Seems that there are a few photographers on here. Chat started in 'Random Picture Thread' but was guilty of causing thread drift, hence this thread. Chat about gear, techniques software etc. I would classify myself as a pro/am photographer. Used to earn my living as a studio still life shooter but these days do it mainly for pleasure. Though, as a web developer, still do a little for clients as and when the need/opportunity arises. Anyway, here's a few of mine had a bit more hair in those days... Used to shoot on and own a bewildering amount of kit, now just shoot on crop frame Canon DSLR and consumer lenses. Would love some full frame kit and nice L glass but family and motorcycling costs mean budget is limited despite my being able to off-set it as a business expense.
Great idea for a thread [emoji106]. As you already know from the random picture thread I've just entered this deep and murky world. I'm just working through some 'how to use your DSLR' websites, and picked up a copy of Practical Photography, which seems to do a great job of both making the basics clear, and giving me an insight into what even a basic DSLR can do. I'm off for a couple of days next week, so I'm going to head out on the bike with the camera to see what I can get. Found a great rucksack style camera bag on Amazon which will make combining biking and photography easy. I've always had a bit of a thing against riding with no destination, so riding with the intent of finding a great photo and a pub lunch sounds like a perfect combination [emoji41] Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Nothing special, got back from the MOT (passed) and thought i'd give the camera bag a go to check it doesn't do anything strange on the bike (all good) going to need a wider angle lens for shooting bikes, i was surprised how far away i needed to be with a 50mm.
I bought a Canon 60D some time ago but too busy to use it... This may not make much sense as some of it I just pasted here and it was sometime ago. I wanted a 7D at that time and was looking for a package deal, but I sort advice and ended up with the 60D. I plan to use it more soon. The lens for the lion picture on the other thread was a - Tamron A005 70-300 mm f/4.0-5.6 LD VC Di AF USD Lens This was one of the more cost effective options than others that had been suggested. An affordable alternative for Motorsport use + can give much better results than I/we will achieve any time soon. Lots of info below... The 60D pics I'd seen were not as good as the ones taken with a 7D. I have been told recently it's more about the Lens and the person taking the photos, settings: Iso, Aperture, shutter speed. I was shown some high quality F1 pics, way better than I expected with this camera (60D) and various test shots with the lenses I chose + other options. I am not knowledgeable about this subject so I preferred to see examples of what the kit I am buying can do. The lens I really wanted, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM or EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM used by Autosport Magazine photographer and various others I've talk to in the past. If my memory is correct, apparently the cost has something to do with the lens technology, aperture not changing at full zoom and the fact they work well in poor light, low shutter speeds and iso setting can benefit accordingly. The lower F number the bigger the aperture the faster the lens? I've started reading about this. Despite mentioning I don't take photos. The experts soon forget I know very little when they are explaining things but it's been fun, I enjoy learning. Unfortunately of those lenses I'd like, either one would cost more than the camera and all the kit I've bought. Which is one reason I bought what I did, this kit gets us started and can produce much better results when used correctly than we would do even with the best lens. I don't want to waste money for occasional use when I have lot's other things to pay for right now. I also purchased: Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 II Lens (this was one of the more cost effective options than others discussed) For general use "walk about and work" Apparently this size compares with the normal view of a person. I've found it a bit limited as it's a fixed lens and I need zoom really but is was cheaper for that reason. So I will likely need either a 18 -135 STM lens or a canon 24-105 f/4 L (as recommended on our list of options) I suspect I will get the last one at some point, even though it's expensive I rather have a better lens and keep it. I also have a Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM (This was one of the more cost effective options for a specific task vs others recommended) for work - Ultra wide. Taking pics in confined spaces, but apparently good for landscapes too? The canon 7D (I had looked at) was the model for some pics we were sent by photographers. We know it has better rapid fire and may have better video function which is a concern for some intended use. It was advertised new, with a package including loads of kit. However I was told by various people the lenses + other kit in the package deal were worth less than the cost of 7d body + those accessories, none of which were actually worth using. A con really. We discussed my specific use and budget vs options. I was told not to buy a bundle of rubbish and buy the kit I actually need individually. Now only I really need one more lens for General purpose use / work + I have been advised to get a tri pod.I also saved quite a bit on buying the 7D bundle We may eventually need a better lens for racing pics to get the image quality vs distance but the ones I would like were way over budget given the fact they won't get used much, so will have to see. These were never an option at this stage anyway and had put us off previously. Most of the guys using that kit are full time pros and do work for magazines it seems. We have missed to many good photos in the past and with my phone cam and my cheap point and shoot breaking I needed to sort something.
This is all great info, looks like I got the right first lens with the EF 50mm f/1.8 II, the Internet seems to have steered me well on that one. I apologise in advance for occasionally posting what may seem like slightly bland photos on the surface, the one of the rear side of the Ducati may be a rather average shot, but I have had a great photo in mind for a very long time which will involve leaving the subject in colour and making everything else monochrome. That shot was specifically taken to allow me to learn how to do that in Photoshop, if I can get the effect I want with that I'll know how to set up for the final shot, and how to process it when I get it.
what did you use to do the editing? I would like to get some software but don't want to pay for Photoshop and spend hours trying to learn how to use it
I looked into adobe lightbox as suggested on this forum, but cheaped out to an extent and went with Adobe photoshop elements 14. It's just under £60 on Amazon as a download (one time payment) It took an hour or so, and a couple of 'how to' articles to get that result, I wasn't quite as careful as I could hVe been as I didn't want to invest hours of time only to find it wouldn't do what I wanted. Now I know I can achieve the desired result I can now invest a bit more care and time to get the exact result I'm after.
The amateur range of Canon DSLRs, the three figure models (400D, 500D, 550D... 760D etc.) as well as the Pro-am models (60D, 70D, 80D etc.) are all crop sensor cameras. The light sensor is roughly 2/3 the size of the Professional range (5D, 7D etc.). The Pro range, which has a full frame sensor (close to the image area of 35mm film), is pretty bullet proof and are weather sealed. Use them for driving in nails and you'll still be able to use them as cameras (half joking, don't try that at home...). The Pro-am range tends to be built a bit better and also has a degree of sealing, tend to have metal bodies as well ISTR. The amateur cameras have good features but are no way as rugged and can be susceptible to catastrophic damage is used in the rain, other harsh conditions or dropped. The EFS range of lenses will only work with crop sensor cameras, expect to discard these if you upgrade to a full frame Canon in the future, they would result in vignetting (dark corners of the image) if you used them. EF lenses will work with the Pro range. Basically lenses with a red dot on the barrel that you align with the red dot on the camera when mounting them work with all Canon DSLRs. The EFS lenses have a white square, you only find the coresponing white square on crop sensor Canons. Full frame Canons provide better images as the pixels aren't packed in so tight and can be bigger. The distance issue that philoldsmobile mentioned is due to the fact that a 50mm on a crop sensor camera is more like an 80mm on a full frame or 35mm camera. This is why the 1.8 EF 50mm makes such a great portrait lens as it helps to flatten features due to distance from the subject and has a narrow depth of field when used at max aperture. For sports photography the L Pro lenses not only tend to have a wider max aperture for better low light performance, they are also weather sealed and probably most importantly have better focusing mechanisms. The latter allows for reliable servo focus so that a subject rapidly coming towards the camera, a bike for instance, is kept in focus throughout. Try that with an EFS 55-250 and you'll be disappointed. using this lens can produce decent results but you have to go manual and pre-focus at a point on the track and chose you moment ('motor-drive' can help there as well). The two MotoGP images, in my first post at the start of this thread, were shot on this lens with the focus set to manual.
In terms of software there are a number of open source alternatives available. For Photoshop you can try The Gimp. The interface is quite different, but aside from that it is just as capable as Photoshop with lots of tutorial material available on the Internet. The Gimp will run on Linux, Mac OSx and Windows. Many people complain about the learning curve, but it is no more difficult to learn to use than Photoshop. For Lightroom one could try Darktable (no Windows port) or Rawtherapee. Darktable is the better of the two, but Rawtherapee is not at all bad.
If I knew that I would have stuck with a 7d or 6d Although the images I did see comparing the 60D to the 7D looked very comparable. I looked at the properties of images sent to me to decide which way I wanted to go. I am happy so far but did intend to buy the camera as long term keeper because I have too many distractions to dedicate too much time to photograpy. I love seeing great photos, there are so many interesting images online, landscapes, nature.. I think editing has alot to do with some of the pictures.
Crop sensor cameras are still pretty dammed good TBH. If you have the budget Pro line range and L glass, otherwise get a crop sensor body and EF/EFS lenses to start, then add some L glass when you can afford it. So far I've gotten by on a 550D and now 760D body as well. Plus the following lenses: 10-18mm EFS STM, 50mm EF STM (also have the earlier 50mm EF II), 18-135mm EFS STM, 55-250mm EFS. Wish I had bought a 70D rather than the 760D TBH. Was wooed by the apparent spec. but overlooked the video bit rate which is far better on the 70D, it'll also run Magic Lantern which is great for video shooters. Use mine for hobby and for business use. Shoot stills for a few clients in support of Web development work I do for them but last year also shot and edited two videos which basically paid for the 760D, the STM lenses and lots of video and audio recording related kit as well as some continuous lighting to supplement my monoblock flash heads. Clients haven't complained about my amateur line cameras... Will hopefully be able to justify a 80D body (though will be a 70D if the newer one doesn't support Magic Lantern) later this year.
Been taking bad photographs for a VERY long time Here are a couple of quickly snapped piccies of my Guzzi & a mates Laverda. The Guzzi is straight out the camera, the Laverda has been mildly breathed on via post editing software
Canon 60D, with Tamron A005 70-300 mm f/4.0-5.6 LD VC Di AF USD Lens or Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 II Lens Have been posted on here before so I apologise if you've seen them already. Lion 1st time I used camera in auto mode as per other thread. Bike 2nd time I used camera after a friend took a couple test shots and changed some settings Cars most recent, not in auto mode but just starting to play with settings - on track shutter speed was not low enough, it was a dark day too. Non have had editing.
