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I don't know if this is the right thread for any critique but I took my new DSLR out for the first time on a hike through my city yesterday. Ended up with 6 pictures or so that I thought were pretty cool and wanted to get critique on 'em. Here's a link to the flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/153589788@N08/shares/625K68
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Apr 2, 2017 17:24
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The Photo a Day thread is the official 'give me crit' thread but it can be a bit intimidating. Usually people post pictures in the relevant subject thread (landscapes, portraits, pets, film, etc) but you don't usually get crit there unless you ask for it or your pictures are unusually bad. Having said that, your Flickr looks exactly like an archetypal 'just got my first DSLR' feed. You've got some decent images and some that I guess only have meaning for you (not that there's anything wrong with that, 90% of my Flickr will be pointless for anyone who isn't me). Technically your pictures are mostly ok although your cityscape with the square crop has a wonky horizon. Take a bunch more and see how they come out.
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Apr 2, 2017 17:49
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Better than my first dozen shots (not saying much because the second 12,000 shots were just as bad). But in general, no one cares about bokeh. The picture of a bird would be better if it was a picture of a bird, not a blurry tree. And the cityscapes would be better with a level horizon and straight verticals. Which if you're shooting wide may not be technically achievable, but it's something to think about when looking through the viewfinder (and then fix it in post anyways because no one can shoot level). For the more abstract stuff it's all about lines and how 3d lines convert into 2d shapes and I still don't have an eye for it so just browse a couple hundred pages in the landscape thread and see what people smarter than me have done.
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Apr 2, 2017 19:54
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Thanks guys! Definitely have quite a bit to learn, especially about composition haha. It was a super fun city hike though and looking forward to getting out more and trying new things. Appreciate the critique!
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Apr 5, 2017 04:47
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I'm trying to figure out how to take better pictures with my K-r + kit lens without breaking the bank, mostly just pictures of the baby and of crafts for the blog. There are times where it seems like I have to choose between a too-dark picture and flash glare. Because I don't know anything about photography I've been trying to take a crash course, but I'm a little confused about the relative merits and cost effectiveness of a lens vs flash vs putting an extra lamp on the table. I have a budget of about $60, maybe $100 if the impact is so amazing my wife will forgive me, and it seems like my options are roughly:
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Apr 9, 2017 13:55
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If light is your main issue fight it with light, a lense with a wider aperatue may help but light will be your friend. Have you tried a simple diffuser to try and eliminate glare? I've seen a guy make them out of clear plastic film canisters. I'm not great when it comes to flashes and I'm still learning, but yongnuo 560s are always recommend as great budget flashes everywhere I read.
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Apr 9, 2017 14:23
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I have a couple of 560s and they really are a good bargain. And even if you ever bring larger monolights into your work they serve well as secondaries.
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Apr 9, 2017 14:51
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A speedlight bounced off a white wall can give really nice, soft light. But you will get really far with taking your flash off camera and sticking it on a lightstand and using an umbrella light modifier. Getting a faster lens won't solve things if your ambient light is the problem, and they tend to be more expensive than speedlights + off-cam lighting gear. Lily Catts fucked around with this message at 15:03 on Apr 9, 2017 |
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Apr 9, 2017 15:01
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tater_salad posted:If light is your main issue fight it with light, a lense with a wider aperatue may help but light will be your friend. Have you tried a simple diffuser to try and eliminate glare? I've seen a guy make them out of clear plastic film canisters. Does the type of 560 matter? It looks like they're all around $60. What all do I need to make it work off camera? The flash, a stand, an umbrella, and a mount, right? Edit: or the flash, an aluminum pole, a sheet of wax paper and some clamps if I'm being cheap. Schneider Heim posted:A speedlight bounced off a white wall can give really nice, soft light. But you will get really far with taking your flash off camera and sticking it on a lightstand and using an umbrella light modifier. Also, are flash mounts standard, I.e. I can just stick a yongnuo on top of my Pentax? I swear I've read like twenty flash guides today but they're all vague about the details and possibly shills. Thank you for the replies. PerniciousKnid fucked around with this message at 18:15 on Apr 9, 2017 |
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Apr 9, 2017 17:39
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PerniciousKnid posted:I'm trying to figure out how to take better pictures with my K-r + kit lens without breaking the bank, mostly just pictures of the baby and of crafts for the blog. There are times where it seems like I have to choose between a too-dark picture and flash glare. Because I don't know anything about photography I've been trying to take a crash course, but I'm a little confused about the relative merits and cost effectiveness of a lens vs flash vs putting an extra lamp on the table. I have a budget of about $60, maybe $100 if the impact is so amazing my wife will forgive me, and it seems like my options are roughly: Your K-r should have a wireless option for flash - my K-5, similar in age, certainly does. This lets you set up a separate flash that's triggered by a signal from the pop-up on your camera. Look in the menu for W with a lightning bolt next to it. To use this you obviously need a compatible flash unit. I've got a pair older Sigma flashes, EF-530 DG SUPER, that work this way. The user interface on these Sigma units is terrible, but I can set them up in wireless slave mode. Any Pentax-compatible flash from the past 5 or 8 years should do this just fine. With the camera set to wireless flash and the pop-up UP, and the flash set to wireless slave, I can shoot with a flash illuminating my scene but held at a position that won't result in that glaring on-axis flash you're struggling with. I just hold the flash in my left hand, pointed in the rough direction of my subject, and shoot half-blind (because I can't see my left hand so sometimes it's pointing the wrong way - the half-bottle of wine that's often in me when I do this doesn't really help). PerniciousKnid posted:Does the type of 560 matter? It looks like they're all around $60. To make a compatible flash work - like a Yongnuo for Pentax - wirelessly you need your camera and the flash, and some way to get them both pointed in the right direction after you've set them both up to talk to each other. Some gaffer tape and a stick might work, depending on what you're trying to do. Set the flash to bounce off of something reasonably colourless and reasonably shiny - your standard off-white wall or ceiling works well. A sheet of paper, a lampshade, or a window (at a shallow angle) can also work, and will give you some interesting effects to play with. You can also mount the flash on your camera (keep the pop-up DOWN, obviously) but tilt it at the ceiling or rotate the head to the side to bounce off a wall. Modern flash units are very capable and flexible devices, you should find a quick and easy way to get pictures you're much more happy with by playing around with a new flash for an afternoon. The flash is going to poo poo out a big ball of light that's going to bounce off everything it touches, which is pretty much everything in the room. The middle of that ball of light is what's most important, so point the flash at that bounce surface so it will bounce off and splash all over your subject. Something to diffuse it might be useful but that light is going to diffuse all over the place anyways if your bounce surface is anything other than an actual mirror.
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Apr 9, 2017 18:43
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PerniciousKnid posted:Does the type of 560 matter? It looks like they're all around $60. If you have a tripod already, this can double as a light stand for a separate flash unit. Most flashes come with a removable foot that has a thread for standard tripod mounts. If you are going to use an umbrella you can either cobble it to the flash with duct tape or you can buy a bracket for about $10 that will have a socket for a flash on top, a clamp for an umbrella in the middle and a thread for a tripod/lightstand on the bottom. You can trigger the off-axis flash in a number of ways. You can slave it to your popup flash so that when the on-camera flash fires, the second flash will also fire. This is the easiest and cheapest way to do it but it does mean that you will have the harsh on-camera flash still. You can connect it with a cable, this is fairly easy and cheap but it limits you in placing the other flash because it's physically tethered to your camera. The best way is with a wireless trigger. Some Yongnuo flashes have built in wireless receivers and there are Amazon bundles that include one or more flashes with one or more wireless transceivers. You put the transceiver on your camera hot shoe and set the flash to the correct wireless mode and then when you press the shutter, the flash will fire in sync. It sometimes takes a bit of trial and error to find the correct combination of transceiver and flash modes that get them to work but there's a very limited number of options so it won't take more than a couple of test shots. Just be aware that your flash won't fire if your shutter speed is set too high (more than 1/180th I think for your camera) and it also won't fire if your camera is in live view mode. If you put the flash on top of your camera, then bouncing it off a wall or ceiling is a possibility, you can also buy a diffuser hood for not much money that is basically a squared off cone that attaches to your flash at one end with elastic and has a translucent bit of fabric at the other end to soften the light output. It's not as good as an actual soft box but it will fit on top of your camera with the flash unit while an umbrella or a big soft c=box definitely won't
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Apr 9, 2017 20:10
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Thanks for the help, I've had a hard time differentiating the easy stuff from the hard stuff from the stuff that's easy if I have the expensive stuff. It sounds like the simplest next step is to get a Yongnuo 560 IV and point it at the ceiling or a white board clamped to my tripod. It doesn't seem like the older versions are appreciably cheaper. Thanks! Edit: I'm definitely saving all these posts for when I actually have the flash and can play around with it, and I think all of this stuff will make 10x as much sense to me. PerniciousKnid fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Apr 9, 2017 |
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Apr 9, 2017 22:38
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And if you decide that you want to test out wireless setups Yongnuo has some really good options you can get into for not much money. For instance when I was using a Canon T3i I picked up the YN560-TX wireless trigger (was like $40 at B&H) to fire both of my 560-III's . And it works fine on my Fujifilm X-T2. When I started adding some non-Yongnuo lights to my setup I just picked up some RF605C wireless triggers ($33 at B&H... for two in a package!) Easy way to get to get into a wireless setup for not much money. Yeah you'll have to set up any lights manually but for starting out they work well.
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Apr 10, 2017 05:08
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Noob question: how do I know which AF grid to select when taking pictures? For instance, my Canon 80D has 45 AF points but multiple modes you can select for how it should focus. You can have it focus on a single point anywhere in the grid, have it focus on a square area of the grid, have it focus on an entire vertical section on the left/middle/right or finally you can just leave it wide open to focus on all 45 AF points. How am I supposed to decide which is best for certain scenarios? I figure that most the time I'd just want it focus on all the AF points unless I'm doing a portrait with bokeh effect but not sure if that's best practice. Stupid question probably but would love to know how that all works.
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Apr 15, 2017 22:44
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InFlames235 posted:Noob question: how do I know which AF grid to select when taking pictures? For instance, my Canon 80D has 45 AF points but multiple modes you can select for how it should focus. I'd suggest reading up on the technique "focus and recompose". The short of it is, set focus to the center point, focus on your subject by half pressing to take a picture, recompose, take the photo.
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Apr 16, 2017 00:45
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If you're taking a portrait, it's usually important to get the closest eye in focus, so you'd use a single focus point and directly focus on that eye. It doesn't need to be the central focus point; you can select the closest point to the eye in your composition. The 80D has an autofocus-lock button, I believe. You can use that instead of keeping the shutter button half-pressed, some people find it easier (I do).
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Apr 16, 2017 03:05
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Usually you're going to use a single focus point (most often, but not always the centre one). I don't think I've ever used any of the other grids on my 70D. Like the others said, put your focus point over the thing you want the camera to focus on either by selecting a focus point that happens to be on it anyway or by centring the viewfinder on it, half-pressing the shutter to autofocus and then holding the focus lock button down while you recompose the shot and take the picture.
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Apr 16, 2017 09:23
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Picking a single AF point works 90% of the time. You can choose to expand the AF area if it's a low light situation and the single point might happen to be on a dark area of your subject, or if your subject is moving and you want the AF system to try tracking it.
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Apr 16, 2017 14:36
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The only time I've used full zone AF was when shooting falcons chasing pigeons. They come in so fast that full zone was necessary to lock onto them quickly -- trying to catch them with a single AF point usually resulted in a miss and then the lens goes hunting to infinity and back meaning you missed your chance. For a stationary subject I don't know why you'd ever use anything but single point.
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Apr 16, 2017 15:12
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Hi friends, I hope this is not a bad thing to do but I am looking to buy my wife a camera for her birthday. I've read the OP and there's a ton of good information in there but I was hoping to get a little direct feedback as well. My wife loves taking pictures and I'm constantly amazed at how good her iPhone pictures look compared to my lovely, shaky-hand pics (of which nearly 99% are of my dog). She loves the idea of making this her hobby and we are taking a trip to Ireland for 2 weeks this summer, so I want her to be able to have some nice equipment to work with. Is a refurbished Nikon D3200 a good place to start? I've decided to go with Nikon, purely to just make a decision. Amazon is selling a D3200, certified refurbished, for $399. It seems like a fair price and it's in my budget, although I'm not sure if I should be looking at a different model or not. I definitely don't intend to buy the absolute newest equipment but the OP hasn't been updated for 3 years and I'm not sure if there's a better option or not. I'm just looking for a recommendation on something decent to buy for a beginner, nothing crazy but something nice. If you could recommend at least one lens that I should get, that would be fantastic! Thanks!
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Apr 18, 2017 20:39
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D3200 is solid but not the latest model. $399 is pretty much the price for a new d3400 or whatever it's up to now. It's the base model so expect base model features. You'll want to upgrade at some point for a higher end body with things like two control wheels and more buttons. Consider used as well. You could have that new higher end body, now. (And I'm not just saying that because I'm trying to sell one)
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Apr 18, 2017 20:47
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The D3200 is a fine camera, and will be a step up in some important ways from an iPhone - most importantly, the ability to take precise control of one's photography using the manual features of the camera. Once you get used to specifying things like ISO and aperture it's hard to go back to something that tries to make those decisions for you. Plus, the wonderful things that come with being able to swap lenses. Used is a great way to get a DSLR, but if your wife wouldn't be happy with a second-hand present from you I guess you'll need to stay with new. To get started, you (your wife) will need the camera body, at least one lens, a memory card, and at least one battery and a charger. All of those things except the memory card come with most new cameras unless you specifically opt for a body-only purchase. You won't need more than one battery unless you take only videos or exclusively use live-view mode - one great feature of nearly all DSLRs is enormous battery life compared to any device that needs to keep a screen lit up to use it. The 'kit zoom' lens that comes with a D3200 will be fine for a trip and general shooting. I'm not particularly familiar with Nikon but I know people here will be able to suggest some cheap-and-good lenses that might be good for you / your wife / your trip to Ireland.
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Apr 18, 2017 21:05
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ukrainius maximus posted:Hi friends, I hope this is not a bad thing to do but I am looking to buy my wife a camera for her birthday. I've read the OP and there's a ton of good information in there but I was hoping to get a little direct feedback as well. My wife loves taking pictures and I'm constantly amazed at how good her iPhone pictures look compared to my lovely, shaky-hand pics (of which nearly 99% are of my dog). She loves the idea of making this her hobby and we are taking a trip to Ireland for 2 weeks this summer, so I want her to be able to have some nice equipment to work with. Counterpoint to your decision. DSLR's are to big. Get her a mirrorless fuji. Go to the mirrorless thread and ask in there. I'm not a photographer. I have however bought my wife several camera's. She used a DSLR a bunch for a few years. She's mostly back on her iphone now and I use the DSLR on occasion. DSLR's do take beautiful pictures but will your wife want to carry it around when the iphone fits in her purse?
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Apr 18, 2017 21:06
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ukrainius maximus posted:Is a refurbished Nikon D3200 a good place to start?
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Apr 18, 2017 21:58
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Hdip posted:Counterpoint to your decision. DSLR's are to big. Get her a mirrorless fuji. Go to the mirrorless thread and ask in there. I'm all for recommending mirrorless over DSLR these days, but the budget's gotta be there to back it up.
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Apr 18, 2017 22:19
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Mine is a D3400 and it's fantastic. Battery life is great, it's easy to use, tons of things to learn and practice on, bluetooth LE connectivity is useful as hell for instagram, and the AF/shutter performance is great. The kit lens has VR and actually is quite nice, I've been using it for slightly wider angle pics at 18mm. I got a 35mm f1.8 prime, and the Nikkor 55-200m telephoto as well, so I'm covered for whatever I want to shoot. In shortly I highly recommend the D3400!
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Apr 18, 2017 22:55
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:$400 can still a tough price point for someone to consider mirrorless. The AF and sensor performance are only now competitive with DSLRs, but they're still restricted to the higher-end cameras. Going to the less expensive bodies still requires some serious sacrifices, in my opinion. You can get an Olympus E-M10 with a kit lens for $400, less than $300 if you are willing to buy used.
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Apr 18, 2017 23:09
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Holy crap, you all are awesome and I really appreciate the responses. My wife wouldn't mind a secondhand camera as long as it's in good condition so I'm not too worried about that. I'm also not too worried about the size - we visited my sister in Alaska last year and she brought my father in law's DSLR and loved having it, plus she's talked about how much she's wanted to get one so I think I'm good there too. Wild EEPROM posted:D3200 is solid but not the latest model. $399 is pretty much the price for a new d3400 or whatever it's up to now. Are you actually selling a D3400? I checked the buy/sell thread but only saw you post about another model (I only went back a few pages). If so I'd definitely be down for seeing what you have. Also hi Arus, this is Dwarfgasm from Rift back in the day! (remember!?)
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Apr 19, 2017 00:48
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ukrainius maximus posted:Holy crap, you all are awesome and I really appreciate the responses.
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Apr 19, 2017 02:46
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Yeah just the 7100. I started with a d90 (succeeded by d7000, then 7100, 7200, etc) and I'm glad I went with something that didn't immediately limit me. Also if you have friends that are into photography, they might have lenses to lend you; If they're into canon, it would be a not-bad idea to get a canon so you can borrow their lenses.
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Apr 19, 2017 05:25
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What's the major differences between the 7000s vs the 3000s? The prices are much higher on the D7100s and I'm just wondering what the impact would be for an amateur photographer. Edit - And I just noticed there is a separate Nikon thread which I believe is laying out the answers to my question.
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Apr 19, 2017 19:53
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ukrainius maximus posted:Also hi Arus, this is Dwarfgasm from Rift back in the day! (remember!?) Hi buddy!!! ukrainius maximus posted:What's the major differences between the 7000s vs the 3000s? The prices are much higher on the D7100s and I'm just wondering what the impact would be for an amateur photographer. From what I've been told, the D7000 series is definitely a higher end APS-C body, stuff like higher ISO capable, more AF points, extras like wifi, bigger buffer for more rapid shots, etc. I absolutely love my D3400 and don't regret it for a second, my future next upgrade though will likely be a D7000 series (D7500 was just announced).
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Apr 19, 2017 20:19
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Popelmon posted:You can get an Olympus E-M10 with a kit lens for $400, less than $300 if you are willing to buy used.
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Apr 19, 2017 20:31
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It probably makes sense to go with the higher end model then right off the bat, I'm thinking, so that she has everything she needs for a while. Amazon has the D7100 body only, certified refurbished, for $629.99 which seems to be the best price I can find from a retailer. Since I still really know nothing about cameras, besides an SD card or two, what type of lens (or 2) should I be looking to get her to pair with this?
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Apr 19, 2017 20:59
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At that price point your options expand quite a bit for mirrorless. I'd take your wife to a store and see what she likes to handle. G7, EM1, em5-2, maybe even an XT-1 could be found.
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Apr 19, 2017 21:15
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ukrainius maximus posted:Since I still really know nothing about cameras, besides an SD card or two, what type of lens (or 2) should I be looking to get her to pair with this? Again, I'm not a photographer, but I've been in your place. For nikon get the 35mm 1.8. Whoops I put a link to the wrong lens in here. Ignore that. Carry on. Hdip fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Apr 19, 2017 |
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Apr 19, 2017 21:38
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Hdip posted:Again, I'm not a photographer, but I've been in your place. For nikon get the 35mm 1.8. The f1.8 35mm Nikkor prime lens is loving amazing, I could not recommend it more
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Apr 19, 2017 21:59
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The 18-55 kit lens is great for general outdoor stuff, and the zoom gives you a decent amount of flexibility for many situations. But indoors you'll need something with a wider aperture for low light and that's when the 35 1.8 comes in. Those are really the only two you'll need for a long time.
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Apr 19, 2017 22:09
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The 18mm focal length on the kit lens makes for some very nice outdoor/scenery shits. E: autocorrect but I'm gonna leave that in there
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Apr 19, 2017 22:28
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I got my d7000 body only from Amazon for I think 349.. you should be able to get a kit 18-55 from b&h in the 50-60 range. I upgraded from a d80 after like 3 months and sold it for close to what I paid for it. I'm pretty happy with the performance and battery life.. the battery is basically a charge it once in awhile thing unless you are taking a poo poo ton of pictures. Now that it's warmer I can't wait to get out and start picturing again winter here sucked because it was mild with not much snow. Note I do not know much about current offerings but it was what I was suggested when I asked for a Nikon with dual wheels under $400. Go with dual wheels my brother has a cannon with only one and I hate hate it for manual mode.
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Apr 19, 2017 23:47
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