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I am thinking of getting a full frame camera on the cheap - I have potentially 700-800 bucks from selling a guitar amp so my budget would be pretty fixed. I assume that I should basically be looking at the Canon 5D based on recommendations here. Unfortunately all my camera gear is tied up in the Sony NEX with a few native lenses and adapted manual lenses so I would not have any lenses to work with. Any recommendations on what lenses I should look into at this price with the leftover from whatever the body would cost or bundled with the body? I have never bought cameras from ebay (except for a ME Super); is it fairly safe to buy used there or should i expect to pay more to be safe with keh or somewhere else? I will not have extra cash for lenses for who knows how long, so I definitely can't just get the body.
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Feb 1, 2013 21:17
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evil_bunnY posted:Why'd you want a 5D over your NEX? Mainly for more shallow dof for portraits and to have a scond body to minimize switching lenses. I am still up in the air about it - alternatively, I could buy more lenses for the NEX which is also appealing. Even though it is a bit much, that 35 1.8 is pretty appealing.
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Feb 1, 2013 23:41
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http://www.dpreview.com/articles/2667195592/first-impressions-metabones-speed-booster I like how over half of the images are extreme corner detail crops - in any case I would certainly love to gently caress around with this but not spend 600 bucks for essentially manual focus only EF lenses.
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Feb 3, 2013 08:14
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Has anyone tried this strap before? http://joby.com/camera-straps/3-way-camera-strap/ Looks cool to me but I'm concerned about the bulkiness of the attaching piece. I'm looking for a strap or case or something for my X100.
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Feb 12, 2013 23:58
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I have heard great things about Gordy's, and they are definitely thin enough that I could double it up as a neck strap to use it as a wrist strap. This one just looked intriguing since it is essentially like an Inspector Gadget camera strap.
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Feb 13, 2013 02:07
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I just got an X100 last week so hopefully some of what I researched might help you with your decision. First of all, if you are unfamiliar with it google "sticky aperture x100". To maximize avoiding this issue which will cost you hundreds for Fuji to fix if they are not in a generous mood that day (they are not obligated to do warranty work on second hand cameras) look for one with a serial of 21A or higher. Ask the eBay sellers one by one about it before bidding. Ultimately I ended up going with amazon because an awesome dude was selling his there for under 800, it was a few months old, had the original receipt was in like new condition and started with 21a (all of the good stuff). I am really pleased with the camera. It is very satisfying to use and as a guy who would always post process it is nice to have some photos come right out of the camera with a look that I like enough that I have been skipping post a lot and either going with an OOC jpeg or converting the raw in camera to jpeg. Regarding electronic release, I guess that is something you'll have to decide. Another option would be a Sony NEX 5N for under 500 bucks and get something like the Sigma 30 1.8 with it and still have cash left over. Great performance and image quality, cheapo remotes available to shoot yourself.
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Feb 17, 2013 15:57
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quote: At Photokina 2012, Sigma announced a reorganization of its lens lineup into three categories - 'Contemporary' covering lightweight, flexible zooms, 'Sports' for larger telephoto lenses, and 'Art' for a wide range of optics aimed at serious photographers, including ultra-wideangles, macros and fast primes. Uh, that actually seems fairly accurate.
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Feb 21, 2013 09:42
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I found a bottle of L Complete Care, a little spray bottle of lenscrafter cleaning fluid. It says, "High tech formula makes cleaning any lens fast and easy. Safe and effective on any lens or coating." It also says under cautions "contains Isopropanol". Can I use this on lenses without the glass melting or anything? I tried it on a viewfinder and it got it nice and sparkly.
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Mar 23, 2013 17:13
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Ok - better safe than sorry. Thanks for the info. I have been thinking of a lens pen for a while now...I think I'll just go order one.
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Mar 23, 2013 17:45
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Look at Canon's mirrorless. They know exactly what they are doing with the 6D to not canibalize.
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May 7, 2013 05:46
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I'm going to buy new camera bodies and lenses, damage them cosmetically and then resell them with a 25% markup but labeled as "distressed" or "time machine" gear.
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Jul 11, 2013 22:07
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I still hope to get some photography superpowers from my Takumar 55 1.8.
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Sep 25, 2013 04:06
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Need some general advice. If you wanted to go full frame and had nothing invested in a current system, what would you recommend in the sub 2000 market? I would theoretically be dropping around 3000ish total after tax refunds so while I would love something like a 5d mkiii, that would eat up the while budget before lenses. Would really like weather dealing as well as I would be using this for outdoor gigs. I have an X100 which I use all the time and am happy with, and have invested in the NEX system with a few lenses as well as old manual glass but I am a) not happy with how stagnant NEX has gotten (I was about ready to get an NEX-7 but I just question how fast that market seems to be moving with bodies but not lenses) b) would like something for better autofocus and c) would love to make a move towards full frame. Again, I am not really tied to a system. All of my camera research since I got interested in photography in 2011 has been on mirrorless stuff so I have just begun looking at DSLRs. Maybe something like a d600?
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Feb 2, 2014 20:01
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Speaking of CF type 2, what is a good option for memory for a 5D (classic)? I don't know anything about memory for older cameras and am looking around at my options - would there be a significant downside to using a sd->cf adapter over an actual cf card? Sandisk extreme something something?
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Feb 10, 2014 01:30
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I ordered a Tamron 70-200 2.8 VC from B&H on February 27th - I just read in their newsletter that there is now a $100 mail in rebate for this lens from March 1rst-31st. Goddamnit! Is it worth writing them or something and see if I could get a new receipt, or writing Tamron or something? I am guessing that it is just really bad luck on my part and nothing can be done.
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Mar 5, 2014 20:04
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Not specifically camera gear, but any recommendations on a screen calibrator? I need to stop trying to do my best eyeing out calibration and would like to buy one but there are a lot of options.
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Mar 11, 2014 21:27
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Excellent; will do. Very curious to see the difference since my monitor was supposedly calibrated at the factory or something.
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Mar 11, 2014 22:18
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I got my 5dc off of craigslist. You'll have to google this, because I forget exactly, but one number if the serial indicates if it has the slightly newer LCD or the older one (newer one is better). Asking to try the camera is of course essential. Look in the battery compartment to make sure it is clean. Dusty sensor is not a huge issue because you will need to learn to clean it anyway with this camera, as dust will happen eventually anyway. And just generally talk to the seller about what he used the camera for, if he was the original owner and about a rough shutter count (you can't get the shutter count reliably from the camera because it resets in certain scenarios). I met the guy at Starbucks so it didn't feel as rushed, since I had a lot if questions.
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May 21, 2014 21:55
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If you guys take apart your lenses then I will join in the fun. I have a Vivitar 70-210 3.5 that has an annoying mild spot right behind the front element. I never figured out how to get to it but I’d like to use it again because it was the first lens (along with an FD Canon 50 1.8) I ever got back in the day so it has sentimental value, as well as me just really liking it. Speaking of disassembly, I removed the back baffle from my Sigma 30 2.8 to try it on my a7ii. With the baffle it had a hard circle vignette since it is an APS-C Mount lens but after removing the baffle it actually covers a surprising amount of full frame. I can remove some of the vignetting in post except for the extreme corners and there is distortion up there but I really like it despite that.
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Sep 16, 2018 04:46
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Question regarding thorium lenses. I read that you can use a UV light to get rid of the yellowing - my Takumar 55 1.8 has quite a yellow cast but I don’t have one. Could I just leave it out in the sun for the day, if so how long would it need to get more back to normal and away from the yellow tint is has now?
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Sep 18, 2018 01:40
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Sauer posted:Think I'll do the 50mm f1.4 first. Its got the worst case of pee lens: I have a similar setup, didn’t know how close the light should be so I just put it as close as possible since no real heat is coming from the led. 
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Sep 18, 2018 06:51
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Mine isn’t horribly yellow so maybe it won’t take as long. I leave this light on all the time anyway so if it does take forever I don’t mind. Out of curiosity, if it was left out in the sun would it not be as long? I’m not going to do it that way, just curious.
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Sep 18, 2018 16:38
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I saw the UV filter but thought it was a joke. Interesting that it still worked - from the literature it seems like it isn’t just the UV light but the light itself that repairs the damage or however they described it. Coming up on almost exactly 48 hours and I am already seeing a good improvement in the 55 1.8. I should have taken a “before” photo to have a direct comparison. I’m going to leave it overnight and shoot a bit with it tomorrow to see if I can see the difference. My cat is white and I definitely have photos of her to compare if I set the white balance to be identical to before I put the lens under the lamp.
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Sep 19, 2018 22:42
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I’m not sure whether to post this in the film thread or here. I just received an FD Mount lens from KEH. They shipped it with the silver mount ring locked. I am careful with my FD Mount lenses to *not* play with the levers or ring to avoid this locking up because I don’t know how to unlock it, and google is just showing results for a stuck aperture when I search for it. Does anyone know what I’m supposed to do to unlock the ring so I can mount it? This is an old style FD lens so it isn’t the one with the chrome button (it is a Vivitar Series 1 70-210 3.5), but rather the rotating silver ring that you turn to lock it onto the camera or adapter.
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Sep 26, 2018 22:48
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Sauer posted:Is the red dot lined up with the aperture mark? The chrome rings on my older FD lenses don't rotate unless mounted. Once pressed on to the mount the ring rotates itself mostly closed with a spring on its own. I figured it out - I mounted it on the adapter and nothing happened, which is what was confusing me. When I put a spare back lens cap on though the ring would turn so I assume it was some pin that the adapter wasn’t making contact with. I had a later version of the lens and was expecting something similar with this earlier version but drat is it bigger and heavier and doesn’t balance well on the a7ii. The way it switches to macro mode is pretty odd as well, unless that was standard back in the day.
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Sep 27, 2018 00:44
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I just noticed something strange while testing out a new lens, an FD mount Vivitar Series 1 70-210 3.5. I am not one to take pictures of brick walls and pixel peep but I took these just as an extreme example so that is the disclaimer. I was shooting a photo, out to test the lens, and saw what looked like a gradient filter at the top of the frame. After some messing around it appeared that as I increased my shutter speed that it got more pronounced, starting around 1/1500” to be noticeable and extreme by 1/8000”. I tried another lens and this didn’t happen. So I went back to the Vivitar and tried some things, eventually turning off the electronic first curtain shutter and that fixed the problem. I have the solution but I’m wondering why this is happening, and why it doesn’t happen across all lenses if it is happening at all. I know about how things in motion will be affected by the electronic first curtain but I’ve never heard of this before. Here are two extreme, lovely examples. Both are 1/8000” but the first has the electronic first curtain shutter ok and the second off.   Edit: I should also mention that this happens throughout the zoom range at any aperture.
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Sep 27, 2018 17:18
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ExecuDork posted:Which one do you have now? https://www.robertstech.com/vivitar.htm It is the Kiron version, which does have the odd macro mechanism. That actually threw me off when the lens arrived since it wasn’t focusing at the wider side and then I discovered how the macro switch worked. I had one of the smaller versions but it got too full of fungus which is why I ordered this one, but didn’t realize from the ebay photo that it was the earlier Kiron version. It is definitely more unwieldy than the smaller variants, and heavier (or at least it feels heavier. It is extremely clean for its age though and performs as well as I remember my old one performing before the fungus. I’ve been messing with it and I still can’t figure out why it is exhibiting that gradient filter look at the top of the frame when using the electronic front curtain shutter at higher shutter speeds.
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Sep 27, 2018 23:13
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Does anyone know about old constant aperture zoom lenses and have any recommendations? I was reading up on the Vivitar 35-85 2.8 and read it was pretty bad, but the 28-90 (although not constant 2.8-3.5, close enough) is much better. I’m having fun with my old lenses but haven’t looked into any closer range zooms so thought I’d ask to see if anyone has any recommendations, and constant aperture (or close to it) is intriguing to see how they dealt with it back in the day.
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Sep 30, 2018 18:33
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Slugworth posted:Apologies in advance, I'm sure it's a question that's asked often, but I didn't see anything in the op. You could get a used Canon S100 for that price but honestly if she has a current iPhone I don’t know that it would be any better if she doesn’t have any interest in actually learning. Learning is the best way to take better photos and iPhones now are quite capable, have a longer lens in addition to the normal lens in some models from the 7+ onwards, can shoot raw and be edited well right on the phone. I would be curious if an older S100 would perform better in low light or in any other ways (it does have an optical zoom) but I wouldn’t think it would get better final results if she wasn’t going to work on the images considering how far phones have come. There’s a reason that the point and shoot market was killed by phones.
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Oct 1, 2018 03:59
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If she isn’t adverse to an actual camera with a removable lense (that she wouldn’t have to remove if she didn’t want to) Sony NEX cameras are absurdly cheap in camera bucks, are quite small bodies comparable to some point and shoots (the lens being used being the main size factor) and the sensors are not at all bad even 6 years later. They are APS-C sensors so the potential image quality will blow away a point and shoot or iPhone, the kit lens will let you zoom and they are at your price point. I have a few friends I recommended them to who wanted to have higher quality pictures of their kids and they are still using them this many years later, basically having used them like a point and shoot with no true interest in learning photography. Might be worth considering.
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Oct 1, 2018 06:16
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torgeaux posted:I bought a used Sony NEX for my then 10 year old, with a 30mm lens. Look at adorama or keh for used, you might be surprised. And yes, part of what she wants is the camera experience, so go for it. I forgot to mention when I was talking about the NEX that my daughter uses mine now. It might be lacking as a “real camera” but it is pretty killer as a point and shoot since it is so small and has a good sensor. The 30mm is a cheap and well performing lens too, although in this case (looking for an optical zoom) it wouldn’t help this guy’s girlfriend since the fov would be similar to her phone. The power zoom kit would probably be the best option due to its size, but the older NEX cameras that are going for 100-150 are the ones that have the larger kit lens. I still think it’d be a good option for what she’s looking for - it would certainly have the potential for higher quality than a cell phone. It even has a cool low light mode where it will snap several photos at max speed and combine them in camera to reduce noise in low light.
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Oct 1, 2018 18:42
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incogneato posted:I have a similar question to the "upgrade from an iPhone" question about, but with a twist. Or maybe not, since I'm a newbie. Phones are generally pretty good in terms of focal lengths for a landscape. You might want a little wider but in those cases you could take multiple photos and stitch them together if you learn how. Getting wider is something that landscape guys often want, not getting closer. In terms of scale that often comes down to context and what is in the frame (which is skill and experience). You will get nicer quality from a better camera but for the uses people are generally taking pictures for (which is online sharing) I doubt many could tell the difference between a shot taken with a phone or an actual camera if the photographer is good. As it was said above a good tele lens is going to cost you. However you could get some reach within your budget. From what you are describing, and from my assumption that you don’t want to edit, shoot raw etc. (I could be wrong but based on the questions that’s what I’m thinking) you might want to look into a Fuji in your budget and the 50-230 lens. It is a cheap lens, one of the cheapest in the Fuji lineup and made out of plastic, but it has great image quality and will get you much closer than a phone would (the furthest reach being roughly 350mm equivalent). You could get a wider lens as well or simply use you phone for wider shots and the Fuji for tele shots. Fuji has arguably the best straight out of camera images and even experienced photographers who know how to edit will sometimes use Fuji jpgs because they are just that good. You could easily come in under 1000 that way, getting an older generation body and that lens (used to save some cash). The RX100 is good and has a larger sensor than your phone but a smaller sensor than mirrorless cameras and dslrs. It is smaller of course but you might not see as much of an image quality increase based on how you are using it. Another option (that I gave to other guy) is to look into an old Sony NEX. They are really cheap and for someone basically using a camera as a point and shoot I think they are one of the best dollar to quality ratio cameras around now.
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Oct 2, 2018 05:17
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ExecuDork posted:Anybody wanting longer reach for very low budgets, I'm thinking a used NEX body, an old manual-focus telephoto/supertele lens (like a 400mm), and the appropriate adaptor to mount the orphan-mount glass on your mirrorless, would be suitable. As far as manual teles go it is hard to beat a Vivitar Series 1 70-210, and as a bonus it is a macro as well. I had an old one from when I first started photography on an AE-1 but it got fungus so I recently bought a replacement. 12 bucks from KEH in excellent condition. That would get you about 300mm equivalent on a NEX and considering the prices of those bodies you could easily get a setup for long shots for around 150 bucks. The lack of stabilization and a viewfinder would make it hard for someone lacking experience but in terms of image quality potential it would be a pretty crazy deal and allow shots you could not get with a phone or point and shoot in that price range.
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Oct 2, 2018 16:23
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ExecuDork posted:I'm a big fan of the Vivitar S1 line. I own 5 of 'em, in three different mounts, and other than the V4 of the 70-210 in K-mount I've got, they're wonderful lenses. A NEX wearing a 70-210 would be a very fun thing to play with. Like, don't expect me back in time for supper, I'll be wandering around with a stupid grin on my face until the battery dies kinda fun. For sure. Back when the NEX was new it was my first mirrorless and one downside is how comically large the lens seems next to the body. Those bodies are tiny so the balance is really weird and you end up holding it all by the lens. Even with my a7ii I find that to be the case, to a lesser extent, but with a NEX the difference between the body and lens is really drastic. If you do go the NEX route it might be worth looking into if anyone is selling the electronic viewfinder. It is articulating and not at all bad for when it was made. I got it back in the day and it made manual focusing so much better. Not required at all but a neat bit of kit and quite useful. I really liked being able to articulate it straight up and look down while holding larger lenses.
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Oct 2, 2018 23:29
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I used Blackrapid for a while but didn’t use the tripod mount hook and hooked it instead to the side camera strap holder. It just made it more comfortable because vertical shooting with the tripod mount holder in sucked. Now I’m just using the strap that came with my A7ii. I don’t know why but it is grippy, doesn’t flop around as much and easier to wrap around my wrist. I also was using a cheap Chinese rainbow cloth strap. I really like the feel of woven cloth and would still be using it except I’ve been scooting with my camera and the grippy strap let’s me just hang the camera from my shoulder while I ride.
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Oct 8, 2018 00:19
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The price gap between the X-T2 and 20 isn’t that big right now. I saw one for sale, with grip for 700 bucks on fredmiranda’s buy/sell. I was lucky enough to sell mine locally for 850 which was kind of poo poo because just over a month ago they were still going for over 1000 but the timing of the 3 announcement flooded the market and tanked prices. I don’t know if 2 prices will stay that low since already there are less 2s for sale than a few weeks ago it seems but it’s a bad time to sell which makes it a good time to buy. I don’t know 20 prices since I haven’t been needing to keep them in my radar but one is for sale here for 650. That vs. a 2 and grip for around 700-800 I would definitely spend the little bit more and get a 2.
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Oct 8, 2018 23:43
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Evfs are very good these days and better than many dsl viewfinders which can seem dark and small (not in all but in many) compared to old film viewfinders. An evf won’t be better than those old viewfinders either but they are great and I have no complaints. I’ve been using mirrorless since 2011 and even early on there were some pretty good viewfinders. My favorite evf has been on the xt2 (and I assume the xt3 is just as good). If you have a lot of old glass you’d like to adapt then it’s hard to beat one of the Sony full frame mirrorless cameras. Purely based on native glass I would choose Fuji, and I did and shot Fuji for 6 years. However despite how good the glass is I wanted to start using my old lenses again and got a used a72. The prices on them are absurdly low for what you are getting from the body - I got mine for 650 bucks. You could adapt your lenses on any mirrorless of course but personally I wanted to do so on full frame. Regarding “slow to focus in the last few generations” most from this generation or the previous will be fine unless you are shooting sports or something similar. Move further back than that and you start sacrificing more af capability on some models. To use Fuji as an example again (since that was where I spent most of my mirrorless time) the difference between the xt1 and xt2 autofocus speed was drastic. Regarding longevity people are still using first gen 5D bodies and it is still a capable body for what it is so I wouldn’t worry much there. Using that as an example you have usable af but really only with the center af point so once you start focusing in on bodies you might want then come on back and ask again for some specifics. One big question you’ll want to ask is will you be getting into a lens ecosystem or only adapting glass. If you are adapting then it simplifies the decision. If you are getting a specific mount’s lenses then you want to look at general prices, quality and so on. If I were sticking with one brands lenses I would probably still be shooting Fuji because I also love their bodies external controls since I was coming from film for the most part and missed those external controls. I am happy with Sony now, though, for what I’m doing and although some lenses are overpriced there are third party lenses and the FE Mount isn’t going anywhere so there will be more over time if I want to branch out from using only adapted lenses.
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Oct 16, 2018 06:41
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Smoove J posted:Thanks for the ideas you guys. I purchased the XT3 and rented a xf18-55mm from borrowlenses to test out this weekend at the State XC meet. What's your idea of a good walkaround zoom for something like mountain photos? I'm still really considering the xf16-55mm, it seems like it would be good for that, and would cover a wide range of activities outside of landscape photos. But maybe it's too similar to the length of lens found on the X100F? I dunno. In any case I'm super excited to try this camera out! Congrats, Fuji is great. I was dealing with that zoom decision and ultimately kept the 18-55. Its stabilization was a plus and the IQ was not better enough for me on the 16-55 to sacrifice that and the smaller size. I would suggest a 23 1.4 but if you have an x100 then that’d be redundant for your first lens purchase. If you are budgeting based on the price of the 16-55 I’d get a prime and the 18-55. 18-55 prices used are pretty cheap. The 55-140 is fantastic if you want a longer zoom - actually every zoom I tried (and I think I had been through them all) was great, even the cheap plastic 50-230. But in the end I mainly used prunes because Fuji just makes really phenomenal primes. I did use the 18-55 and 55-140 too but not as much as the primes. Oh and I did use the 100-400 a lot when I had it but that was obviously specialized and no prime would replace that one - phenomenal lens if you want to drop some bucks in a really long lens. Based on your question though for landscapes, what focal length did you tend to use before switching to Fuji? The 18-55 and a prime of your choice can accomplish a lot, particularly if you have the 35mm equivalent covered with the X100.
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Oct 17, 2018 05:29
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Smoove J posted:I've only used the 23mm (35mm equivalent?) on the Fuji X100F, that (and the X100 before Fuji upgraded it) was my first and only camera. I don't really know much about various focal lengths, this is all super new to me. So what I would do is take the 18-55 you rented and take some time setting it to 18mm, 35mm and 55mm. I would suggest 23mm in there too but you have that covered with the x100. Set one focal length and leave it - don’t zoom and see which one you gravitate towards. Then you’ll know which prime you would get the most use out of. The one exception is the 18mm and the prime you’d be getting in that case would be the 16mm 1.4. Used will save you a good amount and either here or fredmiranda people take pretty good care of their lenses. Craigslist is good too since you can check what you’re getting but eBay is a crapshoot. Alternatively if the 18-55 seems good enough for you on its own then you could get a longer zoom. ExecuDork posted:I know it's an autocorrect thing or a simple typo, but I'm stealing this anyway. I only use vintage prunes.
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Oct 17, 2018 19:05
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pseudorandom posted:I need someone to talk me out of buying one of these lenses. They are probably pretty crappy, but they also seem like they'd be a lot of fun. I was looking at some similar cheap lenses, one being a 500mm cheapo for like 30 bucks which looked like a mini rocket launcher. So I’d be curious too, although more for old mounts that I could adapt vs. ef mount.
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Oct 18, 2018 20:45
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