Gathering Ideas

[Newby]

Hey Everyone,

I'm positng this here to gather future ideas for tutorials in photography. So, if there is something you would like to see made into a tutorial or something in the world of photography that you would like to have better explained, post it here :camera:

Thanks
Newby :flash:

[Chris49]

Maybe a buyers guide in all price ranges.

[Dave]

hijack

[QUOTE=Chris49]Maybe a buyers guide in all price ranges.[/QUOTE]
Happy gave me this terrific link when I was looking for a camera at Christmas .....

http://www.imaging-resource.com/

/hijack

[Joezilla]

Well, I am in the final stages of buying a new camera, and these are the things I needed help with:

Lenses. As a beginner I knew I wanted a DSLR. What I didnt know was which lens was good and which was better. For the longest time I debated the Nikon for its superior bundled lens or the Rebel for quality of the camera. Brands to recommend/ avoid, recommended ranges to buy (generic good to have ranges ie 75-300mm vs 28-200mm). Huge area of exploration here.

Bundled equipment and things still left to buy. I will find out Wed whether the Rebel XT comes with a battery charger or not. I assume it does, but I cannot find it in print.

Replacement batteries. For non rechargeable batteries, what works best. For example, my Kodak DX4530 recommends the rechargeable from Kodak, but I found that the CRV3 from Energizer works 10x better. This may be a reach.

Lens and CCD/CMOS care. I read over and over about dust in/near/aroud the lens and screen, but I have no idea how to clean them if they get dirts and / or how to avoid dust altogether.

Filters. Possibly a subject all its own. I own a UV, CPL, and ND4 (indoor flourecent filter) and all my pictures look better without a filter.

I could go on but this should give you an idea or two.

[Newby]

OK JZ I'm going to do my best to break this down for you here, since your camera is on its way.

First Up
Lenses. As a beginner I knew I wanted a DSLR. What I didnt know was which lens was good and which was better. For the longest time I debated the Nikon for its superior bundled lens or the Rebel for quality of the camera. Brands to recommend/ avoid, recommended ranges to buy (generic good to have ranges ie 75-300mm vs 28-200mm). Huge area of exploration here.

Here are the namesyou want to remember, Canon, Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina. Those are the companies that make good lenses for your XT. If you see the word Quantaray RUN!!! do not buy these lenses. Quantaray is the lowest quality lense you could buy in my opinion. Of course it goes without saying that buy Canon lenses for a Canon camera is the best option, but not always the cheapest. Sigma makes great lenses for the Canon at a cheaper price and lighter weight. Most Sigma bodies are plastic, so they're are great for outdoor work espeacially if you're going to be walking a lot. Tamron and Tokina lenses are great as well, but they compare to Canon about pricing. Between Caono, Tamron, and Tokina the price usually varies only by a few dollars. Sigma is the best option all around. Now as for a good all around camera I'm going to give you the same advice as I did Jaygre go with a 28-200mm lense. You need to remember that the XT has a 1.6X magnification factor, so whatever the focal length of your lens is you going to have to multiply it by 1.6X. If you go with a 75-300mm lens you're actually getting a 120-480mm lens. So you won't be able to get any desent wide angle shots. If you use a 28-200mm lens you get a focal length of 45-320mm lens. Considering that your XT should be coming with an 18-55mm lense you'll be coverd through a focal range from 18mm to 320mm, which is great coverage. Now if you decide you want to shoot a different style of photography (i.e. Wildlife or Macro) you're going to need to look into diffent lenses.

Bundled equipment and things still left to buy. I will find out Wed whether the Rebel XT comes with a battery charger or not. I assume it does, but I cannot find it in print.
Replacement batteries. For non rechargeable batteries, what works best. For example, my Kodak DX4530 recommends the rechargeable from Kodak, but I found that the CRV3 from Energizer works 10x better. This may be a reach.

If you bought the XT kit then a Battery and a Battery Charger will be coming with it. As for rechargeable batteries you're going to be stuck with the battery that comes with the camera. I would suggest you buy another one to have as a back up. But you don't have to buy the Canon brand. There are plenty of Non-Canon batteries that work with your camera. I was told when I bought mine that it was probably made in the exact same factory as my Canon battery. Canon does make a vertical grip attachment BG-E3 which take to of the Canon batteries or has the capability to use 6 AA batteries if for some reason you run out of juice on the regular batteries. This case with the grip is the only time you would need to worry about regular batteries. And it is just up to your preference.

Lens and CCD/CMOS care. I read over and over about dust in/near/aroud the lens and screen, but I have no idea how to clean them if they get dirts and / or how to avoid dust altogether.
Lens care is always a must. The method I use to minimixe expose to dust is to keep the lense cap on and just before I get ready to attach it to the camera. Since you will usually be switching lenses the best method is to use the back cap for the lens you're putting on the camera and put it on the lens you just took off. Once you get the new lens secured to the camera make sure the the back cap on the lens you just took off is secured. Each les you get comes with instruction on the care of the lens, so follow its guidelined on cleaning.
As for the sensor, the best thing to do is to turn off your camera before removing the lense. Most manuals tell you to do this because the sensor has a static charge while the power is on and that can actract dust to it. I usuallu wait a few seconds before removing the lense. Always make sure that you keep the face of the camera pointed down. This also helps keeping dust from falling in and staying.
And Cleaning the sensor I personally believe is beyond everyone except the pros. The best way to know if your sensor is dirt is that you'll start seeing dots in your photos. If you notice that the spots are in teh same place you probably have dust on your sensor. I suggest you find a camera shop nearby that is certiifed to clean the sensor. It only take about 20 minutes and doesn't cost that much. I hihgly recommend that you don't try to do this yourself. There are a number of things that can go wrong and if you have a pro do it and the mess up they have to replace it. If you do it and mess up you're out a camera.

Filters. Possibly a subject all its own. I own a UV, CPL, and ND4 (indoor flourecent filter) and all my pictures look better without a filter.
Filters are a prefence subject. If you prefer them you can use them , but it is not always necessary. The only one that I recommend that you have at all time on your lens is a UV filter to help protect the face of the lens. Except for when shooting Macro photography. Most people recommend that you don't use a filter in this case because it can distort the image. As for the CPL it is a great filter to have when shooting skylines and flowers to help bring out the brilliance of colors or richen the blue in the sky. One thing to remember about CPL's is that they work best when the light is at a 90 degree angle to your subject. Your ND4 filter may not be needed anymore since the XT has a white balance option for Flourecent light.

Hopes this helps in the short run

Newby :D

[Jaygre]

Newby and GP, this is an interesting Photog site - even includes actions for photogs to use. http://www.shutterfreaks.com

[Newby]

[QUOTE=Jaygre]Newby and GP, this is an interesting Photog site - even includes actions for photogs to use. http://www.shutterfreaks.com[/QUOTE]

Great site Thanks Jaygre :cool2:

[Joezilla]

More lens questions. The Rebel XT says it has an EF mount (or EF-S). Do I stay away from AF and/or IF and/or LD and/or FD mounts? If an ebay listing does not specify, is there a way to tell if it will fit my camera?

[Newby]

[QUOTE=Joezilla]More lens questions. The Rebel XT says it has an EF mount (or EF-S). Do I stay away from AF and/or IF and/or LD and/or FD mounts? If an ebay listing does not specify, is there a way to tell if it will fit my camera?[/QUOTE]

JZ, can you PM me the link to the ebay item that you're looking at. The camera can only take EF-S, or EF mounts. AF usually stands for AutoFocus (it's not a mount), FD is another type of Mount and it can't be used on your camera. LD usually stands for Low Dispersion (which is the optics in the lense itself. It has to do with image quality). IF has me stumped.

Shoot me a PM when you can and I'll check it out.

Newby

[Natasha]

My biggest problem comes with lighting.
What equipment to buy that wont give my hubby a heart attack?
How do reflectors work, and how (and when) should you use them?

[imagic]

Natasha,
What type of photography do you do? That will determine the type of lighting you should get. If you are doing product lighting you would not necessarily need strobes. Models and portraiture will work best with strobe set up.
Also, what price range are you looking at?
Frank

[Jaygre]

Hey imagic - that post of Natashas was in June, I haven't seen her around since then.

[down2earth2]

A tutorial on indoor lighting would be great.

[Newby]

Using natural, artifical light, or both D2E2?

[Jaygre]

I'd love to see both - and the form and function of the lighting screens, etc. Oh boy, oh boy I AM excited! :)

[down2earth2]

[QUOTE=Newby]Using natural, artifical light, or both D2E2?[/QUOTE]
Both. I've taken a few shots with natural light coming on the left from a big window, suplimented with artificial light to brighten the right side. Ugh! Not a pretty sight.

[imagic]

Jaygre,
That's what I get for not looking at the posted date under the name.
Frank

[Rendova]

When I took the big plunge last year and upgraded to a digital camera I could do some serious work with I found this tool to be very helpful:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

[Porkspeare]

This is probably the best site for camera info http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/camera/specification/compare/921-998-949-950.html (thats the page i looked at the most)

But overall its a fantastic site or try http://www.steves-digicams.com/ also a top site.

[frank_S]

Reading reviews is a good way to become familiar about a product you have no knowledge beforehand and this is what I always do. My favorite site to visit is http://www.smartratings.com/photography/digital_cameras where compilations of expert reviews can be found. The thing I like about it is that I don't have to go from one website to another just for the purpose of looking for them because all are aggregated in one page already.