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I think a rangefinder would be a poor choice, seeing as I imagine you'd want to be getting up close to your subject and the minimum focus distance may not be up to the job. I'd be going for something in the Minolta XD or X-570 era so you get a real good aperture priority while keeping your size down. Or like a Pentax MX or LX? Those things are tiny. Gotta get one recently serviced tho cause of the infamous mirror sticking issue.
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Oct 26, 2022 07:37
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I turned up highlight priority enhanced mode on my camera and it was a good choice to do so I reckon
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Oct 26, 2022 09:58
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SMERSH Mouth posted:I need a 35mm film camera for child documentation. For photographing a child which is always moving I'd 100% go with as open of an aperture you can get. Your goal is to be able to shoot at 1/250 or faster shutter speed in lowish light. Yes inside your well lit Livingroom is probably low light. (That's my .02 though)
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Oct 26, 2022 12:47
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SMERSH Mouth posted:
I have an old RC that I've put a couple rolls through, and its fun and cool but it is just about the last camera id want to bring along to take pictures of my kid. Its nice and compact, but the controls are really fiddly and the rangefinder patch is (to my memory) extremely small and tough to read. I mostly treat it like a point and shoot, f8 125 and focus at infinity. Captain Organ fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Oct 27, 2022 |
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Oct 27, 2022 21:51
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If you want to chase absolute high quality at minimal size, Olympus XA or Contax G2 are gonna be your best options before you seriously compromise either image quality (sub-frame) or functionality (minox, rollei 35, etc). A SLR gives you more flexibility, an MX is an absolutely great camera if it's been serviced, probably the best workhorse in the pentax line (LX has a reputation for being finicky in general even when recently serviced, and it's also larger). But even a MX is a much bigger camera let alone if you're dragging along a change of lens, or you're using a zoom, where the XA truly can just slip into a coat pocket, and that's something that's maybe desirable for the Dadcam. But if you get a MX check out the SMC Pentax (no -M) 35mm f/3.5, super amazing lens dirt cheap (pretty sure I saw a near-mint one pop up on ebay for $100 recently), really excellent performer even wide open, one of my absolute favorite pentax lenses and would be great for the MX. MX also has a huge 0.95x viewfinder that's super bright, very nice camera all around and very reliable once it's serviced. XA is very good for that hyperfocal shooting, and with a wide-angle lens you don't need much accuracy at longer ranges, it helps a little up close (where depth of field is tighter) but the distance scale goes like 1ft-3ft-infinity iirc, it's amusing. Basically unless I'm actually up close to someone, the rangefinder isn't worth using at all, just hyperfocal and go, might as well be fixed focus. Honestly the bigger problem will be if you accidentally bump it, like, I honestly wish it had a notch/detent to hold it at "fixed focus" around 8ft or 10ft, that would cover from like 1m to infinity at most outdoor apertures and be good enough to hit focus inside in the ranges people will be at. It's not a perfect camera either but between the auto-flash and the wide lens it handles indoor/outdoor photography solidly, it's what it was designed to do, be a companion camera. Contax G2 is renowned for being a finicky bastard too but it's autofocus and relatively compact and the autofocus is supposedly really solid. Still a little bigger than the XA but the XA is notably small. If you want autofocus, that's your best option imo, plus you get interchangeable lenses, if you can afford it. The 90mm is not super useful on a rangefinder but indoor ranges are gonna be 28-55mm mostly anyway. 28mm, 35mm, and 45mm are what this system offers there, 35mm would be my default all-rounder indoors/outdoors lens but 50mm and 28mm are both useful in some scenarios too. Ricoh film-series GR cameras might be an option too, but I'm not into that particular cult deeply enough. Also Yashica T4 Super. There probably are some weirdo autofocus rangefinder cameras in the leica stable somewhere, too, I bet. Stylus epic is an option but personally I never feel like I have 100% confidence it's going to go off if I pop open the door and get ready for a shot. You really need to leave it open when the opportunity presents, to allow it to charge the flash - and to be clear I'm using good commercial lithium batteries here lol. It will fill flash all the time unless you turn it off - and it's really good at it, better than my first DSLR was, actually. And the lens is fantastic and super sharp - the program might be annoying at first, it runs wide open f/2.8 until it hits 1/1000, then stops down until it hits the limit, but the lens is fantastic at f/2.8 and the depth of field is large enough (and the focus is accurate enough) that it's not a problem at all. Right up until it gets too dark to shoot your thing, of course - I'd think about shooting Portra 400 or another similar fast modern color stock. You can use nail polish to "edit" the ISO dx coding on the film canister if need be, so you can shoot at EI 800 and push process portra 400 or tri-x/hp5. Heck portra really is fine at 800 without the push processing from what I hear... Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 06:28 on Oct 28, 2022 |
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Oct 28, 2022 06:03
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SMERSH Mouth posted:I need a 35mm film camera for child documentation. What kind of... 'child documentation', are you planning to do?  Jokes aside, by that I mean are you planning on trying to take candid photos whenever, wherever, or are you okay with being a bit more picky/accepting that not every situation is capable of having a decent photograph taken of it? You're probably not going to get accurate focus on any small child running around very fast using a manual focus camera, without a lot of practice (and because this is film, $$$). Be it a rangefinder or an SLR. Doubly so if you're futzing about with trying to input settings manually and not shooting in a aperture/shutter-priority mode too. And this is only going to get worse as the light goes away - so, you'd basically need to stay outdoors in the day with good light or find some way to get the kiddo to stay still for five seconds. Really, IMO your best bet is to just browse Ebay for a few different camera models that look interesting to you, and pick up one you find that looks in good condition and is at a price you consider reasonable, and then see how you get on with it. A lot of the small point-and-shoot/fixed lens 35mm cameras don't go for a whole lot of money, outside of the hypebeast bait ones like the Yashica T4/Contax T2/etc. A good condition Olympus XA won't run you more than like $150, usually with the flash included too. I imagine it's probably the same for the Olympus 35s too. https://www.35mmc.com/category/reviews-experinces/compact-cameras/ Is a fun place to look if you want eye candy and some first hand experience.
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Oct 28, 2022 19:31
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Heya goons, just a quick question about a camera kit we just purchased since I know next to nothing about photography: we bought a Olympus Pen E-P7 with a M.Zuiko Digital ED 14‑42mm F3.5‑5.6 EZ Pancake plus a M.Zuiko Digital ED 30mm F3.5 Macro in a Deal for 700€, and are planning to sell the macro since we don't think we'll use it much. So Body with the 14-42mm lens for roughly 500€. Is this a decent deal or is this a bad camera that we should avoid? As stated I don't know how to use a camera at all, though my wife does, and we wanted a small camera for travelling and occasional casual pictures and for me to learn a bit. Everything I read makes this one sound pretty decent, but I do trust goons so I'd like to know if it's a bad decision or if there's something vastly superior at a similar price point.
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Oct 28, 2022 19:48
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Son of Rodney posted:Heya goons, just a quick question about a camera kit we just purchased since I know next to nothing about photography: we bought a Olympus Pen E-P7 with a M.Zuiko Digital ED 14‑42mm F3.5‑5.6 EZ Pancake plus a M.Zuiko Digital ED 30mm F3.5 Macro in a Deal for 700€, and are planning to sell the macro since we don't think we'll use it much. So Body with the 14-42mm lens for roughly 500€. Is this a decent deal or is this a bad camera that we should avoid? It's a fine camera if small is a strong value add for you. It'll be more than capable of most things you'll ask it to do in typical travel and 'loving about with a camera' use cases. It's basically an OM-D E-M10iv (which is a pretty nice camera) but without a viewfinder. I would probably have looked at that OM-D E-M10iv myself, but the tradeoff is a bit more bulk and, you got a reasonable deal on the set so I wouldn't sweat it too much. Just a note on the macro lens, it isn't just for macro photography, It's a nice prime lens that'll be a bit faster and sharper than the pancake at the same focal length. On that camera 30mm is a slightly long normal lens so will be good for people and closeups of things.
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Oct 28, 2022 21:34
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Helen Highwater posted:It's a fine camera if small is a strong value add for you. It'll be more than capable of most things you'll ask it to do in typical travel and 'loving about with a camera' use cases. It's basically an OM-D E-M10iv (which is a pretty nice camera) but without a viewfinder. I would probably have looked at that OM-D E-M10iv myself, but the tradeoff is a bit more bulk and, you got a reasonable deal on the set so I wouldn't sweat it too much. Just a note on the macro lens, it isn't just for macro photography, It's a nice prime lens that'll be a bit faster and sharper than the pancake at the same focal length. On that camera 30mm is a slightly long normal lens so will be good for people and closeups of things. Fantastic, happy for hear it! The E-M10 IV was absolutely in consideration but this deal came at an oportune time and the price seemed very good compared price wise so we just went for it. Also thanks for explaining the macro lens, guess we'll keep it then!
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Oct 29, 2022 07:49
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I ended up running across a very solid condition Nikon FM at the local camera shop. I still have a few Nikon lenses laying around and the guy who does the checking & fixing of used film gear at that shop has a stellar reputation so that’s the one I grabbed. MLU or mirror prefire is important to me because I also take the occasional long exposure and I remember my XD11 (with no way to trip the mirror before the shutter) being total poo poo for that on a light tripod, while my old FE was the low light long exposure champ. Not the brightest VF on the FM, and I was also interested in going heavier and more robust if I got an SLR. Kind of wish I’d gone with the Nikkormat that was sitting in the display next to the FM. (There was also an S2 with immaculate VF & 50/2 but without even parallax correction it was pretty much a nonstarter for my main purpose.) Apparently you can prefire the mirror on most MX’s by lightly tapping the shutter button, but it’s more of a bug than a feature. I’m already kind of sus about using even the FM for long exposures, because the process is to set the shutter to bulb, wind the self-timer, then lock the shutter button down with a cable release. The cable release stays depressed while the timer lever resets and triggers the shutter, and remains locked open until you release it. I mean, I guess it’s fine and that’s how you’re supposed to do MLU long exposures on an FM but it feels kind of hacky.
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Nov 1, 2022 15:47
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SMERSH Mouth posted:I ended up running across a very solid condition Nikon FM at the local camera shop. I still have a few Nikon lenses laying around and the guy who does the checking & fixing of used film gear at that shop has a stellar reputation so that’s the one I grabbed. MLU or mirror prefire is important to me because I also take the occasional long exposure and I remember my XD11 (with no way to trip the mirror before the shutter) being total poo poo for that on a light tripod, while my old FE was the low light long exposure champ. they don't know the hat trick! shun them! that's how a lot of "T" style shutter settings work. the old trick is - put something over the lens before you close the shutter - time your long exposure with the hat so you don't wobble the camera as you bump the shutter. A "bulb" usually only stays down as long as you press it though and in that case a cable release is fine. If that's how it's supposed to work then fine, sometimes T settings do get labeled B. A lot of cheaper LF shutters do cut that corner hence the olde-timey hat trick name (from when everyone wore hats) but it's honestly a lil surprising to hear on the FM, that's like an 80s model right? But I guess the FM is a spiritual successor to the Nikkormat in being a low-cost alternative to the F-series. Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Nov 2, 2022 |
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Nov 1, 2022 23:32
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Yeah I learned about the hat trick with the gw690 Fujis. No B on those so you gotta throw a cloth over the lens before manhandling the shutter dial to end the time exposure. Actually most of the time if I’m going to gently caress around with long exposures on tripods I’ll use the Pentax 67 with its much needed MLU function. But it’s nice to have a light camera option that works with a similarly light tripod. E: and I could’ve avoided the self timer shuffle entirely and had a matching 35mm SLR for the 67 if I’d gone for a KX or K2, but the FM was too good a deal to pass up SMERSH Mouth fucked around with this message at 01:53 on Nov 2, 2022 |
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Nov 2, 2022 01:47
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I've handled a KX and I wasn't impressed compared to the MX, I would rate a KX no higher than a K1000SE. the ME [/ME Super] or the MX are both definitively better bodies for as long as they're running. The LX is OK, it's notionally a slightly better body than the MX but it's way more expensive and it has a reputation for being finicky. I own a recently serviced Pentax MX for my K-mount shooting. Even the ME is a positively luxurious screen in comparison to the K-series bodies and I've used a ME for a lot of years for K-mount shooting. The problem with the ME is that a lot of the circuit boards are dying, and there aren't adequate spares because it's that awkward transitional era. Get a MX and get it serviced if you need. Watch PentaxForums buy/sell, there's a lot of Pentax dealz that happen there. The manual Samyang (/Bower/Rokinon) lenses should be excellent on an MX/etc. 35/1.4 manual focus is a perennial deal for how excellent it is even on full frame. If I was going to shoot low light on FF SLR film indoors it'd 100% be a MX+Samyang 35/1.4 but it's not a small kit at all. The Pentax 43/1.9 (all variants) is excellent too, as is the K(not -M) 28/3.5 and K35/3.5 for smaller lenses. If you can be satisfied with the Pentax lens selection (K28/2, K28/3.5, K30/2.8, K35/3.5, 43/1.9 are all exceptional, P67 or P645 M* or A* glass is all exceptional, K/M100/2.8 or whatever and 135/2.5 and 200/whatevers) plus third party lenses, it's a fantastic system and actually has incredibly above-average reflection/flare resistance, which is a serious problem on most contemporary systems/lenses. 70s Nikon spherical glass actually has some real flare problems imo, I have Nikon I love (105/2.5) and others I don't but it's all way more flare-prone than Pentax SMC/S-M-C until the green-coating era. Nikkor 35/1.4 doesn't hold a candle to Samyang 35/1.4 or Nikkor 105/2.5 to Samyang 135/2 (understandably so) either. And you get that built in on the Pentax system too, with the right copy of the lens, or with an adapter to NEX or A7 or A6000 or whatever, Samyang is available/can be adapted to most platforms. Focus peaking is very good on fast indoor lenses. The MX is a very very desirable shooter with a good stable in the areas that matter imo. Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Nov 2, 2022 |
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Nov 2, 2022 02:50
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I strongly encourage everyone with vintage pentax poo poo who wants to get it serviced to get it in to eric hendrickson soon, like, there's no way that guy keeps doing this that many more years, and, without him the pentax ecosystem is going to get rough. You are going to pay a lot more in 3 years for someone with less expertise. https://pentaxs.com/ Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Nov 2, 2022 |
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Nov 2, 2022 03:25
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SMERSH Mouth posted:Yeah I learned about the hat trick with the gw690 Fujis. No B on those so you gotta throw a cloth over the lens before manhandling the shutter dial to end the time exposure. Don't use the shutter advance for that, it can damage the mechanism iirc. Instead the official way to close the shutter is to change the aperture.
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Nov 2, 2022 04:20
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bobmarleysghost posted:Don't use the shutter advance for that, it can damage the mechanism iirc. Not changing aperture, changing shutter speed, which is what I think he means by manhandling the shutter dial
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Nov 2, 2022 04:28
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bobmarleysghost posted:Don't use the shutter advance for that, it can damage the mechanism iirc. Oh interesting, I always cover the lens and then crank the film lever. Will go back to just using the shutter dial. Thank you! Also I just put a roll of Velvia through my GW690III and man, it's so fun to just look at the film in the light. I'll be super sad if they actually stop making Velvia (or any 120 or larger slide film for that matter).
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Nov 2, 2022 06:57
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Paul MaudDib posted:I strongly encourage everyone with vintage pentax poo poo who wants to get it serviced to get it in to eric hendrickson soon, like, there's no way that guy keeps doing this that many more years, and, without him the pentax ecosystem is going to get rough. You are going to pay a lot more in 3 years for someone with less expertise. Yeah my 67 developed a shutter eccentricity that caused slight but noticeable underexposure on one side at faster speeds and I first sent it into LeZot because they were cheaper and has faster turnaround than Eric for that job (Pentax 67 “shutter service”). It still had the issue after getting it back so I ended up sending it to Eric anyway, who fixed it. It was a slight exposure difference and I figure a very precise adjustment, but it’s perfect now. It’s going to suck when he eventually goes out of business.
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Nov 2, 2022 18:01
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Adorama has discounts on all Hoya filters at the moment, including some very deep discounts (around 66% off) on circular polarizers.
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Nov 8, 2022 17:58
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I found something even more fun than the usual point and shoots at Goodwill this weekend: a Canon Selphy printer, bundled with some ink and paper for just $15. It's a dye sublimation printer, cost is around ~20-30c per print. The prints themselves don't look too bad either. So now I'm gonna be making it rain 4x6s on my friends over the holidays.
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Nov 10, 2022 03:13
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I think I'm finally ready to step-up from my consumer-grade DSLR to something a little fancier, but I'm really not sure where to look. So far I've been shooting on a Nikon D3000, and it's honestly fine, but for the kind of photography I'm interested in (primarily wildlife and documentary-style photography, and I really want to start getting into underwater photography eventually) I feel like I'm starting to run up against the technical limitations of the camera - the mediocre autofocus, slow continuous fps, and weak-ish low light performance are the biggest issues, but I'd also kinda like to have two card slots so I've got an option for backups, since the pictures I like to take are usually not things that can be replicated if something goes wrong. So what are my options nowadays? I haven't really been keeping up with all the latest innovations in gear, but it sounds like mirrorless cameras have kinda become dominant in that prosumer / budget professional space. I don't mind buying used or refurbished from a reputable dealer (I'm not sure I'd trust myself to judge if there were any minor problems with a secondhand camera on my own), and ideally I'd like to spend around $1,000 - if I can get a kit lens with that, even better, though that's probably stretching it. I'm not married to getting another Nikon, but I like their ergonomics and feel comfortable shooting on them. That said, if there's something that's just much better for my needs at that price point, I've got no problem switching.
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Nov 17, 2022 01:03
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Grizzled Patriarch posted:I think I'm finally ready to step-up from my consumer-grade DSLR to something a little fancier, but I'm really not sure where to look. if you are serious about underwater photography, look at the nauticam mirrorless housings with the adapter bulkhead for nikonos water-contact optics. there is still no other solution on the market that does quite what nikonos does, all other lenses are inside a port.
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Nov 17, 2022 01:26
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If you want to get into UW eventually, pick your camera body based on what dive housings are available and within your budget. Nauticam housings are monstrously expensive and not necessarily the best ergonomic layout, and also are really hurt by usually only having fiber optic strobe bulkheads. Other brands like Aquatica (what I use, hundreds of hours in the ocean with only one minor issue, excellent one-handed operation) and Ikelite have sync-cord bulkhead connectors which will help immensely while you're learning to deal with UW flash once you get down that road. Ikelite strobes are excellent but also cost like $800 each on a good day. Having to deal with lens ports means you're stuck with one lens on a dive, but you can use focus gearing systems in the housing to run a zoom lens, which is generally plenty. You will probably mostly know whether you're shooting macro ahead of time on a dive, otherwise just default to an ultrawide zoom and you'll be fine. Visibility and also color absorption by the water means you're not losing out on much besides sasquatch quality photos by not having a lot of reach. Also when you account for port refraction narrowing your angle of view, ultrawide rapidly becomes a little more normal. Fisheye lenses are great but that's usually a later purchase and the learning curve is a little weird. Those with a flash is how people get the over/under water shots and the super colorful photos. There are also modern wet lens options that are pretty good, and if you're doing underwater macro then you can get flip down diopter holders. Nauticam also has a similar flip down holder system. Also please make sure everything is tethered. Don't discount compact cameras for underwater either, they are light, easy to handle, and you can bring a bunch of wet lenses with you. In very turbulent water or adverse conditions the compact folks are often the only ones to get decent pictures because a full size mirrorless + strobes acts as a gigantic sail and it will be difficult to hold for framing purposes even with buoyancy floats.
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Nov 17, 2022 06:49
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many of the nauticam models (like the A7 series) do have TTL flash. you will need at least a wideangle sooner than you think because underwater working distances are close... 20mm was pretty standard for the nikonos even when not using the 15mm.
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Nov 17, 2022 07:46
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What lens do you currently use with the d3000 for wildlife?
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Nov 17, 2022 12:03
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Atlatl posted:Fisheye lenses are great but that's usually a later purchase and the learning curve is a little weird. Those with a flash is how people get the over/under water shots and the super colorful photos. And here I thought all underwater lenses were fisheyes 
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Nov 17, 2022 15:33
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Pablo Bluth posted:What lens do you currently use with the d3000 for wildlife? I was able to get a Nikkor 70-300 refurbished for a great price, and it mostly has enough reach on a crop sensor, but I've definitely had some shots where I really wish I could reach a bit further. I'm honestly not sure if I should just keep the body and invest in better glass or just pick up something like a used 6D that would handle higher ISO better and have a better frame rate / shutter speed / autofocus. I'm also trying to avoid just spending a lot of money for marginal upgrades or buying into a mostly obsolete lens ecosystem or something that would just become another expensive roadblock later down the line.
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Nov 17, 2022 19:50
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There's no such thing as enough range for wildlife. That same feeling of "not quite enough reach" you get at 300mm will hit you at 500mm. Or 800mm. And then you start worrying about maximum aperture. It's part of the territory and if you really want to go down that road you better come to grips with how much you want to spend on it. If you do want to do wildlife, that puts you solidly in mirrorless territory. Older DSLR's are fine, photographers have done amazing work with them for decades. But the subject/eye tracking on modern mirrorless cameras is legitimately amazing and if you're looking for a new body you really ought to lean in that direction. Unfortunately you aren't getting there with $1000. If buying new, the cheapest combo I can think off off the top of my head would be a Canon R7 and the 800mm f/11. And that's still over $2k. Even a 10+ year old supertele will consume most of your budget.
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Nov 17, 2022 20:20
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You can throw longer lenses at a problem, but an 800mm lens can’t make up for atmospheric distortion,, and then you start getting involved in camoflage…
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Nov 17, 2022 20:44
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So I've come into a Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II with its 14-42mm lens. I dont know much about cameras but I've been doing more art lately namely painting. Since I received this camera I've been wanting to do more with it. Mostly landscapes, maybe some shots of buildings/americana type stuff, and close ups of miniature figures. I'm having trouble grokking a few things about lenses and cameras. It seems some things are interchangeable, but others arent. So I am looking for lenses that would work for these things, and then I would rent them and try them out before making a final decision. Is this the right thread for input on that?
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Nov 17, 2022 20:45
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The lighting thread is long archived so I'm guessing it's OK to bring up in here these days? I haven't shot in forever but there's the usual itch and the rescue I always take photos at their event each year wants to include some photography as part of the costume prize for the dogs, and so it feels like an excuse to be a bit more organized with my approach rather than just taking candid shots (and sometimes armed with a fairly basic Yongnuo speedlight). I've wanted to do proper doggy portraits forever and I've got my own and the local rescue dogs to practice with anytime I want. After doing some googling of the brands/lights that caught my attention in the past, I spotted this deal on Adorama which seems to tick a lot of my boxes - I'll be shooting outside in Florida in a fair amount of sunshine usually (this particular event is February so not too bad, but obviously considering future use). Battery powered is therefore a must and this price seems to beat out everyone else quite substantially. Genuine deal then? https://www.adorama.com/fplfx600b.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organicshopping&utm_source=adl-gbase-o There's also the 300 that comes with a full kit for about the same price, but lacks the HSS feature and is half the power. It's still talked about as being for outside use, is there a rough idea as to what I wouldn't be able to do with this compared to the 600 from experience/more knowledge than me? https://www.adorama.com/fplfx300ptk7.html I'm guessing a single light as powerful as this along with a stand and modifier should get some better results than what I'm working with right now without sending the dogs loopy from a ton of light? EL BROMANCE fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Nov 17, 2022 |
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Nov 17, 2022 21:23
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Krataar posted:So I've come into a Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II with its 14-42mm lens. I dont know much about cameras but I've been doing more art lately namely painting. Since I received this camera I've been wanting to do more with it. Mostly landscapes, maybe some shots of buildings/americana type stuff, and close ups of miniature figures. I'm having trouble grokking a few things about lenses and cameras. It seems some things are interchangeable, but others arent. So I am looking for lenses that would work for these things, and then I would rent them and try them out before making a final decision. Is this the right thread for input on that? Yeah, this is the correct place. The bit of info you're looking for is the lens mount. Lenses that use the same mount can be fit to any camera that use it and be expected to work. Your olympus uses an MFT mount. If you chuck "MFT lens" into Google or ebay you should find plenty out there. As for what lens you should buy you're looking at opposite ends of the spectrum here, and I doubt that one lens will cover everything from the close up macro work you want to do to wider landscapes. The kit lens you have on the camera already is probably going to be just fine for landscapes so you'll want to look for an MFT macro lens. Actually, it looks like there's a website with every MFT lens made on: https://www.four-thirds.org/en/lens/
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Nov 17, 2022 21:50
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Krataar posted:So I've come into a Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II with its 14-42mm lens. I dont know much about cameras but I've been doing more art lately namely painting. Since I received this camera I've been wanting to do more with it. Mostly landscapes, maybe some shots of buildings/americana type stuff, and close ups of miniature figures. I'm having trouble grokking a few things about lenses and cameras. It seems some things are interchangeable, but others arent. So I am looking for lenses that would work for these things, and then I would rent them and try them out before making a final decision. Is this the right thread for input on that? Yeah, man, I can help you with some of this. I've had an Oly Pen E-PL3, E-M10ii like yours, and currently have an E-M10iii. Any Micro Four-Thirds lens will work with your camera - the major two brands are Olympus/OMD and Panasonic, but a number of third parties make manual-focus lenses for the M4/3 mount too. The Olympus camera bodies like yours have built-in Image Stabilisation, whereas Panasonic mostly used stabilisation in the lenses themselves. This means you'll have an easier time picking lenses for your Olympus camera than you would have for a Panasonic body, as you already have stabilisation sorted. It's worth noting that because M4/3 cameras use crop sensors, a 50mm M4/3 lens has an equivalent field of view, or zoom, of a 100mm lens on a full-frame camera. So, if you're looking for what most people would refer to as a 50mm lens, you need to get a 25mm M4/3 lens to get the same view. For landscapes and general walkaround/architecture, the 14-42 kit lens you have should work fine, as you won't need a fast aperture unless you are shooting in low light or need shallow depth of field. Depending on how close you want to get to minis, it may work for that too - you shouldn't need a macro-specific lens unless you want to get wicked close. If you are interested in renting lenses, I cannot recommend enough that you try some of Olympus's small prime lenses - ones with a fixed focal length that don't zoom. They're incredibly small, light, and sharp for the price, and you can fit a bunch of them in even a small camera bag. I own and regularly use the 17mm f1.8 (35mm full-frame equivalent) for street and general walking around, and the 45mm f1.8 for portraits and people shots. I'd like a 25mm f1.8 at some point too, but I'm not sure I can justify it yet... The other lens I would recommend trying, even if its price tag is a bit higher, is the Olympus 12-40mm F2.8 Pro. This is the lens that sits on my camera most of the time - it's incredibly versatile, going from wide for landscapes and architecture to zoomed for portraits and closeups. It also has an incredibly good minimum focus distance of around 20cm, or 7.8in, and this stays the same right throughout the zoom range, so you can get surprisingly close with it, certainly close enough for almost anything you'd need to do with mini figures. The only tradeoff is the size - it's significantly larger and heavier than the primes, although still smaller than full-frame alternatives. If you have a half-decent computer, I'd also recommend you shoot in JPG+RAW mode and then edit your RAW files afterwards on the computer. The RAW files have a much greater depth of colour and brightness than straight Out-Of-Camera jpgs, and if you're used to being able to tweak things while painting to get the look and mood right, then I feel like you'd appreciate the extra control you'd have in editing your shots in Lightroom of Photoshop or some other RAW editing software rather than just accepting whatever the camera gives you. That said, my background is in VFX, so Photoshop and tweaking images is just second nature for me, YMMV...
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Nov 17, 2022 21:57
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Awesome, this is really helpful. I was definitely assuming I'd need two lenses to cover the two spectrums.
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Nov 17, 2022 22:27
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Krataar posted:Awesome, this is really helpful. I was definitely assuming I'd need two lenses to cover the two spectrums. No worries. Do try an Olympus 12-40 f2.8 Pro before you commit to two lenses, though, if possible. It can get close enough to take photos like these of water droplets on leaves:   If you do need to get closer than that though, then yeah, you'll need a dedicated macro lens.
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Nov 18, 2022 04:38
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Turns out a friend of mine had a Panasonic Lumix G Macro 30mm, which he let me borrow. I was able to use it last night to take some half decent photo's, for my attempts at least. Now I just gotta figure out how to use something for the outdoors and urban street stuff.
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Nov 18, 2022 15:22
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kefkafloyd posted:You can throw longer lenses at a problem, but an 800mm lens can’t make up for atmospheric distortion,, and then you start getting involved in camoflage…
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Nov 18, 2022 19:53
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It sounds like I definitely want to upgrade to a mirrorless rather than just kicking the can down the road on a better DSLR body - there's someone locally selling a Fuji X-T2 with a 35mm prime lens for $600 and I'm kinda tempted. It seems like it would be a big upgrade in terms of features and ergonomics and it would give me something to at least shoot with while I save up for babby's first good telephoto. Looks like there are some options for underwater housings for it too, and the only real complaint I see about it is that the AF isn't as good as the newer mirrorless offerings, which doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Ugh I wish I had cheaper hobbies or more money lol.
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Nov 18, 2022 21:12
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xzzy posted:There's no such thing as enough range for wildlife. That same feeling of "not quite enough reach" you get at 300mm will hit you at 500mm. Or 800mm. And then you start worrying about maximum aperture. It's part of the territory and if you really want to go down that road you better come to grips with how much you want to spend on it. Comedy option Nikon P1000 with 3000mm zoom. https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/compact-digital-cameras/coolpix-p1000.html Honestly, for backyard birding i've seen this produce surprisingly good results. Obviously not remotely going to compare to an R7 and the 800mm, but for hobbyist fun stuff it might work.
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Nov 19, 2022 19:05
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Grizzled Patriarch posted:It sounds like I definitely want to upgrade to a mirrorless rather than just kicking the can down the road on a better DSLR body - there's someone locally selling a Fuji X-T2 with a 35mm prime lens for $600 and I'm kinda tempted. It seems like it would be a big upgrade in terms of features and ergonomics and it would give me something to at least shoot with while I save up for babby's first good telephoto. You should get that. Especially coming from a more entry-level DSLR, it’s going to feel like magic - yes, even the “slow” AF is going to feel real. Is it the 35 f/2 or 35 f/1.4? Either way, a good deal.
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Nov 20, 2022 07:06
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