Advice/Questions on buying Cameras & Accessories. **Please read OP first**

Gr1f

Hey folks, I'm looking for suggestions for a ND filter that I would use for achieving slow shutter speeds in bright conditions.

Setup is as follows:
Canon 5d Mkii
Canon 24-70mm f2.8L
Canon 17-40mm f4 L
Canon 70-200mm f2.8L
Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX

Would like something with best optics possible as I have even dumped UV filters recently.

Thanks in advance!



http://www.markjgriffin.ie/portfolio/photography/landscape/

sheesh

Gr1f wrote: »

Hey folks, I'm looking for suggestions for a ND filter that I would use for achieving slow shutter speeds in bright conditions.

Setup is as follows:
Canon 5d Mkii
Canon 24-70mm f2.8L
Canon 17-40mm f4 L
Canon 70-200mm f2.8L
Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX

Would like something with best optics possible as I have even dumped UV filters recently.

Thanks in advance!

lee filters are what the pros are supposed to use
http://www.leefilters.com/camera/

there is a waiting list though

Gr1f

sheesh wrote: »

lee filters are what the pros are supposed to use
http://www.leefilters.com/camera/

there is a waiting list though

Great thanks!

Dades

5uspect wrote: »

Manfrotto tripods are more than entry tripods; they're professional tripods.
Although they do a range of lightweight consumer ones too.
Buying a lot of gear isn't going to make you take better shots. You should tailor your purchases to your style of photography.

€25 will get you a cheap, cheerful and very light tripod (have had one of those for about 5 years). Though I'd second what 5uspect says about determining what type of photography you want to involve yourself in before buying the swag.

Gr1f

sheesh wrote: »

lee filters are what the pros are supposed to use
http://www.leefilters.com/camera/

there is a waiting list though

Hoping for a simple screw on one without all the rigmarole! :-) Saw this
http://www.singh-ray.com/varind.html

don't mind fixed ones tho.

JayEnnis

Anyone know where I can pick up a rangefinder? Not looking to spend a massive amount of money, I'd even go for one of the old soviet ones. I just need something smaller than my slr's.

cnocbui

Gr1f wrote: »

Hey folks, I'm looking for suggestions for a ND filter that I would use for achieving slow shutter speeds in bright conditions.
Would like something with best optics possible as I have even dumped UV filters recently.

B&W filter are usually touted as being the gold standard:

https://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/catalogsubcategorydisplay.aspx?cid=57

mcgee189

Hi,

I have been just researching a bit as what to look for in a Nikon. I have a nikon D80, and want to upgrade. I take a lot of landscape, portraiture shots and hope to study photography this fall with a view to professional.

There is a lot of choice and wondering which camera to begin looking at. Does anyone have any negative or pro experiences with the above?

Thank you

xshayx

Vast difference in price between the D300 and the D3's.

I have the D300 and the D700 (without the battery pack), D300 is great, D700 is fantastic

slimboyfat

If money is no problem, go for the d3s but if you are looking for an upgrade to your d80, I'd have a serious look at the d7000, around the same money as a d300s.

mcgee189

Thanks a lot for your advice. Can i ask another question, what is the difference between D7000 and D700?

Cheers
Grainne

DULLAHAN2

Sigma 70-300 mm f / 4-5.6 DG OS LENS

Canon EOS 500D + EF-S 18-55 DC Lens (non IS) + SLR Camera Case - 15x11x14.5 cm + 8 GB SDHC Memory Card + LP-E5 Battery + Trepix lightweight tripod
WESTERN DIGITAL WD Elements 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive - black

I will be using it for sports photography mostly.

slimboyfat

mcgee189 wrote: »

Thanks a lot for your advice. Can i ask another question, what is the difference between D7000 and D700?

Cheers
Grainne

Loads, your best bet would be to google that one but in short the d7000 is a crop frame while the d700 is full frame and a few hundred quid!

slimboyfat

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

Sigma 70-300 mm f / 4-5.6 DG OS LENS

Canon EOS 500D + EF-S 18-55 DC Lens (non IS) + SLR Camera Case - 15x11x14.5 cm + 8 GB SDHC Memory Card + LP-E5 Battery + Trepix lightweight tripod
WESTERN DIGITAL WD Elements 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive - black

I will be using it for sports photography mostly.

Good range from wide to tele, grand camera, should be fine for your needs to start out

aaf

5uspect wrote: »

Manfrotto tripods are more than entry tripods; they're professional tripods.
Although they do a range of lightweight consumer ones too.
Buying a lot of gear isn't going to make you take better shots. You should tailor your purchases to your style of photography.

So what kind of photos do you take? Do you need a tripod, or would a monopod be less cumbersome? Do you need an external flash? How do you find the flash on the 400D lacking? Do you want to get into strobism?

Generally a tripod is a good idea but you might not use it much if you're more into walkabout photography or photography in areas where a tripod isn't allowed or is too busy. So maybe it's not a bad idea to cheap out a bit on your first tripod, or get a Gorillapod maybe.

If I were you I would try to replace the 18-55 lens with a better (not cheap) lens before I go buying all kinds of different stuff at once. The 18-55 is a slow lens. It doesn't perform well in low light, i.e. Ireland, and isn't very sharp. The two of these together often mean a lot of blurry images from hand shake and poor optics. There are a load of other lenses such as the 17-55 f/2.8 which cost a lot but are excellent alternatives.

The 400D is a very capable camera and can take great photographs. Getting loads of gear won't help unless you know how to use the camera first.

Dades wrote: »

€25 will get you a cheap, cheerful and very light tripod (have had one of those for about 5 years). Though I'd second what 5uspect says about determining what type of photography you want to involve yourself in before buying the swag.

Cheers guys. Two areas of photography I would like to get into are gig photography (presume I would need a flash) and night time city shots (tripod for long exposures). Ok, so I will need a few decent lenses but that's my reasoning for a tripod and flash. Would prefer to buy semi decent equipment now rather than cheap stuff that won't allow me to upgrade my equipment further on down the line.

Auldfella

Hi,
We've set up a business that imports and distributes boots, clothing, etc. and we're in the process of creating our web site. This means we have to photograph all our products for both the site and for future brochures. These photos would be both close-ups and action shots, (i.e. shots of models wearing the garments whilst standing in a field, etc.).

We want to be able to do this ourselves in the long term so we want to purchase an adequate D-SLR and the necessary equipment. From my research so far we're looking at the Canon 550D with both the 18-55mm & 55-250mm EF-S lenses, would this be overkill for what we're doing or not enough?

Also, what other equipment would we need for a small studio? I was thinking of:

• Tripod
• Some sort of white background - where would I get this?
• Those umbrella type lights for creating the right setting - again where do I get these?
• A lighting monitor

The overall budget is approximately £1,000 or €1,200, would we be able to get whats required within this budget? Thanks.

5uspect

aaf wrote: »

Cheers guys. Two areas of photography I would like to get into are gig photography (presume I would need a flash) and night time city shots (tripod for long exposures). Ok, so I will need a few decent lenses but that's my reasoning for a tripod and flash. Would prefer to buy semi decent equipment now rather than cheap stuff that won't allow me to upgrade my equipment further on down the line.

A flash would be a no no at many gigs unless you have express permission.
Ideally you would use a very fast prime lens.

DoBhrionn

Right, so I've kinda decided on a camera, the Canon 550d (Rebel t2i) I'm one for trying to get things with good contents and quality for a cheaper price, so I'd like to know a DSLR camera as good as the 550d but slightly cheaper. And as new, I'm not fond of second hand items.

funkey_monkey

Bump.

Anyone?

To expand I'm looking to get into photography in more depth and I don't feel the FX-35 is sufficient for my needs. I'm planning on undertaking a nightclass in photography in order to understand ISO, white balance, etc.

For me, a D-SLR is a disadvantage as I'd like to place the camera into my pocket to have ready on most occassions. I don't think that a D-SLR would give me that - although I know that the SLR's have a viewfinder which I really like to have.

Edit: there is a viewfinder option for the GF2. :-)

Thanks.

pearljamfan

hiya, i have the gf1, got a red one.and im really pleased with it,i like the size of it and it looks good.:D i was waiting for the gf2 but to be honest its been dumbed down alot more ,i dont think having a touchscreen is a big deal.i find it easy to use and i take better photos with it. i looked up loads of reviews and videos on youtube to help me spend my money! the 20mm lens is great, i use it all the time so ill be selling my 14-45mm for tripod money! i dont miss the viewfinder to be honest. if i had spare cash id buy the hotshoe flash, the inbody flash is fine, but id spend the money on that rather than the viewfinder.

CabanSail

Auldfella wrote: »

Hi,
We've set up a business that imports and distributes boots, clothing, etc. and we're in the process of creating our web site. This means we have to photograph all our products for both the site and for future brochures. These photos would be both close-ups and action shots, (i.e. shots of models wearing the garments whilst standing in a field, etc.).

We want to be able to do this ourselves in the long term so we want to purchase an adequate D-SLR and the necessary equipment. From my research so far we're looking at the Canon 550D with both the 18-55mm & 55-250mm EF-S lenses, would this be overkill for what we're doing or not enough?

Also, what other equipment would we need for a small studio? I was thinking of:

• Tripod
• Some sort of white background - where would I get this?
• Those umbrella type lights for creating the right setting - again where do I get these?
• A lighting monitor

The overall budget is approximately £1,000 or €1,200, would we be able to get whats required within this budget? Thanks.

If these are for Web Use and you have such a low budget for all this gear, you may consider a Bridge Camera.

opinion guy

So I went ahead on bought the Xanon Ixus 220Hs. Gotta say very happy with it - GREAT in low light conditions. I haven't had the chance to use it in nightclub type scenarios last night, but was out walking last night and took a couple of quick photos of the moon. Great quality photos - even in auto mode was good, but the inbuilt Handheld Nightscene mode took fantastic shots. Tkes far better shots than my old Lumix TZ3

Recommend it to anyone looking for a good ultra compact

Dades

funkey_monkey wrote: »

For me, a D-SLR is a disadvantage as I'd like to place the camera into my pocket to have ready on most occassions. I don't think that a D-SLR would give me that - although I know that the SLR's have a viewfinder which I really like to have.

Edit: there is a viewfinder option for the GF2. :-)

pearljamfan wrote: »

hiya, i have the gf1, got a red one.and im really pleased with it,i like the size of it and it looks good.:D i was waiting for the gf2 but to be honest its been dumbed down alot more ,i dont think having a touchscreen is a big deal.i find it easy to use and i take better photos with it. i looked up loads of reviews and videos on youtube to help me spend my money! the 20mm lens is great, i use it all the time so ill be selling my 14-45mm for tripod money! i dont miss the viewfinder to be honest. if i had spare cash id buy the hotshoe flash, the inbody flash is fine, but id spend the money on that rather than the viewfinder.

I have the GF2, and while I really would have liked if they'd left the setting dial on top, I wanted the slightly smaller size. Regarding the touchscreen - you can do everything via buttons on the back if you don't like using one.

+1 on the f1.7 20mm lens, too, I bought one a few weeks ago. I'm even considering selling the kit 14-42 lens as honestly I never want/need to take the pancake off.

With the 20mm lens it will fit in a coat/jacket pocket, and makes a super option for someone who wants to "do" photography but wants to be portable too.

DULLAHAN2

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

Sigma 70-300 mm f / 4-5.6 DG OS LENS

Canon EOS 500D + EF-S 18-55 DC Lens (non IS) + SLR Camera Case - 15x11x14.5 cm + 8 GB SDHC Memory Card + LP-E5 Battery + Trepix lightweight tripod
WESTERN DIGITAL WD Elements 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive - black

I will be using it for sports photography mostly.

Thanks to a bit of look at cheltenham my budget has gone up abit. So i am going to buy a 550d and spend some money on lenses. Can anyone tell me the what lenses i would need for

1. Sports Photography, soccer, boxing and horse racing
2. Macro lense
3. Landscape Photography
4. Portrait

I have about 2500 euro maybe 3000 to spend on the whole package including new 550D

woody_2000

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

Thanks to a bit of look at cheltenham my budget has gone up abit. So i am going to buy a 550d and spend some money on lenses. Can anyone tell me the what lenses i would need for

1. Sports Photography, soccer, boxing and horse racing
2. Macro lense
3. Landscape Photography
4. Portrait

I have about 2500 euro maybe 3000 to spend on the whole package including new 550D

Maybe consider a 60D if you have that sort of budget, and compare it to the 550D. The autofocus, for one, might be better for sport/action on the 60D. Both the 550D and the 60D have nine point autofocus systems - but the 60D has nine cross type focus points, while the 550D has only one cross type (cross type are better)... For outdoors, the 60D should also be more weather resistant... The 60D is more a prosumer/enthusiast level model, while the 550D is more consumer level...

Sorry, I can't advise on lenses, etc... Best of luck!

Heebie

Well, for the sports photography, something like a 70-200 (or even longer if you can afford it) lens with a straight-through f2.8 would likely be a good investment. Nice & fast, and reasonably long.

For Macro..that all depends on how much money you want to spend on it. A "truly good" macro lens might cost most of your budget by itself. There are ways around it, like getting something (I don't remember what it's called) but it fits on the front of a lens attached to the camera like a filter.. but lets you screw a second lens on backwards (again..it attaches to BOTH lenses like a filter, so they are together face-to-face) and that can get you really close to your subject without spending nearly as much cash.
for most things, something like the aforementioned 70-200 should get you pretty close to things from about 1-metre away. There are 70-300's that have a macro zone that gets you close.. but for really good macro, you're actually better off with prime lenses (including for the back-to-back thing)
135mm is a popular focal-length for prime macro lenses to go on 35mm cameras, probably about 85mm should do well on an APC-C sensor-sized digital. both 85mm and 135mm are generally good portrait primes unless they are dedicated macro lenses.

For landscapes, 50mm or wider, or a lot wider, are a good idea.. or a funky tripod adapter that will let you pan & tilt properly to get true panoramas.

for Portraits.. 50, 85, and 135mm are all popular.

Have fun!

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

Thanks to a bit of look at cheltenham my budget has gone up abit. So i am going to buy a 550d and spend some money on lenses. Can anyone tell me the what lenses i would need for

1. Sports Photography, soccer, boxing and horse racing
2. Macro lense
3. Landscape Photography
4. Portrait

I have about 2500 euro maybe 3000 to spend on the whole package including new 550D

TTaYaXX

Hi m8`s
I am looking to buy 2nd lens for my Canon EOS 60D. I have 18-55mm lens. What one is more important for me?
17-85mm or 55-250mm, I am beginner in photography...
Thanks for reply

5uspect

TTaYaXX wrote: »

What one is more important for me?
17-85mm or 55-250mm, I am beginner in photography...
Thanks for reply

If you're a beginner get to grips with what you have and decide from there what focal lengths you use/need most. Do you feel that you need more reach? If so get a telephoto. Do you feel that the 18-55 is of poor quality? Get a better lens in that range.

Have you got the 50mm f/1.8 prime? It's an essential lens. As a beginner you'll learn more about photography from that lens than any other.

I've said this before. There is an obsession with "zoom" as confused with magnification. The bigger the lens the more people think they can "zoom in'. Camera manufactures don't help with their 10 and 20x zoom adverts. The best lenses, primes, have no zoom.

talkin

is this a good camera? anybody have it. im looking for an all round great camera im not a photographer obviously but looking for the best camera out there for around that price that will last me years without needing to upgrade!

TTaYaXX

talkin wrote: »

is this a good camera? anybody have it. im looking for an all round great camera im not a photographer obviously but looking for the best camera out there for around that price that will last me years without needing to upgrade!

Hi m8
I have Sony alpha A550 (18-55mm) Kit for sale if you are interest
http://www.adverts.ie/other-electronics/sony-alpha-a550-18-55mm-kit/502628
I changed to Canon EOS 60D after completing photography beguiners class