Sup guys,


Any of you know much about SLR cameras?

Im looking at getting a good SLR camera for taking photos at car shows/photo shoots etc and was wondering what is a good base i can buy into. With a SLR camera to take a amazingly good quality photo does it depend more on the Camera itself or the specific lense you are using??

These days the difference in quality between the Nikon and Canon are very small. So you should go with the brand more convenient to you-- either price-wise, or have a shop nearby that services one or the other.

I've shot canon exclusively, just as a matter of choice. Lenses I bought 7 years ago on my film SLR work on my digi SLR. Same deal would be true for Nikon as well.

Can't go wrong with the Canon Digi Rebel, entry level. If you don't object to shopping at Walmart that's the cheapest you'll find it.

Higher end dSLR's add more software & hardware bells & whistles but often use the same internals.


As far as lenses go, you really do get what you pay for. If you're doing portraiture/close up car pics, you should be just fine with the lens that comes on the camera. May want to invest in a polarizing filter-- they generally make any picture look a lot better.

Hope that helps a lil.

In addition what dick said, the Nikon D40 is one of the best entry level SLRs around (and my favorite). The lenses entirely depend on what exactly you are aiming for. The stock lens is good enough for almost anything at the entry level. Beyond that, you have to go for specific ones. For example if you are interested in very high quality macro photography, you'll have to get a good quality macro lens.

I bought a Nikon D60 on ebay a few months ago because I was interested in HDR (like this or this) and am in love with it.

This is completely my opinion, but you really need to make the decision to be an amateur photographer and learn all about the camera settings, differences between lenses, etc to fully enjoy the benefits of a DSLR.

This site -- http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/ -- blew my mind.

A few other things to consider:
-- Carrying around a DSLR is not as easy as a small pocket camera, you will kind of stand out at a wedding gathering.
-- Most of the photos that I've been really stunned by have been (sometimes heavily) edited in Photoshop after the fact. (But that being said, there is no replacement for a sweet ass base photo to work with)

Ok, let pro talk now! Yes I graduated college in photographic studies and worked professionally for years. If you buy anything other then Nikon or Canon you are an Idiot! Nikon is still the professionals choice and if you travel outside North America I would recommend it more then Canon. Nikon also has far more accesories and third party manufacturers for lenses and anything you can can think of so more and sometimes cheaper selections. Canon makes one of the best auto focusing lens system in the market and if you go Canon stay with Canon made lenses. Quality wise Nikon wins out but you pay for the name where you would save some money with Canon.

Nikon - better choice but more expensive
Canon - good choice for the money

Remeber the most important thing about photography "It's not the camera that takes great photo's, it's the person behind it!"

Go out and see which one fits your budget and needs. Also camera sales are very competitive so shop around and haggle for a good deal, seriously! I have saved hundreds of dollars myself and for family by making camera stores fight over who was going to sell me stuff.

Things to watchout for:
1) package deals should include body, lens and memory card.

2) Lenses with not a large range of apurature settings are low quality so don't get fool by big flashy cheap lenses. Starting F stop 2.8 is fantastic and anything over 4 sucks!

Also my last post got long but if you shoot a lot indoors get a good flash to go with the camera. Indoor lighting will F*CK with colours in photography and a good flash will correct for that. Indoor florecents will give a strong green tinge will hockey arena lights give a blue one. That's why you will see hockey photographers use colour filters over there lens to correct for it since they can't use flashes all the time.

Truth. The auto flash on these suck. If you shoot indoors at all invest in an external flash.

i bought a cannon SLR a few years ago and i love it. the only problem is its portabiltiy. the quality blows away the compact non-SLR digi-cams; i just wish i could take it more places.

Thanks for all the input guys!

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-Cam ... -2-catcorr

What about this Canon??

Apart from Outdoor Car shows and the occasional scenery clicks, I like to do Light Grafitti with leaving the exposure on for a long time and messing around n shit. Is there any specific spec i should look for with an SLR or can all SLR's leave the exposure on for a certain amount of time??

I don't need to add anything ontop of what everyone else has said.

I've bought cameras and accessories mainly from B&H. They have pretty much everything you would need plus some. It's been a while since i've gotten anything from them, so i'm not sure if there prices are great or not. But you wouldn't believe what they do for their customers. A filmer friend of mine bought a Canon XHA1 from them. It ended up having some problems about 3 months after he bought it. They sent him a replacement while his was shipped back to be fixed.

If you have something you really want, but don't have all the money. They accept payments.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com

i don't know about the newer SLR's but mine only allows for a maximum exposure of around 30 seconds. it'd be nice if they could do it with the newer models, but i think that is tough for digital. you'd have to use film to have the exposure really long. i've talked to some photographers at art festivals and some of them work with exposures over 4 hours. amazing shit.

4 HOURS??! HOly F*CK ide love to see the outcome of that,

Naw im used to the 30 second exposure, its all i really need unless im doing a HUGE piece you know?

what can be done with long exposures: painting with light. and check this guy's photos out http://www.alicespringsphotos.com.au/ga ... ack-Nights

there was another guy who actually lit up people and earth features at night, but i can't remember his name.

I did light graffiti with my friends, at one point we took Sparklers and used them

Holy shit dude it looked amazing

These photos are.... 3 years old but its an example of some old Light Graffiti when we first started

When you buy a camera and that Eos Rebel is a good camera btw, make sure you go get a clear screw on lens filter. They are not expensive and will extend the life of your lenses greatly. Never take it off unless you are replacing it, this way you clean the filter and never the lens itself and if you scratch it you just by a new filter then a new lens. I have one on all my lenses and after 20+ years the lenese are still perfect.

neat tip cpt i'll def do that on new lenses from here on.

Here's a flash tip for everyone, ever get to much harsh lighting from your flash? Here's a cheap and effective way to soften the flash. Go buy a cheap pair of white nylons and cut out the bottom part that goes around the toes and elastic it around the the front of the flash and bingo you have a what is called a white box. You still get the flash but softer, you just have to sometimes adjust aperature settings to allow more time for light in dark settings or just pull the nylon tighter to let out more light that's less disfused.

Very interesting indeed. I have thought about getting into this from a hobby standpoint. A few years back, when I lived in Minneapolis, I saw a exhibit on Rodney Lough's work. I was totally amazed by it. Ended up doing some research on the camera and film he used, and would love nothing more than to try my hand at it as well.

Ill ask the camera shop about this 1 because intill i actually buy it, i wont know wtf your talking about lol, Im buying my Gaming laptop in the next couple of weeks followed by the Eos Rebel Cannon