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D70 / 300d

X

xbrit98

n00b
Joined
Jun 27, 2002
Messages
13
First I would like to say that this post is in no way the start of a thread-war. I am not in the habit of disrespecting members of a message board so if you my comments offend - I offer my apologies in advance.

I am not a professional photographer! I am simply somebody who likes looking at a well-taken picture. I currently own a Minolta Dimage S404 (4MP), I'm looking to upgrade to a digital SLR. I am undecided between the Canon and the Nikon (I'm not sure of other choices - please feel free to chime in with suggestions). I have read reviews of the Canon/Nikon, looked at several thousand sample pictures, and read the huge 'pi$$ing contests' that most of the threads on this forum turn into. I have a few questions and would like honest, no BS answers. Once again, this is not a 'my dick is bigger than yours..' thread.

1. I am very new to the SLR thing. I take some pretty good pics using the Auto function of my S404 but would like to learn more about photography. Are there any websites out there that explain the whole 'manual' settings thing? (I'm looking for info that explains all of the technical terms in easy-to-understand language)

2. On the same theme, do you guys know of any online courses, DVD's or CD-ROMS for learning photography/shooting tips? (Free would be awesome - pay stuff is OK too)

3. What do all of the different lenses do? (Again, I have only used point and shoot stuff up to this point - the more basic the info, the better) - Can a lens from XXX brand camera fit my SSS brand camera?

4. My interest is close-up, macro photography. My S404 does an 'OK' job of this but I know that it could be better. Does macro photography require any specialized equipment other than a tripod (and camera of course)?

5. Why does the 6.0MP Canon & Nikon cost much more than an 8MP Sony or Olympus - While these are not sold as SLR camera's they do have some advanced manual controls - what's the big difference?

6. Looking around some of the night-time pictures that you guys take they look really impressive. Mine are usually blurry and not good at all. How do you take such good pictures at night? (I also like the pics that show the car tail lights 'streaming' down the road - I know this has something to do with exposure - how are these type of pics achieved?)

Any information you can provide would be most helpful. I really want to start taking some great pictures but am baffled by all of the technical stuff (ISO, F, Moir, TTL???? - My head is ready to explode)

Thanks in Advance....

David (total photo noob)
 
5. Why does the 6.0MP Canon & Nikon cost much more than an 8MP Sony or Olympus - While these are not sold as SLR camera's they do have some advanced manual controls - what's the big difference?
Click to expand...

Because nikon and canon take much much better images then sony or olympus.
 
www.photo.net
www.fredmiranda.com
www.luminous-landscape.com
www.imaging-resource.com

Lens question:
http://www.usa.canon.com/eflenses/lens101/focallength/index.html

If you do macro work, I'd suggest maybe a flash, and a good macro lens. Sigma has some nice 180mm micro lenses but that depends on what system you decide on.

5. The sensor size from the 8mp consumer cameras have that 8mp stuffed in a tiny sensor. The SLR cameras have their 6mp in a roomier sensor. When you stuff all those mp in that tiny of an area, you get noise at higher iso levels and artifacts/shit in your photographs.

6. For night pictures, you'll probably want a tripod. However, if you don't have the ability to use a tripod during your photography session, I'd use a high iso (iso 800 or 1600), flash to stop motion, or a very wide aperture(f/1.8, f/1.4 or smaller), or a combination of all of these.

There are just some simple answers to your questions, but I'd review those sites first because they will probably answer almost all of the questions you are going to have in the following weeks once you learn how nice the SLR systems are.
 
it doesnt sound like youre ready to spend money on a dslr, imo, youre better off with a digital camera that offers manual control

heres the place to learn though
www.photo.net/learn
 
www.dpreview.com just put up a nikon d70 review. His conclusion was that it was a better value than the digital rebel (300D). I have a digital rebel, and i think its good for the money. Either would be a fine choice.

there are a lot of good websites for the manual settings. Most of what you read about film 35mm slr's will carry over to their digital cousins.

All the different lenses: They differ by focal length (how far zoomed in/out they are). You have your zooms, and your primes (only one focal length). Primes are generally better than zooms for the money. You also have the maximum aperture of the lenses to think about (listed as f/3.5-f/5.6. etc).

Aperture: the smaller the number, the wider it is, and the more light it lets in. However the smaller the f/number the narrower the depth of focus is (most of the picture will be out of focus, except for what you are focusing on). You can always make the aperture smaller (bigger f/number up to about f/12 works on digital) for more depth of focus via the manual controls on the camera. Of course the smaller the aperture the longer the exposure (the camera can figure out the other settings for you). Consumer zooms are usually f/3.5-f/5.6 (at the widest zoom they are 3.5, zoomed in they are 5.6). PRO lenses usually keep a constant aperture throughout their zoom, as well as going down to f/1.4(for primes) or so.

They make specialized macro lenses to focus closer(and finer manual focusing) to the lens than regular lenses. Check the manufacturer sites to see what the min focus distance is.

the sensor in a dslr is HUGE compared to the 8mp point & shoots. This makes the picture much cleaner and allows a much better iso range, long exposures etc. (the bigger the chip, the more $$$).

night pictures: couple reasons, they can crank up the iso rating (sensitivity) of the sensor without nearly as much noise as a point & shoot sensor. They use a tripod(with longer exposure time), and they may have a "fast" lens (large aperture, f1.8 or so).

ISO: film is rated with an iso number. Basically iso 50 film (slides...) has no grain, but takes the most light/time to make a picture, while iso1600 film is much more sensitive to light, but has a lot of grain (noisy). The same carries over to the dslr sensors. Normally iso100-400 is what you would use.

F number is the aperture, goes with the lenses.

Each manufacturer has their own lens mount type. Nikon uses nikon mount, canon has the eos mount (older canons are FD mount, not compatible). 3rd party manufacturers such as sigma make lenses in the different types (nikon, canon, etc).

Moire: if there is a pattern in the picture close to the resolution limit of the sensor (screen door, roof, etc) a rainbow like artifact may show up. The nikon d70 may be more susceptible to this, theres some articles on it.

TTL: through the lens. Since the lenses are interchangeable the viewfinder needs to be able to view through the lens for an accurate view of what the picture will look like.

NOTE!!!!! the lcd on a dslr cannot be used to preview the picture! its only for review afterwords!. you have to use the optical viewfinder.

battery notes: large batteries and the lcd/sensor are off most of the time, so you get huge shot counts per charge. 200-600 shots/charge.

storage notes: pictures are huge as jpeg(1.5-3.5mb), raw pictures (uncompressed) are even bigger (6-10mb!). So youll need a 256-1gb card to start.


My reccomendations: since the sensors arent full 35mm size, the lens focal length has an effective 1.6x multiplier (some call it a crop, since you only use the center of the lens). This means wide angle can get expensive. Canon (and i think nikon) have "digital" lenses that give wide angle for less money since they only project light to the smaller area that the chip is. The canon is only availble in the digital rebel kit (18-55mm EF-S). Nikon has a kit lens too, i would buy that kit (lens + body). watch out for some less reputable places sticking 3rd party lenses in as a "kit".

The standard 35mm starter zoom is 28-90mm. Notice the canon kit lens comes out to this: 18(x1.6=28.8) to 55(x1.6=88).

I would start with this until you figure out what focal length you like to work at, and get a macro lens at that length.

websites to learn at:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/
http://www.photo.net

http://www.dpreview.com/
 
Well David welcome to the forum.
Now on Q6 to get the trailing it is timed exposures. You just set it on a tripod and, set you camera to say 5 seconds. Try setting your camera over the freeway on a bridge and, shooting down the road some. Also the blurriness can be overcome by using the infinty setting on your cam, if it has one. Aslo what is nice is using a remote if they make one for yours as, well. That way you dont shift the camera when pushing the button down.
If you go DSLR then you will need to get a macro zoom lense or, a macro. But there are several Point&Shoot cameras that are great at this. For one my Nikon Coolpix995 is great. They dont make it anymore but, there are several newer that are great at it. The Coolpix5700 for one. If you are new to photography then, I would hold off on making a DSLR purchase. I agree with wtf on this one. Here is an example of a Nikons Macro mode and, I did this one free hand. A tripod is alot better though.
628838-M-1.jpg

There are a couple of more at my photo site http://Joves.smugmug.com/
Some are half good and, others are not as, good but, I show what I do. Which reminds me I need to do some up-loading. Hope this helps. And good luck and, just enjoy shooting pics.
 
the new canon Pro 1 or whatever its called looks like a pretty sweet P&S, im thinking of getting either a Pro1 or an 828 to throw in my bag for whenever i need a short movie or a weird angle that the LCD preview allows me to do without killing myself ;)
 
have you seen some of the low-light example shots from the Pro 1?

you know they dont really look all that great or at least the ones I saw didnt because of all the picture noise that was present.

man, I dunno what it is between the DSLRs and the regular P&S cameras but there's soooo much of a world of difference in picture noise between the two.

yes, I do know the P&S cameras have a smaller sensor but still.....
 
Originally posted by FLECOM
the new canon Pro 1 or whatever its called looks like a pretty sweet P&S, im thinking of getting either a Pro1 or an 828 to throw in my bag for whenever i need a short movie or a weird angle that the LCD preview allows me to do without killing myself ;)
Click to expand...

Is it just the swivel-LCD you crave? Save yourself some bling and just get an A80. :p
 
Originally posted by Digital Viper-X-
you guys are nuts :\ my dad just got the 8mp sony cam and i think thats already crazy
Click to expand...

Your dad got the F828? Yes,....he is crazy. :p j/k
 
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