Foo - Cameras?

Since there are so many photographers here, I was wondering what equipment people use?

For me, I had a Canon 300D (Digital Rebel, US). I just upgraded to a 20D, and I'm loving it.

I also use the following lenses:

EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 (stock with 300D,350D,400D)
EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 (borrowing from my newspaper, but I might buy it myself later)
EF 50mm f/1.8 (If you shoot SLR and don't have this lens, get it RIGHT NOW).


No Speedlite yet, but I'm working on it.

I use a Canon S5is. Not nearly as cool as a dSLR, but it does the job alright. Mainly suffers under low light or action shots because of the tiny sensor. :o

I have long said the fifty one dot eight is the best lens for the money bar none.

I do this for a living so...
35mm I shoot Canon
5D and 20D are my current main and back-up bodies (picking up a Mark III around fall).
Lenses:
I have a handful, my favorites being the 100-400, the 50, and my tilt-shifts.
I shoot a Hasselblad 503 or Flex-Body for medium format, 50mm, 80mm, 120mm.
I use a combination of lights, but my Alien Bees tend to be the work horses.

How is that 5D, and how different is it to work with than the 20D?

Not asking because I'm interested in buying; I'm purely curious.

For the most part, the same.
I do like the full size sensor, I really like wide angle and that helps.
The dynamic range is noticeably better too, as is noise at the higher ISOs.
The way the bodies are laid out are all but identical. I find myself looking at the markings to distinguish one from the other occasionally, which I like my fingers know where everything is located.

I use a Canon 20D, a 16-35mm f/2.8, 70-200 IS f/2.8, and 50mm. Love the camera and the 70-200.

Cameras are fun.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b359/x136/misc-crap/IMG_0053.jpg

I use a cheap assed sony cybershot, and I can't see a use for anything more fancy for anyone who doesn't count on their camera to make a living, excepting of course hard core photography enthusiasts. It takes decent quality images in pretty much any amount of light, and I just don't know of anything else a camera needs to do for me.

I use a cheap assed sony cybershot, and I can't see a use for anything more fancy for anyone who doesn't count on their camera to make a living, excepting of course hard core photography enthusiasts. It takes decent quality images in pretty much any amount of light, and I just don't know of anything else a camera needs to do for me.

Most people don't need anything fancy when it comes to cameras. Photography used to be my job and I still have the equipment. It is mostly overkill for me now that I don't need the shot to shot performance. As long as one has the ability to control the big three (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO) that is basically all one really needs when the auto modes don't suffice.

Now different lenses on the other hand, they change the dynamics a lot, and depending on what you are shooting, can make or break the look of or the ability to get the shot. But here too, most people don't need more than a basic lens.

EF 50mm f/1.8 (If you shoot SLR and don't have this lens, get it RIGHT NOW).

+1!

400D (XTi)
Sigma 17-70
Sigma 70-300
Canon 50 1.8
Sigma 500 DG Super flash

2 Alien Bee 800's
2 cheapie eBay strobes
1 Vagabond II
1 Gary Fong Whale Tail (actually it's a grey market Chinese knockoff that came cheaper and with more stuff...got it from a friend)

I think that's my official equipment list. I'm not including the various softboxes and umbrellas I have...

Here's what I have:

Nikon N8008 with the AF 35-70 lens that came on it. My mother-in-law gave this to me a few years ago, and it's been a great camera. I'd like to get a 50mm f/1.8 lens for it, and it looks like an AF lens can be had for less than $50 used.

Zenit 12SD with a Helios 44m f/2 lens. I used to travel for business and carried this with me just about everywhere I went. Took some great pictures with it, and I almost didn't know what I was doing. The camera body is kind of primitive, but the lens rivals more expensive name-brand equivalents.

Kiev 4 rangefinder with a Jupiter 8m f/2 lens. This is a unique camera based on an old German design and probably the best Soviet rangefinder ever made. Takes great pics. I have another Soviet rangefinder that I took apart and was never able to reassemble (blush).

Kodak EasyShare V530- not the top of the line Kodak, but it's been a really good one. I don't think any of the lower level EasyShares come with a Schneider-Kreuznach c-Variogon lens anymore.

I use a pentax k10d
pentax 100mm macro
" 12-24 wide
" 10-17 fisheye

Hmm, I have an old Nikon FE with the MD-12 motor drive, a Nikkormat EL, an F2 with the MD-2 drive, 2 F3's with drives, an F4, a D70s, and a D2X. Lenses run from an AF Nikkor 8mm fisheye to an old manual focus 300 2.8 ED Nikkor. I also have a crap Casio Exilm (don't waste your money on Casio cameras). My cellphone (FOMA 905i) has a very good 5.2 megapixel built into it.

I think I'll be buying a Canon Rebel XTI soon. The Nikons fit my big, gangly hands better, but I'm used to the way Canons work.

I had a couple of versions of the Olympus Stylus that I beat the heck out of as point and shoot cameras.

I recently bought a Sony Alpha 200 as my first DSLR and I am loving the difference in picture quality, even though I am still not doing muchh more than using it as a point and shoot, although I plan to use some of the nice SLR features when I get a chance to play.

I had a Nikon FM for the longest time. I still have an FE.
But, as I suck at teh photography, I just use a Fuji Finepix for snapshots.

Has anyone on this thread done any live music/concert photography?

I'm thinking that my Zenit just might be enough to pull it off and I'd like to try it. The Nikon might be more versatile, but I don't have a straight 50mm lens for it right now.

The Zenit's built like a tank. The only reason it uses batteries is for its built-in light meter. I know concert photography can be difficult, but sometimes just one good shot is worth it.

You are shooting film, can you process it yourself or do you have a developer in the area that know what "pushing" means?

Concerts are hard. You are looking at a lot of movement in awful light.
Use the fastest lens you own or can otherwise get your hands on and push your film as far as you can.

I think there are some things you learn by doing film (especially if you use roll film or large format) that one never picks up with a digital camera, although most stuff (dodge and burn) can be done with Photoshop or the GIMP.

Like bikes, one can't have too many cameras. One needs a DSLR for stunning pictures, a thin point and shoot to carry around everywhere, a throwaway camera in the glove boxes of cars in case of a wreck, a 35mm camera for nostalgia, a Kodak Disk camera for 80s retro, an Advanced Photo System camera for 90s retro, a 126 film camera for 70s retro, a 120 film camera for very detailed shots, and a large format camera for those shots you can blow up to poster sized and have it not be grainy.

I want an Olympus stylus sw for when we go to Mexico in November. I'm imagining fantastic underwater pics while snorkelling. What do you think the odds of me getting good pics are? I don't want to spend that much if the underwater feature isn't worth it....

I want an Olympus stylus sw for when we go to Mexico in November. I'm imagining fantastic underwater pics while snorkelling. What do you think the odds of me getting good pics are? I don't want to spend that much if the underwater feature isn't worth it....

They take ok pics for the most part. The big thing (to me, anyway) about the Stylus is the byzantine menu system in order to get to some of the features. If you decide to get one, give yourself enough lead time to learn the camera and figure out what the capabilities are. No need to stress out your vacation trying to figure out the camera. :)

Nikon D40, but it's missing a few features I'd like, so I may upgrade when the replacement for the D80 comes out. Plus the kit lens, a 55-200 VR, and a 50mm f/1.8. A ~100mm macro and an SB-600 flash are on the wishlist, too.

I'm also considering getting into medium format, but I don't know if I'll settle for a fixed zoom TLR, or get something nicer like a Pentax 67. I might just satiate the curiosity of it with a Holga.

I'm also considering getting into medium format, but I don't know if I'll settle for a fixed zoom TLR, or get something nicer like a Pentax 67. I might just satiate the curiosity of it with a Holga.

Look at old TLR's as a start into medium format. Very nice ones can be had for cheep on the used market.

I have a Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D. I bought the Maxxum digital because I already had a bag full of Minolta film bodies and lenses, and now Minolta is unforunately out of the camera business. Sony has taken over, and the Minolta lenses fit the Sony bodies, so when I want an upgrade, I'll probably buy a Sony.

You are shooting film, can you process it yourself or do you have a developer in the area that know what "pushing" means?

Concerts are hard. You are looking at a lot of movement in awful light.
Use the fastest lens you own or can otherwise get your hands on and push your film as far as you can.

I'm afraid "pushing" has never been explained to me in a way that I understand. Can you enlighten me a bit?

My brother has done a great deal of photography working for newspapers and also as a hobbyist. He said the Zenit might be suitable using ISO800 film, setting the fstop to 2 and using either 1/60 or 1/125 depending on the lighting. Couldn't hurt to try anyway. The lens is a 58mm.

The Nikon might offer more precision or versatility in that I could set it to aperture priority. I'm tempted to take it and do the best I can with its original equipment zoom lens.

Of course, there's the whole issue of getting permission. This is an outdoor concert in the evening. No admission charge, no gates, and no mention of photography prohibited on the website. I would be a polite photog as far as that goes. I'm tempted to send an email to the organization's PR director and ask about it, but am afraid that could create an issue that wasn't there before.

Pushing--shooting film as if it were a higher ISO than rated and then developing it longer. Pulling film is just the opposite.

As you push film it becomes more grainy, same as with any high ISO film, this is less apparent with color film than it is with B&W.

You can use your 800 speed film as if it were 1600 or 3200, just develop it for a longer period of time.

Treat the entire roll the same. Meaning if you can't push half the roll and not the other half. If you shoot ISO 400 film as if it were ISO 1200, then shoot the entire roll as if it were ISO 1200, because you can't develop different parts of the roll for different times.

Better to ask forgiveness than permission.

Has anyone on this thread done any live music/concert photography?

I'm thinking that my Zenit just might be enough to pull it off and I'd like to try it. The Nikon might be more versatile, but I don't have a straight 50mm lens for it right now.

The Zenit's built like a tank. The only reason it uses batteries is for its built-in light meter. I know concert photography can be difficult, but sometimes just one good shot is worth it.

I have...

Do it with a fast prime (2.2 or better). I actually took some really good pictures with my stock lens (!) of this band, but it's better if you have something that can take in a lot of light. Flash can sometimes mess up the tonality of the picture, but if you need to use it (i.e. you're in a bar, and there might be a lot of red in your picture), try bounce flash.

Oh, and another recommendation (if you can afford it) is to get one of those telephoto lenses that can have a constant f/stop across the entire zoom range. I don't know about lenses on the Nikon side of the pond, but the Canon EF 70-300 f/2.8 can do this, and takes amazing pictures in all sorts of lighting conditions. It's expensive, but worth it.

I have...

Do it with a fast prime (2.2 or better). I actually took some really good pictures with my stock lens (!) of this band, but it's better if you have something that can take in a lot of light. Flash can sometimes mess up the tonality of the picture, but if you need to use it (i.e. you're in a bar, and there might be a lot of red in your picture), try bounce flash.

I feel like I should apologize for hijacking the thread. Not my intention at all.
It's nice to have so many knowledgeable people around though.

This makes me wish I could follow a pro or dedicated hobbyist around for the night, but don't know anyone who does it right now.

I have a roll of ISO800 and am confident I can find a lab that can push process it.

I'm not trying to pin you down, but given the equipment that I have, my first-timer status, and an idea of an small outdoor venue in the evening (Nightfall in Chattanooga), which of my cameras would you take, and what kind of setup would you use? Or take both and see what happens?

This learning curve seems a little steep for me. I didn't start using anything beyond point-and-shoot until about three years ago, so I'm having to play catch-up and learn a new skill. It's fun but can also be quite frustrating.

Not too long ago, someone gave me an autofocus Canon SLR body that had a shutter curtain problem. But no lenses, and I can't make a big purchase right now.

Thank you,
-Bill