/p/ - Photography » Thread #302775

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Help a newbie...

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 04:57:00 No.302775 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By:

I've never owned a real digital camera. I've either used my cell phone or someone else's. I think I'm going to get one for Christmas, but I'm not sure what kind. What's a good starter camera (but not just a point-and-shoot).

pic related. I'd like to be able to do HDR, but I'll understand if it is way too expensive.

11Camera SoftwareAdobe Photoshop CS Windows111Image OrientationTop, Left-HandHorizontal Resolution1 dpiVertical Resolution1 dpiImage Created2006:05:10 21:28:03Color Space InformationUncalibratedImage Width2048Image Height13711

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 05:02:00 No.302779 Report

Quoted By:

Give us an idea of budget

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 05:04:00 No.302780 Report

Quoted By:

You should totally pickup a Nikon D40 broseph.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 05:04:00 No.302781 Report

Quoted By: >>302784

400 bucks? I probably have looked at mainstream sites before asking to get a feel for the prices.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 05:07:00 No.302784 Report

Quoted By:

>>302781
should have*

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 05:11:00 No.302785 Report

Quoted By: >>303230

Go $100 or so more and get a Sony Alpha 100/200, you can use scads of cheaper old/new lenses to learn on before you splurge on a higher end DSLR body and glass.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 05:12:00 No.302787 Report

Quoted By:

Hmm, I normally spend my time on /g/ and the idiots there are never helpful. /p/ seems more civilized.
Thanks for the advice.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 05:15:00 No.302789 Report

Quoted By: >>302799

I wouldn't bother with HDR though.
If you haven't even invested in a camera yet there's no way you'd be able to afford to do that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 05:33:00 No.302799 Report

Quoted By: >>302821

>>302789
lolwut, you can easily get a camera with EV values and pirate photoshop+photomatix plugin for no more than $200.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 06:15:00 No.302821 Report

Quoted By: >>302827

>>302799
are you kidding me? you need at least a 30 ohm Colorcube Calibration Capacitor to do decent HDR. I have never seen a camera for less than $800 that has that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 06:24:00 No.302827 Report

Quoted By: >>302971

>>302821

My Nikon set me back five grand. And those 800 dollar ones are likely to break in a week. OP should fork up at least two grand for a 25 ohm CCC.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 06:49:00 No.302832 Report

Quoted By:

well, i have only a limited 10 ohm CCC, and regret not shelling out for some real HDR performance. seriously OP, consider paying more.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 07:23:00 No.302845 Report

Quoted By:

Alright. I'll just have to save up for a while. But if I were to change my mind and buy the best camera I can get for $400 max, what would it be?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 08:38:00 No.302864 Report

Quoted By: >>302933

Bump for the best camera I can get for $400.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 09:18:00 No.302883 Report

Quoted By:

You know, my camera is the first one I got that is not point-and-shoot (and the second one I've had).

It is not an SLR (limited funds) but it has many SLR functions and looks like a tiny SLR. I think it is a great starter camera. Try the Sony Cyber Shot DSC-H7, I have the H-5.

It's not some pro camera but I think it's good for starters

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 11:34:00 No.302921 Report

Quoted By: >>303073

I started on a Sony A(alpha)-100 DSLR.

an amazing starter camera capable of HDR
and all that(if you have the right photo editing software and tripod of course)
its not just a point and shoot. but is still easy enough for a beginner.
10.20 Megapixels. very nice res.

if you want full specs and compare cameras. check this website out.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/AA100/AA100A.HTM

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 12:08:00 No.302933 Report

Quoted By: >>302960 >>302971

>>302864
>pic related. I'd like to be able to do HDR, but I'll understand if it is way too expensive.

You can do HDR with any camera that will output raw files. These range from cameras you can get used on eBay for $50 to cameras costing literally tens of thousands of dollars.

>Bump for the best camera I can get for $400.
There is no one best camera. What subjects do you want to shoot? In what manner, visually and in terms of shooting methods? What size camera do you like best? What do you like in your control layout? Etc.

You probably don't know the answers to all of those, no one does when they're new, but we need more information to make a recommendation. Anyone telling you anything specific at this point is one inch away from straight pulling shit out of their ass. Knowing the subjects you want to shoot would be a good and easy start, though. Just tell us more.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 12:28:00 No.302937 Report

Quoted By:

HDR sucks, why do you even want that?

OP Fri 28 Nov 2008 12:30:00 No.302939 Report

Quoted By:

I have Adobe CS4 Master Collection and can pirate anything else I would need to fake HDR photos.

Basically, aside from having a REAL camera to take point-and-shoot type pictures, I'd just like to make HDR-like photos and light graffiti. So, any digital camera that lets me control the shutter speed and has the capabilities of letting me fake the HDR in Photoshop or whatever it is I need would be fine.

Size doesn't matter.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 12:37:00 No.302942 Report

Quoted By:

Leica M8

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 13:12:00 No.302952 Report

Quoted By:

a nice, inexpensive camera with lots of the functionality of a full dslr (digital single lens reflex) is the fuji f2000hd.

15x optical zoom and a nice 10.1mp. it's pretty easy to use, and has a nice panarama stiching feature (not as cool as the one on the olympus 1030sw though, which is a sweet, nigh-indestructable compact).

not as nice as the cameras the others were talking about, but more affordable...

plus, unlike previous fuji's- it takes sdhc cards!

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 13:45:00 No.302960 Report

Quoted By: >>302964

>>302933
Not the OP here, but someone else new to cameras. Any brands that should be avoided? Obviously there's no one best camera, but could you name a few that are good what they're best for?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 14:28:00 No.302961 Report

Quoted By:

fuck this thread!

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 15:07:00 No.302964 Report

Quoted By:

>>302960
Avoid Pentax at all costs. Their research and development is, like, 5 years behind the big two.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 16:18:00 No.302971 Report

Quoted By:

>>302827
Sweet was that the one Leaf helped design?

>>302933You can do HDR with any camera that will output raw files. These range from cameras you can get used on eBay for $50 to cameras costing literally tens of thousands of dollars.

Lol. Obvious troll is obvious.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 17:11:00 No.302981 Report

Quoted By: >>302982

You don't need a camera that supports RAW to take HDR photos, sure its easier because you only need to take 1 image instead of 2 or 3, but any camera that lets you set negative and positive EV values will work.

Butterfly !xlgRMYva6s

Butterfly !xlgRMYva6s Fri 28 Nov 2008 17:29:00 No.302982 Report

Quoted By: >>302990

>>302981
HDR != tonemapping

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 18:01:00 No.302989 Report

Quoted By: >>303161

hdr only costs your artistic soul. which i'm guessing is going to be pretty cheap.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 18:11:00 No.302990 Report

Quoted By:

>>302982
HDR = Tonemapping

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO unknown.jpg, 0B, 0x0

Anonymous Fri 28 Nov 2008 22:58:00 No.303073 Report

Quoted By: >>303170

I posted>>302921

and you can get a nice A-100 for around $400 US. i sold mine to a friend for $280. but originally its a $1000 camera.

11Equipment MakePhase OneCamera ModelP 45Camera SoftwareAdobe Photoshop CS Macintosh111Image Width2677Image Height1890Number of Bits Per Component8, 8, 8Compression SchemeUncompressedPixel CompositionRGBImage OrientationTop, Left-HandHorizontal Resolution300 dpiVertical Resolution300 dpiImage Data ArrangementChunky FormatImage Created2008:03:12 15:41:04ISO Speed Rating50Color Space InformationUncalibratedImage Width1280Image Height7991

OP Sat 29 Nov 2008 01:04:00 No.303161 Report

Quoted By:

>>302989
I don't have an artistic soul. I just like the way HDR photos look.

All I want to be able to do with my new camera is take pictures better than my iPhone, change the shutter speed to make light graffiti, and half-ass my own HDR stuff in Photoshop or whatever program can do it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 01:14:00 No.303170 Report

Quoted By: >>303348

>>303073

I know this doesn't actually mean anything but Sony makes the ugliest lenses ever. They just LOOK cheap.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 02:58:00 No.303230 Report

Quoted By: >>303246 >>303481

>>302785
>Go $100 or so more and get a Sony Alpha 100/200

http://www.broadwayphoto.com/cat/DigitalCameras/9785674/Alpha_DSLR-A200/

$352 with the kit lens and free shipping...

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 03:21:00 No.303242 Report

Quoted By: >>303352

dude, seriously, what is appealing about HDR?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 03:25:00 No.303246 Report

Quoted By:

>>303230
Wow that's crazy cheap. I hope my D70 and Nikon 18-70 and Nikon 70-300 was still a better deal.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 08:15:00 No.303348 Report

Quoted By:

>>303170

yeah i know..
but overall the sonys are my favorite camera..they might have ugly lenses, hell the camera is self is pretty dern ugly, but its not the camera that is supposed to look good, its the picture it takes.
and sonys take damn good pictures. when the person knows how to use them:]

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 08:22:00 No.303352 Report

Quoted By: >>303374 >>303447

>>303242

i posted a thread on /p/ about a month back about that.
HDR isn't very good, i find it kinda cheap. its almost like you can take a picture of the shittiest ugliest things and make them look nice, thats not photography to me, thats design.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 09:18:00 No.303374 Report

Quoted By:

>>303352
That's photography.

OP Sat 29 Nov 2008 11:31:00 No.303447 Report

Quoted By: >>303452

>>303352
I'm not interested in becoming a good photographer. I just want to take cool looking pictures.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 11:35:00 No.303452 Report

Quoted By: >>303459

>>303447

well then your gonna have to learn something to take good pictures. I.E. become a good photographer, its not to easy there brah. but i guess some people have to learn that the hard way. enjoy!

OP Sat 29 Nov 2008 11:41:00 No.303459 Report

Quoted By: >>303478

>>303452
Let me rephrase that. I just want a normal digital camera that has the ability to to do HDR and change the shutter speed. Let's not worry about my interest (or lack of) in photography.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 12:13:00 No.303478 Report

Quoted By:

>>303459

Leica M8.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 12:21:00 No.303481 Report

Quoted By:

OP just buy an XTi.

>>303230
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Broadway_Photo

If it looks, etc.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 16:15:00 No.303559 Report

Quoted By:

get a real camera. I would get a D40X kit or a D60 kit for starting

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 29 Nov 2008 16:20:00 No.303563 Report

Quoted By:

Unfortunately there's no easy way around it. If you want full control, you have to get an SLR of some kind (I'd recommend a DSLR for convenience).

When it comes to kits: Nikon D40 is a fantastic beginners DSLR; Pentax K200D is OK provided you only use RAW (it SUCKS at handling JPEG for some reason); Canon 400D also good (and should be cheap by now).

Compact cameras just aren't going to have all the bells and whistles. The closest you could consider would be the Canon G9 or G10.

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