for days. Paying for film costs bunches.

[3dots]

I think you have a very capable camera there from looking at the second photo which I can tell is cropped from the first. I have to agree with Faulkner about the backgrounds used for photos and keeping the subject in the limelight. Congrats on the new camera!

[Faulkner]

Originally Posted by jag312

A real camera uses film. These new-fangled digital things are just a passing fad.

I heard they used to say the same about smokeless powder.

[marvin the martian]

Originally Posted by J. R. WEEMS

I am guessing the top one was taken with the Nikon, The second looks to be a bit over saturated for my taste-- JMHO they are both good.

I cheated and peeked at the EXIF data, they are both with the Nikon.

[NCTexan]

I consider camera quality and photo shooting skills akin to gun quality and gun shooting skills.

There's a point that a camera is so crummy that even the best photographer is severely limited to what he can achieve. But then again even with the most precision camera... a crummy photographer can't progress beyond his own skills.

The same applies to guns and the skills of their shooter.

[Rastoff]

Originally Posted by marvin the martian

I cheated and peeked at the EXIF data, they are both with the Nikon.

That's funny because both were definitely not taken with the Nikon. The top is a sunrise I took on the way to work with my Nikon D5100 and the bottom is a sunset taken in Pahrump, NV with my tablet. Not sure why whatever data you're seeing is saying they were both taken with the Nikon.

The sunrise was retouched to darken the bottom. There is a road going through that pass and it just looked ugly with the cars and roadway. The sunset is completely untouched and is exactly as it came from the tablet.

[Straightshooter2]

Originally Posted by jack oconnor

There is a very Major problem with a SLR thats almost as bad as revolver addiction , and that is the dreaded "lens lust"! I am carrying 5-sometimes 6 lenses, plus a flash, batteries, filters, cleaning stuff, remote shutter release, bottle of water, breakfast bars, CCW & 1 reload. i have recently started thinking about big telephotos,and possibly a spare camera body.. and Just typing this makes me tired, I`m gonna have to get me a wheeled cart soon!

Try a lens addiction to the old '50s and '60s glass and metal Pentax Takumar type lenses (which can be used on the latest Pentax digitals). Put 105, 200 and 300mm prime lenses in your bag and you've added several pounds.

CW

[bushmaster1313]

Originally Posted by vic3620

So.... What did you buy?
Vic3620

Nikon D5200 with 18-55 VR lens.
The body and the lens seem to both be one step up from Nikon's basic offerings, and the body will accept all sorts of expensive lenses if one is so inclined.