A photography thread

[wacbzz]

I need to find a camera (non DSLR) for my bride to take bluebird photos from a distance. Not sure if something like that exists without buying expensive glass though…

 

[hsa]

^Just a suggestion, it is surprisingly inexpensive to put together a decent dslr kit if you get the components from a used camera store like "KEH". Just stick with a Canon or Nikon body for the lens availability. An APS c body gives you some free telephoto if that is what you are after and it is simple to use if left on full auto mode. Glass only gets expensive if it is "fast" and if you are doing bird photos in daylight, probably not needed.

 

[troutpool]

I use a Nikon DSLR with the Nikkor 70-300mm zoom lens for bird pictures. I shoot in RAW, so I can do some pretty extreme cropping after a shot is taken. This works for my purposes, and this Nikkor lens is much less expensive than a 400mm or longer lens would be. For example, by cropping you can get this

from this

View attachment DSC_0011 2.jpeg

That's a Pied-billed Grebe preening.

 

[hsa]

^Good shot. Did that take much processing? I use a 70-200 f2.8 for this kind of stuff. I consider that lens "magical".

 

[troutpool]

The only processing was the cropping, which I did on my computer.

 

[bykfixer]

I need to find a camera (non DSLR) for my bride to take bluebird photos from a distance. Not sure if something like that exists without buying expensive glass though…

Start with a monopod to help hold the camera more still while still being pretty mobile. Helps keep the camera shake down for clearer pictures. Plus it's good for those "holy crap it's a blue bird and I don't have time to set up a tripod or switch lenses".....

Depending on how much you want to spend can get you good glass in a small package. I'm partial to Panasonic Lumix for the Leica lenses. But for the money Sony Cybershot are pretty good too. So with small zoom cameras you don't get fast shutter speeds without cranking up iso to the stratosphere so again that's where a mono pod can hellp.

Experiment with high iso and figure out how much shadow it takes to see those speckles called noise. Modern cameras are amazingly good at higher iso's without noise, or much noise. ISO 800-1200 is easily attainable these days and really quickens a shutter speed.

And like firing a weapon, holding your breath when you push the shutter button helps too. Either or be slowly exhaling.

This one.....

was shot with a Panasonic digicam back in 06
The Lumix DMC FZ7 (or 8) from 2006 if I recall correct the correct model number.
About 4am on the side of SB I-95 at the downtown expressway looking from Maury St toward the old Bank of America building direction.
I did use a tripod though and RAW format.
(The clock tower is far right just out of sight)

It's been greatly reduced in resolution for posting on the internet. Point being a small camera can achieve some nice photos.

 

[PaladinNO]

Pardon the necrobump, but I am looking for a new lens, exclusively for indoor photography, and I keep getting different recommendations.
I want to be able to take better indoor photos, of the rooms themselves, without needing to take the 2 shots my Sigma 18-250mm needs to get somewhat most of a room.

I keep seeing recommended lenses between 15 and 35mm. I don't want a fisheye or any kind of stretch in the image, I want to be standing in the doorway and getting as much as possible on both sides of the view as the eyes sees it in a single shot.

I will buy used, this lens is just for fun and will see limited use. Currently looking at a Canon 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM or Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM. Am currently really leaning towards the 17-85mm.

Camera is a Canon EOS 800D - US name is EOS Rebel T7i, I believe.

 

[ThomasH]

You say your current lens is 18mm at the widest, I’m not sure you will get a lot more coverage out of a 17mm lens. And certainly not the 30mm lens. And I’m afraid most of the very wide lens are going to distort (although there are wide angle lens designed to minimize the effects). Maybe you can stitch the two images in a photo editing program, or take a ‘panorama’ shot if the camera does that. Just trying to help!

 

[PaladinNO]

You say your current lens is 18mm at the widest, I’m not sure you will get a lot more coverage out of a 17mm lens.

Thank you very much, I didn't even think about that (makes perfect sense when you point it out).
Issue with my 18-250mm is that the length of the lens itself takes up a lot of the space I want to include in the photo when at close range, such as indoors. if that makes sense.

Not sure about the panorama - I know my compact (Sony DSC-HX9V) does that, but it's lacking in the Megapixels compared to my DSLR. And the image clarity from the compact is nothing to write home about. I don't want to stitch 2 photos together either - I have tried, and didn't like the result. So post-edits is what I want to try to avoid here. I can live with some image stretching if I can avoid anything else.

So, I guess it's the 10-22mm for me then (180 USD equivalent). Looking at some review photos, I can tell it includes a lot more in the type of photos I want to do with it, compared to my 18-250mm zoom lens.

Will also get a used Canon Speedlite 580 EX II flash (price recently reduced from 150 USD, to 90 USD). I had a 430 EX II, but I recently sold it as I would like to have the top-dog 580 EX II that was out of my price range way back when.

 

[troutpool]

If you do experience distortion from the wide angle lens, that can be corrected later in Photoshop.